Goat-O-Rama Kids of 2017

[Nanno]

Well, Sanibel went to her new home yesterday morning along with Nubbin, who was sold as an in-milk doe, and Delilah who was sold as a pet/weed-eater. I was very sad to say goodbye to Nubbin. She was one of the two babies from our first kidding season and she's been with us for over four years so it's been very hard to part with her. She's proven herself to be a wonderful milk doe and a good mama, but we really needed to downsize our herd a little and Nubbin's conformation has never quite lined up with my goals for breeding packgoat prospects. But that doesn't mean I won't miss her terribly. Hopefully she'll enjoy her new home where I'm sure she will be very well loved. She's a good starter goat for someone who is just getting into dairy goats because she's easy to milk with a low maintenance udder and she's an easy keeper. One thing that made her easier to part with is that Delilah and Sanibel went with her. Nubbin and Delilah get along pretty well.

Delilah needed to find a pet home where she wouldn't be bred. She's freshened twice with mastitis now, and last spring it was so bad I was afraid we might lose her. She recovered with a lot of work, but I'm not going to risk that again. She has a huge, pendulous udder that is way too big for her frame and these blown-out bottle teats that are terrible to try to milk and are difficult for kids to latch onto. She will make a very nice pet and companion for Nubbin and Sanibel.

Sanibel I think will do well with the new arrangement. With the two older girls to bicker away at each other, she will probably not get picked on much. She's a tough, scrappy little thing and her mama had already practically weaned her so she had become quite independent.

Coral is the one who is sad right now. She lost her mother (Delilah) and her best friend Sanibel in one day and is looking very unhappy and disoriented. She was still crying at 10:00 last night. But this morning I was very happy to see her sticking close to Tigerlily. It looks like Tigerlily may have taken pity on the poor lonely thing and "adopted" her. Coral seemed much happier today. I put Jezebel on the stanchion and let Coral take a few sips. Jezebel didn't seem to mind, and Coral was thrilled to still have some milk on tap. She's wearing her mom's studded leather collar now, so she looks like one of the herd. Hopefully she'll make new friends soon.

[Nanno]

No sooner did we get rid of three goats than three came back! Sox, Westin, and Lightning came back because I'm planning to use a one or two of them for breeding this season and they all go together. My how they've grown! Sox is especially large and impressive, with enormous swaths of muscle on his powerful shoulders and hindquarters. Westin is less of a beefcake but he has beautiful conformation. Lightning is light on muscling compared to the others but he has legs a mile long and looks very athletic. They really took it out of Rocky and Rambo this morning. Rambo knocked a scur off on Westin's head and both of them were covered in blood. Sox thinks he's the king of everybody and was really wearing the older bucks out, so I put everyone out together for a while since no girls were showing signs of heat. Finn gave Sox what for and dragged him around the yard by his collar for a while until Sox quit challenging him. Before long, Finn and Rambo herded the young bucklings in one direction while Sputnik and Rocky escorted the girls in another. Our boys enforced this two-herd system for the better part of the day.

Having all these bucks makes for quite the beefcake fest around here! I think things are going to be pretty exciting for a few days until everyone settles into a pecking order.

[Nanno]

We had a "baby goat in the house" party this afternoon! At lunch break, Phil came downstairs and told me he'd had a hard morning at work. I knew just the thing to perk him up. After cleaning her muddy feet, I invited Coral into the house! 
   

Cute baby goat overload!!!
   

The first thing she noticed was the apples on the kitchen counter. Yum!
   

So how could we resist giving her one? 
   

Oops... it rolled under the cabinet. Phil will fetch it. 
   

Next she tried to eat the imitation jungle that adorns our Korean War bomb tail. Sorry Coral--no plastic for goats!  
   

She was quite puzzled by our carpet. She kept sniffing and nibbling at it like she thought maybe it was grass, but she also knew there was something not quite right about it. 
   

[Nanno]

Next Coral asked if she could play with the X-Box Kinect.
   

Or go upstairs? 
   

Or maybe downstairs to the basement? 
   

Coral seemed very intrigued by the sound coming up the stairs from the blower on our wood stove. 
   

"How about you come give me a hug!" 
   
   

What an adorable little face! I couldn't help falling in love with this baby goatie. I'm so glad we kept her!  
   

[Taffy]

Goats always find the most wonderful adventures in our homes!  I'll bet Phil perked right up!  

[DownUnder Gal]

Beautiful! But not so little anymore

[Nanno]

Boy... I let all the bucks out with the rest of the herd today because no one is in heat right now and my gosh! There was a knock-down, drag-out fight between the two second-in-commands. Westin and Sputnik fought viciously for over an hour until both were panting and exhausted (especially Westin). Sputnik isn't much of a fighter and has never had to stand up to a challenge before so I don't think he knew how to end it definitively in five minutes they way Finn does. Sputnik picked Westin up by his collar and dragged him around until the collar came off (I wanted to remove it, but I wasn't about to get between those two while they were so violent!). Once the collar was gone, Sputnik played even dirtier and started dragging Westin around by one ear. Next he bit down hard on one of Westin's wattles and then his back hair. Westin's ear got bloody, but amazingly there was very little other damage. Westin started hooking Sputnik's collar and I was able to remove it before he broke it (it's a nice studded leather one and I don't want to replace it!). At one point I was able to grab Sputnik and drag him up onto the porch to give both goats a breather. Sputnik seemed happy for the time out, but after about two minutes he leaped over the porch gate and was back in action. I got video of some of the action but it needs a lot of editing before I can post it. It was a rather exciting morning and I was nervous that one or both goats might hurt each other, but both came away unscathed and eventually they forgot their fight and went off to graze.

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

Sounds just like Huck and Pluto. I've seen them battle for over an hour and continue, I always want to step in when they start breathing hard or when they get little bald patches on their skull but I feel it may just prolong their dispute. Luckily Yukon was the only ear biter and wattle eater (he almost ripped Kingsley's wattle all the way off.) The worst part is that Huck and Pluto have been trying to settle this unfinished business for a couple weeks or ever since Huck randomly grew a pair, and they take their frustration out of my does.

Goat drama, it can be entertaining.