Goats

These are out of order but I couldnt get the blogger to upload, much difficulties tonight! This is the inside of the enclosure that Tad and I rigged for them to sleep in, its in between freezer and fridge, there are now things put so that they cannot go behind either.


Here we have a bin, and a covered play pen, I didnt want them climbing on the play pen as we use it for a real baby who visits! The jack wasnt enough weight, they pushed against the playpen so we put tads wagon right here by play pen and there is a baby gate to the right of the play pen, next to the freezer (right). We can pull back the baby gate and they can walk out and follow us into yard. They spend a lot of time in the sun but need naps often so we put them away in their enclosure and they like it. They snuggle all piled on one another and sleep in a corner. The enclosure is of course temporary, they will move to the barn soon.


The middle goat is vladimir, vlad, and his ears look like dumbo! If they move their head quickly the look like they could take off... This was their first day here. Scout closest, the black one and Chiva furthest back.


Once again, scout most interested in the camera.

So I am not really trying to put tads rear on my blog, but pepsi's ears are cute! She was so interesting and loving with the babies, just scout here. Her ears are perked forward because she is curious and wanted Scout to stay up by the fence so she could love her.

Vlad here, is 25 % togenburg. Looks a bit different than nubian, but he is mostly nubian. Seems a bit bigger in build. His mama was huge compared to the other goats, she is the highest milker and has triplets yearly so I wanted her doe or one of her bucks. I want to breed for milk and multiple births. Chiva was a twin nubian, and Scout was a twin nubian both from high milking mamas and none of these 3 are related at all so they can either one breed with scout later.

They all have different coloring which is nice, the guy used these colored collars to tell mark. He had a book and in it there was orange female birth date etc. Chiva had no collar, and there was one other with no collar. He was out of colors but he knew them by description. We will remove them tomorrow, we dont need them and they are NOT for pulling or leading. They are plastic and the children know not to pull on them.

She is so cute...Nubians are our favorite looking goats, though the togenburgs bring in close second. Nona and Pepsi are alpine, and like the sannen, I dont think they are as pretty but they are higher milkers. Nubians usually have slightly less milk but higher fat so that is good. Vlads mother is the nubian/tog mix and gives the best milk her owner has had from any goat.

Pepsi loving scout, she was super pleased by the littles. She was so excited she couldnt keep her feet still and she spoke sweetly. Nona was not pleased, not overly interested though several times she couldnt keep herself from looking out at them but paid little attention. And this morning she acted QUITE badly and I know its out of jealousy. I dont trust Nona with the babies, so we dont take them in yet. I will let them get at least 4-6 wks old and then only with supervision. I may wait for another adult before taking them in with them because Nona is big and I am only one person! Tad and Nathalie cannot hold nona or pepsi for long without help.

Pepsi and Scout distracted by Tad and the camera, Scout adores being pictured! She knows the camera already and shows off a bit!

In answer to some questions, we got baby goats so we can raise them. Bucks can be difficult to deal with, often mean or cranky at the very least and definately smelly. Bottle raising and handling can minimize behaviour problems, though not the stinky... They will be housed together, the 2 males, in a nice fenced area with a nice comfortable home built for them. They are for breeding and local studding service (thats what it is called for horses, may be dif for goats). I want to offer this at a good price as I had trouble finding it myself. The girls are for milk. Bottle raising a doe makes her an easy milker in most cases. Yes they cost money to feed and care for but I think its good for kids, in todays age of x box and wii, children are losing reality. I want my kids to grow up strong and independant and able to care for themselves. We like goats, and they provide all of our milk and milk to sell. The chickens provide eggs. So yes, I made more work for myself. I have a lot of work to do and cant really keep up with Frank gone, but this is the part we love. The bill paying, paperwork, remembering to fix things, those are not so fun. But my animals, they are a stress relief for me and we enjoy them thoroughly.