Sunny Boy

Check out those curly bangs and beard!

Brandi

Faun

Faun (above)    and Bree (below)

Good morning from the goat yard! There has been lot happening in the goat yard these last few days, ever since Sunny Boy arrived. (I LOVE how furry he is and I’m hoping we’ll get some furry babies this Spring!) I went and picked up Sunny from our friend/neighbor’s house, The O’Ryans, that live down the road from us. They named him Sunny because he has a sun burst on his nose. We get to borrow him for a few weeks. Jeff and I had everything all ready for his arrival. Bree, Bendi and Brandi were hanging out in the goat house, while Faun and Lucy (Bree’s babies) were staying in the milking room. Faun and Lucy weren’t used to being away from their mom so we thought having them in the room next to her would be a good idea. We brought Sunny in the back door. He immediately went over to the ladies and they started flirting. Good start, I thought. After our recent experience with a gay buck who wasn’t interested in the ladies at all, we were happy to have a buck doing his job right away so we could get our does bred. The longer we waited to get them bred, the longer we would have to wait for milk in the Spring, so I was happy to get things going. I was being very entertained watching Sunny follow them around, until he started urinating on his own face (to turn the ladies on, of course) which is hilaious, but nonetheless I wanted to leave the premises immediately. (Surprisingly, I enjoy the smell of buck goats- weird, I know; but had to draw the line when there was a possibility of getting goat urine on me.) We decided that was our cue to head inside and give them some privacy. The next morning we came down and checked for signs of any action happening. I keep good records so I know when the babies are due. Jeff headed up to make breakfast and I decided to stay down there a little longer to observe their behavior, wondering if any of the girls were in heat yet. Soon my question was answered about Brandi. Brandi and Sunny were having a grand ole time. Brandi, check. Okay, I’ll write that down on the calendar, I thought. 5 months gestation period, that meant May babies! I was watching from the milking room where Faun and Lucy started going wild, tails flagging…. definitely in heat. Okay, well two more were responding to Sunny. He came to touch noses with them through a pallet. Oh no you don’t, I thought. I just hoped he wouldn’t find a way to break into the milking room and get them pregnant, Bucks can be very persistent when there is a doe in heat nearby. We kept Sunny away from Lucy and Faun because we didn’t want them to get pregnant yet, we wanted to wait till next fall when they were older. I let Bree in the milking room to nurse Lucy and Faun; they drank thirstily. My stomach started rumbling so I decided enough “old fashioned country entertainment” as I like to call it, or “goat porn” as my dad likes to call it, for one day- time to head up for breakfast. I opened the door a crack to let Bree back in the goat house and little Faun squeezed through and went darting out before I could catch her. I went chasing after her, she had one thing on her mind. Sunny had one thing on his mind. The only thing on my mind was separating them as quickly as possible, their very strong wills against mine. In a matter of seconds, Sunny was already on her, business done, case closed. “@#*%!!!” Yes, I cussed. Anyone who knows me is aware of what a rare event that is and would probably have been giggling with glee if they heard me. I still continued to try to get Faun back in the milking room, but she wasn’t interested in food that I tried to lure her with…. oh no, she was only interested in Sunny. After glaring at Faun and Sunny, and then at Bree- clicking my tongue and saying “how could you stand by and let your daughter do that?!”; I realized that I was expending a lot of energy trying to fight against nature. The truth is, if Faun was in the wild, she would have been pregnant a long time ago. Goats get pregnant young. Their natural instincts take over and they do exactly what they were born to do. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just the way it is. I let out a sigh and realized there was nothing I could do about it at that point so I might as well stop moping around the goat yard while all the goats are having the time of their life…. talk about a party pooper! I knew I couldn’t leave Lucy in the milking room alone so I let her out too. And I learned a lesson- if I have does that I don’t want to get pregant, I need to put them on the other side of the property!! Far, far away from the buck. Okay, maybe next time I’ll be a little more prepared. Phew, felt like I’d been chasing a couple of hormone-ridden teenagers around, trying to get them to behave. We’ve still been watching for signs every day and the hilarious part is, the ladies have actually worn Sunny out. He’s exhausted. But after a rest, he’ll probably be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready for another round.

Sending you lots of laughter and a Happy New Year from all of us here at the farm!