I heard from a friend that Farmer Ed, the fella that I buy my alfalfa hay from, has 28 new kids that were born within the last two weeks. He keeps Boer/Saanen mix goats. Mostly Boer in them. He sells them at auction. My friend invited us to go with her and her daughter to visit with and handle the goats. Farmer Ed wants his goats to be friendly, so he likes people to come and spend some time with the kids. We were more than happy to go cuddle with these newborns!
This thermometer was hung just outside the door to the barn. If you look closely, at the bottom it says: "dead stock and animal removal". This is the kind of thing that I would have had displayed in my college residence back in the day. I thought it a strange sort of thing to have up on your livestock barn. Seems to portray a hopeless attitude about what you're doing. I have to confess that the thought to steal this little gem crossed my mind - but I'm too old to do such things anymore.
After walking into the barn the first thing I see is this shocking sight. Ironic.
I later learned that one of these babies was born directly into a bucket of water in it's mother's kidding pen.
Two dead goat kids laying in a wheelbarrow. It was bizarre - I kept expecting to see them breathing, or twitch in reaction to a dream, or change their sleepy position. But they didn't move at all. They were eerily still. As my boys observed them and asked if they were dead, they showed almost no reaction at all when I confirmed their suspicions. They just walked on toward the live babies in the fenced loafing area. Dead babies forgotten, once inside the fence they each immediately picked up the first baby they could get their hands on. I think they held every baby in there at least once.
The boys got to see first-hand the beauty of kids nursing from their mothers. They found this sight to be amazing and it never seemed to lose it's magic to them. The goat kids were pretty active and vocal and as a whole seemed to be pretty healthy. There was one kid, who was the smallest of the bunch, who was obviously not doing well. Later Farmer Ed said he didn't expect her to make it. She wouldn't nurse from her mother, wouldn't take a bottle, and he and his wife had been tube feeding her. Her back legs and rump were covered with runny poop and she just stood there, not showing the same vigor and energy as the other babies. That baby really bothered the boys who kept asking if she was going to be alright. I hope she will be.
On our way out, Farmer Ed arrived home from church. He says that he's got a secret stash of that good alfalfa hay left over that he'll sell me! I am so glad - I've been buying my hay from Agway. It's mediocre. I'd like my goats to have nice hay, especially in this cold weather - and with my pregnant girl.
Despite the harsh realities of life on the farm, it was a nice visit and good to see how another goat farmer does his thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment