06/19/2019
Beyond the Tin Can
Myths and stereotypes about goats have developed through the centuries, portraying goats as garbage and tin can eating, butting, stinky creatures, of no good use. The time has come to debunk the stereotypes and myths about goats and provide information on the positive uses that goats provide. Contrary to the common beliefs, goats are an important and crucial part of mankind’s livelihood, supplying companionship, food, and fiber plus carting and packing goods.
Typical stereotypes frequently stem from some sort of visual such as a photo, a comic strip or a story told by someone. The most famous stereotype of all is goats eat everything, garbage and tin cans. It never fails, the first words that come from a person’s mouth is, “Oh does that goat eat tin cans and garbage?” This stereotype originally started from a cartoon that was viewed by millions on television in 1954.This cartoon was called Billy Boy and was a baby goat that ate everything and the farmer chased him around trying to stop him from eating the plants, railroad tracks and cans (Billy Boy).Goats in fact are very picky eaters.
Goats are browsers, not grazers which means they nibble at everything. Goats are in reality picky eaters. They prefer to eat leaves, forbs and woody vines .Goats will nibble and are like babies and have something in their mouth all the time (Separating). Goats learn about their environment by tasting and feeling with their mouth. If you happen to see a goat with a can, they are playing, or licking what’s inside the can, or chewing the paper and tasting the glue. Paper is made of wood and they do like woody plants (Damerow 4). Saying a goat eats everything is like saying a infant eats everything ,in reality it is just a discovery tool. Not everything that goes in the mouth is chewed and swallowed.
Goats are also known for butting and hitting with their horns. The next great stereotype about goats is they all have horns and they love to butt and ram people. This is another fallacy about goats. Not all goats are born with horns and just because they have horns, doesn’t make them a ramming, butting, hitting machine. The butting has also been portrayed in cartoons, where some old Billy goat waits for someone to bend over and bam. Where does the idea of butting stem from? The famous story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff (Traditional Literature).This story has been read to children over many years setting the idea in young minds that goats butt. Goats are not angry butting animals as portrayed.
Goats do butt when they are playing with each other or when they are trying to find their dominance in the herd. Males and females have horns and some are born without horns. The butting of humans is a bad habit taught by humans (Damarow). When goats are, young people think it is fun to push on goats heads and to get the goat to push back like a game therefore teaching the young goat rough play such as butting and pushing is permitted. When the goat matures to an adult and weighs 200 plus pounds and wants to play the human doesn’t want to play and now blames the goat for bad habits they taught the goat (Goat Health). Thus humans created this goat that runs around butting people, and everyone stands around thinking goats are mean and butt people just for fun (Work goat).
It is very common to hear people comment on goat’s milk and how terrible it tastes. Many times they will say that goat milk tastes like a stinky old buck or is very strong tasting. This is a stereo type that has some truth in it depending on the circumstance. Usually the idea of goat milk tasting bad is heard from one person to another. One person had a batch of bad milk and claimed all goat milk is bad . Then the stereo type begins.
Goat milk is like cows milk , the flavor is affected by genetics, feed, and the processing and care of the milk. Goat’s milk can be very delicious, rich and creamy just like cows milk. Some goats are bred just to produce a good quality of drinking milk but that is not all it takes. The feeds need to be rich and nutritious and somewhat sweet. Milk takes on what ever flavors the animal eats, so for instance if a cow or goat is out eating Manzanita and w**ds the milk will have a bitter flavor. If cows and goats are eating sweet grains and sugar beets you will have sweet rich milk. When milk is prepared with as much sanitation as possible, and chilled quickly and properly this makes a big difference in flavor also. If you choose to try goat’s milk, keep these things in mind (what makes).
Goat meat also has its stereo types about its flavor. Goat meat or chevon is always marked by bad words such as the meat is strong and is stringy and tough. As with all the other stereotypes, there is the folks that proclaim goat meat is horrid and not good for human consumption. As one person has a bad taste in their mouth from eating some badly cooked goat meat they let everyone know that goat meat has a terrible taste. I myself have tried to change people’s thoughts on goat meat in letting them try the goat meat I have prepared and they are like,” WOW this doesn’t taste like goat!” I say.” Have you had goat meat before?” and they say,” No” .I think about this all the time how does it not taste like goat. They have a preconceived notion that it is going to taste awful.
Goat is the same at beef. It needs to be fed correctly, butchered at the right age and cooked correctly. When raising a goat to be on the dinner plate, the goat needs to be fed good feeds for the goat to develop good healthy muscling .The best goat meat is processed when the goat is under a year. After a year, goat meat does become stringy and tough. The breed of goat is important because the meat breed is bred to produce larger muscling and produce better cuts of meat. The other great secret to good tasting meat is how it is cooked and prepared. The same as any beef, chicken or pork product everything depends on feed, timing and cooking. Goat meat is a very mild meat when raised correctly (P***a) .
All goats smell bad is right up the same ally as garbage eating goats. All goats don’t smell. The males do put off a very strong smell during rut or breeding season and they don’t even stink except for a few months out of the year. They put this smell out to attract females. So you can see how someone who had been around a rutting male goat would automatically assume all goats stink.
The history of goats will help smooth out more of these fallacies and stereotyping and help with understanding. Historically goats have been around for a long time. Goats became domesticated 10,000 to 11,000 years ago by Neolithic farmers near east Began. These farmers were the first to discover that goats could provide meat, milk, manure for fires and hides to keep warm. On the great voyages made with ships to explore new countries, goats were taken to supply milk and meat on the trip (Hirst). Thus the goats were spread across the continents. There is more then three hundred breeds across the world ( Damerow 7).
Most people in United States drink cows milk The most consumed milk in the world is goat milk. Goat’s milk has some special attributes that cow’s milk can not provide. First of all the composition is different then cows milk. The lactose or milk sugar is much less then cows milk and the enzymes in goats milk is broke down in smaller goblets making goats milk easier to digest and lactose intolerant humans can drink goats milk with no problems. In many cases, goat’s milk is recommended when a baby is unable to process the milk they are drinking. I for one was one of those babies; goats milk saved my life. Goats milk is used to make cheese, soap and for drinking of course. As you see below in the chart goat milk is closest to human milk (GoatHealth).
Reference: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 16
Goat milk is one of the best milks to drink. In Nevada more goat dairies are developing and sending their milk to California to be processed into cheese.
Another product of goats is goat meat. Goat meat is one of the largest consumed red meats in the world; just in The United States it is gaining popularity now. Goat meat is a very healthy red meat to eat being very low in cholesterol and fat. There are two types of meat that most people hear about one is chevon which is a young milk fed kid goat and the other is cabrito which is a older goat under a year weighing around 80 to 100 pounds. If the goat is butchered at the correct age the meat will be tender and very mild. Many ethnic groups that live in United States use a lot of goat meat as a staple in their diet. As you see below the chart shows a goat meat compares to other meats.
GOAT MEAT NUTRITION COMPARISON CHART
Per 3 oz. Cooked
Goat 1 Chicken 2 Beef 3 Pork 4 Lamb 5
Calories 122 162 179 180 175
Fat (g) 2.6 6.3 7.9 8.2 8.1
Sat Fat (g) 0.79 1.7 3 2.9 2.9
Protein (g) 23 25 25 25 24
Cholesterol (mg) 63.8 76 73.1 73.1 78.2
Data from: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 14 (July 2001)
Texas is the largest producer of meat goats but our goat farmers in The United States can not keep up with the market. Therefore most goat meat is imported from Australia. Goat meat is the other red meat (Bowman 22,23).
Hair and hides of goats are also very popular. The hair of two very important and expensive fibers comes from goats, cashmere and angora goats. Cashmere is known as the fabric of kings, being used in royal homes and palaces. The Ark of covenant at of the Old Testament was lined and curtained with it. Cashmere goats originated in the orient and over years found there way to Australia where the goats were let loose and bred with other goats. Once the Australians started catching these feral goats they discovered they had cashmere and a lot of it. Australia really started breeding the goat to produce more and now one goat can produce 2.5 pounds of fleece twice a year. The Cashmere goat was introduced into United States around 1980s and Texas rapidly became the highest producer in the USA of cashmere (Harris).
Angora goats produce mohair another very popular fiber. Angora goats originate from the district of Angoras in Asia Minor. The angora fiber dates back past biblical times. Angora goats are very popular in United States providing a average 5.3 pounds of mohair twice a year. The hides and hair of all goats have been used over time for various things such as bota bags, to cover drums, gloves and clothing.
The uses of goats are unlimited, even carting and packing are useful. Goats have been used for carting and packing for many years but recently have become popular to hunters and 4H kids here in The United States. A goat can pull a cart just like a pony does. They also can pack. What is unique about this pack animal no lead is needed. They are so domesticated that they will stay with the hiker or hunter and never leave their side. John Mionezzysynski wrote a book about pack goats after using them for years to pack his supplies while he did his U.S forestry work. John’s book helped reveal the integrity of pack goats and pack goat use. He also ran a string of pack goats and had a outfitter /packer company. Goats can pack up to 25 percent of their body weight which means a 250 pound goat can carry up to 50 pounds or a little more. What a relief for hikers that don’t want to carry a backpack anymore and for hunters that needs something to carry out the kill. When the goats are used for hiking the goats eat what is provided in the wilderness making it easier(History) .Goats have become mother natures w**d control.
Goats are used in control of noxious w**ds. In many states the w**d management programs have implemented using goats in prescription grazing. The goats go in and do brush control, noxious w**d control and fire breaks. The goats are a natural way of controlling w**ds without using chemicals.
Goats are a all purpose animals. What other animal can produce milk, meat, clothing, companionship, packing, w**d control and free fertilizer? Goats have many stereotypes and have been discriminated against for false stories and portrayed in cartoons in a certain way. But the truth is goats are a all in one package deal. Goats are very diverse providing many products for human use. Next time you look at a goat, look at its qualities and attributes that it has provided to mankind for centuries, not the stereotypes.
Written by Gloria Montero
