Bamboo Treat for the Goats

A neighbor down the street had the bamboo in her backyard cut and put on the curb.

So Don and I drove the truck down there and got a load for the goats.

This was after I had carried 2 loads to the goats. Gus, Don's cat was hoping he got something.

 

They love the leaves.  It's much better for my bucks than goat pellets.  In fact, the veterinarian told me not to feed the bucks pellets, when Billy Shakespeare developed Urinary Calculi. Here is a wonderful article on Urinary Calculi. http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/urinarycalculi06.html I almost lost BS.  I feed him hay and oats now; instead of the pellets many people feed their show goats.
 

Billy Shakespeare and son, Minimus

The pile of bamboo will likely still be there until Tuesday, so we may go back for some more free food for the goats.  It would be great to just let them go down there and eat, but I know that is not a good idea.  My neighbors are very good about my urban farm, mostly because they can't see it.

Honey Bunny, Dottie Belle and Anna, Dottie's new kid.

Honey Bunny's kid, April.

New Treats for Dottie Bell and Gypsy

Don and I heard a news report about hay being in short supply with this drought.

So Monday I bought 4 bails of alfalfa.  I will keep buying a bail as they eat one, so there will always be 4 bails on hand encase I can't get any at the end of the summer.  The girls would go nuts if they didn't have it at all times.

The first of last week, I found a web-site for buying treats and such for the goats. 
I got a bag of  Goat Treats by Manna Pro
Delicious and nutritious treat specifically for goats to aid in training show animals.  I'm not going to be showing them, but it does help make them mind me.

• Easy to feed nugget
• Made with real anise to stimulate appetite and palatability
• Goats can't resist the licorice flavor
• Resealable 6 lb. bag

 The girls really do love it.

Trinity, my son-in-law, spent part of Friday cutting the bamboo in his backyard.  


I saw it and said, "I bet the goats will love it."
  Trinity commented, "I don't know.  It's tough and will probably cut their insides up."  I laughed and said that was silly, they eat my roses bushes.  So I took on large shoot and sure enough the girls loved it.  They stripped all the leaves off in just a few minutes.  I went on and did a lot of things.  But when I got in bed about 1a.m., I got to wondering if bamboo was okay for the goats to eat, so I got up and googled "can goats eat bamboo." http://fiascofarm.com/goats/poisonousplants.htm  
So according to this web site bamboo is edible.  So I went back to bed and didn't need to worry.

I do have a tendency to do something and then research it.  My sister, Debbie, has a workshop that she presents on personalities using the Winnie the Pooh characters.  She says I am Rabbit. http://www.half-asleep.com/pooh/interact/quiz/quiz.php Using the procedure of "Ready, Aim, Fire" to exemplify each character's behavior, Rabbit's is "Ready, Fire, Aim."  I have to confess, I do like to try something and see how it works and then really think about it or research it. Too often I get bogged down in research and never actually do the thing I'm researching.  So it's better to go ahead and do it and then find out how it should have been done and do it right the 2nd time, when I have experience.  I'm really kidding, but sometimes. . .

Anyway, at about 4:30 a. m. I found myself standing at the gate of the goat yard petting the girls.  It's crazy how something will not bother me when I'm awake, but then I will dream about it and find myself reacting to it in my sleep.  I dreamed that Gypsy was having major problems because the bamboo was cutting her insides up.  I am aware that I am dreaming and I shouldn't get out of bed, but I can not stop myself.  I have been doing this since I was a little girl.  I will have 2 things going on in my head at the same time, reality and a dream.  Nine out of 10 times I will react to the dream even when I know I am dreaming.  Sometimes I remember it and sometimes I don't.  

In fact, I have had a lot of phone conversations in my sleep and do not remember them.  But people who know me well usually realize that I am asleep. They say they know I am asleep, because I am not very nice.  In that case, maybe I should go to Board Meeting asleep.  They could be mean, I could be mean and I would never remember it. 

But this past Saturday, since my husband was at work and I really woke up standing at the goat yard in the dark at 4:30 a.m., I remember that.  Most importantly, the goats are fine, and I made it back to bed.