Well, Sadie finally got down to business yesterday afternoon and produced two of the brawniest babies we’ve had at Goat-O-Rama in years. We haven’t named these two big bruisers yet, but we’ll keep you posted! They weighed in at 10 and 11+ lbs. respectively, and they have legs a mile long so Sadie needed a little help bringing these two into the world! Both kids are the spit and image of their daddy, Pest. Tall, strong, big-boned, broad-shouldered and with massive foreheads.

When I pulled this guy out, I said, “Wow, what a massive kid!!” Sadie was having a hard time getting him out so I gave a few tugs on his front legs. I couldn’t find his head anywhere so at first I thought he had his head back, but no, his legs were just so long it took a while for his head to follow. He was also quite impatient. Sadie wasn’t pushing much, so this guy’s front legs were waving around like he was trying to claw his own way into the world whether Mama helped or not!

Look at these moonspots! This our first truly moon-spotted kid. Pest’s moonspots don’t present quite like this but he carries the genetics and now he’s finally passed this fun color pattern to one of his offspring!

This is baby #2. I thought the first one was big, but boy oh boy, this one was even bigger! He weighed in at over 11 lbs. he wasn’t so eager to come out. He only had one leg in the passage and he took a bit of pulling. Somewhere in the delivery process, Sadie sat down hard on my box of kidding supplies and smashed the lid. It was a soft landing for her. Among other things, the box was full of towels.

This guy is more of a dark blue roan. Pest doesn’t have a hint of blue roan in his coloring, but he’s now thrown several babies who have it so it must be somewhere in his ancestry. I can’t wait to see how big these guys get. I have a feeling they’re going to be huge, powerful goats by the time they’re grown!

Skeeter was due Saturday, April 20th, and as usual she delivered bang on the dot! She didn’t waste any time but started into labor at around 7:30 a.m. It wasn’t long before we welcomed two beautiful new kids to the herd: Meet Merlin and Morgana!

First off the assembly line was this big fella who we named Merlin. He weighed 8.5 lbs. and was a little bit stuck. He only had one front leg presenting, but his head was in the right  spot.  Goat kids can be born with only one front leg in place, but they’re wider that way so it’s not as easy for mom. I could have pushed him back in and gone fishing for the other leg but Skeeter is a big, roomy doe so I decided to just pull on the one while easing his head through. He made it without much trouble, although mama wanted a rest afterwards!

Before her brother was even quite delivered, this little gal rushed onto the scene! She couldn’t wait to see the big, new world out there! We named her Morgana (a variant of Morgan le Fey from the King Arthur legend). She was 7.5 lbs. and was struggling to her feet before she even hit the ground!

Skeeter never fails to produce some beautifully-marked babies! We can’t wait to see what these two look like as they grow up!

Introducing the first two models off the 2024 Goat-O-Rama assembly line! They’re so new they haven’t got names yet, but I’m sure we’ll be thinking of some shortly! Snowball showed us first thing this morning that she was ready to have kids any time and she didn’t want me to leave the pen. This is a first for her, as she usually likes to kid sometime around 2:00 in the morning, but I was pleased we could be there to assist. It turns out maybe she knew we needed to be there as she seemed to have a bit of trouble pushing these kids out even though they were presented correctly. I’m sure she’d have got them out eventually without help, but it was nice to be able to move things along a bit when progress stalled.

First to hit the ground at around 11:00 a.m. was a beautiful 8 lb. two-tone chamoisee baby girl. She looks a lot like her older sister, Molly! The next was a lovely 9 lb. white buckling with gray/blue roan spots. He’s practically Pongo’s double! We helped Snowball dry them off and get them into the shed and out of the wind, which was beginning to howl. The kids were up and nursing in almost no time at all.

Phil thinks this little guy looks like a “Gandalf.” I’m inclined to agree. Let’s see how we feel about it over the next couple days!

We have no idea what this little girl’s name will be, but I’m sure she’ll discover her name before long.

Listen to their little cute baby squeaks!

Yesterday I went for a walk around Lake Beckwith in Colorado City with a friend of mine. I took Finn and Pongo with me and we had a great time. But then on the way home the water pump in my truck seized and broke the serpentine belt! I lost my power steering and the engine quickly began to heat up so I pulled onto the shoulder and raised the hood. Here I am sitting by the side of the road with two goats in the back of my truck and no way to get home. Phil was inaccessible. It was just after 5:00 on a Sunday and he was busy with his livestream. He wouldn’t have heard the phone even if it rang 50 times.

But as luck would have it, a lady who lives just a short distance past my house happened to be driving by and she stopped to see what was going on. It’s impossible not to recognize the crazy lady who drives around the valley with goats in her truck! I asked my neighbor if she could stop by my house on her way home and bang on the window of the room where Phil does his livestream. She said she could do that, but in the meantime it was getting dark and quickly getting cold! I knew it would be a little while before Phil could get his boots on and come to our rescue, so I unloaded Finn and Pongo and began marching up the highway. I’m happy that the road has a nice wide shoulder because the traffic was relatively heavy as commuters came home from work, and nearly everyone drives too fast. But the boys were good and Finn was downright stately. He marched up the highway with his head held high and a dignified air about him. Pongo bounced along beside us, trying hard to imitate Finn but jumping behind my leg in fright every time a vehicle flew past us. We walked about a mile and it was almost dark when Phil pulled up.

Just as Phil arrived another neighbor drove up with his truck and said he’d seen me and the goats hiking up the highway and had turned around and come back to see if we needed a lift. It feels great to know there are so many helpful and caring people in this valley who will stop and offer their assistance when I break down, even when I have goats in tow!

Well, 2023 is almost over and I’ve barely said anything on this blog during the past year. It was a hard year in many ways but it had some really good bits too. I will say that this Christmas season has been one of the best ever. Certainly the best in many years! We had a grand time at the Beulah Parade and Yule Log Festival in early December. Sonic and Scout, who had only pulled the carriage about three times before (and only once without Finn hitched in front), leaned boldly into their harnesses and made us proud in the Beulah Parade of Lights. They looked magnificent and I only had to get out and lead them for a short way during the scariest part of the parade. I’m very proud of them and amazed that they did so well with almost no preparation.

Next morning Phil and I headed out to the Beulah Yule Log Festival with a couple of goats and our friends Zen and Vanessa. There was a delicious chili lunch beforehand this year so for the first time ever we didn’t hunt for the Yule Log hungry!

Finn is now a well-known fixture at the Yule Log celebration. He’s been attending since 2015 and several young kids asked Phil if Finn had been coming to the Yule Log “forever.” Phil looked down at these 8-year-old children and said, “Yep!” Because as far as these kids were concerned, Finn HAD been coming forever!

And look who made his debut at the Yule Log this year! Pongo accompanied Finn and learned the ropes. When it came time to haul the Yule Log back from its hiding place, Finn leaned into the harness and really helped things along. Pongo’s effort, on the other hand, was mostly symbolic and sometimes counter-productive, but I think he had a good time and he was so cute no one could get mad at him even when he pulled the wrong way. 

The boys waited patiently for cookies after the log was successfully hauled back to the lodge. Finn acted like he was eager for a treat but ended up not wanting anything we offered him. Pongo, on the other hand, takes after old Sputnik. He never met a cookie he didn’t like! Pongo wolfed down everything we put in front of his face and begged for more. I think this little guy is going to have very happy memories the Yule Log Festival!

This was a particularly fun year because I signed up to be a bellringer for the Salvation Army! I asked if I could ring in front of our local Ace Hardware and Valley Market grocery store and they said I could! So I picked up the kettle and the bell, a “Volunteer” apron and a pin and we rang the bell in 2-hour shifts six different days during the two weeks leading up to Christmas. Pongo came along as my sidekick and ended up stealing the entire show. I’m not nearly cute enough to get anyone to come over and donate money, but Pongo sure is! By the end of the first two-hour shift he had learned how to ring the bell. Notice the red wooden handle on this bell.

Next time around I had to wrap the wooden handle in white duct tape because Pongo had almost chewed through the wood. Notice I also added a “Volunteer” pin to his hat!
By the end of the third day the bell handle was toast, so I made a new one from a piece of dowel rod, and I wrapped this handle in a thick piece of leather so Pongo couldn’t destroy it so easily. This bell handle held up better to the abuse. Here’s Pongo with his hat, his badge, his bell, and his kettle. It was hard for anyone to walk by and NOT donate! After all, it’s worth at least a dollar to see a goat ring a bell!   
As a side project, Pongo wandered around the store and pulled up a few weeds that were growing between the cracks in the pavement. The store employees were thrilled and asked if Pongo could come back regularly to do this job during the summer months.
I loved this lady’s festive Christmas outfit so much I had to get a photo of her. Notice the shirt: “Brew-dolf”! Also, the sweater featured Snoopy and Woodstock. My mother-in-law would have been very pleased.
We rang the bell for an extra hour the last day and Pongo was exhausted. Here he is conked out in the front seat of my truck with his head on my lap. What a sweet buddy!   

I’ll leave you with this cute video of Pongo proudly ringing his bell!

Guess what we did today!!

We drove our goats in UNICORN FORMATION for the first time this afternoon! We had Sonic and Scout hitched to the big wagon for the first time. They did splendidly! We’ve only ever hitched them to the small garden cart two times and that was sometime last spring. But as if hitching them to the big cart and using bits for the first time wasn’t enough, we attached a singletree to the front of the team pole and drove Finn out front!

It was a little chaotic for the first moment or two while Finn twisted and tried to turn round to face the others, but Phil stayed at his head and got him straightened out. Once we got Finn walking it went magnificently. He tried once or twice more to turn around when we’d stop the carriage, but after he got tangled up on the traces and reins one time he quit doing that. He’s a very smart goat and figured it out very quickly. No one had to walk at his head after the first 50 yards or so and Phil and I both took turns driving with the other walking a little behind, ready to jump into the action if the goats misbehaved. But once we were halfway around the circle without any major mishaps, we both got in the carriage and rode together the rest of the way. It was amazing!

I hope we can practice enough to drive them like this in the two Christmas parades in December! It’s a little weird handling two sets of reins but we soon got used to it. There are a few things I still need to adjust because our hitch isn’t quite balanced correctly, but I’m mighty impressed with how our goats handled this entirely new experience. (A new experience for ALL of us, I might add! I’ve never driven a unicorn hitch or even a four-in-hand before, and unicorn hitches are one of the harder hitches to handle.) GOOD BOYS!!!

It’s been a while since I’ve paid much attention to this blog. My apologies. I’ve lazily allowed Phil to take it over with links to his livestreams, which are wonderful but they don’t tell the stories. At some point I may go back and fill in all the blanks over the last couple of years, but we’ll see.

Does anyone remember my costume from the ’80’s party back in February 2020? I’ve been waiting impatiently to resurrect it with a goat in tow and last night I finally got the chance! I went as Jareth the Goblin King from the movie Labyrinth and I dressed Maya up as Toby.

The reference:

I’m a big pudgy and the outfit is form-fitting without layers, but I bundled up underneath and was popping at the seams. Nevermind. I stayed warm enough with all those long johns and undershirts! A lot of folks don’t get the reference these days but the ones who did thought it was the best costume there. Maya, of course, stole the show. My favorite was when kids would come over to get candy, see Maya, and immediately forget all about trick-or-treat because they wanted to pet the baby goat. Maya was awesome. She was completely chill all evening and let everyone pet her. She wasn’t afraid of any of the costumes – not even dinosaurs, werewolves, or jellyfish. A few folks came up to introduce their dogs to her despite my telling them please not to. She never once startled or backed away from any of the be-costumed dogs. She was amazing! 

Phil went as a pirate and froze to death without his long johns and gloves:

And here was our truck setup. I think it came out rather well this year! We had less than one hour to carve all these pumpkins after Phil got off work. I think they came out rather well! 

Pongo had a rough first couple of days. It took him about 48 hours to finally start getting up and walking on his own. Phil or I would go out every hour or two and give him a bit of physical therapy in the form of standing him up, supporting him as he shuffled along, and moving his joints, which seemed to want to flex in every direction. We were also concerned that his heartbeat and breathing were abnormally fast. I have a wonderful friend who is a vet and I asked her to come take a look at him on Tuesday. When she arrived, I grabbed both babies from where they were laying in their shelter and brought them into the house where we could all be warm during Pongo’s examination. It was when I plunked Perdy down on the floor that the vet noticed she wasn’t standing on her right. She’d been hopping around only an hour earlier! We had a look and the leg was broken near the hock joint. I realized with horror that some goat must have stepped on her! I don’t have any goats that are mean to babies, but Perdy must have been lying in the doorway of the shelter or under one of the feeders and got trampled by accident.

So it turned out to be a good thing I had the vet here! She made a splint for Perdy’s leg and then she checked out Pongo. She agreed that his heartbeat was abnormally fast, but she couldn’t hear anything really wrong with it. He’s bright and active and has a pretty good appetite so she said to just keep doing what we were doing with the physical therapy.   

Because we now had two special needs kids, we decided to set up an enclosure in our basement where we could keep an eye on them and make sure no other goats could step on them. We brought Snowball in to feed them and settle them into their new temporary home before taking her back outside.

Babies love having a cubby hole to hide in, so we found a cardboard box for them to crawl into. It barely fits the two of them together, but I think they like being smooshed in there.

We were expecting cold weather the next day, but the predicted storm passed us by and we were able to let the babies out with their mama in the big pen for most of the day. Pongo was intrigued by the dog, who responded to Pongo’s inquisitive prodding with a slow flapping of his tail. It was pretty adorable!

Perdy adapted to her cast pretty quickly and was hopping around and exploring just as much as her brother. In some ways this is convenient. Having a baby goat with a broken leg is sad, but since her brother is slow to develop it’s slowed her down to his pace. She was kind of jumping all over him before and being a little bit annoying. Now they are both shuffling around and gaining mobility at a similar pace.

Snowball was happy to enjoy a day of sunshine with her new little family. I closed the gate so the other goats couldn’t bother them.

Today Phil and I brought the babies into the house for a while. They found a nook beside the washing machine and promptly curled up in it. Too cute!

We have some new arrivals! Meet Perdy and Pongo! (I’ll bet you can’t tell why we named them that.) I’ve always wanted a Dalmatian dog, but I’m sure I’ll never have one. They just aren’t practical for farm life. But having black and white spotted goats is surely even better!

We were watching Snowball all day yesterday, but I was pretty sure she’d have these two during the night and I was correct. I couldn’t get to sleep because I kept watching her, but I finally dozed off after a final check at 1:00 a.m. I was shaken awake at 2:45 by Phil who had checked the camera and spotted two wet kids wriggling on the ground! It looked like Pongo had just been born about 10-15 minutes earlier and was still pretty wet while Perdy was already cleaned off and attempting to stand. So they must’ve been born between 2:00-2:30. They are adorable and Snowball is doing just grand.

It’s hard to tell these two babies apart. Perdy has lighter gray spots down her back and Pongo’s are darker. They both have black spots on the backs of their necks, but Pongo’s spot is bigger. Still, it’s going to be a job telling who’s who at first glance!

This is Pongo. He’s having a little trouble standing up. The ligaments in his hind end are still all loosey-goosey so his back legs won’t support him yet, but I gave him some selenium and vitamin E and he’s already improving! He sure has no trouble nursing when I hold him up to the milk bar!

This is Perdy. Isn’t she precious?

And tonight you can see them in Phil’s fiddle livestream! 

Over late summer and fall, Phil and I made friends with a couple, Zen and Vanessa, who recently moved to our area. Zen built us a 20,000 gallon rainwater cistern that, when full, should supply all of our household needs through many months of drought. Zen and Vanessa both fell in love with our goats and hope to get their own someday. For Christmas, Vanessa knitted some lovely, warm hats for Phil and I (I’m sure you’ll see them eventually in future blog posts), and Zen painted these gorgeous watercolor pictures of Finn and dear departed Sputnik. I’m amazed that he was able to do such a great job from looking at a couple of my blog post pictures on a tiny cell phone screen. These now occupy a special place in our dining room.