Elevated goat pen

Aaron says: "This amazing, elevated goat pen seems to be up your alley. They walk along planks above the visitors. It is at Underwood Family Farms [in Moorpark, California] ,which also has a lot of other animals."

[#1 posted by erissian , August 6, 2008 5:45 PM]

Awesome, but what about fainting goats?

[#2 posted by tx_ROOK , August 6, 2008 5:46 PM]

I wonder if they provide umbrellas when you visit.

[#3 posted by Antinous , August 6, 2008 5:48 PM]

So...a T Rex feeding station.

[#4 posted by themindfantastic , August 6, 2008 5:50 PM]

Death From Above! YIIIIYA!

[#5 posted by Takuan , August 6, 2008 5:58 PM]

need a stepladder to milk them

[#6 posted by jeremedia , August 6, 2008 5:59 PM]

Absolutely going there immediately. I love posts that actually put me in new places.

[#7 posted by winstonian , August 6, 2008 6:03 PM]

@ erissian

fainting is not my primary gravity-based concern with suspended goats.

[#8 posted by SeamusAndrewMurphy , August 6, 2008 6:05 PM]

Look, bird poops from the air is bad enough, but the potential here is unthinkable.

[#9 posted by Tiktaalik , August 6, 2008 6:08 PM]

Speaking of elevated goats, a popular market/cafe in Coombs, British Columbia features goats that live on the roof.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachellelynn/1446405594/

[#10 posted by buddy66 , August 6, 2008 6:10 PM]

You cats are cracking me up! Great phrasing.

[#11 posted by inboulder , August 6, 2008 6:13 PM]

Safe from Toby Keith.

[#12 posted by skramble , August 6, 2008 6:15 PM]

goat poops are not super messy. rather, they excrete in the form of many pellets that would bounce off, not stick to anything they may hit below.

[#13 posted by Takuan , August 6, 2008 6:26 PM]

what if you feed them a tub of beer and soft fruit?

[#14 posted by utt73 , August 6, 2008 6:28 PM]

Two words: LOVE NEST.

[#15 posted by SeamusAndrewMurphy , August 6, 2008 6:32 PM]

How about you feed me a tub of beer and soft fruit...or pretzels, that'll do too.

[#16 posted by Chocolatey Shatner , August 6, 2008 7:03 PM]

It's just like that Beatles song. You know: "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Except the diamonds are goats. And I don't know who Lucy is.

[#17 posted by igpajo , August 6, 2008 7:31 PM]

What if you were carrying a glass of beer or a bowl of soft fruit?

[#18 posted by Anonymous , August 6, 2008 7:51 PM]

there's a similar setup at a petting zoo right near Mount Rushmore - the goats just hang out on planks 8 feet in the air.

[#19 posted by ricket , August 6, 2008 8:19 PM]

City slickers! This goat pen isn't "amazing". It's common, actually. I've seen them many in many locales.

[#20 posted by minTphresh , August 6, 2008 8:27 PM]

'in-da-hood' for an ibex.

[#21 posted by soni , August 6, 2008 8:35 PM]

Am I the only one who read that as Morpork, Ca? Which actually seemed more in keeping with the whole elevated goat trails thing.

[#22 posted by Bionicrat2 , August 6, 2008 9:55 PM]

Underwood Family Farms is the place in LA nobody tells you about until you have kids. I bought from their farmers market stands for years and never knew about the farm itself. The goat skywalk is definitely a highlight. I've been several times and never had goat droppings fall on me (which was my initial concern). There's lots of pix on Flickr of the elevated goat action:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?ss=2&ct=6&w=all&q=underwood+goat&m=text

By the way in the fall: pig races!

[#23 posted by OtiGoji , August 6, 2008 10:02 PM]

Mopork? That'd be No-pork. Miles from Moorpark, Underwood Farms is actually on the outskirts of the tiny town of Somis, CA.
I always look for the goaties when I pass by on California Highway 118.

[#24 posted by rachthegoat , August 6, 2008 11:15 PM]

Alright... I now have a new top priority in life: Visit this magical land of goats!

[#25 posted by stevew , August 7, 2008 6:27 AM]

Door County, Wisconsin has roof goats, see: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=door+county+goats+roof
For photos of Johnson's Swedish Restaurant's goats. It always brings a smile. Just searching Flickr for "roof+goat" yields 1,666 results... :)

[#26 posted by sluggo , August 7, 2008 7:06 AM]

There's a place like this in Hayward, Wisconsin, called the Wilderness Walk. They don't extend over the walkways, but they are trained to pull a bucket up a rope to their "fort" to get the tasty corn inside.

There's lots of other critters there too...

[#27 posted by Halloween Jack , August 7, 2008 7:30 AM]

It's raining goatshit, hallelujah!

[#28 posted by Takuan , August 7, 2008 7:50 AM]

I require some blank framed canvases. My personal assistant, Heinz, shall place them under my direction at precisely chosen spots under the walkways. I will be accepting bids for these one-of-a-kind masterpieces shortly.

[#29 posted by DRob , August 7, 2008 9:11 AM]

For people in England, there is also one in West Sussex at Tulley's Farm

[#30 posted by karrock , August 7, 2008 9:29 AM]

Ard's Farm Market in Lewisburg, PA (http://www.ardsmarket.com) has a similar elevated walkway for their goats, though the boards aren't quite so narrow. They even attached a feeding contraption with a bucket attached to a long belt that deposits the feed at the top of the tower. I have some closeup photos, but unfortunately none of the entire construct/contraption.

[#31 posted by dainel , August 7, 2008 9:33 AM]

#12 skramble is correct. Goat poop is solid, like mouse droppings, but much bigger. And more rounded. OK, they're not like mouse droppings at all.

#28 takuan, your canvas would be mostly blank, as they would bounce off. Unless you were to pick them up and use them to sketch, like charcoal.

This gives me an idea. Since they are already so dry, and conveniently packaged in conveniently sized pellets, why not collect them and burn them in place of charcoal?

[#32 posted by Takuan , August 7, 2008 9:39 AM]

not if you feed them paint

[#33 posted by Anonymous , August 7, 2008 1:20 PM]

Coombs, BC (on Vancouver Island) has the famous Goats on the Roof market.
See:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_qJvidOFzc14/SHbuEx9v5UI/AAAAAAAABSs/Nhoq2ZWpKKc/IMG_1363.JPG

[#34 posted by jimbuck , August 7, 2008 2:19 PM]

The fainting goats are up in Napa Valley somewhere by the geyser. When I was there I did not see any of the goats faint. They didn't have elevated goats though -- too dangerous for the goats.

[#35 posted by Trevour , August 7, 2008 7:04 PM]

They used to have a setup like this at Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton, ND (it was removed after some major flooding in 1997). Ah, childhood memories. You could crank corn feed up this mini-grain elevator and the goats would chow down on it up in their elevated hangout.

[#36 posted by Rick. , August 8, 2008 8:18 AM]

Seen this in person. It's a riot. Like a little goat circus.

[#37 posted by JEM , August 26, 2008 1:09 PM]

North of Vernon on the 97A in British Columbia there is a spot called "Dave's Goat Walk" where the goats walk a catwalk above the driveway. For 25 cents you can put corn in a tin can and the goats pull it up to the platform with a pulley.