Will I Ever Be Able To Have An Old Goat?

I've long wanted a goat that will live out her entire life on the farm, and ideally, live a long life. However, it has not happened yet. 

The first goat I had who was going to be that, was Theda. She was my first goat, and was very bonded to me. I ended up selling her in 2015, because she was wicked-mean to the other goats. One time, she caused Desi to be lame for two weeks, from smacking her around so much. Several times I had to put the shock collar on her for the first couple days of introducing a new goat to the herd, just to keep her from killing it. I loved her and still miss her occasionally, but it has been so nice in the goat pens ever since she's been gone. I can now pet the other goats without having Theda circling me and keeping everybody away.

The second one was Daisy, who I sold in 2014. She was Theda's first kid, and was half nubian. She was a sweetie as well, but was very obnoxious and just as mean to others goats as her mother. She had big scurs as well, and they served to further torture other goats. Once, she had a young kid(her brother that was a year younger) trapped under the manger, in the corner, and was repeatedly ramming it-I do believed that she would have seriously injured or even killed it if I hadn't been there.

Then came Grace, another of Theda's daughters. She was my next Theda, except that she wasn't nearly as mean. She was somewhat mean, so maybe it was better anyway-perhaps it would have gotten worse. When it came time to make the herd cuts, she was put on the sell list, because we had her sister Violet, that, conformationally was a lot nicer. To this day I regret doing that, especially since the saga of Violet ended the way it did. (Maybe I'll do a different post on that.) 

Mirah was the same age as Grace, and I did keep her until she had kidded once. She was sold in 2015 also, because she was a shrimp, and bloated at least twice a month, as well as not being very correct in conformation. 

Then came Flicka, the nearly perfect doe, in my eyes. I bought her in 2015, and she's been my special animal friend since the day I brought her home. She would help me do chores, work in my garden, and follow me all over outside, until she got big enough that the fresh grass, weeds, and hay bales had more priority than I did. She is a beautiful doe, and is so nice, gentle, and calm, to everybody and most goats, except for when she has to wait her turn to get on the stand-then she can get a little testy. She got CAE and will be sold next spring. I plan to keep all of her doe kids, and one buck.

So this is where "till death us do part" kid #6 comes in. I've only had her two days, and I love her already.

On Wednesday, Mom and I picked up a little doeling who is one of the cutest kids I've ever seen. She has the same dad as Flicka, and is also Flicka's 1st cousin, AND 1st cousin once removed. I was really hoping she would be black, but I don't regret buying her so far. She was a premie and had a rough start, but is now doing great! I hope she'll help make it easier when I have to get rid of Flicka next spring. 

Starting mid-November, I decided that, for a year, I'd name all the kids after their dams. This kid's dam is named Moonstruck. When I googled Moonstruck, I found that there is a chocolate factory in Portland called Moonstruck. In their shop, they sold Pfeffernusse. I decided that this kid's name would be Pfeffernusse. I was contemplating buying a second doeling as well, if the doe had more than one, so decided on a second choice of Totally Spaced-Out. As it turned out, the doe only had one doe kid.  Anyway, when I told the breeder that her name was Pfeffernusse, she told me that that name had already been used, so I used my second choice. Because the whole name wouldn't have fit, I shortened it to TTLY Spaced-Out. I call her Li, pronounced Leigh. Another saanen buckling was given to us(this is the same breeder that gave us Snowy), and I named him Ritornello, because the doe that I believe to be his dam(we weren't told who she was), is named Aria.

Here are some pictures, but I must warn you, she's pretty cute. I wasn't using my new camera, and getting pictures of kids is extremely hard, so don't be too impatient with the quality, or lack thereof.

She's already following me around the property. First stop, the back patio and deck, to check out the flower pots.

I guess the barbecue area was scary, 'cause here they come!

 

 Back down at the barn, just in time for lunch.