82-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 16, 1996
‘No Kidding 1
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
TYRONE (Blair Co.)
Teaching elementary school and
raising goats might not be the ide
al combination, but for Cathy
Hoover of Tyrone, it works.
Cathy says she can’t remember
a time when she didn’t like goats.
“My husband and I would be driv
ing around and I would see a goat
and say, “Oh Roger, let’s get some
goats.”
“We always had sheep,” says
the dark haired, smiling. Warriors
Mark teacher, “but we didn’t have
goats.”
Then, one summer while visit
ing the state of Texas with their
three children, Cathy and Roger
discovered the Boer goat.
“The comparison between a
Boer goat and a dairy goat is about
the same as comparing a Hereford
to a dairy cow,” Cathey explains.
‘The energy of a dairy goat
goes into milk production, but the
energy of a Boer goes into meat.”
Roger Hoover’s profession is
training bird dogs. While in Tex
as, the family found a very reaso
nably priced 160-acre farm, per
fect for training dogs.
On a cold wintry day, Cathy feeds Boer goats, a hefty meat breed, which she first
heard about in Texas and now raises in Blair County.
HONESDALE (Wayne Co.)
You probably have seen those self
tests where you find out if you’re
good at something or not. Here is
an easy parent quiz to help you
figure out if you might be raising a
little monster. Write down how
many limes you say “yes” to these
10 questions:
1. Do you often call your child
“clumsy," “slow,” or other
names?
2. Do you growl at your child
and have a nasty tone to your
voice?
3. Do you talk badly about your
child in front of the neighbors or
your child’s friends?
“And, for raising goats,”
chimes in Cathy.
“I took a sabbatical and we
moved the whole family to Texas
for a year,” she recalls. “It was a
wonderful year. The school was
small and the children learned a
lot.”
Doing some serious goat study
ing, Cathy and Roger learned that
artificial insemination had not had
enough time for good experience
among Boer goats.
“When we moved back to Pen
nsylvania, I began looking for a
Boer buck of my own,” Cathy
remembers. “We found one for
$B,OOO and that was a bargain. He
paid for himself in a year.”
We brought our first doe home
from a goat seminar in the back of
our Suburban station wagon.”
Roger and Cathy raise primarily
breeding stock. “There isn’t much
of a market for goat meat in rural
Blair County,” says Cathy. “How
ever, it is popular in New York
City and Washington D.C. where
we have a large ethnic population,
which includes eating goat meat in
their religious observances.”
Like lamb, the meat must be
obtained while the animal is still
young. The carcass should not
■f.
' A *~ m*
* ** *
? 7
Ten Ways To Raise A
4. Do you criticize what your
child does when you feel it isn’t
very good?
5. Do you keep busy doing
other things when your child
wants to tell you something?
6. Do you jump in and do
everything for your child because
you can do it better or faster?
7. Do you make fun of or call
your child names when there is an
accident?
8. Do you talk “rough, “mean,"
or rudely to your child?
9. Do you yell or scream when
your child doesn’t act as quickly
as you think?
10. Do you jump in with a
Teacher Raises Boer Goats
weight more than 94.5 pounds on
the hook with the ideal slaughter
ing weight being between 45 and
90. Meat prices run upwards of $1
per pound.
A dressing percentage accord
ing to age may serve as a guide: 8
to 10 months, 49%; two tooth
50%; four tooth 52%; sue tooth
54%; full mouth 56-60% or more.
Carcasses with good conforma
tion. covered with a thin layer of
fat quality for the higher grades.
Goats with too much or too little
fat and weak conformation arc
graded lower.
Another market for the Boer
goat is the leather. Quality is
determined by the hair on the skin.
The shorter the hair, the better the
quality of the skin. Boer skins can
be used for leather uppers for
shoes, gloves, and book covers.
Lower in cholestoral than veni
son, goat meat can be served in a
variety of ways. Cathy and Roger
make soups, stews, and cook
steaks on the grill.
Located in a picturesqe wooded
setting, the Hoovers own 60 acres
of land and 40 goats with a few
additional on the Texas acreage.
Pens are dry and provide warmth
A
X *
* S/.
punishment or yell “shut-up”
when your child tries to explain
something?
If you answered yes to any of
these questions, you may be on
your way to raising a little mon
ster. Now don’t get me wrong,
everyone is guilty of doing any of
these things at one time or an
other. Parents need to realilze that
doing these types of things, name
calling, yelling, blaming, an dig
noring, can hurt a child’s feelings.
A child’s self-esteem is slowly
taken away if constantly ridiculed,
shamed, and made to feel worth
less. The child will start acting out
in bad ways only to make matters
4
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> A<v(\
Cathy Hoover holds a newborn baby goat. She said, “My
dream Is to retire and Just raise goats.”
for those goats which give birth
during the winter months. “By
next year this time, we hope to
have at least ISO,” Cathy adds.
“You can raise seven to eight
Boers per acre.”
“It doesn’t take a lot of land or
good land to raise goats,” she con
tinues. “Boers can graze on almost
anything and are great on nonpro
ductive land. They love blackber
ries and we have a lot of them on
this ridge.”
Quite healthy, the Boers are
considered low maintenance with
vaccination costs being lower than
sheep. ‘Treatment against internal
parasites is an important expendi
ture,” Cathy said.
Monster
worse.
Remember, children are great
copy cats. They learn how to act
from watching others, especially
you. How do you keep your child
from becoming a little monster?
Try to set a good example by shar-
LP
Boer goats have very short hair
and. therefore, do not get
entangled in thorns and shrubs and
rarely need protection against rain
or cold.
“They birth much easier than
sheep,” Cathy explains. “But, they
do demand attention during birth
ing season.”
Cathy’s dream is to retire and
devote all of her time to the goats.
“I want to get into organic farm
ing, soap making and various
other forms of getting back to
nature,” she adds.
Anyone wanting more informa
tion on the Boer goats can get in
touch with the Hoovers at RD 3,
Box 4628, Tyrone, Pennsylvania.
ing your time, showing interest
and listening to even little prob
lems that might be going on. Give
your child your love no matter
what. You can work on the misbe
haviors and love your child at the
same time.