Had a great little hike with my friend Tiffany this morning. We brought Sputnik along just for company (he wasn't packing anything), and he was a such a nice goat to have along. Sputnik is a very easy and low maintenance hiking buddy. He stayed quietly at the back, didn't try to scoot past Tiffany to follow me, never lagged behind or crowded too close, and picked his way over the creek crossings without a fuss. He browsed contentedly while Tiffany and I sat by the creek and didn't pester for treats or attention, but came eagerly when Tiffany offered him her apple core. What a good boy!
Got two newbies coming in a couple of weeks. Both from a tested and small closed herd. No horns - I'm going to give it a try. One is a total pet and will turn one year at the end of this month and he's BIG. The second on is his full brother, two months old. I only wanted the big one, who was $150, but then they threw in the little guy for $50 so it was hard for me to say no.
This will bring me up to six goats, but I will rehome the big white Putnik when I can find the right home. He can still pack, but he's better as weekend warrior - and he needs to go someone who has the time to give him an attitude adjustment. Either that or a pasture goat.
Work has been pretty awful the last couple of weeks and we've had a seemingly endless bunch of family social commitments since the start of the year. Although I love getting together with family, I'm looking forward to a couple of weekends where I can just mess about with the goats and maybe do a hike or two before the winter weather descends upon us. Here's Koby having a snooze in the Autumn sun ... I also need to get back to some training with the young fella before some bad habits set in! I think he looks like he's smiling in this photo.
I hope your life settles down for a few weeks so you can catch your breath. Koby sure is pretty! I love goat smiles. I always tell people that goats are like dolphins--they're always smiling.
I took the goats for a walkabout on Mother's Day. The perfect way to spend "my" day!
When we got back to the part of the farm we call the "bone yard" (which is where equipment and supplies are stored) I sat on one of our trailers relaxing while the goats munched on the locust tree starts and weeds. We haven't sprayed the bone yard yet this spring to control them so it was safe munching.
Jethro decided the best way to reach one of the locust tree starts was to stand on a small triangle of metal and runner on one of the trailers!
A little later he came over to be scratched. Jethro has always been a little standoffish about being loved on. He's content to stand near me chewing his cud. Recently he's discovered the joys of being scratched on his butt and neck. As you can see in the photo - he's really shedding and definitely needs some grooming to get rid of the dirt and dead skin from this winter!
Morgan went to live with his half brother a couple of weeks ago so I now am down to two packgoats. A more realistic number for me. Bourbon and Jethro. I also have my two mini Alpine does.
It's always amazing to me how the herd dynamics change when a goat is added or subtracted. Bourbon knows he's #1 and has been enforcing it more when any of the other goats come near me. Jethro is #2 and he's been picking on Sugar more who has always been low goat in the herd. Sugar will rear up or posture that she's unhappy about being pushed around but she doesn't press it any further. Joules has always been #3. She puts up with any guff she receives but also lets it be known she's one tough little cookie. Morgan was always the peacemaker & referee in the herd. He floated around without having a particular "status" other than all of the goats know Bourbon is #1.
Bourbon has become more demanding of my attention this spring. Yesterday I was scratching Joules and Sugar. Bourbon came over, stood by me, and put his nose between my hand that was scratching Sugar and his nose! I'd look at and talk to him, give him a few scratches on his cheek and go back to scratching Sugar. He'd take his nose and do it again! He did that numerous times. I need more hands for goat scratching!
05-16-2017, 12:32 PM (This post was last modified: 05-16-2017, 01:05 PM by Nanno.)
So fun! I hope Morgan does well at his new home. It's cool he gets to be with his half-brother again.
My favorite type of brush to get rid of that old scurf and undercoat is a retractable wire slicker brush. They work great!
I'm also fascinated by herd dynamics. Our herd has changed this year with the addition of new babies. Jezebel has always been unreasonably mean to any kids but her own, but this year she's been really nice to Delilah's kids. Delilah is a bit of a delinquent mother and likes to abandon her kids a lot. Maybe after raising triplets last year she's had it with babies! Jezebel has been left alone with all four kids on quite a few occasions, but she's never shown one bit of aggression toward them. I'm quite pleased with her this time around! Having twins also seems to suit Jezebel. She is quite a helicopter parent and her singletons practically got smothered by her over-attention and over-protectiveness. With two she has to divide her attention and it's helping her be less overbearing. Still, no one is cleaner than Jezebel's babies! There's never a speck of poop on either of them.
The bucks have been casually interested in the babies. I think they feel some paternal pride, but they're not getting too involved yet. I expect that will change when the babies start to grow. I hope they are gentle with the kids. Finn and Sputnik are keeping their distance. Finn has gotten a lot sweeter toward Phil recently. I think he's jealous of all the attention the kids are getting. Finn has always taken for granted that he's special and deserves most of the attention, but he hasn't gotten nearly as much lately and I think it kind of bothers him.
Petunia is always patient and gentle with little babies. I've had her on the porch a few times while I was taking care of Jezebel and Delilah, and the babies have romped around her and teased her, but she doesn't get mad. She teases and plays right back with them, lowering her head to the ground and gently playing head-butting games and letting them jump on her. Petunia is a good, no-nonsense mother who does a very workmanlike job of raising her own kids. But I think she prefers other does' kids because she gets to play with them but doesn't have all the work of feeding, cleaning, watching, and caring for them. She's the "cool aunt" of my herd. Nubbin just plain loves babies and always wants to be a mommy. She loves having her own kids, but she was happy to raise Rambo and Rocky last year when she didn't have her own. I'm interested to see how Tigerlily does. She has a bit of a mean streak, but so far she's been very respectful of the kids. She prefers not to go near them or interact with them at all if she can help it. I wonder how she'll change when her own kids are born? It's going to be an exciting summer!
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