Goats

The last month has been a whirlwind of celebrating the end of school, finishing my Master's, hosting parties but best of all, GOATS!  The goats arrived on Saturday, May 7th: a dairy goat nanny with 2 babies and a yearlong boer doe. The babies were 4 days old the day they came to stay. We'd built the goat house in the old lagoon fencing which contained plenty of forage begging to be consumed and cleared. I camped in a tent the first night they were here just to make sure nothing went awry. I kept with me the bloodhound and a flashlight, but the night was fortuntately, completely uneventful. The babies slept a lot the first week here and the mamma, Rosie, wanted little to do with me but didn't mind me holding the babies. Trixie, the yearling boer, was immediately sweet and curious. 

My herd of 4 is more calm and gentle than I would have imagined. They are very tolerant of visitors and the babies will jump right into your lap to be petted and nibble your clothes. This week began my attempt at milking Rosie. I really didn't want to have to separate the babies, knowing that would be sad for everyone, but when my 5:30 wake up wasn't early enough to beat the babies to the bag, I realized it must be done. Now the last 2 nights the babies have spent in a separate pen, giving me 2 chances at a full udder, both of which have been failed attempts. With failure comes problem solving. This farming thing definitely takes determination. I spent the morning modifying the milking stall to try to make Rosie more and myself more comfortable for tomorrow's 3rd attempt. Fingers crossed, 3rd time will be a charm.

The last few evenings I've let the herd out to free range a little and I am amazed at how cautious they are. They stay close to their pen and run right back in if they sense danger. Trixie has even made attempts at playing with Ursa, the bull mastiff. Even the pig seems to enjoy being part of the herd, and so do I.