Gauteng Smallholder Gauteng Smallholder November 2011 | Page 44

SMALL STOCK
They’re clever,
inquisitive, and
even infuriating
All about goats
T
he domestic goat is a
sociable, inquisitive and
intelligent species.
Although it exhibits a wide
range of behaviours, the
domesticated goat has been
the subject of relatively few
behavioural studies. If you are
keeping goats, it helps to know
how their social structure
works, so that your manage-
ment of them does not place
any unnecessary strain on
them.
Goats are a flocking species
but they don't flock as tightly
as sheep.
Indigenous Veld Goats have a
very strong herding instinct,
which helps to protect them
from predators, which they
will fight off with their sharp
and efficient horns.
A goat herd is hierarchical,
usually with a head male and
a herd queen. A goat herd has
a "pecking order", so every
goat has its place in the herd.
According to goat farmer Ross
Rayner, “Goats are a bunch of
gangsters, hierarchy is serious
business in a goat herd.”
Males join harems of females
in autumn but for the rest of
the year they are in bachelor
groups of solitary males. They
sort out a social order in these
groups by bunting and horn
wrestling.
So for most of the year, an
alpha female leads the group
of females suckling their
current kids, with previous
adolescent females still in the
group.
She's the dominant doe in the
herd, and as such, she gets
first choice of food, sleeping
spot, and anything else
considered desirable by goats.
In a dairy herd, she'll want to
be milked first. Every other
doe in the herd has a specific
dominant order below her,
and gets access to the best
items based on that position.
The herd queen tends to be
the most aggressive, oldest,
and largest goat in the herd,
but that can vary depending
on herd makeup. She's the
goat that will lead the herd
out to pasture and determine
where they should browse,
and in wild herds, is responsi-
ble for teaching the herd
which plants are poisonous or
inedible.
The herd queen's kids
automatically assume rank
directly below the queen. So
they also get access to the best
food, sleeping spot, etc and
the queen will defend them if
other goats try to take their
position. As her kids grow,
they will also defend her to
make sure she retains the top
spot, and she will usually
Continued on page 43
IN THE KITCHEN
add the lids and bring the pot
From page 41
then add some more and
shake again, filling the jar to
the brim.
At this stage place three or
four jars into a large pot of hot
water on the stove and fill
each jar with syrup. Loosely
42
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to the boil for about 20
minutes.
Remove the jars and seal
immediately.
When the jars are cool, rinse
and dry them, then label
them.