Deer velvet is a valuable export for Zild. Pound for pound, it's worth more than gold. It's used in various Chinese (or Oriental,anyway) herbal medicine remedies from increasing fertility and virility to God only knows what. Velvet probably represents one of the biggest returns from farming deer. The velvet is collected by removing the antlers and processing them. Doesn't seem to distress the deer too much, but I think they use local anaesthetic. Deer get stressed easily at the best of times as anyone who's had to work with them can tell you.

We had a goat (called Grundig after the tape recorder manufacturer - guess why!) who lived to the ripe old age of 15. He, like our sheep Mint Sauce who I discussed in a previous post, was a wether but I often wondered whether or not he'd been dealt with properly because he got very goaty from time to time. He was a fun animal and really very little trouble to keep, unlike the mobile hogget roast. If he got off his chain he made a beeline for the front door and would camp in the porch until one or the other of us went out and tied him up again. He was also very popular with the local kids. He loved playing and wasn't too rough with them. Like most goats, his favourite game was king of the castle. He knew what his horns were for though and several of the local dogs found that out the hard way. But when he was playing, he always pulled his punches. He and my first Keeshond bitch were great mates and would play king of the mound games for hours. He also used to enjoy sneaking up behind Sandra when she was hanging out the washing and would just gently prod her. If she fell over, he thought it was a great joke. He'd call triumphantly, stand there and wait for retaliation in kind. Let the games begin ...

As you may gather, I rather miss him!

Dehorning goats is cruel, because the horns are their natural and only defence. Without them they will hurt themselves using the tops of their heads as if the horns were still there. Typically, goats use the flats of the horns in combat, not the points, so they can't usually gore their opponents, although a kid's short horns can be dynamite. The instincts to use the vanished horns don't go away when the horns are removed. The SPCA in Zild frowns sternly on dehorning them.


The idiot also known as Capfka ...