Ever since our chocolate lab became pregnant she has been an attention hog. When she is out and about, the goats and sheep still follow me around the fields but the jealousy is thick in the air. The only kisses I get are from the dog anymore. I want my unsolicited goat kisses back.
Meet Bella, the first girl born here on the farm. Most books tell us we should breed her the first year. We think those books are written by and for people who are more interested in profit than kindness. After one of the yearlings that we bought pregnant gave birth to a still born kid, we looked into the practice. Turns out goats who are bread during their first year are much more likely to have serious complications during labor. For one reason or another, they are far more likely to have only one kid. Unfortunately, one kid tends to mean one large kid. Larger than the young goat can safely manage. We plan to breed her next year at about this time. She, unfortunately, has other ideas.
Meet Bertie, one of our first goats. We bought her as a pregnant yearling. In February of this year, she gave birth to two kids; one boy (Schmied) and one girl (Bella). Unfortunately, we weren’t there to witness the birth, so I can’t offer photos.
Raising goats is nothing like I thought it would be. Unlike the “Bad Attitude” that popular lore says they have, we have found them to be very loving and gentle creatures. Because we have spent much time concerned about the development of our animal’s personalities, I think there is more of nurture than of nature to these creature’s reputations. When they are loved, they turn out loving. When they are not loved there is probably a lot of truth in their reputation.
Pravda (a Russian newspaper) has been writing about how repressive the current US Government is.
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