Hugo loses a friend

Bathed in sunlight and with best friend Hugo nearby, our handsome Daramac slipped away to the big goatshed in the sky yesterday afternoon.  He had been suffering with bad arthritis in his front legs for some time but over the past week or so, his poor old back legs had also started to get worse and he was spending more and more time lying down or on his knees.  Although eating well and still very much the 'head boy' it was clear that things were not going to improve and, with colder weather approaching, we decided that it was time to say goodbye.

He was over 5 years old which is a pretty respectable age for a working male.  And boy, has he worked!!  Daramac has sired more of our kids than any other male we have had, so his memory lives on in the many beautiful daughters that he has left behind.

He came to us as a young kid from an organic, biodynamic herd in Sussex.  

His mum was black and white (hence some of the coloured kids that he produced) and, at the time, was one of the highest producing milking goats in the country.  I went and collected him with our friend Mary and he actually spent the first few months living at Mary's to keep her young male company.  But when Gus died, Daramac came back to us and quickly fitted in with the other boys.

He grew quickly but, despite his size, was always slightly nervous of people.  But he was a bit of a mummy's boy and he also loved his Goatie Auntie Anita.

On his hind legs he was much taller than me (and I'm no midget at 5ft 10!) and, as you see, loved to get treats to eat.

Several of his sons have gone on to work as stud boys in some of the big West Country goat herds and so his genes are spread far and wide in the UK dairy industry.

Here he is with a couple of his young sons last year ..

And of course, his most famous son was our Handsome Humps, young Humphrey goat who spent much time on our blogging pages ..

He was a beautiful giant of a goat who stank beyond belief when he was working!  But he was always his mummy's boy and I loved him dearly.

RIP Daramac my handsome boy.  Hugo and the boys will miss you.