The Baby

The baby goat, Noobi, will be two weeks old tomorrow.  This means it's time for me to learn to milk a goat!  I'm nervous, but hoping Peaches will be patient with me.  I've been thinking about what to put in her food bowl while she stands for milking.  Most folks use pellets of grain made for goats, but I would like to avoid feeding grains, if I can. 

The baby had a trip to the vet when she was ten days old.  She got a shot, and they used a hot iron to cauterized her horn buds, so she won't grow horns.  She screamed when they held the iron to her head, and then it was all over.  I hated to cause her pain, but I think in the long run, she is more likely to be someone's cherished dairy goat if she doesn't have horns, which folks don't like on their goats.  

In this picture you can see the round burn marks right after they were made.  The vet shaved some of her hair off first.  It's already grown back, and you can barely see the round scars were her horns would be.  

She doesn't hold it against me.  She is friendly, and curious.  And soooo cute! 

She leaps and jumps and her long ears flap in the breeze. 

She is interested in playing with the chickens, but they won't stand still long enough for her to jump on their backs. 

I've been asked if we are going to keep her or not.  As much as I like her, I don't think I can keep both her and her father unless I want to experiment with in-breeding line-breeding.  She will have to be separated from her father when she is four months old, which means one of them has to go.  If all goes as planned, I can breed Peaches and Little Buck over and over again, and keep the milk flowing.  Whenever I start to think I should keep her, I envision my goat mentors herd of over a hundred, which she managed to grow in just seven years.  No, I need to let her go.  Anyone in the market for a pretty Nubian doeling?  

The rest of the herd can't figure out why the baby gets all the attention!