PDF and Jpeg, our new goats…

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I know, I know…  goats!  Little furry livestock ninjas that have been the bane of our farming misadventures!  But how can you not love these little things?

Actually, our good friend Mary had a goat explosion this year!  Instead of just a nice little kid or two from her two dairy goats, she ended up with six kids!!!!  And too many boys!

It’s a very sad fact in the dairy industry that boy dairy goats are kind of, well, not needed in large numbers.  In fact, one will do for a farm and then what do you do with all the others!   Maybe save one as a back up buck…  but since Mary doesn’t even keep a buck and takes her girls to another farm for a fall date…  she really had a problem.

Since Buttercup is now grown up and we are not planning to breed goats anytime soon, we did miss having some goat babies around to frolic and play and just be little fun ambassadors to the homestead.  And we’re doing better, so a couple extra little mouths to feed won’t be a problem.  Especially, darling cute little Nigerian dwarf babies!!! DSC_0393

I wanted to help and I knew that Mary was eager to find them good homes and it was a perfect match!  I did a little graphic arts for her… and we made a deal!  So we went and picked up our little boys.  Jessy came up with their names and they are so perfect!   Jpeg and PDF…  after all, I exchanged graphic art work for their new forever homes!  What is better!

They were a little confused by the ride in the big truck cage and the fact that Mommy didn’t seem to want to come along.  But being goats, they were excited and ready for the new phase of their lives.  We carried the little cutey patooteys back to meet their new inmate friends!  DSC_0396 DSC_0402Little PDF is looking at me after one look at giant Buttercup, queen of Windhaven, and is like, OH MY GOSH…  you’re taking me back home to my mom, now, right???  DSC_0403

Buttercup is ready to give them a test to become her new minions…  she is testing their ears to make sure she can nibble them.  Since she is a LaMancha and has teeny little elf ears, I think she is a little jealous of the big ear goats!  DSC_0407

Everyone was excited to meet the new babies…  however, the new babies were not so ready to meet everyone!  They both had their hackles raised and were not ready to be cornered…  they are fast little guys!  I knew they would get along fine with our goat collection…  DSC_0411

Haha, they were a little nervous and Buttercup looks a little teeny bit like their mom.  Of course, their mom is a dwarf goat and much shorter, but hey, when you are nervous and young, you gotta stick with what works.  Rana sure didn’t look like anything they were used to!  Jpeg had to check out the business end of Miss Buttercup and she was so nice and gentle, yet gave him a little nudge away.  Sorry, that shop is out of service!

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I wasn’t totally sure how she was going to react.  Buttercup absolutely hated her son Blackjack.  Wouldn’t hardly look at him, let alone be his mother.  She would attack him and just was not happy with that situation.  I think she blames him for his father who left Buttercup after a sorrid evening of passion.  Or she just hates children.  Hard to say.  But she really took to the two right away!  It was so cute.  She gave them a good sniffing over and then started to groom them!   I was shocked.  They were happy to have someone to mother them and we were set to go.  DSC_0420

Of course, the first day was spent with a lot of bawling.  MOOOooOoOOoOOMMMMM!!!!    Where are you???????

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But eventually, they got the hang of it all, and now they are just the cutest little pair of trouble makers you can only imagine.  The best part, they are still in Goatopia!   Not a single escape yet!   I can’t believe it!  We finally have learned how to build a good goat enclosure!  It’s been weeks without a single breakout.  We have finally arrived!!!  DSC_0439

Buttercup is so happy to have little lesser beings to boss around.  She really does like them…  every time they cry, she has to check on them.  When they were afraid to go into the little barn at night, the first night or two, she sat outside with them all night long.  And when the other goats and the rams next door were being too pushy and sniffy, she challenged them all, head butting and ear biting to prove her protective stance.  She really is one of those goats that you just gotta love.  She is really my best buddy…

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We have sold three of our six piglets!  Yes, down to just a pair of registered girls and one unregistered boy feeder piglet.   I believe we are going to keep the boy for our own freezer camp session next spring.  We always sell all our piglets!  So we thought it would be nice to keep one this year.  We are debating about our two little girls…  they are available for the right home…  but we might just keep them, too!  Not sure yet.  We might consider trading them with someone to develop better bloodlines…  If we keep them here, we would have to separate them at some point because we keep our hogs in a family group setting and we can’t have daddy Onyx playing the hokey pokey with his daughters.  I guess we shall see what the fall brings.   If you’re interested in American Guinea Hogs in the Northwestern Ohio area…  drop me a line!   Sherri@chekal.com

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Shadow pony was out for a little lawn maintenance when we brought the boys goaties home and he was very interested in them!  Of course, he would be, he’s very nosy and has to know what is going on at all times.  I went to sit at the firepit a bit, to watch the goats but give them a little time to be just goats and work on their new herd dynamics.  Shadow came over for a little love and pets…  and he let me do his hair!  haha…  Doesn’t he look handsome with a little forelock braid???

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All is good with our little boys..  so far, they seem to be settling in.  They are so adorable to watch as they jump around and play.  And I think they will be wonderful for our small guests that might be a little intimidated by the larger, pushy goats.  A little touch of baby fun in the lovely late summer!  DSC_0468

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About Mobymom

the banjo player for Deepwater Bluegrass, and the editor of BuckeyeBluegrass.com as well as the main graphic designer of the Westvon Publishing empire. She is a renaissance woman of many talents and has two lovely daughters and a rehab mobile home homestead to raise.

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