General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSold a goat to a MAGA guy today...
A guy who has bought dairy goats from me for several years brought another guy looking for a black buck. I sold him one, I'm always excited to get rid of the bucks... they have limited demand in dairy herds of course. The doelings are like gold and any time I've advertised any they go in just a couple of weeks. But this is my second "buck year" in a row having almost twice as many boys as girls it was something like 16-9. Not too good, but with today's sale only 3 boys left from the spring... so here's why I'm telling the story here...
I loaded this little guy up in his van. He was born in March maybe 60-70 lbs fit in a large carrier. Then I went to the house to make out his registration paper with the dairy goat association and get a syringe with wormer to worm him on his way out. When I get back to the barn the guy steps out of the vehicle with a MAGA Trump 2020 hat on. He didn't have that on before but I would have probably took his $250 anyway given the alternative for these bucks would be somebody's freezer. When I sell them registered they go to breed and oh they do get excited about that!
I just ignored it but on his way out the drive he stops the van and says, "What do you think of my hat?"
My wife looks at me like "oh boy." I said, "Well I think it sucks, but I'm glad I got your money before you asked me that question!"
The guy looks concerned says, "Well you may want to rethink that because you don't want to live in a country where Biden is President."
I smiled and told him, "Look who knows but I've had 3 1/2 years to realize I sure as fuck don't want to live in this America where that hateful fool on your hat is the damn President!"
He peeled right out the driveway. My wife says thats why I don't get as much return business can't keep my mouth shut oh well!
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)You may not get as much return business, but at least you can sleep at night!
Besides, you did sell the goat and get your money.
Bayard
(21,806 posts)You don't by any chance raise Nigerian Drawfs, do you? I may be in the market for another buck.
Just got full size Nubis for going on 20 years now.
MrsMatt
(1,660 posts)Midnight Writer
(21,548 posts)Buckeyeblue
(5,491 posts)I think it's cause I'm white and middle aged. At some point in my mid-20's I lost the urge to advertise my atheism. I decided it was no one else's business. But if someone tries to push their religion on my, I make it perfectly clear where I stand.
3Hotdogs
(12,210 posts)So when I face assholery, I just ignore it. N.J. Elec. College votes aren't gonna change.
jcgoldie
(11,584 posts)No thanks to the downstate area where I live.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)That man fully expects Biden to hurt god and religion and guns. Bigly!
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)Plus got cash for a goat that does you no good.
Not sure where you stand on the issue, but my grandfather ran a heard of the to keep his various pieces of land cleared.
Every year we would have a goat roast with a BBQed goat cooked whole. Best meat Ive ever had. As good as wild venison.
Funny story. We had ESOL classes for our immigrant employees years ago. At the end of the class they had a party and everyone brought in food from their country. Quite a few were Haitian immigrants. They brought a goat dish that was the best thing there. I knew immediately what it was, but none of the other totally Anglo managers had a clue. Their reaction when they realized that they had just eaten goat was priceless.
Have a nice evening.
jcgoldie
(11,584 posts)I understand it. My brother is one. But we eat meat. Its not the primary purpose of my animals, but I have lost a buck to a broken neck. I butchered him myself on the tractor loader and put him in the freezer.
Its the most popular meat the world over although not in the United States because goats can sustain themselves on much poorer quality forage.
Here's the thing about goats for dairy or for meat that is important to me... I used to have cattle and the goats put so little pressure on the land. So very little pressure and its not even commensurate to their size. Take a small pasture of a few acres... just a couple of 1200 lb cows will turn it into a dry lot in summer and a mudhole in winter. You can literally run 30 150 lb full size goats in that same area and it will be lush and diverse... they browse not overgraze and they tread lightly. There will never be mud or much manure to speak of. They are so much more environmentally sustainable that its difficult to even describe it until you've seen pastures and pens. They have a small footprint.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)But still remember an animal science professor saying that unless Americans started eating more goat we would have an Unsubstantial system in the future. Shipping cattle to the lower Midwest to be fed out from all over the nation is not going to work forever. This was in 1985. He was a smart man.
Ive finally got my midwestern wife eating lamb and even Venison(yeah, I hunt). Im hoping goat is next.
And obviously you know your stuff. Like deer, goats are browsers. But like deer, the males goats really do stink when they have their rut on. Which goats always do!
Have a nice evening.
peacebuzzard
(5,124 posts)I have a county yard of 2 acres close to the city limits; it is unrestricted. It is on a steep hill with dense foliage. The kudzu is here. It would cost a fortune to have landscaped and I love it because of wildlife--deer, bunnies, fox so on. Do you think a few female goats might be helpful? I could fence it all in securely, and try to barn them at night. I think a barn and goats might solve my problem. Thoughts? I would love to have a trail going through so I could walk or trail bike ride but it is so dense with foliage. Do goats eat leaves? I have so many leaves everywhere. I have heard goats were low maintenance. I am going to try to visit someone I know in New Mexico who has a small herd of goats and get more info, but New Mexico has no foliage. I guess she has to buy lots of hay or other food source. Unlike me in the southeast, I am overrun with brush and trash foliage.
jcgoldie
(11,584 posts)Goats are NOT low maintenance. Exactly the opposite. You would have to have a barn or dry shed for certain they cannot sit out in the rain and weather. You have to deworm them a few times a year as they are VERY susceptible to parasites which will kill them if you dont manage it. You also have to trim feet as they werent really made for your soft terrain in the southeast. You will also need to buy hay for the winter months and store that in a dry place. The other concern on a lot where you dont live would be predation. I have livestock guard dogs to keep away coyotes and other dogs.
Thats the most pressing issues that occur to me. That said they will clean that land like nothing else. They love broadleaves and vines woody vegetation thats overgrown. They prefer all of that to grass. In a year or so you wont have a leaf within 4 or 5 feet of the ground it will be a park.
peacebuzzard
(5,124 posts)I will research the feet trimming, sounds like a minor adjustment. The lady goats would be like outside pets, and if I could get the two acres cleaned up I would be delighted. I live on the property, on a small tract of less than 1/4 acre and the rest is overgrown.
jcgoldie
(11,584 posts)If you are in contact with them a lot they will follow you around have very fun personalities. Trimming hooves is not hard just have someone hold them lift each one up and trim it back to hoof shape you can get trimmers from a place like jeffers livestock for $25.. just go easy at 1st if you cut off too much can draw blood but if you ignore it they will be limping with hoofrot. The worming is most important to emphasize if you ignore it will have sick and dead goats. Look up FAMACHA its the easiest way to stay on top of it by checking color of eyelids for anemia.
peacebuzzard
(5,124 posts)I have wormed my own pets for decades; before commercial availability of the ivermectin for dogs I was doing my own vetting.
I lived in veterinarian sparse areas, and had to learn the hard way how to care for pets. I linked into the FAMACHA, great source of info.
Bantamfancier
(363 posts)If goats dont float your boat, check out Shetland sheep. Very goat like in their eating habits, great mothers, easy lambing. Raised them for 20 years and miss having them around now.
peacebuzzard
(5,124 posts)I am looking forward to this project, my property really needs helpers.
PS do you have bantam chickens? just wondering about your "handle"?
Bantamfancier
(363 posts)My wife and I are 4H advisors in a poultry club. We raise bantams for our younger members to show. Much easier for them to handle and control. Cochins, brahmas, old english, polish, Buckeyes, seebrights and japs.
peacebuzzard
(5,124 posts)and very social, given a chance. I miss them, too.
I raised chickens for some time, back when life was simpler.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)But the ones the folks, including my grandfather in SW Arkansas ran were no maintenance. They were half wild. Lived outside year round and he never fed them or anything. Except in the middle of winter he would drop off hay. There was no barn or any other structure on that land.
He did have to ride the perimeter fence every couple of days because the stupid goats would get their horns wrapped in the barbed wire requiring them to be released.
jcgoldie
(11,584 posts)Several varieties. I have come across a lot of people who make similar claims about low maintenance animal husbandry not deworming or have substandard shelter. In my experience they have a lot of sick goats and they aren't in the business long.
I would not even sell a goat to someone who tells me they have no shelter on their property.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)Realize Im talking about 1975? And my grandfather was probably in his late 60s. In the poor rural south. He would move his goats from his different land plots to keep the undergrowth down. He may have been worming the in 75 but I guarantee you he did not in 35 or 45. Im not even sure there was worm medicine back then and he could not have afforded it.
He certainly had a utilitarian outlook to his animals. Because for most of his life what he produced was how his kids ate. If an animal was not doing well it was a simple equation to him: the value of the animal vs the cost of treatment. If the second approached the first the animal was for the stew pot.
It was a tough world being a farmer back before power and decent roads.
And he was a loyal democrat till he died. Because they gave him roads, power and eventually a job that qualified him for Social Security.
Have a nice day. Id love to see photos of your goats. They are really under appreciated.
jcgoldie
(11,584 posts)Heres a couple shots of some of my girls:
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)Those are the cleanest and healthiest looking goats I have ever seen.
Especially liked the one where the piebald looking one was up on a branch eating a leaf. Most people dont know how much ability goats have to climb. Ive even seen them up in leaning live oaks!
You have a safe week.
The reason they are swarming like that is a tall one will stand on her hind legs and hook a sapling pulling it down then they all swarm it like piranha... when she lets go its comes back up like a wooden leafless skeleton.
They have gotten loose in my apple orchard or grape arbor a couple of times and they are heartless assassins of vegetation with no conscience whatsoever.
peacebuzzard
(5,124 posts)that's great.
peacebuzzard
(5,124 posts)they look so sweet, and docile.
soldierant
(6,648 posts)Captain Zero
(6,715 posts)I want TWO of them.
ONE to Shit In, and ONE to cover it up.
AnnieBW
(10,350 posts)Yum!
elleng
(130,156 posts)GOOD LUCK!
iluvtennis
(19,758 posts)orleans
(33,987 posts)musette_sf
(10,184 posts)than the little guy becoming Little White Packages in the freezer
ansible
(1,718 posts)Your wife is right, especially when animals are involved that could be abused
diva77
(7,606 posts)I just hope he takes good care of it.
=======
Interesting hearing about the advantages of goats vs. cattle.
Sucha NastyWoman
(2,725 posts)brush
(53,475 posts)putting on the hat and asking about it. And what a fool as trump has bungled us into an endless cycle of virus spikes and he sees nothing wrong.
pfitz59
(10,198 posts)Two nubian milkers. Sweet things. Sold the land and gave them away years ago
DFW
(54,057 posts)Their lives don't change appreciably one way or another. They discuss political happenings that will hardly, if at all, affect their daily lives. If they have one gun or twenty, they will still never see the Taliban riding up their driveways on camels.
They just want to feel superior to some people, and fear other people, so they have something to talk about at the table. But take away Fox Noise or National Hate Radio, and they wouldn't even know that Eisenhower had left the White House.
Mister Ed
(5,896 posts)"Well...we gave him a shot at it. Are we great yet?"
That's not the vehement sort of reply I'd like to shoot back at him, but one thing I think I've learned is that it can be much better to ask a question than to make a declaration. Might make 'em think just a little bit. Probably not, but maybe.
Vinnie From Indy
(10,820 posts)colorado_ufo
(5,717 posts)BlueJac
(7,838 posts)flying_wahini
(6,529 posts)orwell
(7,754 posts)poor animal
HuskyOffset
(885 posts)"Well, I like to buy American made merchandise myself, but to each his own."
Warpy
(110,913 posts)If he wants good breeding bucks, he'll be back. He might even leave his stupid hat at home.
UserNotFound
(108 posts)I'd vote for a goat before I would the Orange Menace....
Ferrets are Cool
(21,063 posts)calimary
(80,700 posts)It's that much less he'll be able to send to the trump campaign.
ECL213
(203 posts)Wondering why it takes so long to fill up his milk jug.
not_the_one
(2,227 posts)and your guy, Putin's puppet, is going to be in jail."
Maybe add, "And please don't come back here again. I am particular about who I do business with, and you have shown that you don't meet my minimum standards for a customer."
relayerbob
(6,510 posts)Trump-is-Satan-world magazine
SayItLoud
(1,696 posts)trying to converse with maggats. It still drives me up the wall when I see boats with tRUMP flags and neighbors subtly revealing themselves with a tRUMP pennant or sticker but I now just think and internalize this: "I know what you are, I can not change you and I no longer have any respect for you". "I will be neighborly but not engage more than the social graces". And I always think "asshole".
The Wizard
(12,482 posts)to say "I'm sorry. I don't speak English" in perfect English. I get lots of blank expressions.
The Wizard
(12,482 posts)to say "I'm sorry. I don't speak English" in perfect English. I get lots of blank expressions.
skydive forever
(443 posts)250 bucks, for one buck. Sounds about right. MAGA
AnnieBW
(10,350 posts)But I think you got his!
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Their idiotic spewage makes me get overwhelmed with so much they have no idea of, and then I am lost for words.
Grins
(7,134 posts)The goat or the MAGA?
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(15,485 posts)At least they did with Obama and the Kerry swiftboaters said more or less the same thing. Here's what I don't understand when they say that; do we not know who Biden is? Is he going to be somehow radically different than he's been in his 40 years in government? That is a line straight from Rush or Sean or Alex.
Glad you sold the goat and took his money. That's $250 he can't give to Hair Furor!