The Good News

For those of you who aren't familiar with Coral's story I will share it really quick.  When we decided to get goats again in 2016 we went to a breeder to pick some out.  She was offering some of her older does for a good price so we chose Coral.  The thing is she was raised practically feral out on hundreds of acres with minimal human handling. 

She was WILD when we brought her home.  She would throw herself into walls and even into us.  At one point she even jumped clear over my hubby when he was crouched down in a doorway.  Another time she jumped our four foot fence and ran away down the street.  She disappeared on acres and acres of woodland.  We had to track her down and then chase her down with a four wheeler to catch her.  It was absolutely awful.  Now, after almost three years of hard work from my hubby, look at her now.

Enjoying some horn scratches loose out in the pasture with plenty of space to run away if she wanted and no food bribes were involved.

 She practically had her eyes closed she was enjoying it so much.

 Sorry for the Tanzanite photobomb hehe.

She is still not what I would call tame, but she is definitely getting so much better.  She will approach him out in the pasture and even nibble on his fingers.  She still doesn't like to be touched further back than her neck, but I have no doubt she will eventually be just as friendly as the rest of them.  We've come a long way from the days when I thought we would never be able to touch her without cornering her first.  Way to go Coral!!

The Bottle Kids

Wow I can't believe it's been three months since I posted about Big Mama's orphans.  In case you forgot how cute they are, here are a few pictures from previous posts.  Did I ever share their names?  The boy (redhead) is Gulliver and the girl (blonde) is Snowflake.

 Now  I'll catch you up on the pictures I've taken over the last few months before I get to the ones I took yesterday.

I got home from work, opened my car door and all of a sudden I had a Gulliver passenger.  :)

 Their favorite toy was a chair lol.

 Hanging in the kitchen while I prepped their bottles.

 I do NOT miss bottle feeding.  I'm so very happy they are weaned.

 They were SO cute while having their bottles though.

 The milk mustaches are so cute!!

 Gulliver's little baby horns coming in.

This face is the face right before the attack!  This face is the reason we nicknamed them the Mako sharks.  This face is the face of a spoiled bottle fed goat!  I do not miss that face, but I am happy to have a picture of it hehe.

 Cute kids!

 This is the sweet face I prefer hehe.

 Cute Gulliver playing on the gravel pile.

 

 Getting so big!  Wearing his collar for the first time.

Now for the pictures from yesterday.  They are getting so big.  They are somewhere around 50 pounds at three months old.  Our scale broke so I don't have an actual weight, but they are definitely chunky monkeys like their mom.

 I didn't realize this was so blurry.... sorry!  Cell phone pictures....

 He was streeeeetching to sniff my phone.  So cute!

I was working on their leash training and teaching them to brace (kind of like posing, show goats are taught to push forward off their hind legs to make their butts and backs look muscular).  It's a work in progress.  Gulliver is learning to push already, but Snowflake is still in the pulling backward stage.  We will get there though.  We aren't planning on showing them, but teaching them to brace is a good way to get nice pictures for advertising their future kids as 4H show prospects so that people know what they are getting out of their kids.

 Gulliver is really getting the push into a brace figured out.  He looks like a pro.  :)

 

 Snowflake is getting the standing square and reaching up, but not quite the push yet.

 Wearing her collar and leash like a grown up girl.

 That sweet face!! 

 That crinkly nose is SO cute!!

 They have the cutest faces and such long adorable ears.

Then they spotted Daniel and the Myotonic bucklings.  They puffed up and Gulliver had his hackles up.  It was so cute.  He was acting like a big bad buck.

 You can kind of see the hair raised along his neck in the last picture.  He is the same size as Wildfire at three months old!  Wildfire is nine months old, but he's a purebred Myotonic so he's supposed to be smaller.  It's just funny seeing them next to each other.

Well that is all of the photos for today.  I hope you enjoyed catching up with the kids.  They did well with weaning.  Snowflake had an issue learning to drink and we were afraid she was getting dehydrated so we gave her bottles of plain water a while and slowly weaned her off of them.  She is doing fantastic now.  I absolutely love these two kids so much.  They remind me so much of Big Mama.  That's all for now.  I have good news to share and I'll try to get it posted soon, but for now I have to go.

The Goat Business

 Everyone who is in the business of raising goats knows you have to eventually sell some.  You can't keep them all.  They would eventually eat you out of house and home.  I have a serious problem of getting attached, which is why we never sold any of last year's kids (even the wethers).  I finally came to terms with the fact that I would have to say goodbye to a bunch of the kids I'd raised.  I'm pleased to report that this was a good year for goat sales.  See below for the list of goats who have gone to their new homes.  Sorry for using old pictures.  I've been too busy to take pictures and although I probably have some on my phone I don't have time to upload and edit them right now.

Champ, a wether out of Garnet from last year.  

 Taz, a wether out of Topaz from last year.

 Dottie, who we determined is too old to breed and is now enjoying her retirement home.

 Both of Topaz's bucklings from this year.

 Both of Garnet's bucklings from this year (we are keeping their triplet sister).

Both of LeeAnn's kids from this year, the buckling and doeling.

The doeling (in the second and third picture) has a conformation fault that meant she couldn't be bred, but she's a sweetheart who is making a great pet.

The last one we still have for sale is Amethyst's wether Peter.

 We have someone who is interested in him, but if they back out I won't be disappointed.  I'm very attached to him and want to keep him SO bad!!

It's hard to let them go, but it's a big part of the business.  Who knows?  Maybe we will see them in a local show?  :D

I'll update on everyone that we still have soon.  Wait until you see the bottle kids.  They are getting so big and are absolutely gorgeous!!