# Taking goats to school :)



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Friday we're taking some goats to my daughters elementary school for Career day. My oldest 2 kids will most likely be helping me, they can help show the goats while I explain some things, and show some of the things we use for goat care. We'll keep it simple since most likely the kids will want to see the goats.
I'm not sure if we should allow anyone to pet them? If so I'd make sure we have hand sanitizer. We'll be taking at least one mom with baby/babies, and a couple of yearlings. I'll try to bring the calmest of calm lol. I think it will be fun, chaotic at first for the goats when they see all those kids, but fun  


I'd sure love any cool, fun or random goat facts in general that I could tell the kids, especially anything career/life related, but needs to be on a level for K-5th graders.

Thanks for any help!


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## SeventeenFarms (Dec 10, 2013)

One thing I always find myself explaining is that goats don't eat "everything and anything". Maybe not a fun fact, but a good fact. Sometimes this misinformation is so ingrained in people that they don't believe me when I explain it to them.


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

Their stomach chambers. They make 5 gallons of saliva a day.


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

The only other animal with a rectangular pupil is the octopus!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks! Very interesting! I didn't even know that about the saliva and the pupils! 

I agree about the 'goats don't eat everything.' I always tell people not familiar with goats, that if someone tells them that, then they either have odd goats or don't know goats! 

I'm looking forward to doing this. Although sadly, my oldest 2 kids are having some grade issues so they will not be going to help me! I'm so bummed because they are really slacking in school this year, yet my youngest daughter always has all her work done while waiting for the bus ride home (she has to wait an hour!), or she does it as soon as she gets home. I'm really proud of her for that. I think they may let her help me 

Now to get the goats ready, haha.... I'm not worrying about grooming, etc. They'll get brushed that's about it. The kids aren't really lead trained yet, so I'll just go with the moment on how they act


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## Clarebear12345 (Dec 2, 2015)

Tell us how it goes


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## KinzieFarm (Mar 14, 2016)

I would talk about all the things that goats are useful for: 
Dairy - goats produce milk which is more common than cow's milk around the world. The milk is used for drinking, for cheese, for making soap
Meat - some goats are bred for meat, though not as common here in the US
Fiber - many goats are bred to have long soft hair that is used to make yarn and fabrics
Packing - goats are used by hikers to carry supplies since they are steady on their feet and can carry up to 25% of their own weight
Cart pulling - Goats can be taught to pull carts and can often be seen in parades
Pets - Many goats are bred to be small and friendly and are suitable for pets - they are very entertaining to watch climb and jump, and since they have no upper teeth they cannot bite!


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Along the line with fiber, it's the right time of the year that you could bring a comb with you and comb out some of their undercoat to pass around. I did that with my toddlers yesterday and then explained about Cashmere and yarn, etc.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Everyone I appreciate it! I couldn't get tires for our trailer (they sold them the day before I was going to get them!), so I won't be able to take any of the adults or yearlings  I'm going to take a couple of doe kids that are almost 3mo, and I 'might' take the bottle babies I'm sure kids would get a kick out of them. I won't let kids touch the wee ones as they are only a week old. But I'm afraid to leave them at home and not be back in time to give them their bottle. 
Not having the trailer ready really screwed up my plans, but we'll make it work.
Now lets hope the 4 footed kids behave lol


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

how'd it go


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

It went great  I ended up taking Stormy (11 week old triplet kiko/boer doe), and Maggie (boer yearling).
Stormy stayed in the wire crate in the back of the truck with the tailgate down so kids could come over and see her. I put Maggie on the goat stand when the classes were out there - she tends to get a little impatient when it comes to standing still so the stand was a good idea (plus she climbs on it and climbs into the truck vs. me trying to pick her up lol!!!).

She hasn't been away from home since August, and she was a pro! I am so proud of her. All of the kids got to pet her and get up close, and she didn't mind it at all. Stormy never complained either 
There were about 7 different classes that came through. During the 5th or 6th class, I had Maggie backwards on the stand when the kids came out and she was snuggling into my chest, I had my arm under her head, she rested it there, closed her eyes and was trying to sleep - I could feel that sleepy snore on my arm, it was just too adorable. The kids got a kick out of that.

Of course the funniest thing was turning her loose in the back of the truck with the crate and the goat stand when we were going to the school. She tried to army crawl on the stand to get to the front of the truckbed - closer to us. The whole time she has the funniest, freaked out look as if saying 'OMG Mom is selling me! No, Mom loves me, she can't do this!' I had to stop before we even got out of the driveway, turn the stand at an angle so she could climb off and stand in the front corner. Silly girl!

The school invited me in for lunch, so after I put the girls back in the truck, got them settled, as soon as Maggie saw me heading for the building she was on the stand army crawling around trying to figure out how to get out so she could come with me. Silly, silly girl. I did manage to grab a plate of yummy food to take home and eat after I got the girls back in their pen. 

So yeah, it was fun. The teachers said they were a big hit with the kids, so if we happen to go back again, I'll make sure to be better prepared - trailer ready, and maybe make some informative signs with goat facts, etc. weather permitting, signs outside today wouldn't have been a good idea. It was slightly drizzling, dreary and cold.


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