The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: salopman on March 12, 2012, 12:35:55 am

Title: Countryfile
Post by: salopman on March 12, 2012, 12:35:55 am
Nice couple of pieces on Goats tonight - a Goat Farm in Kent - mainly Toggenburgs by the looks, nice lady lookin after them, and then a piece on Buttercup Goat Sanctuary.
Take a look .... it will be on I-Player if you missed it.
p.s. and they say Goats dont graze.... those Toggs certainly were .....
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: salopman on March 12, 2012, 12:58:48 am
http://www.elliesdairy.blogspot.com/ (http://www.elliesdairy.blogspot.com/)

This is the goat farm Matt Baker visited ....
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: jaykay on March 12, 2012, 06:43:22 am
It was good - nice to see goats on for a change. The goat sanctuary was amazing when they let the all run out for treats at the end  :love:
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: plumseverywhere on March 12, 2012, 06:57:23 am
It was lovely wasn't it? such a nice piece.  You could tell Matt had grown up with goats by the way he was around them and they mentioned that he had goats due to his sister suffering with eczema as a child so another whammy about the benefits of goats milk for our health again - love it!

Mine graze, Puffin especially. They don't close graze like the woolly madthings do but they have a good nibble!
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: wytsend on March 12, 2012, 07:51:48 am
Mine graze too....that is after doing hedge maintenance duties !!!!!!
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: WaltDisneyWorld on March 12, 2012, 08:32:54 am
It was lovely to see all those goats and looking so well. Does anybody know what Matt fed to them at the end? It looked to me like it may have been bread, if so, I was wondering if it would be okay to feed to mine (always worried about upsetting them by giving something new).
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: plumseverywhere on March 12, 2012, 09:08:07 am
I was wondering that too WDW! I could see it was something white but not a clue what it was.

I do give mine a little bit of bread crust, toast, biscuits as treats and they've always been fine. all things in moderation I guess so long as they have their recommended staple diet there.
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: chickenfeed on March 12, 2012, 10:01:40 am
he was feeding the bark from the copiced chestnut fields featured earlier in the show.

bread is fine if feed dried in the oven first as a treat.
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: salopman on March 12, 2012, 11:04:18 am
He gave them the bark but right at end julia challenged him to feed from the bucket and that definitely was crumbled bread - you could tell - where he scattered it on floor and they all came running lol, Its also worth remembering the other  major goat sanctuary in Cheshire  see  http://www.thegoatsanctuary.org/ (http://www.thegoatsanctuary.org/)  the lady there works tirelessly and she works in conjunction with Buttercups -
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: plumseverywhere on March 12, 2012, 11:32:49 am
It did look more bread-like at the end. the copiced bark was browner.
Good to know there are sanctuaries around  :)  we have a farm animal sanctuary up the road here but she's just got the one goat, mainly sheep.
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: henchard on March 13, 2012, 08:39:41 am
Personally I find Countryfile so cringe worthy as to be almost unwatchable and I try and avoid it (and in particular John Craven) as much as possible. Unfortunately I tend to see bits of it whilst waiting for the weather forecast. Other than perhaps 'Adam's farm' it is just light entertainment for mostly urban dwellers.

There is currently a thread going on one of the main farming forums about the last one (featuring goats and snails) being the worst ever.

The only about the countryside that I can think of right now that is worse than Countryfile is the Archers which should be sent to the knackers yard immediately. Both are truly dire IMHO.
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: plumseverywhere on March 13, 2012, 09:20:32 am
 ;D  we used to live in Archers country.  Inkberrow, where it was all set - in fact The Bull pub has served us many a pint.
I see your sentiments about Countryfile but its nice easy viewing while I do the ironing on a Sunday afternoon/evening. I was pleased to see goats featured as they get little air space on National TV and as someone who runs a business based around goats milk, I received lots of texts and emails from people saying "oh I never realised just how intelligent goats are..." and talking about the benefits of goats milk health wise so it seems many urban dwellers were educated and that in itself must be a good thing when you think about how many children grow up these days not actually knowing about where their food comes from? if the adults are educated a little they will pass it on - hopefully  ;)
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: tizaala on March 13, 2012, 09:41:23 am
Countryfile used to be about serious farming issues , now it is aimed at cannoeists ,walkers , offroaders and mountain bikers , John Craven's and the blonde bimbette's animal rights agenda seems to be the main slant of the program now and viewing figures must be on the decline because of this. As long as the producers can get the message across that anything outside of a towns and cities can be treated as a huge leisure area for the masses , then they are happy with the crap they are broadcasting.
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: Lesley Silvester on March 13, 2012, 03:56:06 pm
Well, I watched it on iplayer - for the first time, I might add - and I enjoyed it, especially the goat bits.  Plan on watching it again.

I am also a great Archers fan.
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: jaykay on March 13, 2012, 04:20:51 pm
I can't watch it either - glad I'm not the only one!

But I'd liked seeing the goats and watched it specifically this time to see them, fortunately I got the timing spot on (by accident) so didn't have to sit through anything else  :)
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: Haylo-peapod on March 13, 2012, 05:22:04 pm
It's amazing how popular it is - I know loads of townies who watch it who wouldn't ordinarily take the time to find out about rural issues/life. OK, maybe the program does cover a lot of countryside pursuits etc. but on the whole I think it is excellent for 'Joe Public'. I regularly get colleagues/friends chatting to me about the topics covered. It's incredible how little people know about rural life and this gives the ideal springboard to (dare I say) 'educate' them. Only today (following on from a chat about Countryfile as it goes) I was chatting to colleagues that thought that all horned sheep were male...fortunately they are now a little wiser. Three cheers for Countryfile!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: lachlanandmarcus on March 13, 2012, 05:26:41 pm
I think we forget that countryfile isnt really aimed at us, it's aimed at people who like the country but dont know very much about it. We can either have CF getting a bit of info across (eg Adam and the TB testing, belieing those who try to say farmers dont care when animals have to be culled) or nothing at all.

So on that basis, I am pro, but I do wish that they would cull J Craven, as he has never come across as impartial to me when presenting controversial issues, nor does he have any farming expertise, not that comes across anyway.
Title: Re: Countryfile
Post by: jaykay on March 13, 2012, 08:37:59 pm
Yes, I suppose it is good for educating townies, which can't be a bad thing :thumbsup: