We Have Goats!

Meet Eddie and Teddy!

The last day of school, June 6th to be exact, was not only significant because it was the last day of school, but it was the day we picked up our baby goats!  We have a field and a barn and we aren't quiet ready to plunge into the horse world yet, so we thought why not get some goats?  And then I thought well if I'm going to have goats they may as well be of some use besides being pets, so I got goats I can train to be pack goats.

I picked Brian up from the last day of school and we went straight to get some hay and a few other items for the goats.  Then after dropping the bales of hay off at home we went to the goat breeder's house to get two goat brothers.  They are wethers (fixed boy goats) and they are a Saanen and Alpine breed mix.  Both breeds are great for packing.  They look like they are Saanen, but their mom is Alpine.  They were two months old when we got them.  And yes the hay and the goats rode in the minivan.  I tell you sometimes the minivan is better than a truck.

After a long evening at the goat farm and a crazy goat-crying-traffic-jammed-accident-watching ride home, I got all four kids here safely.

The goats tentatively explored and met the cat.

They felt most comfortable on the wood pile.

That night they were loud, and I mean loud!  They cried and cried and cried for their mama. It was pretty sad.  The next day Timmy spent the whole day in the barn sitting with the goats.  They were very calm when he was around. They were also super tired from crying all night long.  Timmy reminded me so much of Fern in the book Charlotte's Web.  In fact, I had just finished reading that book to Timmy a few days before.  He loved loved loved reading that book.  He would beg every afternoon while Brian was at school to read and keep reading.  We finished it in a few days.

The first week with these guys was really hard.  They found numerous ways to escape and I couldn't go anywhere because I needed to watch them to find where they were getting out.  One day I found the goats way back in another neighborhood following the mailman.  I was so tired of the goat chase and very ready to send them back to their mom when we finally plugged up all the tiny holes they were squeezing through and Mark heightened the fence in a few places. The first day they stayed in all day was the day I jumped for joy.  They haven't escaped since.

We take them for walks and I've been trying to teach them manners.  They love to climb as all goats do!

I have a hard time getting good pictures of them, because they now look to me as their mom and want to be right in my face, literally, nose touching nose or worse.  They certainly don't stand there and pose for pictures.  Eddie is bigger and more outgoing and he likes to nibble on everything.  Teddy is small and shy and is very picky about what he eats.

They have grown so fast and seem comfortable and content.