God Thinks Of Everything

I admit it, I am basically lazy.  I hate house cleaning; I hate weeding; in fact I hate doing a lot of things that just must be done.  So last year as I looked out in my vegetable garden at all the weeds and dying vegetable plants, I dreaded the chore a head.  But heck, this is goat country.  There are thousands of goats, along with sheep and cows that live in the area.  Why not borrow a few goats and let them do all the work.  That is when I started fantasying on borrowing a few goats and looking for an opportunity.  God though had a totally different plan. 
    
It was the middle of November that a Boer doe wandered into my yard.  Shocked, I ran out and led her into the garden to start doing that dreaded chore for me.  After failing to find her owner, I prayed and sensed the Lord telling me she is mine.  At the urging of a friend I decided to name her Lawn Mower.

   

I grew up with cats and dogs, and even a parakeet, but never goats.  So I started talking to the ranchers at church, found a vet and asked questions.  I also found a great site, The Goat Spot, where I could ask questions and read others posts.  One of the first things I was told is it would be good to get her a companion.  Goats are social animals and do better in groups.  So I started praying for a friend for Lawn Mower.

       

I will admit I was jealous when I learned a friend from church had found a baby goat in the middle of the road while driving home one evening.  There were no other goats in the area and guessing the little girl was only days old, my friend put her on the passenger side seat and took her home.  My friend’s teenage daughter named her Bambi and made it very clear she fully intended to keep the goat.

   

That was back in February.  This same family was given another newborn goat two months later in April.  The daughter was delighted but her father was not.  The daughter talked about showing one or both of the goats in 4-H shows, but was never home to provide any care for either of the goats.  Her father, who is retired, was forced to bottle feed both goats as no one else was ever home to do it.  

   

The second goat was just a little over 2 weeks old when I got the call.  The daughter finally agreed to give the little guy up.  I hopped into the car and drove the 16 miles to their home to get him.  A solid black Spanish buck greeted me in the yard. 

   

It was the end of April when I brought him home and named him Midnight. About a month later, nearing the end of May I got the second call. The father was fed up and I could have Bambi too. Once again I hopped into my car and drove the 16 miles to pick her up. Now my goat family was complete.

One look at Lawn Mower and everyone knew she is a Boer goat.  No question what so ever. All I had to do was describe her to folks and they would say she sounded like a Boer.  When I brought Midnight home a neighbor rancher was picking up his mail so I stopped and showed him my new goat.  He told me I had a little Spanish boy, after checking to see the gender.  But Bambi was a mystery.  My friends were clueless as to what kind of goat she is.  The few people who came by and looked at her also did not know.  I did not know either.  So I took some pictures, went over to The Goat Spot, and asked other goat experts.  That is when I found out Bambi is Nubian/Alpine/ and ???.  Basically she is a dairy goat.  Boer and Spanish goats are raised for meat.  Nubian and Alpine’s are dairy goats. 
   

I am learning other things about these breeds too.  Boer goats are popular meat goats and any kid with Boer in it is worth a lot of money.  They are big strong goats that were developed in South Africa.  My Boer is a doe (female). 

  

A friend told me Boer bucks (male) can be mean, even cruel towards does even if they are still nursing kids (baby goats).  She told me they use to have a Boer buck and he would force the does to the ground, forcefully breed, endangering her kids.  She made her husband get rid of the Boer buck and replace him with a Spanish buck.  My little buck is a Spanish goat.  Spanish goats are also meat goats.

   

Nubians and Alpines produce a lot of milk.  Of course only does produce the milk and I have a doe.  I guess I better purchase a book on Dairy goats and get ready to start learning how to milk a goat come spring or summer.

   

God just thinks of everything.  He provided AOCCCI with meat goats to raise and sell more meat goats.  He provided AOCCCI with a dairy goat so we could have goat’s milk and raise more dairy goats.  If you would have told me eight months ago I would soon be in the goat business I would not have believed you.  But here I am caring for free three goats and marveling at what God has provided.  He does think of everything.