We have a new baby here!
A goat baby!
Our Mama goat, Gabrielle gave birth last Saturday around 5 p.m. to a bouncing baby buck (boy). He has been named Geordi.
He is ADORABLE! Curly black fur with splashes of white and a bit of brown. A very lovely kid.
Now, we do not need male goats. We have a breeding goat. S-o-o-o-o-o-o, I made the suggestion that we let him fatten up a bit and then perhaps have roast goat for Easter....
WOW!
Boy, did that suggestion fall over like a lead balloon!
Darlin' Man has now suggested that Geordi be sold...he has a couple of people that are interested.
I'll just enjoy the little cuss while he is little.
Mama Gabrielle's milk supply is getting well established and she will be milked for the first time on Friday. This is her third baby, so she is tending to Geordi quite well.
However, she has never been milked before as the person we bought her from actually raised goats as a hobby...never butchered them, never milked them. Sells a few now and again, but that's about it.
I expect the first milking will NOT go well!
But I got some sweet feed and have been convincing Gabrielle that I am not the enemy by hand feeding her a little every day. She trots to the pen gate when I go outside now looking for her treat. She and the other does follow me around when ever I go outside. One of the little does, Champagne, has taken to tugging or nibbling on my shirt or skirt when she is looking for a treat.
We put collars on the goats...boy, what a rodeo that was!Patches got her color first, then Gabrielle. Champagne turned out to be totally against the idea of a collar.
No, no, no! She didn't want one!
Champagne, small as she is, knocked me down, butted me when I got back up and finally pulled out her *big guns*...little sucker gored me in the arm! Not badly...bruised me more than anything else, very little blood.
Milking these goats is going to be an adventure!
lamb.. be real careful with collars on the goats.. have seen many an accidental hangins and strangulations from them.. good luck milkin.. most are no t too terrible if you just go slow withum whenya start .. for my bad ones i just make sure they have lots of vittles to keep them occupied
ReplyDeleteI don't have any personal experience with goats, but what dilli said about collars reminded me that I've seen many such strangulation accidents with dogs and collars. We use a plain old web horse halter on a dog as a harness and I'm sure it would work on a goat too. You slide the noseband over the head of the dog (or goat) and the crown piece where the buckle is fastens under their belly. If the dog (or goat) does get snagged on something, they won't choke to death trying to get free. Just a thought.
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