Thanks and Farewell: Letting the Boys Move On

Aspen and Alder with their new owners

It has been a little over 8 weeks since Yuli's bore her two boys into our little herd, and they have bored their way in to our hearts. We knew from the first we could not keep them, with the limited resources at our disposal. We also knew that we wanted them to be loved, and that by freely giving them our love, they would be lovable by others. So, we have treated them as if they were staying with us indefinitely.

We have gained so much joy watching these two grow quickly from active little newborns to curious little devils. We watched them discover that there were other, bigger goats in the world, and held our breaths as they experienced the goat hierarchy welcoming rites, as they learned whom they needed to avoid, and when and how to do it. We let ourselves feel the sense of togetherness when they settled in with the herd, having moments of fun and connection with their elders. We watched them welcome younger babies into the herd, just as they had been welcomed, thus perpetuating the skill of wariness so important for goat survival.

We also helped them to learn from us ways to modify their "natural" capricious and sometimes vicious behavior to fit in with our expectations. Head butting only with willing partners, not near humans. No pushing or jumping on people, expecially from behind. Come to us, and we will pay attention to you, even if we are in the middle of mucking or mending or doing some other interminable task that must be incomprehensible to our caprine friends. He who first jumps upon the person feeding feeds last. Stand near without pushing, and you'll get pats and scritches and other loving interaction; push or jump and you'll wish you had controlled yourself.

Sharing these lessons have brought us together, and the individual personalities start to come through.

In this short time, Aspen has overcome a very strong need to push and butt with his head, something he was accustomed to doing even before he was born. Alder has learned that it is not always appropriate to stop suddenly in front of a person from whom he seeks favor, especially if that person is walking, and particularly if the person is carrying anything like a bucket of water.

They, in turn, have educated us in their particular ways. It is fascinating to watch as a curious intelligent animal such as Aspen discovers a new challenge. When being chased by the big boys, Aspen first was knocked unawares on his side. Surprisingly, he still ventured near the offending brute, but soon he was knocked less, and very shortly learned to jump quickly at the merest hint of a threat from the bigger goats. This has kept him on his toes, and made him alert to other dangers and pleasures. This week, when Aspen was chasing one of the littlest doelings, she made a sudden escape across a new climbing toy made of wooden pallets which Aspen had not yet encountered. He found his feet fell through the spaces in the angled pallet, slowing his progress as he scrambled across it. Immediately, he shifted his attention away from tormenting goats littler them him to this new type of obstacle. "Interesting," he seemed to say. "What is this? Hmm... sometimes I slip, sometimes I don't. Let's look at it from the side... how about from up here. Look, if I step on the topmost corner of any board, I maintain my foothold." Within 30 seconds, he was scrambling up and down at a rapid pace without ever missing a step!

Murphy's Answer to Countdown

Oh what a night! Yuli's first freshening, and the family's first kidding in a while...

Amazing how much people (myself among the best) can draw from a natural process a never-ending series of escalating worries.

How odd that we our open minds beset
With phantoms of our own imagining.
To take a process natural as can be,
And beef about the bridges yet to come
Which very well may never come to pass,
And stew in worry over this or that
One hundred thousand ways to skin a cat.
The anguish can attack, annoy, depress,
Afflict us with the grumpies or yet worse,
Make us to run away from what is good.
Yet lacking fears to torment our small minds,
We'd miss the sequel: O! Such sweet relief!

~Daddy Goat

So, where to start? How about with schedules. Yuliana, like many of our animal cousins, has mastered a bit of freedom from calendars. The perfect 150 day gestation would have been Saturday, which would also have fit in with other lovely plans we have made for the following week, showing off the babies and mom in a variety of educational activities. Sunday, Day 151, gave no signs of impending delivery. Monday, Day 152, and the week begins to take hold of our minds... Heck, we probably would even forget she was gestating, except that we have her separated. Tuesday, Day 153... sigh.... A watched doe never kids.

Let's see, what would Murphy do? I know. Let's plan to go to a concert 30 minutes travel away!

Bingo!

"I'm at the concert, where are you?"

"Just checking on the goats. Oh! Yuli is showing mucous! Hmm... I don't think we're joining you, but you go ahead...."

And to annoy the concert masters, but to my delight, text message updates between numbers.

"What's happening?"

"Having contractions... Everything seems fine. Mama coming with supplies soon. I comforting Yuli. She pawing and talking much."

"She eating hay betwn cntrctns. Mor fluids cming out."

"Yuli not eating. We cold & hngry. Concert over?"

"Done. Shall I stop for food on the way home?"

"No, friendly neighbor made us quesadilla's and tea. Get something for yourself."

Almost to the store: "Oh! she's pushing!" Oops! Don't want to miss the birth entirely... Abort food run and go!

Several hours later... after much pushing and pulling, coaxing, fussing--all seeming totally beside the point after the fact--and much licking of everyone and almost everything by the should-already-have-been-a-mother-by-now, out comes a big beautiful white with black baby. Happily identified as a very large doeling at first... but later discovered to be a beautiful boy, 10 pounds 2 ounces. (That explains the delay! Poor Yuli!) Followed hard after by a black with brown brother weighing in at just under 7 pounds.



The new mom knows her stuff! Cleaning up each kid and the kidding area with her unstoppable tongue.

Small steps to success...

We held our third official Pack Goat Project meeting the other day, and I found myself pleased. We learned from past meetings two important points: 1) start with the activity, and 2) don't try to cram too much into one meeting.

The half-dozen youth, ranging in age from 10 to 14, enthusiastically suited up (boots are required in this area!) and (with one exception) efficiently got their goats on a lead, and met in the exercise paddock. We discussed what commands we are teaching our budding pack goats. Loading and unloading: "Up", "Down". Stopping and starting: "Stop", "Halt" , "Whoa!" or "Wait", "Let's go!" or "Come on!". Though we are not consistent across the group, all agreed the importance of being consistent when training your particular friend, so you develop and understanding of communication. Then we practiced with our individual goats.

It made me smile to watch six youth leading and stopping six kids in six different directions around the paddock. Some had clearly been working with their goats since the last meeting. Some were having trouble. But all seemed to be having fun.

"Ok!" I called. "Let's try an experiment." They gathered around me. "You are all working individually to get your goat to go or stop on command, to follow your lead. You are doing it in a field where several others are stopping and going in different directions. This is not usual for goats. Goats usually travel in a herd. So let's simulate a herd."

We all gave the go command, and they followed me around the paddock and onto the unfinished trail that partially encircles the ranch. No goats balked. Everyone followed. We came near the end of the trail, I called to stop, heard all the different commands being given. "Halt", "Stop", "Ho!", "Wait!"... "OW!" ... "Ow?" "Nothing, it's fine, I'm fine, we're fine." Lo and behold: all goats stopped with their handlers.

So, what do we learn from this? That we can achieve more by working together? That observing your animal's natural tendency helps in training? Came the answer from the crowd in the darkening twilight: "That hiking together as a group is a lot more fun than stopping and starting around the paddock!"

From the mouths of babes. ;-)

You might say that I'm a great grandfather!

Foxglove's First Freshening!

On Friday, April 4, my daughter's youngest kid gave birth to two healthy kids! At 8pm, the first arrived, weighing in at 10.5 pounds. My wife assisted in the delivery. Two hours later, his brother was born at the same weight, breech, with assistance from my daughter. I "helped" at the head, giving encouragement and snapping the occasional photo.

The boys are as adorable as their mother! Saturday morning, their names were Gerry and Harry. By evening, their names had changed to You're-a-Cute-Tomato and Yrrebelkcuh. We'll shorten the first to "Tom", and since the latter arrived breech, we'll pronounce his name "Huckleberry".

Foxglove, their mother, had a bit of trouble delivering such hefty boys, but happily joined us for short walk the next day, snacking from the fresh greens growing around the community gardens. Both mom and the young bucks are healthy and happy in their temporary private quarters at the 4-H Ranch.

Now, what are we going to do with these bouncing Oberhasli boys? The 4-H Dairy Goat Project does not allow bucks, even wethered bucks, to stay with the does. But if we can start that project for pack goats we've been talking about, we have some justification to continue to house these beauties at the ranch. Still weighing our options...

In the meantime, we're looking forward to a day soon when the boys are weaned and Foxglove adds fresh goat milk to the family whole food supplies!

Originally published Monday, April 7, 2008 on SPARKPEOPLE.com

A year from city slick to confirmed goat dude

How did it happen?

I know that raising animals is good training for young people. Teaches responsibility. Creates companionship. But how have I become so involved in my daughter's 4-H projects that I am taking on a persona related to the animal she raises? (We raise.)

Am I raising goats because my daughter loves them, or is she raising them for me?