Bluey is a mixture of two types of goat, Golden Guernsey and Saanen. She's a
young maiden nanny, 3 years old - unlike her friend Louise, she hasn't had
any kids (the name for new-born and young goats), so strictly speaking she
should not have to be milked - but she has started to produce milk, maybe
because it means getting extra snacks!
Bluey II was kindly donated to us by Bill Quay Farm in Hebburn when Louise's
friend Bluey I sadly died with a tumour at the end of the Foot and Mouth
epidemic. Bluey II quickly cheered up Louise with her antics.
Bluey is a very cheeky and lively youngster with a pretty face. Her lovely
honey-coloured coat, which is a little longer on the legs and spine, comes
from the percentage of Golden Guernsey in her breeding. The Guernsey goat is
a breed that evolved in the Channel Islands, whilst the Saanen, which is
usually white, can be traced back to Switzerland.
Her speciality is escaping and she can jump or wriggle out of fields quite
easily and then leads everyone on a mad chase around the farm until she is
caught. She loves being groomed, and her most peculiar habit is throwing
herself on the floor if she is itchy and then wriggling on the grass to
scratch herself.
Bluey eats grass, hay, and goat mix, and likes nibbling young trees,
thistles and bushes when she gets the chance. It is not true that goats will
eat anything; they are by nature inquisitive and although they will all
sorts of things, they are actually very selective about what they eat. They
like eating young leaves, weeds and brambles and can be useful for clearing
areas of rough ground, as long as you keep them away from young trees!
Goats in the Anglo-Saxon period were smaller and hairier than Bluey, and
looked rather like the feral goats that you still see in some areas of the
North. They would also have had horns, and would have given less milk than
our goats, and would have been used for meat, milk and skins. They seem to
have been kept in smaller numbers than sheep, although it is difficult to
distinguish sheep from goat bones when they are found on an archaeological
dig. Sheep's wool was valuable for clothing, but goat hair on feral goats
would be too short for spinning.
On the farm we use the milk to feed orphan lambs. Goat milk is easily
digested and useful for rearing lots of young orphan animals as it doesn't
give them an upset stomach.
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