Thursday, February 28, 2008

New Addition

We have a new addition to the family, Austin, our baby goat. He's 4 days old and just cute as a button. Unfortunately, he won't be ours for long because we'll be selling him in about 4 or 5 months. We just can't keep another male goat, 2 is more than plenty. The problem is explaining that to the girls. They're already in love with him (and we probably compounded the problem by letting them name him...not the most intelligent mommy moment I've ever had).

This is part of the farm life. We simply can't keep everything. The female goats will breed for us when they grow older but the males we have are sufficient for that purpose - not to mention that Austin is related to the females and therefore would dilute the gene pool.
We've explained this inevitability to both girls and so far they seem to understand. Whether or not that holds up in a few months when abstract becomes reality remains to be seen. I'm hoping that by then we'll have a couple more baby goats (Girls. Please.) and that they won't miss Austin quite so much.

Here's a picture of the little fella with his mama.

And a grainy image of him. DH had to chase him around the pasture to get this. He's definitely got spunk!









Instigator

32 comments:

Playground Monitor said...

Maybe you could show them this and tell the girls he has to go be with his girlfriend.

He's mighty cute.

PM

Problem Child said...

You know, when we decided to start this blog, I never dreamed "Goats" would be a subject tag we'd need...

Anonymous said...

My stepfather recently sold off his herd. My 13 year old daughter was fine until she realized he'd sold ALL of them. "You mean, he sold Chocolate Drop too? How could he sell Chocolate Drop?" Er...good luck with your girls when it's time for Austin to leave.

Barbara Vey said...

I'm not much of an animal person, but I just have to say, "Awww..."

Anonymous said...

Little Devil

Being the accomplished farmer that you are, I am sure you have noticed (or better yet heard) the new little squatters in the barn.

They were born at about 0330. I hope more pictures are to come.

To address PC, I have to say that this is the best blog Instigator has posted :).

birdzilla

Lynn Raye Harris said...

Awww, how cute!!!! I had a goat once. His demise was tragic. It involved the school bus. :(

My parents had an Arabian horse farm when I was growing up. Problem was, we had two stallions, a passel of geldings, and about two mares. Anyone see the problem with that? :) I think it was my mom who had trouble getting rid of the horses she should have gotten rid of, in truth.

Angel said...

The first time may be rough, but they'll get used to it. Just explain that you have to take care of the babies until they go to be at a new home (which is better than the meat house we sold ours to). The good thing is, they aren't as cute as they get older. And there will be new babies to come each year.

Angel

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

What kind of squatters? They better be goats or you're in trouble :-)

Oh, and glad to know I can be so accomplished without ever setting foot in the barn.

Instigator

Anonymous said...

I would not dare smuggle new species of critters. I believe I am still on restrictions.

Sally had 2 as of the time I had to leave for work. Everything looked ok as far as I could tell. I will know better when I get home this evening.

birdzilla

Playground Monitor said...

Do tell. Who's Sally?

Problem Child said...

"I believe I am still on restrictions."

You believe? Ha! Everyone here knows for a fact :-)

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

I'm waiting for the sudden and unexpected arrival of the llamas.

Anonymous said...

No reason to be mean PC.

And to SP, I can not help it if one day llamas decide to venture in to our woods.

birdzilla

Katherine Bone said...

Ah, how cute! My parents used to have goats. :-)

Llamas are cool, but getting a zidonk, now that would definitely be a surprise!!!

Anonymous said...

That would really get me in trouble.
I would have to have a zebra and a donkey first. (great idea though).

Who knows what can happen when someone goes to say....San Francisco. or something.

birdzilla

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

There's a farm near me that has zebras and zonkeys. Just for the record...

Problem Child said...

And Kira thought Aliens arriving in Chapter 14 was a surprise development...

(I guess I should be nice, or else there might be a sudden and unexpected arrival of a bunny in *my* woods...)

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

Holy Cow! I go do accounting for an hour and suddenly I have zebras, monkeys, llamas and a zidonk. What the hell. I thought you guys were on my side!! :-)

And yes, a bunny could appear...any time...any place. ;-D

Instigator

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

There was no talk of monkeys. Although now that you mention it...

Problem Child said...

Typos matter...

Anonymous said...

MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!

Now that would be awesome. Come to mention it, I know a fellow that has little tamarins just outside of Jasper.

The girls, of course, would love them.

Playground Monitor said...

Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

ANIMAL RESTRICTION

Do I need to have the words tatooed on your forehead?

I read zonkeys as monkeys...and opened myself up a whole nother can of worms (and no...we can't have worms either).

Instigator

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

:: snicker ::

Problem Child said...

Don't forget those "holy cows" Instigator mentioned earlier...

Careful, SP, or you could end up with a bunny too. Bunnies all around!

(Must. Get. To. Work. But it's so much fun here today. It's like the Sims, only with animals.)

Lynn Raye Harris said...

I'm not sure if I should be happy my husband only has a techno gadget addiction after following this conversation or not. Yeah, animals are cute and fuzzy, but they multiply and need food.

But gadgets are addictive and expensive and become obsolete waaay too quickly. Hmm.

Anonymous said...

Howdy All

Before I get to the new babies, I already have a worm bed...hahahahaha.that was created before restrictions.

Sally had a little boy and a little girl. Both are white with brown heads. Both doing fine.

And yes, Easter is just around the corner (LITTLE BABY BUNNIES FOR ALL)

birdzilla

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

I was hoping we'd have a solid brown, oh well. I bet they're cute. How are they doing?

Instigator

Angel said...

NO BUNNIES AT MY HOUSE. FOR ANY REASON.

If they do unexpectedly show up, someone will not just be on animal restriction, he will also be on Rock Band restriction. That should keep me safe until it comes out for the Wii. *insert evil grin*

Angel

Anonymous said...

You have to remember darling angel...
the wildlife takes precedent over everything.hahahahaha

hippity hoppity

Angel said...

Only if it wants to be rabbit stew... :-)=

Anonymous said...

Poor little rabbit.

I believe someone has a birthday within a couple of days.

Do you know what would be a perfect present. You guessed it.

birdzilla