Bad habits and lazy goats

Remember our little escaping male kid?

 

Seems that he has been teaching a couple of the other little goaties how to do the same tricks ...

 

I blame the parents ..

 

Meanwhile, David has spent a happy couple of days driving this around the field behind my house, spreading vast amounts of goatie muck around to fertilise the soil ready for ploughing it all in.

It's very difficult to get the goaties out of bed and ready for milking on these dark mornings.  They prefer to have a lie in until it gets light!  When we switch the barn lights on it always makes me smile to see all those lovely comfy goaties all snuggled up next to their sisters or special friends.  But sometimes they are just resting on whoever happened to lie down next to them ... 

Here's Siouxsie absolutely fast asleep, stretched out on one of the much younger goaties early this morning:

 

Turn your sound up and listen for that little goatie snore!

What to do on your birthday ...

Happy Birthday David!  21 again ...  and again ...

So, what to do on a birthday?  Well .... Watch the most fantastic sunrise from the milking parlour:

 

 then sort out all those goaties with waggy tails

 

Some were sent in to see young Hugo for the day:

 

Whilst others went off to visit Daramac.

Meanwhile, young Humphrey (Valerie's little white man) seems to have found himself gainful employment.  Although the little chap has been castrated and so doesn't have any of the usual 'assets', he still has some of the right hormones and so is excellent at pointing out girls when they are just about to come into season. 

Most of the girls are quite obvious and vocal at this time of year but you do get the few quiet ones and it is these whom Humphrey is keen to point out.  What a good chap he is!

Then it was time to do a little cattle rustling ... With winter approaching, David wanted to move the cows close to the farm so that we can keep an eye on them at calving time (just over a month away now) whilst last year's calves were to be put into a separate field of their own.

Although the Gracie Moos are generally very placid and cooperative, today they decided that we all needed a little extra exercise and so there was quite some running about to be done before they decided that they would go into the trailer after all!

First of all we moved the cows ... and here they are arriving in their new field:

Then we moved the calves.  You can just about see them in their new field!

It was cold and very very wet.  But after a while, you become oblivious to the rain lashing your face .. it's only when you get back in the car and look in the mirror that realistion dawns ...

Looking gorgeous as ever!!!

Jekyll & Hyde

It never ceases to amaze me what a difference a few hormones can make!  That stroppy, noisy, pushy, hormonal goatie that was leaping over the highest fences has now changed back into our (relatively) quiet and (sometimes) well-behaved little Husky goat.

Earlier today she could be found lazing around in the barn:

 

And tonight, she decided that the most comfy spot was in the feed wheelbarrow:

Many of the goaties spent some time ambling around their field in the sunshine but some decided that the new straw looked very tempting and so decided to stay indoors to try it out.  It seemed that it was far more comfy on one side of the barn than the other and so it was a bit crowded over there!

 

 

 

Although Husky has calmed down, there were plenty more hormones in action today and so it was Daramac's turn to entertain some of the ladies.  We set him up in his own house and then let him loose with Mora, Heidi and Meryl.   

 

 

Meanwhile, the goatlings were soaking up the autumn sunshine:

 

 

And Persi decided that she wanted to be on her own and settled down in a quiet spot outside:

I think we have a couple more days of nice weather forecast so hopefully the girls will be able to enjoy a bit more sunshine before we start with all that horrid wet weather that usually comes before the winter.

A night with Husky

So, yes, I did sleep in the trailer with young Husky goat for most of last night.  I bedded down on the straw and managed to get a few hours nap despite young Madam calling out to the boys and tramping up and down on me for most of the night.  I must admit that my poor old bones did start to get a bit stiff in the early hours and so I retired to the relative comfort of my little caravan outside the barn, leaving Husky and her hormones safely in the trailer.

Today was wonderful West Hampstead market and Ellie's Dairy did a storming trade in all things delicious and goatie.  I just love this time of year with so much wonderful seasonal fruit and veg around the market.  New season apples are just in and they are simply divine - crispy and mouth-wateringly gorgeous!

Talking of colourful and seasonal ... Franklins Farm Shop in East Dulwich had a wonderful display of English tomatoes and peppers outside the other day .. a splash of colour in the midst of the city:

On Wednesday we were excited to have another visit from the lovely Sharon at the new Margate Smokehouse.  Sharon and her husband are busy trying out their new smokehouse on lots of local produce such as cheese, pork, chillis and fish.  A couple of weeks ago, we gave Sharon some samples of all our cheeses for them to try out and this week she returned with the best two for us to taste.

However, as they had only just been smoked and were still quite strong, Sharon recommended that we leave them for a couple of weeks before we taste them.  They smell scrummy!  So, we have a lovely fresh Ellie's Original and a young Shaggy's Beard camembert sitting in our fridge ...

Sharon loves the goaties and arrived with a bag full of bananas.  As you can see, she was hugely popular!

After all, who can resist such a lovely smiley face?

Shameless Husky

Once upon a time there was a naughty little goat called Husky:

Husky was able to wriggle through or jump over any obstacle that the silly human people put in her way.  She didn't want to be held in behind gates - she wanted to be free!!  So, she and her Auntie Ginger goat used to live as they wanted in the goatie barn, free to wander around just as they wished.

And then one day, little Husky started to wag her little goatie tail at those big smelly boys:

And, while those humans had their backs turned, one thing led to another, .  And when Goatie Mum Debbie came back into the barn a short while later, she found little Husky goat having a bit of a party with all the boys.  Shameful behaviour from one so young!

And so, little Husky goat had to be given the goatie-morning-after-pill, just in case .... as she was still only a baby herself and far too young to have kids of her own.  The gates on the boys' house were made stronger and higher so that troublesome little grey goaties would not be able to jump over them.

That was 3 weeks ago.  And this morning, young Husky started to wag her little tail at the boys once again.  Confident that the barriers were high enough, the humans smugly watched as young Husky strutted her stuff in front of the admiring chaps.  And then, quick as a flash, she scaled the gates and was in with the boys again!  Not to be outdone, Goatie Grandad Bob (80 years of age and still nimble) shinned over the gate and grabbed young Husky before any of the chaps had time to realise what was going on.

It was clear that no barrier was going to be high enough to keep a stroppy, hormonal and very agile young goatie out of trouble.  But what to do with her?  The only solution ...  The goat trailer was wheeled into the barn and Husky loaded into it for the day.  She had the company of all the other goats around but was not able to get out and into mischief.

I'm just about to go back up there to check that she is OK and possibly spend the night with her in the trailer to keep her company.  I know .. barking mad!  But, despite her size, she is still only a kid and I think she may be a little nervous having to spend the night shut in a trailer ...

Hugo's fan club

So after yesterday's miserable jottings, let us have a little more fun with our blog!

Several days this week have started as those wonderful early autumnal misty mornings:

David took the goatlings out for a trot into the mist and I was entertained to see them all slowly reappearing as they all ran back in for their breakfast.

Hugo is having a wonderful time with them all and he seems to be a bit of a hit with the older girls as well.  He has a constant queue of ladies admiring him over the fence:

But he is taking it all in his stride and has settled in really well.  He is a lot calmer than when he arrived and is getting used to just enjoying life with his new girlfriends.

Many of our goaties have odd little habits and Cilla goat is no exception.  Outside the milking parlour are two large blue troughs which we fill with water for the girls to have a nice drink as they come out from milking.  For some reason best known to herself, Cilla cannot drink unless she stands up on a concrete block.  It means that it makes it more awkward and she has to bend down further to reach the water but that seems to be the way that she likes to do it.  Strange little goat!

 

Valerie and her little chap were snapped fast asleep the other day:

 

Meanwhile, at the babies' house, there is one particular little man who will not stay in the barn.  He is the last kid born this year (along with his sister) and he just climbs in and out through the metal barriers as the fancy takes him.  When he sees us turn up, he knows that it is breakfast time and he is quick to climb into the back of my van or, as here, into the back of the truck in search of buckets of food.

 

Such bad behaviour!

A thoroughly miserable week

I'm afraid that you will have to forgive my absence from blogging this week but it's been a truly horrendous few days. 

It all started one morning with a half-dead rabbit outside the dairy which David was called upon to dispatch.  The same lunchtime, I returned home to find a crippled (and exceedingly annoyed) weasel on my kitchen floor which I then had to send to weasel heaven ..

And then we lost our beloved GinnyPink very suddenly that same evening.  You may remember that Ginny had suffered a serious bout of pneumonia last year and, although she had recovered well, she did seem to suffer a little chestiness whenever the weather turned cold and damp.  And so it was that last week she was not quite herself. 

Our vet was booked to visit the following morning but suddenly, in the middle of evening milking, we heard a shout from the barn.  David rushed in to find our beautiful girl collapsed and struggling to breathe.  The emergency vet was with us within minutes and confirmed that there was really nothing that could be done.  And so, amidst tearful farewells, our lovely great big black girlie was put to sleep.

Bad things always happen in threes.  So I thought that was my quota for a while.  Just shows how wrong you can be ...

Mitzy cat did not return home that evening and, despite my calling her late into the night, she was nowhere to be seen.  Not entirely unusual, as she was a great hunter and often stayed out quite late.  But she would always appear on my bed sometime during the night.

When I awoke early the following morning to find that she was still not home, and that her food bowl had not been touched, I immediately got up and went out searching for her.  Hopefully the neighbours weren't up too early as I was wandering around the garden and up the road in my pyjamas, peering under bushes with my torch.

As I walked back towards the house I saw something at the side of the road and, stomach churning, rushed over to find my poor lifeless Mitzy cat who had obviously been hit by a car.  In all the years I have lived here with cats, I have never lost one so tragically.

She was only here with us for a few months but it seemed like she had been here forever.  She was a lively and funny young cat who had come through her experience of being dumped in a box with her new-born kittens.  She was beautiful and Marmite and I will miss her very much.

But it was not to end there.

Every year, there are a few goat kids who tug at your heartstrings as they are so tiny.  One such little man this year was a tiny black kid who came to be known as Ronnie (think Corbett!). 

Small but perfectly formed, Ronnie and I used to have a nice cuddle every day.  I would pick him up and tease him about how tiny he was and, in return, he would bite my ear.  It was that kind of relationship!  But, as often happens with tiny people, Ronnie became poorly and was clearly struggling to keep his spirits up.

As he needed extra attention, I brought him home with me for several nights and he slept in a big cage on my lounge floor where he was warm and cosy.  I slept next to him on the sofa so that I could keep an eye on him.  But sadly it was not to be a happy ending.

On Monday he took a turn for the worse and the vet confirmed that he also had a serious heart condition as well.  Even if he made it through this illness, he would almost certainly have further problems for the rest of his life.  And so, for the second time in a few days, I held one of my beautiful goats as it slipped away at the end of a vet's needle.

Seriously doubting that I could cope with any further tragedy this week, I went over to see all my hordes of lovely babies to try and cheer myself up.  But when I got there, I found one of the larger girls lying on her own and looking very sorry for herself.  She had been absolutely fine a few hours earlier.  I moved her into the main barn where we could better keep an eye on her, but she was dead within minutes.

Checking through all my kidding records, I discovered that her brother had died very suddenly (of unknown causes) when they were both young kids.  So, maybe that was the result of some abnormality or genetic defect.  We will never know.

Will it never end??  I know that the more animals you have, the more you lose.  But we feel the loss of every goat as keenly as when we only had a handful.  Sometimes it's just unbearable but we have to carry on.

So, please forgive me for not blogging.  But maybe now you will understand why.

Hopefully a better week lies ahead!