Well, I did it! I have been browsing Craigslist for weeks looking for Saanen goats. It's a solid white dairy breed with upright ears and a beard. The idea was to get a yearling that I would breed for the first time this fall with the other 5 goats and not have to milk until next spring. My brother stayed with us for the week to help out so on Tuesday we decided to take a trip to Princeton, Minnesota to visit a farm with goats for sale. The goats were so sickly and thin. It was so sad. I offered to take a couple of the goats just to take them off his hands but told him there was no way I would give him any money for them. I ended up calling the local Sheriff's office to report the condition of the animals. He wouldn't let me take any of the goats so after a 2 1/2 hour drive, we went home empty handed. I went home, searched again and found a breeder in Glencoe, MN. We scheduled an appointment for Friday for me to look at a doe who was currently milking or her kid who was six weeks old. I really wasn't prepared to bring home a goat and have to start milking her and I really didn't want the kid because she would be too young to breed this fall. So, I got them both...
They are mother and daughter but they were separated right after the birth. So now I have to milk the mom to feed it to the kid! The poor little baby is at least six weeks old and today when I weighed her she was only twelve pounds. She should be almost double that. When I looked closely at her this morning I could see she was also covered in lice. No wonder she was struggling. I'm guessing if I had left her there she would have been dead in another week. So I gave her a shot of Ivomec and treated the rest of the herd too. She is currently being kept in the garage instead of with the other goats until she perks up and puts on a little weight. I think another couple of days ought to do it.
So tonight I got home from work a little after midnight and had to go out and milk mom and then feed baby. Third times a charm, only took about 20 minutes. Last night was the first night we had them and there we sat in the garage with all of the wrong equipment and not a clue of what we were doing. I looked at G sitting on an overturned bucket, falling asleep and started laughing hysterically. It just struck me as funny. I never thought that after 13 years of marriage that we would one day find ourselves living on a farm and spending our Friday night in the garage milking a goat! We'll see if the novelty wear off. Tomorrow's project: Build A Milking Stand....stay tuned.
I also just want to say thanks to all of my fabulous friends who listen to me go on and on about my feathered and furry babies and pretend to never get tired of hearing about them. You guys are the greatest!
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