GoatyGoats...

From Jim: Home At Last has four resident goats. They're all whithers. Male goats, like dropped calves, are considered a by-product of the dairy business. They are either sold to be used for meat or just thrown away. Three of boys were from a bunch of 50 day olds that Tawnee saved. When they came here they weighed 2 1/2 pounds. They were very tiny. We lost three of the original eight. They just have a tough time of it without any colostrum, exposure, and a fragile metabolism. About half of the 50 that were saved died. Very hard to take. Our baby boys stayed in the living room in a donated playpen. They were bottle fed every 2 hours and held on laps, wrapped in blankets while they slept. They are "imprinted", bonded, attached, convinced they're people, and so on. We had them neutered early on. Dr. Darling prefers surgical castration with proper anesthesia to elasticators, way less chance of complications. They were joined by Poe, who was orphaned during a mountain lion attack. Our boys are Nubian/Alpine crosses. Poe is an African Pygmy. We elected to leave the horns on our guys. They are so pretty! They look like mountain goats. Their pen has large rocks and a dirt berm for them to climb. The goaty games are fun to watch-king of hill seems to be the most popular, although chase everyone off the food is a close second! Our goats are truly pets. They are intelligent, loving, and fun. They learn quickly, know their names, and understand "NO". The latter is nice when they want include you in their games. Goaty games are for goats-not two leggeds. One of the most endearing behaviors they have is to ask that you hold their sweet faces in your hands so that they can look right into your eyes. They couldn't be clearer in their expression of affection. We love our goats!