Here is why Keith is working on the little barn:
They're darling, aren't they? They have just found their legs and started springing around, and oh, how I wish I could show you the short video. There are two bucklings and a doeling there, the doeling has white ears.
They were born Monday.
Here is another shot, but I could not get anyone to stand still:
That's their owner talking to them.
And their mama, who was crying for them the whole time I was there.
I understood that this lady was keeping Kinder goats, and I thought they were a smaller goat... however, the Kinder, a cross between a pygmy and a Nubian, is actually pretty large. She is expecting a kidding next week of purebred Kinders, but the mama is pretty big.
My concern is that I don't think I can handle a full grown big goat by myself in an emergency, and I don't think I could trim one alone, either, though these were the gentlest and friendliest of goats.
And of course, the babies were beautiful. She would disbud and wether the bucklings for us, and they would be ready to go next week.
However.... for once in my life... I managed to walk out of there without a commitment, and come home to think about it.
I think they are too big for us me. I think they could stomp all over the little grands, and butt them aside if they did not want to be petted, and that concerns me, as that is part of the reason we want them for pets.
So... I'm still thinking.
I see the Nigerians at Boone Docks Wilcox, and think they are more likely to fit in here at our little place. I know there is a Nigerian dairy in this area, and I have the phone number in my little black book, so tomorrow, I'll give that lady a call.
I feel so sorry for the mamas and babies in dairy herds though, as those babies did not even get to suckle off their mama, but were fed colostrum by their owner. Same with cows/calves... it's just sad and against the nature of things, but I guess that's how it is. It's one reason I don't want to milk, I don't want to have to produce a baby yearly, and have it go away.
I'm a sap, I know.
These goats seen today were wonderfully taken care of, in clean surroundings and well-fed, so that was a delight to see. I hope if little goats come here, we can do as good a job for them.
I've shown you this before... it's the Stanwood Friends Meeting House, still in use today. There were many Quakers in this area... my Grandma Peterson was one of them, and we believe she may have attended this meeting.
I had not been out "behind" this meeting before, and that's where the goats were.. it was beautiful land, rolling and lovely.. . with old, old farms, and some new, bigger houses. Harder to get to than our place, but very beautiful.
I'll take Keith back over there in a few weeks and take some pictures, he would enjoy seeing it.
But you know, we love our home and our little place, and we have put so many hours into it, that we would not want to leave it.
By the time I got home, it had cleared up very well, though more rain is in the forecast for the next week. It is 55 right now, going down to 30 tonight. I wish Mother Nature would get it together! Keith checked our propane today, and we have about 43% in the tank, so should be good to go. He didn't realize it, but I was watching him out the window, and saw him very carefully push the feathers and straw of a huge starling nest aside so he could read the gauge, and then very carefully lower the top down over the nest again. What a good heart he has!
One of the henspa hens has taken to "burying" her egg after she lays it, so I have to feel around in all the boxes to make sure I've found everything. Tonight, in this box, I found an egg buried on the right... I could not tell if it was laid today, so I am not going to donate it this week. Anything like that goes to the pasture.
Do you see the green coming up in this planter? It's a hosta I planted four years ago. Unfortunately, there is a tree seedling in there, too, that is still alive, and I have not been able to get it out. I'm going to dump the planter this week, replant the hosta, and the tree is going out.
In fact, I hope to get a bunch of planters ready for plants for our deck, and I'll show you how I'm going to do it this week on the blog.
That's it for today from Calamity Acres!
