Goatorama kids of 2014

[Nanno]

Yeah, it's hunting season 'round these parts. If I remember correctly it was either archery or muzzle loader season when those photos were taken, but it never hurts to be extra cautious. A handful of horses and mules get shot every year and I don't want one of them to be mine. It also helps the ATV and dirt biker riders catch sight of us quicker. I'm usually more concerned for their safety than for mine--my horses are very good with ATV's and stuff, but one dirt biker almost wiped out when he came round a bend and panicked at the sight of oncoming horses. Most folks are very courteous around horses--if they see us!

I just love how comfortable Finn is around the horses. I was hoping to take him out for more trail rides throughout the fall since he's gotten too stinky to walk with enjoyably, but this vesicular stomatitis quarantine is putting a damper on all my big plans!

[Nanno]

THE ATTACK OF THE RADIOACTIVE GOATS!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!

Last week we did the painful but necessary task of tattooing the bucklings' ears. That night it rained. Between wet, running ink and tussling babies there was a lot of green on those little faces and bodies by next morning!
   
   
   

Not too many action shots, but we got a few close-ups! My babies always love sticking their noses right in the camera lens.
   
   

Sputnik was the best at posing, and his speckled face really looked good with that green glow, although from his expression here I'm not sure he agrees with that statement.
   

I love Sputnik's aquiline nose and pouty, jutting jaw--a throwback to his Nubian ancestry. His parents, Petunia and Pac-Man, don't have the slightest trace of underbite or Roman nose. None of my Nubian crosses do--except this guy. And it's so cute! If you look closely you can also see the beginnings of a beard just sprouting under his jaw. I thought he had a lump under his chin one morning last week and I probed concernedly all around his jaw but couldn't feel a thing. Then I rubbed the hair the wrong way and realized what it was--a beard! That's another thing no one else in my herd has except Lilly (his grandmother). Pac-Man had a small beard before he was wethered, and I'm guessing Sputnik will lose his too when the time comes. Until then, may it grow long and thick!
   

[Nanno]

Some more thoughts about Sputnik--I'm starting to wonder if I need to keep this little guy. Aside from his dazzling color and interesting personality, he's the smartest goat I've ever encountered. As hard as it is to admit, Sputnik may in fact be smarter than Cuzco--time will tell. When we tattooed the babies, Finn and Snickers yelled and jumped, but neither of them harbored a grudge. They also didn't make the connection when I started prepping their second ears. They never tied the pain to Phil and I either and they went back to their grain as soon as I released the clamp.

Sputnik, on the other hand, knew exactly who hurt his ear and he started flipping out as soon as I began prepping the second one. He also held a grudge for more than a day afterwards. He didn't yell like the other kids. Instead he glared balefully and stopped eating grain for the rest of his time on the stanchion. He wouldn't take a treat from me or Phil for the rest of the day and he wouldn't let me catch him the next morning either. He did eventually get over it, but I found the contrast between kids interesting.

I recently taught Sputnik our favorite crowd-pleasing trick, which is to go down on his knees and "Repent!" Most goats take a long time to learn this trick. Petunia took weeks to start getting it and months before she had it down pat. Sputnik started getting it in one half-hour session, which beats Cuzco's record all hollow. I think this goat would be loads of fun to train and I worry that if someone gets him who doesn't appreciate his intelligence he could turn it to nefarious purposes. He's not naturally sweet and eager to please like Finn, but he absolutely loves to learn and has a longer-than-average attention span (like his mother and, interestingly, like Cuzco).

I have a feeling Sputnik will never be a good family goat because he would be the one training the kids and would soon learn to be mean. I also have no confidence in his future as a working goat. He's more than smart enough to learn anything I want to teach him, but only time will tell if his spark of brilliance will make him an outstanding partner or an outstanding stinker. Right now it's a coin toss. Anyone who saw Cuzco at Sputnik's age would have thought he was too stubborn to work, but I've come to find out that this stubbornness is what gives him the will to work hard and tackle any obstacle. He's also stubborn enough to figure out what I want from him, not because he's a people-pleaser but because he has a drive to learn for learning's sake. Cuzco and Sputnik fix their eyes on you and study you while you train them. Most goats are ok with a little manhandling to get them to do things like "lay down" and "repent," but you can't manhandle Sputnik or Cuzco. They take it personally and then they either run away or fight back and no amount of cookie bribing will make it up to them. They forgive eventually, but they never forget. It's a privilege to work with goats this smart.

[Taffy]

Do you HAVE to sell Sputnik? I understand we can't keep them all but he sounds like a special goat. You're right - int he wrong hands he'd end up getting in trouble because he is so smart.

Some more thoughts about Sputnik--I'm starting to wonder if I need to keep this little guy. Aside from his dazzling color and interesting personality, he's the smartest goat I've ever encountered. As hard as it is to admit, Sputnik may in fact be smarter than Cuzco--time will tell. When we tattooed the babies, Finn and Snickers yelled and jumped, but neither of them harbored a grudge. They also didn't make the connection when I started prepping their second ears. They never tied the pain to Phil and I either and they went back to their grain as soon as I released the clamp.

Sputnik, on the other hand, knew exactly who hurt his ear and he started flipping out as soon as I began prepping the second one. He also held a grudge for more than a day afterwards. He didn't yell like the other kids. Instead he glared balefully and stopped eating grain for the rest of his time on the stanchion. He wouldn't take a treat from me or Phil for the rest of the day and he wouldn't let me catch him the next morning either. He did eventually get over it, but I found the contrast between kids interesting.

I recently taught Sputnik our favorite crowd-pleasing trick, which is to go down on his knees and "Repent!" Most goats take a long time to learn this trick. Petunia took weeks to start getting it and months before she had it down pat. Sputnik started getting it in one half-hour session, which beats Cuzco's record all hollow. I think this goat would be loads of fun to train and I worry that if someone gets him who doesn't appreciate his intelligence he could turn it to nefarious purposes. He's not naturally sweet and eager to please like Finn, but he absolutely loves to learn and has a longer-than-average attention span (like his mother and, interestingly, like Cuzco).

I have a feeling Sputnik will never be a good family goat because he would be the one training the kids and would soon learn to be mean. I also have no confidence in his future as a working goat. He's more than smart enough to learn anything I want to teach him, but only time will tell if his spark of brilliance will make him an outstanding partner or an outstanding stinker. Right now it's a coin toss. Anyone who saw Cuzco at Sputnik's age would have thought he was too stubborn to work, but I've come to find out that this stubbornness is what gives him the will to work hard and tackle any obstacle. He's also stubborn enough to figure out what I want from him, not because he's a people-pleaser but because he has a drive to learn for learning's sake. Cuzco and Sputnik fix their eyes on you and study you while you train them. Most goats are ok with a little manhandling to get them to do things like "lay down" and "repent," but you can't manhandle Sputnik or Cuzco. They take it personally and then they either run away or fight back and no amount of cookie bribing will make it up to them. They forgive eventually, but they never forget. It's a privilege to work with goats this smart.

[Nanno]

Well, no, I don't HAVE to sell anybody. But we do have to make choices.

[Nanno]

All my girls came into heat around the same time last week, so today I let the bucklings out to play with the herd. It was a very joyous reunion! Finn spent the first five minutes running around like a mad goat at top speed as he chased one girl after another in a hormone-induced frenzy. He soon realized that no one wanted anything to do with him as long as he was acting that way and he settled down and assumed a calmer demeanor for the rest of the afternoon. Cuzco also pummeled him for being a punk, and that took the wind out of his sails. Phil and I are marveling at his beautiful, luxurious coat. He's got this incredible mane coming in that I love to run my fingers through. He'd make an amazing fur cape right now if I could get the stink out!
   

Sputnik and Delilah got into a very long fight which Cuzco, Pac-Man, and Snickers watched with rapt attention until Cuzco eventually hammered Delilah and made her run away. I think Delilah had singled Sputnik out as the low man on the totem pole and the goat most easily pushed around. Sputnik doesn't like to be pushed around and he pushed right back, making for a pretty spectacular fight until Cuzco intervened. He doesn't like anyone messing with "his" babies.
   
   
   

Today Sputnik smelled girls up close for the first time since he was weaned. He was very impressed!
   

Father and sons...
   

Finn is almost as big as his mother nowadays!
   

[nebs]

What good looking goats. I bet they love that rock pile!

[Nanno]

It's stinky bucky time! At five months old Snickers weighs in at just over 80 lbs. He's not as heavy or muscular as Finn, but he's at least as tall if not taller. He's a long, leggy type goat and he has really nice hooves.
   

I've recently taken to calling him "Fu Manchu" because of his funny face markings.
   

Sputnik learned to jump on the igloo on command today. I'd just point to it and he would hop up there to get a cookie.
   

Look at the above photo just a little bit closer. What a little goofball!
   

I tried to stand all my boys up for posed photos, but no one wanted to cooperate.
   

Sputnik was the best of the bunch. Here he is standing nice and square for the camera. (Snickers and Finn, take lessons.)
   

Snickers weighed in at just under 75 lbs. He's still the smallest of the bunch but he's got nice proportions and he's the most fun to play with because he's the least bucky of the three. He's the only one without a sticky yellow face right now, and I can still reasonably "shake hands" with him without totally defiling my fingers.

Today we worked on his "lie down" command. He goes right down on his knees with just a touch, but he doesn't want to drop his back end and he tends to panic if I force it down like I do with the others. I usually end up pulling one of his hind legs out from under him and lowering him down, which he seems to tolerate well for some reason. Today he did something funny when he was down, though. He likes to lean on me when he's lying down, and today I thought I'd stand up and see if I could get him to stay down. As I eased my knee out from under him, he slowly fell over onto his side and ended up flat out on the ground where he lay without moving. He did this twice. I had to roll him back up on his chest and fold his knees back under him, at which point he jumped up and ran away. He's a funny little character.

[Nanno]

Finn is almost too big for the stanchion now. It's not that he's too tall or long, it's that his neck is too thick! He's nearly six months old and weighs between 85-90 lbs. He hasn't grown very much since the rut started, and my pudgy little guy is quite trim and muscular now. I can feel his ribs when I rub his sides. Two months ago I wasn't sure if he had any, the little blubber ball!
   

He's as sweet and friendly as ever and he constantly wants to cuddle up to me and rub that sticky yellow face all over me. Unfortunately, these days he's about as un-cuddly an animal as anyone could hope to meet!
   

Today Finn learned a new trick! I taught him to stand on my milking stool and spin a circle. It's difficult now that he's so big, but he's a very willing and attentive pupil. He's probably not *quite* as smart as Sputnik, but he's less hyper so sometimes Finn learns stuff faster simply because he pays better attention.
   

Can you beat this pose? I was trying to stand him up nicely for the camera and boy did he stand! He also generously annointed me and everything else within a three-foot radius. What he had observed (and I had not) was that Petunia had sauntered casually around the corner about 30 feet away.
   

[Taffy]

He is one gorgeous dude! Why is it they set up so nicely when peeing?!