Kids Looking for a New Home

Be fruitful and multiply.  God told Adam and Eve to do that.  They did.  After the flood, God told the same thing to Noah and his family.  They did.  Later, God told essentially the same thing to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and guess what?  They did.

Our goat family has taken that message to heart as well.  It all started with one goat and now we've got a herd of them.  This spring Mocha gave birth to Blackie and Callie gave birth to Betty and Agnes gave birth to Abby.  It is like a goat rodeo in the pasture 24/7.  Our little pasture is just too small to handle all of the goats, chickens, and cows.  I told Tricia, "We've got to sell some of these goats."  She doesn't want to.  Tricia loves the goat family, but understands the space limitations.  

They are dairy goats and Tricia milks them.  We have a goat milk smoothie every morning with fresh berries.  Delicious!  I think we've shown you photos of Blackie and Abby, but I'm not sure if we showed you Betty.  Betty has an interesting "paint job."  Look at the spots on this critter:

She started out as being very small as compared to Blackie, but she has quickly caught up.  It is entertaining to watch the babies play out in the pasture.  They hop around and dart this way and that.  Fun to watch, I tell ya.  

Their playfulness catches the attention of people passing by on the road.  In fact, someone stopped and wants to buy Betty.  They've called twice letting us know they were coming by to get her, but each day they haven't shown up.  I took this photo of Tricia and Betty in the event she got sold - Betty, that is.  (Tricia is NOT for sale.)

We'll see what happens.  One way or the other, we've got to get some goats off the pasture.  Cabrito?  That would be very hard since we've named them!

Just Kidding Around

My wife has the due dates for all the animals written down in a calendar.  It is kidding season and so far Callie has had a little spotted doeling named Betty, and Mocha has had a little solid black doeling (with the exception of about 3 white hairs on her forehead) named Blackie.  It was Agnes' turn.  Tricia went out to the barn thinking that it was getting close and sure enough, Agnes was in labor.  You can see the little hooves poking out.

It was a particularly hard labor for Agnes.  She hollered like nobody's business to push this little baby out.  Finally, here she came...

Yes, another doeling.  This one is a completely new color, leading us to believe that the father is Popcorn and not Buckwheat.  Buckwheat is the daddy of all the other goats out here, yielding offspring that is black or spotted.  This little girl is light tan with a white head.  She was up on her feet in 15 minutes after being born and Agnes licking her clean.

She has long legs and is a spunky little critter.  All the other animals are curious about this new addition to the barnyard family, and they come up to sniff her.  She has no fear and it is quite a task to keep her safely away from the cows who could easily step on her if she got up under their feet.

I was just calling her "Brownie," but she got a name change the other day.  I was asked by a family member to name the baby after her, so absolutely, Brownie's name is now Abby.  Meet Abby, everyone:

Tricia loves her little goats, but we are getting too many for our pasture to hold.  Tillie is expecting any day now and we think she's carrying more than one.  Tricia has been milking Agnes and the milk is good and sweet.  She is a dairy goat (1/2 Nubian and 1/2 La Mancha) and is making quite a bit. 

There is a lot of cutting up and playfulness out on the pasture right now with all the little ones.  Kidding time is a fun time!