Goat News

I haven't posted about my goats in awhile, mostly because it has been cold and wet and I have been pregnant/postpartum and simply have not felt like going outside and snapping goat pics.  We have also had quite a tragic time lately in regards to our small herd--within the stretch of three weeks we lost three of our goats--two to deer worm, one we are not sure about.  We only had five anyway, so it was quite a devastating loss.  

The first to go was Truitt.

This is truitt when he was a kid.  I couldn't find any good adult pics of him.  He was a cutie!

When I first got him, he followed Dean around like a shadow and drove him crazy.  It was quite humorous.

Now I was actually wanting to get rid of Truitt anyway, but I would have rather found him a new home than he die.  He passed away while I was in the hospital with Evvie.  We have no idea what happened--Davy just found him dead upon coming home to feed the animals.  

The next to die was one of my favorite (and first) goats, my beautiful buck Dean.  

Ol' Dino.  He was one of my very first goaties.  :(

Now that was really a sad loss.  Not only was he a sweet, friendly, well-tempered guy, but he was my herdsire and had absolutely stunning fiber.  He passed away a few days after I came home with Evvie, and you can imagine that his death, combined with postpartum emotions, made for quite a depressing day with lots of crying.

Last we lost Buttercream, one of my does. 

Buttercream last winter, pregnant with Hana.

She is another goat that I was wanting to find a home for, but again, very sad to have lost her.  Especially since I am pretty sure she was pregnant. :( 

*Side note: In case you were wondering, deer worm is a meningeal worm that is passed from infected deer to, of all things, snails.  Goats will often ingest snails and slugs when they eat foliage, especially when it is rainy and wet.  Once a goat ingests an infected snail, the parasite gets into the spinal cord of the animal and travels fairly quickly to the brain.  Infected animals will show neurological symptoms, such as falling down and not getting up, or not being able to walk/move normally.  It is a fast killer, and even if you are able to catch it before it kills, the animal will likely have irreversible neurological damage.* 

So anywho, that leaves us with two goaties left: Irma and Hana.  

Miss Irma last spring. :)

Hana, a day or two after she was born last February. 

Hana, all grown up!  She wouldn't look at the camera, but you can see her pretty crimpy fiber. 

Irma, with her full coat.  She wiggled a little and made my picture blurry. ;) She is looking absolutely gorgeous.

I am so very thankful that Irma was spared--she is my favorite. :)  Both of the girls are pregnant by Dean, too, which is cool.  They are due sometime in March--not sure exactly when, as I put Dean with the girls for the entire month of October and didn't really monitor the goings-on as far as when the deed was done, if you know what I mean.  I am hoping they both give me girls. 

So that is what has been going on with our goats!  Now I have to figure out what I am going to do about acquiring a new buck.  I want one that I can breed to both girls--I don't want to EVER have two bucks again, at least not until we have a lot more space.  I'd love to find a Nigora buck who comes from registered lines and has nice fiber, but that is difficult to find.  I suppose we'll just get through this kidding season and see what happens.

Have a lovely weekend!

~Bessie