Yesterday, we adopted three little ladies for our farm, who I briefly introduced in my last post. Here’s a more detailed biography – as much as month-old goats can have, anyway!
We found out about these babies through Hoobly.com, where an ad was posted on behalf of a couple who have a large-ish herd – I think around 50 goats, when you account for all of the kids. These very nice folks could not keep all of the babies born this year, and so they were looking for homes for them (I think a bit reluctantly; I got the definite impression that they consider their goats a part of their family). Some of these babies included some LaMancha crosses, so that definitely piqued my interest! But let’s face it, any baby goats are almost guaranteed to bring me to a screeching halt! 😉
Yesterday we paid a visit and met the couple – who I cannot say enough nice things about – and their herd. We visited with the mothers of the kids, and got to see one of the fathers, a Toggenberg named Elvis who has the best hairdo I’ve ever seen on a goat! We came home with three little babies, some goats milk, and some of their special grain mix. I had already picked up some kid milk replacer on Saturday; it is the same brand that they have been getting.
So these are the little ladies; I will introduce them one by one, the first being a little Toggenberg/Sannen cross, who was born on February 21st. She loves to cuddle, and reminds me a little bit of a Tauntaun in her coloring. Her father is the Togg named Elvis, and her mother is a Saanen named Mischief, who is one of the coolest goats I’ve ever met. Mischief kept standing/leaning against the fence so that she could be eye-to-eye with me (and nose-to-nose if she could manage it – Eskimo kisses, I guess!) and loved being petted. Mischief is a good milker, too, so her daughter here should also do well for us in that regard. She’s doing pretty well drinking from the bottle, as long as she’s on my lap and cuddled up with me – that’s her favorite position to take the bottle from me in so far – but I am hoping she will take to drinking from it while standing up, as that is how I understand it is the best for them in terms of digestion.
Next we have our LaMancha/Saanen cross, she was born on February 17th, and she’s still a little freaked out about her big move yesterday, so she’s not very confident around us just yet. Her mother, Whitestar, is a Saanen (who is a great milker), and her father, Ghost, is a large LaMancha buck. In this photo she seems to be conveying to me how she feels about her bottle. She’s a bit of a challenge with eating, but I am making sure she gets fed, and I hope that she will get hungry enough this afternoon so that she doesn’t need such adamant convincing to eat.
Last, but not least, we have our little Alpine/Toggenberg cross. While she is the oldest of the bunch, born on February 16th, she is also the smallest – go figure! Her father was Elvis (that guy gets around!) and an Alpine doe named Brownstar. She has proven to be the most affectionate, playful, and cooperative of the ladies so far. In fact, when we got home and were taking them down to the barn, we loaded them into the bed of our pickup and George rode in the back with them while I drove us quite slowly through the mud that is currently our driveway. Unfortunately, I got the truck stuck in the muck, and so we had to unload them about 50 feet further away from the barn than we would have liked. George picked up the LaMancha/Saanen cross, and before we knew it, this little girl hopped down and followed him into the barn like she had been doing it her entire life! She’s a little sweetie, and, of the three, is the best with the bottle. I’ve tentatively named her Heidi – in part because her coloring reminds me of our German Shepherd of the same name from when I was a little girl, and it also ties into the Norse mythical creature Heidrun. She was the god Odin’s trusted goat – and this little girl demonstrated we can trust her to follow us yesterday. Hopefully that trustworthiness holds true! She does have that glint of mischief in her eyes…
They have a stall in our barn where the previous owners had kept their pony, and it has a shelf that they like to hop up on, and sleep under. We are getting some free fencing to put up around the round pen that was used for horses many years ago – it has too many gaps they’d just walk right out of, so we will wrap it with cyclone, and it will give them a place to spend some time outside. It’s right outside of the barn, so that will make things easy while they are still little, and give us time to get their permanent pasture fencing installed. The utility poles and lines are being replaced on our street, so we are bound to the time schedule of the old ones coming down before we can get those and start our project.
I’ve admired goats for a long time, and have been awaiting the day when I would have some of my own. It’s finally here, and I’m thrilled! These girls will get bred this fall in September or October (ish) and that will result in kids and milk next spring. I can’t wait to have our own supply of milk for drinking, making cheese, and soaps.
Serenity Acres is now a very exclusive “goated” community.
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