|
|
|
Comment |
Sorted by
Date Written |
Re: Cooper-Poor thing (Reply to this comment)
by repeatoffender
Yo, BillyGoatBoy!
Do you take fashion tips from Andy Rooney? Deal with child-rearing problems by watching "Married With Children" reruns? Get drug counseling from Rush Limbaugh?
So why do go to a Writer's Corner to expect a serious treatise on goats? Next time try a different category. "Goats", f'rinstance. But my guess is you were just someone spoiling for a fight.
A little advice Goat-Butt Brain: Don't look back in angora.
Oh, if you're interested in learning about raising horses, TVLand should be airing an episode of "Mr. Ed" any moment now.
RO Bill
|
Jul 14 '06
12:06 am PDT
|
|
Re: Cooper-Poor thing (Reply to this comment)
by thedragonweyr
Well, I see you are new to Epinions so I won't peel your skin off like a banana. My posting was a humor piece, designed to elicit a few chuckles, NOT a roadmap for transporting goats. If you did not get that from the description of me and the goat singing along to Green River, you are minus the humor gene and doomed to a lifetime of taking everything too seriously!
Lighten up! The Writers Corner is for whatever a writer chooses to post here, be it fact, fiction, humor, drama, poetry, or nonsense. In humor writing, the author often takes considerable artistic license to make something funnier. If you want to read instructive literature, you need to read elsewhere on the site.
Facts: Cooper was/is a huge angora goat, he DID stink to high heaven, and he DID form a permanent bond with me during our drive. He WAS NOT mistreated in any way, shape or form and survived his "ordeal" in perfect health. He had ample space in his crate, more than enough to jump around and get nearly into the front of my Explorer.
Goat Facts: they are ruminates; their method of feeding is to browse on assorted vegetation rather than graze as do sheep, horses, and cattle; they come in two distinct types, meat goats like the boer and dairy breeds like alpines, toggenbergs, nubians, saanans, la manchas, etc; angoras and cashmeres are wool-producers and fall between these two types, some being excellent meat producers others tending toward the dairy type;
goats are highly susceptible to both internal and external parasites and require regular and frequent wormings to maintain health; they also require higher than levels of copper in their diet, a metal toxic to sheep, so care must be taken to keep feeds and supplements for the two species separate; a good milker can produce 11 pounds of milk or more daily; a good wool producer can give anywhere from a few ounces of cashmere to a few pounds of angora; only the first, kid, clip of angora is worth good money, subsequent fleece value depends entirely on the quality of the adult animals. All goats require ample fresh water and some need supplemental concentrates as well to maintain correct body weight. Goats are playful and appreciate furniture to climb on within their enclosures. Goats are escape artists and can slither under most fences or through pipe gates, they are also adept climbers. Goats can contract serious diseases such as CAE, coccidia, and clamydia. They need to be vaccinated for clostridial diseases and tetanus at least annually and the kids need their own shots when they are weaned. Goat kids reach sexual maturity anywhere from 7 weeks to 8 months of age. Does are normally bred to kid after their first birthday. Twins and triplets are fairly common. Goats need regular attention to their feet, trimmings and treatment if they develop problems. Goat milk is useful for making cheese, feeding to hogs or calves, and is naturally homogenized so a cream separator is necessary for butter making on any kind of scale. The does live longer than the bucks and the weathers live the longest. A wether is a neutered buck.
I could go on, but I think I have made my point, I am well acquainted with the correct care of goats and my humorous piece WAS NOT intended to be a blueprint for anyone seeking husbandry advice!
If you think angora bucks ("billy" is considered old-fashioned and disrespectful) are 100% sweet and gentle, you have not been around them for nearly long enough! Some can reach staggering size for the breed and can be very aggressive, especially during the rut, when their aroma becomes extremely pungent.
If you think an aggressive, horned animal weighing 128 pounds is small, you are just plain daft! Pound for pound, goats and rams have much greater oomph than a similarly sized human. As I am only 5'3" and weigh no more than the goat in question, had he taken a serious smash at my legs I could easily have ended up in the local ER with broken bones!
Really, you have read other goat stories I have written? Where would that be, pray tell?
As for disseminating misinformation, anyone foolish enough to read a humor piece and expect to come away an expert on animal husbandry is a moron in the first place! If the shoe fits....
We raised Romney and Cotswold sheep for many years, very successfully in fact. We gave up the sheep to breed Davenport Arabian horses exclusively. Do you know anything about horses? Perhaps you would like to take me to task for my knowledge or lack thereof where horses are concerned?
If anyone is a jerk, it is you, sir, for assuming that a humor piece was ever intended to be taken for anything other than entertainment!
Pull your thick head out of the sand and go read someone else's work. But, before you do that, make sure they are not posted on the Writer's Corner, a tiny section of Epinions devoted to those who want to have a little fun on this site! I would hate to have you further traumatized by reading other tongue-in-cheek posts, designed only to entertain, not instruct!
Pamela
|
Jul 13 '06
7:36 am PDT
|
|
Cooper-Poor thing (Reply to this comment)
by angorabilly
Personally I think you're a jerk for transporting a 128 pound goat in a small crate-and more of one to even THINK of putting it on the roof.. what is Wrong with you?
And besides that- Angora goats do NOT smell terrible like other breed goats- third a 128 lb billy is 'small'.. so making it sound like he was a threat butting the backs of your legs - geesh!
I can only hope this poor Cooper did not have to reside at your house.. obviously you need a lesson in goats..
AngoraBilly
225lbs of billy BTW
I have read other articles on goats you have written and before you cause damage to someone's herd because of your Mis-Information.. you need to do some research!
|
Jul 12 '06
1:30 pm PDT
|
|
Re: Re: Unrequited love...such a sad tale (Reply to this comment)
by patriciak
It was memorable :)
Hmmm...then there is the 17 hour car trip home from Edmonton with a show kitten, who ignored all efforts to use his box on potty breaks, and after coaxing his way out onto my lap, tried desperately to get off my lap and onto the dash. Of course, as we were driving, that wasn't an option, so I kept him on my lap for snuggling. That wasn't what was on his mind...he let go with a lapful of cat pee (amazing how much urine a kitten bladder can hold) and I ended up stripping partially in a parking lot in the dark, well I wish it was dark, it was too well lit and dang that wind was cold, this was Fall! Said new husband laughed himself silly, and the kitten just was fascinated with my reaction time, plus he looked at me as if to ask why I was so surprised after he'd shown all day, not peed, not used his box, and did try to get off of me to do his bizness elsewhere.
Silly me.
Patriciak
|
Jun 16 '02
4:38 pm PDT
|
|
Re: Unrequited love...such a sad tale (Reply to this comment)
by thedragonweyr
Now that honeymoon trip sounds like a Dragon expedition. Only ten cats? I bet that was a lot of fun and a wonderful foundation to build a marriage upon;-).
Hugs,
Pamela
|
Jun 16 '02
10:35 am PDT
|
|
Unrequited love...such a sad tale (Reply to this comment)
by patriciak
of woe. Cooper is obviously unaware of his less than appealing aroma (and his research into pheromones and dragons is obviously lacking) and other qualities that make it highly unlikely he'll have the deep and abiding kind of friendship he'd like to have with said dragon...at least credit the guy with loyalty!
Rofl! I have nothing in my memory arsenal to compare with this...mini horses smuggled in a budget van (not by me, but a friend where I went along for the ride) from VA to Central NY; picking up a Devon Rex in Philly to take back to the Catskills (Horatio didn't sing, so no amusement there), I suppose my best shot might be in describing my honeymoon? Sick as a dawg with the flu within 24 hours of the cross-country drive with 10 cats in the van, stops in Minnesota, the Dakotas and one unscheduled (van decision, it browke...)in Montanna..all better known as the former Miss P discovers her hubby can drive forever without sleep (and is that all that the army taught him you may ask?)
sorry...no coffee yet (with or without, this is known to happen on occasion!)
hushing now,
Patriciak
|
Jun 16 '02
8:47 am PDT
|
|
|
|
