Twins

Typical fall weather has finally arrived.  This morning I folded a load of jeans, both long and short, while wearing a sweat shirt.  It is cold outside.  Two days ago it was shorts weather but overnight that all changed when a cold front came through dropping temps significantly.  It seems every fall and spring I find myself washing summer clothes while wearing winter clothes and vice versa.  Due to the biting wind and chilly weather, no outside work was accomplished yesterday.  Once again this morning the cold weather kept us inside.  But thankfully the sun has finally come out and Rick is outside working.

       

Looking over the last few posts I noticed I have not shared the addition of our twins.  It was September 6 that I received a phone call asking me if I would like the twins.  It is pretty hard to make a living just raising livestock; so many ranchers also run a business.  This particular rancher had been involved in replacing my roof.  During his visit he learned how I had gotten into the goat business and so when he realized one of his doe’s had abandoned her twins, he thought of me.   Some ranchers do have the time to bottle feed their livestock, but many do not and this rancher just didn’t have the time.  We made arrangements to meet him in Rocksprings where he handed over the boys to us.  Their mother clearly had cared for them the day they were born but a day or two later decided to stop mothering them.
  
Carrying for Caprine kids is not nearly as much work as human kids but it still is a big time commitment, which is why some ranchers will give the kid away to anyone wanting a free goat. The first day or two is spent with the kid learning how to suck on the bottle.  Once that is mastered, they are fed four times a day until they are two weeks old.  Then they need to be fed three times a day until they are two months old.  Then they get a bottle twice a day for a month and then just once a day until they are four months old.  Fortunately we have a neighbor willing to come over and feed the kids when we have to be gone during the day.    We are currently weaning the twins off the middle of the day feeding.
  
Right outside the dining room window we have a large dog kennel set up where we keep the kids donated to us.  The twins keep us entertained; they are so funny to watch.  Sometimes they love to run around the kennel, jumping off of cement blocks and playing with each other.  Other times they nap or graze on the alfalfa or grass we provide them.  They are also our alarm clock.  Boots is loud.  He makes a sound like a siren and lets us know when it is time for their next meal.  Sometimes he is a bit early but he always lets us know when they are getting hungry.
  

Boots

Zorro

The twins arrival increased our little goat herd to six.  We now have 2 does, 3 bucks, and a wether.  Our does are Lawn Mower (Boer-meat breed) and Bambi (Nubian/Alpine/something small-dairy breeds).  Our bucks are Midnight (Spanish-meat) and the twins (Boots and Zorro).  The fourth goat we were given turned out to have some genetic issues.  He has vision and some neurological issues.  Many ranchers around here think a goat like Sport should just be sold off for meat but he is such a sweet little boy and having raised him since he was hours old, we did not like that idea.  So he was castrated, thus he is a wether.  I am hopeful with some training that one day Sport will be a working goat.  I am already trying to teach Sport to walk on a lease.  He needs to be about a year old before he will be big enough to start carrying packs and/or pulling a cart. 
 

Sport

Sadly, we cannot keep all three bucks since we only have two does.  The bucks will fight each other and I have read of the looser in such fights literally dying of depression.  So eventually two of them will have to be sold or traded for a doe.  Bottle feeding a kid, at least for us, causes instant attachment and love of the goat, so that will be a sad day for us when it arrives.