Saturday, July 28, 2007
Keeping Goats busy,
As one can see in these pictures, toys don't have to cost a lot. Here I am using an empty lemonade bottle that is rather sturdy, and I fill it with alfalfa/oat pellets. I leave the cap off so the goats can smell the pellets, and of course that leads to them wanting to eat them. It took Maya a few days to get more interested in the challenge at hand.
Milli is catching on too.
I firmly believe in what's known as Environmental Enrichment, which means keeping animals busy so they don't get bored and dull. When I was a kid and we went to the zoo there were always some animals who were moving aimlessly about constantly performing the same stereotypy behaviors (I think that's what it's called). Nowadays zoos go to great lengths to keep animals busy with toys and also by making the animals work for their food. This may sound strange, but most animals in nature have to constantly search and hunt for food to meet their nutritional needs, but when we bring them into our homes, we hand out a bowl of food, the animal satisfies its nutritional needs and what would normally take them all day, can be accomplished with no effort on their part. So what are they supposed to do the rest of their time? This is where environmental enrichment comes in. First, we try to make it a little more challenging for the animals to get their food, then we provide some species appropriate toys or objects of interest and then we can also provide some interactive toys.
Now in this picture she has pushed the bottle so it is standing up, of course the food doesn't come out that way.
But when the bottle sits up like in the previous picture, she can easily grab it and pick it up.
And then she flings it up a little and voila, the treats scatter, smart little goatie.
Moqui looks on with interest.
Milli is catching on too.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Goat games,
Here is Ayla, my almost two year old Anatolian Shepherd trying her tricks to entice the goats to come to her.
It's working, goats are very curious, and Ayla has managed to get all of them to come up to her and touch noses.
Baby Moqui standing on the kobalt salt block.
And taking to the air.
Maya with a mouthful of hay. She is such a sweet goat, loves hugs and kisses and when I bring the brush with me she stands perfectly still for me to brush her.
Moqui sitting int he dogloo.
Coming out of the dogloo.
Milli and Moqui playing with a bucket. All three of them were quite intrigued with the bucket, not that they had never seen it before, but I left it sitting there and for about twenty minutes the bucket was in the center of their attention and curiosity.
Probably my best shot ever.
Cute little Moqui
Maya pulling on my shorts
Here is Ayla, my almost two year old Anatolian Shepherd trying her tricks to entice the goats to come to her.
It's working, goats are very curious, and Ayla has managed to get all of them to come up to her and touch noses.
Baby Moqui standing on the kobalt salt block.
And taking to the air.
Maya with a mouthful of hay. She is such a sweet goat, loves hugs and kisses and when I bring the brush with me she stands perfectly still for me to brush her.
Moqui sitting int he dogloo.
Coming out of the dogloo.
Milli and Moqui playing with a bucket. All three of them were quite intrigued with the bucket, not that they had never seen it before, but I left it sitting there and for about twenty minutes the bucket was in the center of their attention and curiosity.
Probably my best shot ever.
Cute little Moqui
Maya pulling on my shortsSaturday, July 21, 2007
Goats having fun,
Baby Moqui is having fun, she loves to zoom around, sometimes all three of them are racing around their little house, it's too funny to watch them buck and kick as they run and jump,
Moqui loves to stand on top of the igloo, and she is getting quite good in keeping Milli from getting up there too.
Ayla keeping an eye on Maya, who won't tolerate nosey dogs,
It took a few days for Maya to get frisky, but now she runs around with the younger ones and enjoys hopping on all the little things they have in their pen to get up on.
Baby Moqui is having fun, she loves to zoom around, sometimes all three of them are racing around their little house, it's too funny to watch them buck and kick as they run and jump,
Moqui loves to stand on top of the igloo, and she is getting quite good in keeping Milli from getting up there too.
Ayla keeping an eye on Maya, who won't tolerate nosey dogs, 
It took a few days for Maya to get frisky, but now she runs around with the younger ones and enjoys hopping on all the little things they have in their pen to get up on.Thursday, July 12, 2007
Goat Encounter,
The youngsters Milli and Moqui
Moqui is only 3 months old. Since yesterday she seems to have decided that I can be trusted and she lets me pet her and seems to enjoy the attention. 
Today she was much better than the first time when she had a hard time controlling her curiosity about these new critters, which resulted in them running awy from her a few times. Today she was holding herself back very appropriately, so she is learning how the goats respond to her behavior and she is adjusting her approach accordingly. I was so proud of her when the goats were running and jumping all of a sudden and Leydi did not even get up - what a girl. 
Ayla making herself as small as she can. I think in a few more days the goats will realize the Anatolians are not going to hurt them and they will all get along great. 
Maya is watching Ayla who is in alert mode. I have noticed that the goats seem to know that barking dogs means something is up. They all run and look what the dogs are barking at. Very interesting.
The youngsters Milli and MoquiMoqui is only 3 months old. Since yesterday she seems to have decided that I can be trusted and she lets me pet her and seems to enjoy the attention. it's been 5 days since our goats have arrived here and both of my Anatolians are doing great with them. Leydi has never seen a goat up close before, she is quite fascinated with them and she will sit next to their pen watching them.
Ayla had been around goats for about 2 weeks when she was a puppy, when ours arrived last Saturday and she saw them she made her happy face and her tail was wagging in anticipation of meeting them. I can tell she would love to get closer and make friends with them, but she will have to be patient and wait until the goats really learn to trust her. But it is nice to see how Ayla tries really hard to be non-threatening with them, if she walks up to them and they all start looking at her alarmed, she just changes direction and goes somewhere else, she moves slowly around them and when Maya head butted her because Ayla got a little too close, Ayla acted very apologetic/submissive. I am so proud of my girls. I am also proud of my curagious doe Maya, who head-butts a dog that stands a lot taller than she is, because the young and inexperienced dog got a little too nosey.
Maya is watching Ayla who is in alert mode. I have noticed that the goats seem to know that barking dogs means something is up. They all run and look what the dogs are barking at. Very interesting.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
New Arrivals,
checking out their new home, all three of them are very friendly and curious. The baby Moqui is a little standoffish, doesn't like to be petted a lot like the other two.
Moqui
I finally got some goats, a trio of Nigerian Dwarf goats, 3 girls Maya 2 1/2 years old, her daughter Moqui 3 months old and Milli almost one year old. 
Moqui
Moqui can't reach over the top to eat, so she hops right in, 
Having a cool drink, both the cooler and the utility sink work great as water bowls and keep the water cool all day long. It is really amazing, but even with temperatures being over 110 degrees, the water in those two containers stays cool.
