Incredible Expanding Goat Bellies

My goats’ preferred food is bulky and coarse (and thorny!) I don’t have a large pasture for the boys, but I do have a small meadow that I manage with a portable electric netted fence. I let them eat one section down, while the other becomes overgrown with what you might consider weeds, but that they see as gourmet fare. I recently moved the fence to let Pip and Caper have access to brambles, grasses and flowers.

The boys could never be considered svelte.

Yet I am always amazed at what happens to their bodies when they eat – which they do, with much loud munching and burping.

Look at Caper’s asymmetrical shape after a half-hour of grazing! (That’s his rumen – one of four stomachs – jutting out.)

I guess that when a belly gets that full, that one gets itchy. Lucky Caper, the rock in the paddock hits exactly the right spot.

 

Comments:

  1. You should rent them out to your neighbors to “mow” their lawns! They not only cut the grass…they fertilize it….

  2. I didn’t realize their tummies expanded like that after eating brush and foliage. Must be part of their digestion and re-digestion process as ruminates. Aren’t the sounds delightful? I’ve heard the burping & other sounds/smells. But you can’t help but adore them. Your two boys are the cutest goats. I just love them and enjoy watching them daily.

  3. Here at home we love your goat video – the lap goats. Thank you for sharing. They are so cute.