Huge Sigh of Relief

Carmel, the goat, is okay.

Why, you might ask, is this important?

Because we had a very scary early evening yesterday.

We have yet to build a bigger fenced in area for the goats to eat more browse, so have been tying them out on dog tie outs in a different part of the overgrown yard for the past week or so and putting them in their pen at night.

Last night, I was just getting ready to go milk her, when the kids accidentally let our dog, Marley, out.  Now, Marley is pretty much a moron, a sweetheart, but a moron, as in her brain stops working as soon as she's off the leash.  Last night was one of these nights.  She realized she was loose and made a break for it.

The neighbor's dog, Mason - a BIG BLACK Lab, saw her running and dashed across our yard.  He is usually very good and stays in their yard.  However, the opportunity to chase Marley was more than he could handle.  (It's worked to my advantage before, because he has caught Marley and kept her in one spot until I could get the leash back on her.)

Last night, this was not a simple game of chase and hold.  Last night, it turned scary.

Carmel, our little doeling, is an escape artist.  She gets out of the pen and she can get her self unhooked from the tie out.  Has never been an issue, because she hangs out around mom and comes right to us.

Well, last night, with Mason (95lbs+) chasing Marley, Carmel freaked and ran.  She was off her tie out, so she headed for the hills, or in this case, the back wall of their fenced-in pen.  Mason couldn't resist this tempting little morsel dashing away from him and screaming.

It only was a minute tops for us, but I'm sure Carmel thought it was a lifetime.  The kids were screaming and crying that Mason was killing Carmel.  I RAN (even with a sprained ankle) to get the poor baby away from Mason.  I was screaming at the BLEEP dog, yelling at the kids to get Marley on the BLEEP leash, and trying to carry Carmel away from it all to check her out.

I was crying. The kids were crying.  I thought Carmel was a goner.  When I had picked her up, she gave the mose piteous bleat ever and I thought for sure I was carrying a dead goat.  The dog had only broken the skin in one spot, and I think it was just a tooth.  Her neck was worked over and so was her belly.  When I was feeling her neck, I just about screamed when I felt something hanging out of her neck. I forced myself to look and thank God it was just one of her wattles.  God, that was scary.

I was really worried about her, because my poor baby had no spunk and was just shaking like crazy.  I spent over an hour outside with her and she just wanted to snuggle with me. 

I was SOOOO worried that I was going to go outside this morning to a dead goat.  Luckily, that didn't happen.

She still doesn't have her normal nutsiness and spunk, but she actually jumped into the window sill in their pen this morning and was trying to steal Mom's grain, so I think she will be just fine.

Mason was lucky that I had to carry Carmel, otherwise I would have beaten that dog.

The neighbors felt horrible and the dog is grounded. 

So, the darn goat has worked it's way into our hearts and we'd be really sad if she wasn't okay.  Extra treats for the next couple of days and extra snuggles for the poor goat.

Goat Pictures

Here are some pictures of the new goats.

Snowbell  is the mother and Carmel is the baby.  They are both sable Saanens - according to Eileen Lamm, one of Shawano County's 4-H goat superintendents.  She was so great.  I emailed the extension to find someone to help trim Snowbell's hooves and disbud Carmel.  The 4-H agent sent back a couple of names and I lucked out when I called her and she told me that she could come over.  So, Snowbell's hooves are now much better - and I learned how to trim them, so I can keep working on them.  Carmel's horns are gone and her scabs will be gone in a couple of weeks.  Plus, she brought along the CDT (tetanus) vaccine and gave both of them shots and left the bottle with us, so I can give them their boosters in a couple of weeks.

These are what happens when you are the only one in the goat pen and trying to take pictures.

Snowbell - see the dusting of gold on her back?

It's really hard to take a picture of a bouncing goat kid

Carmel, the goat kid, and Fixit, my kid

We've got GOATS!!!!

Pictures to come later - since that would require I remember to take the camera out when I go to stare at my critters.

Saturday, the neighbor (wonderful man who managed to find a small cattle trailer for me to use for the price of a 12-pack of beer and his truck!) and I headed north in search of the elusive Capra aegagrus hircus. 

Ok, nothing really elusive about a good ole domesticated dairy goat, except finding one in our price range and just doing it, rather than hearing, "But I've got to build fence."

We still have to build fence, we still need to clean out the old milkhouse, but we managed to borrow dog kennel panels from my brother and managed to set up a nice (for now) area for them outside with a tarp across the back and part of the top for some shelter.

Now, we HAVE to be motivated to build fence!

So, wehave  maybe a Saanen cross yearling doe and her doeling kid.  Snowbell (formerly Snowball is about 14 months old - she is now Snowbell because Bug said she could be Snowball if she was all white, but since she looks like she was dusted with gold she has to be Snowbell) is a friendly girl.  Unfortunately, her hooves are in pretty rough shape, so that will have to be a first order of business is getting them taken care of.

Her daughter, who came to us without a name, through Mommy-arbitration and with Mommy-veto power, is now Carmel, which is much better than the suggested Goat-Goat and Sheepie.  She's about 3 weeks old, a really cute light carmel color, and full of bounce - quite literally, since she has been running and bouncing off the walls.  She's too old to use the disbudding caustic paste (disbudding in goats - not dehorning, because you are trying to get rid of the horn buds), so now I have to find someone to help burn them off.  Craigslist, here I come.

And now, here I go, because I have a momma goat to go milk, that is if Carmel left me anything this morning.