Blog #33

Goats and a Bridge

(and videos)

So …, in case you’re curious, if you’re near Athens, Georgia, on a Fall Saturday when UGA has a home game, the color palette is only three colors:  Red, White, and Black. Once we were fairly north on Highway 441, everything seemed to be a combination of those colors.  Address signs, t-shirts, baked goods, billboards, makeup, you name it, it was red, black, and/or white.  The first job we had lined up was goats, and even they were in on it, well, by design.  These are white angora goats that we’ve sheared a few times before.

They both did well this shearing, and they keep getting smoother to work with.  They get a haircut every six months now, so there was less fouling of the gear, and they seemed overall more at ease, which makes everything easier.  They both sat really well and didn’t even start to bleat until well over the halfway point.  That may not seem like a big deal, but these goats can really pump up the volume, and it sounds like they are under extreme duress.  The reality is that they’re just out of their comfort zone and don’t like to be turned upside down.  In nature, animals that are on their back or can’t run are easy pickings for predators, so they do everything they can to get back on their feet.  Using a firm grip, keeping the process moving, and working smoothly and steadily goes a long way toward reducing the flight/flight actions in farm animals.

Fran and Zelda both had decent length clips, but not so overly long that they were under heat stress or getting entangled, both of which can be issues for longhair/wool breeds, whether goats or sheep.

We set up while the dew was still heavy, but that also meant the mosquitoes were out in full strength.  Fortunately, the owner was prepared with anti-bug incense, and she jammed a few sticks into splits in the fence rails and lit them up.  A little coffee, some incense, calm animals, working equipment, and the morning stayed smooth.  I was really happy the owner and I remembered a cyst on one animal’s neck, so I was able to plan for it and shear over and around it to avoid any undue excitement.  The owner’s had it checked by a vet, who said it’s simply a benign cyst, so unless it grows, changes, or the goat shows signs of discomfort, no action is required.  Getting that little bit of awareness kept me from shearing into it and made for an easier day for us all.

The second goat sheared up quickly and smoothly, the incense burned out, so it was time to move on to the next job, and we went to it by a different path.  I didn’t know Georgia still had wooden covered bridges, but this one is well worth seeing! The only visible steel is the guides to keep vehicles centered on the bridge.  The pegs holding things together are 3”+ diameter wood, and the whole thing looks to be about as old as Methuselah.  As it turns out, when we crossed the bridge, we were only a few miles from the next gig!  

Surprisingly, the bridge wasn’t Red, Black, or White.

 

C-Ya!

*** No animals were harmed in the making of this post. Shearing is an important part of sheep farming for the wellbeing of the sheep. ***