More About the Goats

More about the goats:

Now that Godwin and Oliver have a little age on them, we only have to feed them three times a day.  The kids do almost all of the feedings.  There are times when they have to be fed kinda late (after Caleb and Sarah's bedtime), so Josh or I will assume the chore.  Another responsibility the kids have is to play with the goats each afternoon.  Part of playing with them now is using the harness thingy (is that what you call it?) to break the babies to lead (meaning to obey the leash).

It was suggested to us to use a dog harness to train the goats to lead.  At the fair, we think we'll be using just leashes.  However, the babies' necks are so small right now that if we use just leashes on them, they are likely to hurt themselves.  Not that WE are rough on the babies, but in their great dislike for being harnessed, they have a tendency to pull against the leash themselves (which you'll see below).  So if we use a harness around their bodies, it reduces the risk of them breaking their necks.

They'll be walking so calmly one minute, and then the next minute, they'll remember they're on a leash and then....

...they stubborn up.  They start pulling on the leash, trying to be boss.

I suppose Oliver thinks bucking the ground is going to free him.  See the slack in the leash?  He's just fighting his own will here!

Yep, Godwin fights as much as his brother.

And then he's cool with it and will walk right along like nothing's happening.  Silly kids (the goats, not the humans!).

Does this picture really need a caption?  Sarah's face says it all!

Looking for a bottle.  A finger will have to do!

Josh is pretty fond of the little guys, too.
(So am I.)

Besides the feeding, playing and training, we had to get them to the vet to get done to goats what goats need to get done to.  But the question "How in the world am I gonna get two squirmy kid goats to town?" pestered me for days.  I had no pet carrier and the goats were too big and wiggly now for the human kids to hold them in their laps like they did when we brought the goat kids home. And Josh's suggestion to put them in a box in the trunk, "they'll be fine", just didn't click with me. I thunked and thunked about it and decided our dirty clothes basket would be just the ticket!  SO.....

I lined the car seats real good with blankets in case of an accidental squirt squirt (they are babies, after all!), and with the the goats in the basket and an old curtain over them, we headed off to town.  In the car.  The car.  Who ever thought I'd have a goat... no, two goats.... in the car?  But I do what I have to do.  I could have taken any of the three farm vehicles, but there were some intersections I just didn't feel comfortable driving a stick through.  I still stall the stick shifts occasionally.  It hasn't happened for a long while... and it wasn't about to happen in the middle of an Oskaloosa intersection now!

So, I put the goats in the car.

Waiting for Doc Nate.

They got wormed, vaccinated and banded (a form of castration - like neutering), and given an antibiotic for a case of squirts (scours for you farm, or want-to-learn-about-farm folk) they'd been dealing with.  The poor boys weren't themselves for a good two days after.  But they're pretty well numb now, so they're back to themselves.

Read between the lines if you don't know exactly what's numb.  Or ask, I'll tell.  I'm not shy.  I've had to explain the procedure's hows and whys to both my kids since we're always present when we work our baby bulls, turned steers in a blink of an eye.  I sure can explain to you, too!  :-)

A few days later, we had to get the little guys tattooed.  All fair animals have to have an official  identification  on them to be fair eligible.  For rabbits, it's a tattoo on their ear.  Goats can either have a tattoo ID or an ear tag.  All other animals can have ear tags for all I know, but there could be other options.  (We're not that far along in fair animals.  We'll learn when we get there.)  We chose to have our goats tattooed.  So on the designated date at the designated time, we loaded the goats back in the car (the car!) and hauled them back to town for Rabbit Tattoo Man Adam (that's his name!  just kidding, he has a real last name. maybe. probably. i'm sure he does.) to administer our ID.  Caleb's goat's ID is CVZ and Sarah's is SVZ.

I know.  Original.

The goats have turned out to be more time consuming than I thought they would be, but we sure are enjoying them!  The kids are learning some great responsibility and with the fun thrown into it, they are totally worth it!

I think we'll keep 'em :-)