Monday, July 2, 2012

Homemade Goat Treats


So, I'm still not 100%. Some days, I don't even feel fifty percent. I can't do "real" farm chores yet, so I sit on my duff all day and think of stuff I can do.


We've recently started milking Sidney, our 2 1/2 year old Alpine doe. Rather, Bill has started milking her. He said that she is a decent milker, but she loses patience with being milked the second that her food is gone. I wondered if I could make a milking treat that would be too good to refuse. Ergo, the Goatmeal Cookies.


I googled "homemade goat treats" and got 90% items containing goat. No. So I sort of winged my "recipe"


Goatmeal Cookies
Makes 12-15 Half-dollar sized cookies


1 big carrot, grated finely
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
2 slices crumbled oat bread
2 tbsps +/- Unsulphured molasses
1 tbsp water
sea salt


I mixed and mashed all of the ingredients until the consistency was like overly moist stuffing, then shaped it into pinball sized rounds that I patted flat (a la a hamburger patty). I dusted the tops of the "cookies" with a little extra sea salt, since my goats are nuts for it! I baked them at 300 degrees on a non-stick foil lined cookie sheet for about 20 minutes, until firm and nearly free of moisture.


The goaties dug them! Woohoo! Next batch I'll try adding some grated apple as well, and maybe some kelp powder or sunflower seeds too. It sure is gratifying to feel like, even though I'm not the one taking care of our critters, in my own way, I am taking of them. ;)