It’s no secret that Lillie Pfeiffer, 5, and Aimee Pfeiffer, 8, love animals.
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So it was a special treat for the pair when they were taken down to the Launceston Showgrounds on Sunday, February 10, to meet a whole pavilion worth of goats at Goat Fest.
“They absolutely love animals,” dad Jack Pfeiffer said.
“So we thought it would be a good thing for them to come and experience some in the flesh.”
The Pfeiffers have four ponies and two dogs.
Lucky for the girls, there are also a group of five goats living next door.
“They love the goats,” Mr Pfeiffer said.
“...A lot.
“They’re always feeding them. So it’s been really good to come down and pat some goats today.”
As the name implies, Goat Fest is a celebration of all things goat: breed displays, husbandry and shearing demonstrations, and stalls with goat products such as mohair yarn, soap, and cheese.
Breeds on display included the angora goat, whose hair sells for up to $40 a kilo, and the boer goat, a breed designed to end up as meat.
Boer goats are also good for weed control, according to Rosina East of the Boer Goat Breeders Association.
“They’ll clean out blackberries and ragwort, they’re very good at weed control,” she said.
“That’s one reason we got them, to clean out all the rubbish.
“But they’re very addictive – our rubbish is gone but we’ve still got the goats.”
She was at Goat Fest with Patsy and Poppy, each four months old.
Goat Fest draws about 1000 people each year, and will be held again next year at the Launceston Showgrounds.