Guess what?! We had some new arrivals today. Which means that I also have some sad news to share. While I was away in Charlotte, Sue had to contend with the death of one of our Goat Boys. Mine (that’s the goat’s name, just as a reminder) had been ailing, as Sue first thought, then we thought he was doing better, but he was not. We don’t really know too much about their history, nor how old they were, so we don’t really know much of what was happening.  We did try to find a vet to come and look at them, but we were not able to locate any vet in the area who works with goats. So, we were only able to make him as comfortable as possible. Needless to say, Taco George was incredibly lonely after that. We both agreed we needed to find him some type of company. And so the search began….

IMG_02871We talked about a cow, a miniature donkey or small pony, but everything Sue found on line was too pricey for us. She had a lead, from our neighbors, of a lady whose kids raised goats for 4H and were now ready to find them homes, but before she contacted them, Sue decided to check Craig’s List just to see what was available.  Low and behold, there was a young lady, right here in the Hereford/Palominas area who had some babies she was trying to home. Two, 2 month old, boys that needed a good home. They were young enough that they could still be wethered (a castrated goat is called a wether) – which is what we wanted. They were already dehorned. Their original owner had bottle fed them from the first, so they are already very friendly little guys.  The photo is one that she sent to Sue from when they were newly born. Ours are the two with brown ears.

IMG_1439Their names are Thumper and Scoobie. We didn’t name them, but thought their names were fine. We’ll keep them. They are getting along well with Taco George, even though they just met today. By this evening they were all eating peacefully out of the same feed bucket. This weekend we spent some time getting the goat shed ready for the new guys. While I was at the Farmers Market, Sue cleaned out the old hay from the shed. When I got home, we moved it – two truck loads worth – to the depression for future use as compost/fertilizer. After that, we removed the cupboards and the book shelf that was there (you can see the book shelf to the back of the shed)IMG_1445, then Sunday afternoon we spent some time building a sleeping shelf for them, just so they would be up and out of reach of anything that could jump the fence. Today Sue added a ramp with some 2×4’s for steps on top, 2×4 underneath for stability, so the little guys could go up and down as they wished.  After they are IMG_1449older, they won’t need to be in the crate, but they are too small at the moment, to be out late at night wandering around. Taco George is also a very good deterrent to anything that might try to get at them, but we want to do everything we possibly can to make sure they’re safe. We are keeping them in a dog crate at night as well. Here they are on the riser, after they first came here. They are still getting used to their new environment. Exploring everywhere and nibbling so many things. They are cute and cuddly and follow you around everywhere. I’ll add a few photos here at the bottom, but if you’d like to see more – visit our Face Book page and take a look at the photo album “New Goat Babies”. Many, many more photos there. I’m sure that we’ll be sharing even more photos with you as the days progress and the little guys grow. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!

Today’s Weather: Warm with gust of wind up to 30 mph. Sort a splotch clouds. High was around 81°. Right now, at 7:02, it is 68° and the winds are topping 27 mph.  Low should be around 48° tonight – no rain in the forecast.

Egg Report: As it’s only been the weekend, we’ll just do a normal egg report. Saturday: 0 goose, 1 duck, 6 banties, 11 oldies, 26 layers. Sunday: 1 goose, 1 duck, 3 banties, 11 oldies 23 layers. Monday: 0 goose, 2 ducks, 5 banties, 17 oldies, 35 layers.  For those of you keeping track, that 137 chicken eggs in 3 days. Wow!