Pretty Chick Buffy Checking Out My Camera (Click on this link to see video)
Maggie pondering her new home and owner (the goatally-devoted nut behind the camera)
Lisa Taylor and I drove to Poulsbo today so Jackie and I could buy two small breed goats (does) for $150 (a steal of a deal in western Washington). These two does are believed to be pregnant and due to deliver on January 20th (which coincidentally is DeForest Kelley’s and Cheryl Haynes’ birth date, too).
Maggie (renamed from Princess, the beige doe) frequently throws triplets; Jazzy throws twins. So my two new goats have the potential to become seven goats around Christmas or not long after the first of the new year. Lisa thinks Jazzy may be farther along and that she could give birth in December.
The thing is that there are no guarantees that either doe is pregnant; the gal I bought them from just said they may be, because a pygmy buck broke into their pasture (in which about fifteen does lived) a few months ago and had his way with whomever was amenable before his wandering ways were discovered… so we have a mystery on our hands. Lisa says we’ll know for sure in about a month. Both now look big enough to be bearing young’uns, though, so we’re hopeful.
They traveled very well in the crate for the hour and fifteen minutes it took to get them home. Maggie is amenable to petting and loves to have her goatee gently pulled and her under chin scratched and rubbed. Jazzy is wild as a marsh hare; she hasn’t been handled much at all.
Lisa and I plan to bottle feed the babies to be sure they make great pets and enjoy being handled. Lisa lives just a mile away so getting here to help me with anywhere from two to seven baby goats won’t be a chore and, in fact, will be a pleasure. We’re both looking forward to it. I’ve never had a baby goat before; she had them for years and misses the experience like crazy.
Don’t worry: I’ll keep you posted! I enlarged the goat pen by about another 2000 square feet (perhaps more) so we can certainly handle a small herd of small breed goats without running out of forage for them. That’s the rumor, anyway. We’ll find that out come next spring! (There is still another 10,000 square feet or more that we can fence if need be.)
I’m happy again. Maggie bleats when I go out to say hello. I have missed that…
