Someone asked me the other day how many goats we have. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head. That’s how many we have. TOO MANY. We like to joke and say that we have MGS. It sounds like a horrible disease-and it is. Multiple Goat Syndrome(I can’t claim credit for that moniker as I think I read it on a tee shirt years ago).
Multiple goat syndrome is when your goats keep having babies so that you can have milk- and then you don’t ever get rid of any of them, ever. Yup, that’s where we’re at. So while we look to selling some of our sweet babies( our average is to have about 12 new babies each year), let’s introduce you to who provides the milk for our lovely goats milk soap.
This little guy is Luke Skywalker. Yes, that is his name. He is our new buckling. And while he doesn’t produce the milk, he’s responsible- or will be- for making babies😁 He is really sweet and loves people especially the little people we have in abundance around here. When in doubt, he’ll be the one “chatting”- if I’m wondering who’s making all that noise.
This is Lucy. She’s in charge. She is the head Mama, troublemaker and most likely to wonder what you have for her🥰( as evidenced by this picture). Lucy got her name because she has the personality of Lucille Ball. She is plucky and downright hilarious. When she was little she was always the one who snuck out of the pen- usually to sun herself on my cold frame or to come up on the porch to look inside the house.
This is Ethel- Lucy’s twin. Yes, they are Lucy and Ethel. Every year we try to think of a theme to name our goat kids. That was the year of movie and tv show names. And these two are best buddies. Ethel is slightly lower in the hierarchy than Lucy, but definitely still mostly in charge.
Also, did you notice the baby Goat photobombing?😲
Next is Kamikaze.
She would like to know where the food is- ALWAYS! She is actually a very sweet Mama to her babies. But once it is time for eating, look out! She was actually named for a character in a children's book, but here name fits her.
Then comes Buttercup.
Buttercup has been blessed with the lowest voice of our herd. It is very easy to tell when she's bleeting. Right now I hear it all the time as we are weaning her babies and she is constantly wondering where they are. Buttercup gets second prize in most likely to escape. She is quite resistant when it's time to go back in the pen. But she really loves people, so after a few last nibbles, she will come and see what you might have for her. But it is definitely on her own terms.
Are you catching the stubbornness that goats are well known for? Our goats have it in abundance.
And those are the big 4.
There is a hierarchy in the herd and these 4 are at the top. Basically that means when they go into heat or someone lower down decides that they want to be milked earlier, or possibly it's a hot day and there's nothing to do- there is head butting. But these 4 always win.
Coming Soon:
Meet the goats #2: Everyone else.