Recycle with Goats

I went out to feed the goats today and noticed how what a good job they have done recycling our Christmas tree.

Goats love Christmas trees. They will eat every bit of green and then strip all of the bark off. It will keep them busy for hours and it's quite nutritious.

Look how excited they are when I flip it over. MORE! It's like kids in a candy store. When they get it totally cleaned up we will use it this summer for a bon fire/weenie roast.

This is just a random picture of our barn cat that I threw in just because I love him He is about 12 years old and he hangs out with the goats in the barn when he is not out hunting. One day he came running in from the woods after I had already finished feeding, he was meowing at me to feed him, but I was crabby didn't feel very well so I told him to go earn his keep. The next day there was a huge dead rat inside my barn, right where I would have to see it. Now I go back and feed him when he asks me to.

This is just a photo that I find interesting. Not the butts, but just the fact that goats seem to segregate themselves. They prefer to hang out with and eat and sleep with goats of their own breed. On the left are Boer goats and on the right are Nubian goats. Boers are raised for meat and Nubians are more of a dairy breed although they are sometimes considered a dual purpose breed. What's more, when I had brown Nubians they hung out more with each other than with the black Nubians and the spotted ones seem to prefer other spotted goats company. I thought maybe it was a color issue but we once had a white LaMancha (goats with itty bitty ears) and no one wanted to hang out with the poor thing. We sold her so she could be with her own kind.

So next year when you need to get rid of your Christmas tree donate it to a goat farm. If you don't know of any contact your county extension agent and they can hook you up.