Last week in Jonathan Riggs’ animal science I class at NERSBA, students went outside and visited his goat named Iris. Iris is a special-needs goat. She has a copper deficiency that makes her unable to grow properly, and she also will never be able to have babies.

In that same class, we talked about how goats are ruminants, which means they have a totally different digestive system than humans and most animals have. There are four parts of the ruminant system: the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum. We also talked about how different types of grass that goats eat all have different supplements in them for the animals, so one certain type of grass wouldn’t give the animal all the nutrients that it needs to grow properly. It was a fun day in Riggs’ class — not every high school gets to see goats.

Written by Shelby Mayo, NERSBA Class of 2021