Aunt Tana has some baby goats, and Desert Boy and I went over to take a look the other day. Baby goats are irresistible. The goats greeted Aunt Tana enthusiastically. These are orphans--the mother of three of them died soon after delivering them, and two others were part of a litter of four and the mother had mastitis and could only feed two of them. This is unusual, most years the goats and their moms do just fine.Tana keeps goats for milking and sells the meat goats. She gets too attached to the goats to ever eat them herself, though. I can see why, they are so cute when they are babies.
The little goats love to play. The long ears are from their dad, a boer goat. Goats have been domesticated since about 6,000 to 7,000 B.C., making them one of the longest-domesticated animals. There are many different breeds. Boer goats are considered to be meat goats and can get quite large.
Boer goats have a variety of color patterns. It was hard to get a picture of a baby goat standing still--like most babies, they move around a lot! Look at this cute baby goat--now we're going to look at the daddy.
"Howdy." That's right, the goat spoke. Well, at least in my mind. The goat smelled a lot--it wasn't a goat I wanted to pet.
Here's a mama goat with her two babies. Look at her udder--she is so full of milk.
This is a first-time mama goat. She has two kids, about four days old, and one is happily feeding. The mama goat has very small ears because her mom is a LaMancha goat. This breed is known for its very short, almost non-existent ears and excellent butterfat milk.
Here's a mama goat still waiting to deliver her kids. There is just something about goat eyes that makes me just want to say "Ahhhh" and scratch her neck.
Jewel, the horse, loves baby goats. Goats make great companions for horses, keeping them calmer and possibly keeping them healthier.
I just had to end with a picture of some more cute baby goats. It won't be long until they've grown up!
The goat wanted some attention. Somehow the grown up goat wasn't as cute as the baby.
Here's a mama goat with her two babies. Look at her udder--she is so full of milk. 
This is a first-time mama goat. She has two kids, about four days old, and one is happily feeding. The mama goat has very small ears because her mom is a LaMancha goat. This breed is known for its very short, almost non-existent ears and excellent butterfat milk.
Here's a mama goat still waiting to deliver her kids. There is just something about goat eyes that makes me just want to say "Ahhhh" and scratch her neck.
Jewel, the horse, loves baby goats. Goats make great companions for horses, keeping them calmer and possibly keeping them healthier.
I just had to end with a picture of some more cute baby goats. It won't be long until they've grown up!
Ack! They are soooo cute! I am grateful for goats' milk, as goat cheese helped keep me sane when I had to go off cows' milk for a while. I love dairy...
ReplyDeleteThose are the sweetest things!!! Does she make fudge with that goat's milk? Some of the best fudge I have ever had was made from goat's milk!
ReplyDeleteGoats: Nature's vacuum cleaners.
ReplyDeleteI, too, LOVE baby goats...I still remember the cute little ones I befriended, (that befriended me?) in Sri Lanka. Soooo sweet.
ReplyDeleteBallykissangel did an episode about how a goat helped calm a horse, so it was able to be the kind of race horse it was meant to be! What a neat relationship!
ReplyDeleteVery sweet... I think this little animals are wonderful. By the way, I can remember when I do my first mama goat ha ha... was in my marriage!
ReplyDeleteThis is so cute because I'd like to have one of those goats at home, but I've heard that they eat everything it would be the only one problem.
ReplyDelete