Your Christmas tree could make hungry goats 'do a little happy dance'
CBC
As the holidays have come and gone, and Christmas trees start to drop their needles, Ontario farmers are getting crafty and upcycling Christmas trees.
They say the evergreens become a tasty treat for their livestock, once they've outlived their lifespan in our living rooms.
Both Top Market Meats in Ariss and Rodrigues Farm in Ayr feed discarded evergreens to their goats.
"It's good for their digestive system," said Leslie Zinger, of Top Market Meats. "The acidity in the pine is a good natural cleaner. It's kind of like humans with fibre."
Zinger normally gets about 250 trees a year. She said some go to the sheep, the pigs and chicken coops, but the goats do most of the eating.
She said the trees are a nice treat for the goats, who nibble them clean, eating the needles, branches and bark.
"Goats eat everything — it is a true statement," Zinger laughed. "They get really excited when they see the trees. They kind of do a little happy dance and jump around."
This year, Zinger said her farm will be collecting trees from Jan. 1 to 15.
She said they give the donations a final look to ensure no hooks or plastics are left over before they give them to the animals. Once the trees are nibbled clean, they use the leftover wood to heat the barn.
Sarah Rodrigues has a much smaller farm in Ayr, but brought on a few more goats this year and hopes more tree donations will roll in too.
"We have a part-time farm operation and have a small herd of goats, about eight goats, that I raise for dairy and show goats," she said, in addition to the chickens and beehives on their farm.
Rodrigues said her farm received about a dozen trees last year and she's already seen a few dropoffs since Boxing Day. Rodrigues also said she feeds the goats evergreens to keep them healthy over the winter months.
"It provides a lot of those necessary nutrients that they need in the winter when they're maybe not getting enough from pasture," she said.
Rodrigues hopes people will keep their local farmers in mind when disposing of their Christmas trees.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.