Horns or No Horns That is the Question

I was asked why some goats have horns and others don't. As you all can see from my head shots I do not have horns while all of the other goats on the Happy Goats Farm do. I will now take the time to explain this to you. When a goat is just a kid the goat farm owner decides whether they are going to have a horned goat farm or a hornless goat farm. There are various reasons for each choice. My former owners obviously were of the hornless decision. It is not a happy memory to lose ones horns but there are very good reasons for doing it. As you can see from the photos that have been shown in my blog Michael and Luke like to butt each other. Buck horns are particularly thick and strong and they can hurt each other and they have been known to hurt the publicist and the male person with a surprise charge. Also little horn buds are very sharp and can damage a mama goat's udder during nursing when the kids pokes too hard to start the milk. You can just start to see baby Sarah's horn buds in this photo.

The people who had me directly before the publicist were of a mind to dehorn Abby when she was born but were inexperienced and as you can see, well, Abby has horns. The photo shows Abby with her kid Nora a few days after Nora was born. Her horn buds aren't showing yet. The male person was also somewhat poor at dehorning so the decision around the Happy Goats Farm was to have horned goats. This leaves me as the lone hornless goat in a horned goat world. So I am at somewhat of a disadvantage but I manage to hold my own.

The reasoning for having horned goats, especially in a place like Montana where there are predators who like to eat goats - can you imagine such a horrible thing?! - is that the goat has a method of protection. The horns are good for butting and for gouging. That does not sound nice I know, but if one is being attacked one has a right to defend oneself, right? We don't worry too much about that here on the Happy Goats Farm because we have a nice safe barn to go into every night.

Here is another photo of Michael and Luke getting ready to butt each other. They do this a lot when they have their play time.

Buck horns are much stronger and thicker than doe horns. Part of all that play head butting the boys do is practice for when they are going to try and impress us ladies. The strongest buck usually wins and the well, let's not go into the size of the horns. This is a family blog.

I hope this has helped to answer the question about goats and horns.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

The plumper I get the more I remember my last kidding. The one that brought me my Michael and my Sarah. This is a photo of Michael right after he was born.

They were the cutest little doeling and buckling.

This is a picture of Sarah right after she was born.

Michael you have met of course, because he still lives here on the Happy Goats Farm but my Sarah went to live on another farm where I know she is very content. I get updates all the time from her new barn maintenance specialist.I hope to take a road trip later in the spring or summer and get some photos of her so you can all see how pretty she is now.

They were both adorable little kids and I know my new kid(s) will be just as cute. I am not a proud mother or anything like that, am I? I usually have twins; in fact I have always had twins. It is Abigail that only has one kid - ha ha! But I am not a competitive goat, no not at all!

They are about a month old in this photo.

My new kids should be here the beginning of April. I wonder what I will have? Will it be two doelings? Two bucklings - heaven forbid! Or a doeling and a buckling like last time....hmmmm. Abigail's kid(s) are due in June or July. Two of our kids are going to join Sarah and Nora (Abigail's kid from last year - that's Nora in the photo. She was about two days old when the publicist took it) on their farm. One doeling is going to stay here at Happy Goats.

So many happy memories for a goat.

A proud mother is a proud mother.....here we all are after I cleaned the kids. They are maybe one hour old.

Intermew with Pumpkin the Cat

After all the excitement of the Tale of the Extra Goat Treat I thought it would be good to do an interview (heh heh interMEW) with Pumpkin the cat. Pumpkin is the newest feline on the Happy Goats Farm. He doesn't come out much so it was a little hard to conduct this intermew but being an intrepid reporter goat I got the job done!

Pumpkin, how did you come to live on the Happy Goats Farm?

I was lost and wandering around and found a plate under this living space. It smelled like food. Then this nice lady came out and put yummy Super Supper on it. I ate it so fast I scared the nice lady. She seemed so worried about me she brought out another can of food. I was still scared then too so I ran away from her. I didn't know yet how nice it would be to live on the Farm. I kept coming back and I finally let the nice lady pet me. Then one day I ran into the trailer and wouldn't leave. She gave me medicine to get rid of my icky worms. There was always good food to eat and I had a lap to sit on any time I wanted. I hadn't been that happy in a long time.

It must have been terrible to not have a family.

Oh, it was. I was so very scared. I don't know why I was out in the cold and snow all alone. I just know I am happy now. I have two cat friends, Fred and Stinky and the publicist and the male person are soooooooo wonderful. They gave me some catnip the other night and ooooh, man.

Ok, Ok, enough about the nip. This is a family blog.

What do you do on the Farm?

Mostly I sleep all day. I don't like to go outside because it reminds me of when I was so hungry and didn't have a home. So I stay in and nap and play with my toys.

So you are a mooch?

NO! How can you say that?! I make the publicist very happy. I keep her warm when I sit in her lap. I make the male person laugh when I chase my tail. I do lots of good things around here. Humph.

I am sorry Pumpkin, you are obviously a nice cat. Thank you for doing this interview. It is good to keep the publicist happy. That way you get treats - have you learned that trick yet?

Oh, yes. I have! But don't tell the publicist or she might catch on and stop giving them to me.

Once the topic of treats came up Pumpkin lost all interest in the interview and started licking his chops. There is only so much attention span with a cat, you know. I hope you enjoyed meeting another member of the Happy Goats family.

The Tale of the Extra Goat Treat: Part IV, Me! Pricilla

Now of course I am going to think this is the best chapter in our ongoing Tale because it is about MY share of the delicious goat treat. You saw me waiting (not) so patiently while Luke ate his treat. Then the publicist brought that big bowl of yummy apples into my pen. I did my famous Goat Dance of Joy when I saw it coming - no one has been able to capture this on film as of yet. I am too clever about where I dance.

I ran down to my spool where I share goat treat with Abby - she jumps on top and I stay on the bottom. If you will recall from Abby's tale, this way I get whatever drops down from above. I am not a dumb goat!

Unlike the other goats, I think I look adorable with apple coming out of my mouth.

I make sure to eat every delicious bite - apple is one of my favorite goat treats. Pears are second, carrots third, broccoli leaves fourth, spinach fifth....well, I could go on. I guess I like a lot of good things that grow in a garden.

So now you have a job to do. YOU have to pick the goat you think enjoyed their goat treat the most. Was it Luke who did look cute standing up on his gate. Or Abby who gave that fierce look that said, "back away from the goat treat." Or Michael, who escaped when his gate was left open.

Or Me, who looks the cutest with apple coming out of her mouth. Just post you answer here - voting will remain open until Saturday, February 7th, when Mr. Randomizer will pick a winner. The lucky person will get to pick a bar of my rich soap for a prize. How easy is that?

The Tale of the Extra Goat Treat: Part III, Michael

The Tale continues with a look at how our elder buck Michael enjoyed his extra goat treat.

Michael was very excited, just as the other goats were, to have some extra apple on that bright, sunny day. But the publicist has a small problem with Michael; he is a bit attached to her as I have mentioned in previous posts. She bottle fed him as a kid and he seems to think she is his mother so any time she comes near him he just wants to rub his horns on her and jump on her and show how happy he is. It makes it difficult for her to take pictures. She did manage but she had to work fast.

He did settle down to eating his treat and like the other goats looks pretty funny with apple coming out of his mouth.

At one point the publicist tried to arrange the treat on his spool and he gave her this look. I don't think I would mess with his food, would you?

Since she was trying to work quickly she left the gate open. You think he is just eating his goat treat here, HA! He is plotting his escape. Which he did as soon as he finished his apples. He is a good goat though and the publicist quickly caught him and put him back in his cage. He really just wanted to come over and say "Hi" to me and Abigail.

Tomorrow is the last day in The Tale of the Extra Goat Treat and it's my turn. Do you think I have saved the best for last?

The Tale of the Extra Goat Treat: Part II, Abby

I know you haven't been formally introduced to Abby yet - the publicist says I must interview her but it is my blog and I will do what I want. Abby just bugs me - there I said it. You know how it can be with mothers and daughters, right? But on with today's tale....



If you will recall from yesterday's post there was extra goat treat to be had and we had it! I am showing you how much we all enjoyed it over four days and at the end there will be a vote to see which of us you think enjoyed their goat treat the most. The winner will get to pick a bar of my rich soap as a prize. Today I present Abby:






Abby is a very greedy goat. She never shares her goat treat at all. In fact if you try and come near her while she is eating you get a look like this. To me it says, "back away from the goat treat and no one will get hurt." What do you think?




She does eat her treat with enthusiasm and like Luke looks pretty funny with apple coming out of her mouth.





I think she is trying to tell the publicist to stop taking pictures and just let her eat her apples. I don't eavesdrop (much) so I can't be sure of exactly what she was maaaaaing. That or she is just chewing enthusiastically...one or the other.






To me the biggest advantage to Abby's sloppy way of eating her goat treat is the fact that she is on the top spool and I am on the bottom so I get what drops! I get extra treat! Don't tell Abby or she will butt me.





Tomorrow you will see how much Michael enjoyed his goat treat.

The Tale of the Extra Goat Treat: Part I, Luke

As I mentioned yesterday our publicist made an apple cobbler on Saturday. This left her with a bowl full of apple peels and pieces. She know how much we love apples so she brought us each a special goat treat to enjoy. While we were munching away she took some pictures so you could see just how much we looooooooove our goat treat. Each day for the next four days I am going to show you the pictures and then you will have a chance to vote and pick who you think enjoyed their goat treat the most. Anyone who votes will have a chance to win a bar of my rich soap. Isn't that exciting? So tell your your friends to come read about our special goat treat!

Today I am showing you Luke. Since he is the baby in the bunch he got his goat treat first. He was very happy; he was doing his little goat dance and his tail was a 'wagging. He tried to get his whole body through his gate but only his head would fit.

He munched and munched and munched. He is not a neat eater, is he?

You can see me waiting patiently (?) in the background.

I think he looks pretty funny with apple coming out of his mouth, don't you?

Tomorrow you will get to see how much Abigail enjoyed her goat treat.

Furry

Today there is a blog photo hunt for "Furry" so I present to you a photo of Luke. Since he is still a young buck - he was born on May 28, 2008 - he still has his baby fur. I don't say that around him because he likes to think he is a big strong buck not a baby buck. In fact, the publicist calls him Baby Buck and it drives him crazy!

His baby fur is very fluffy and not all that soft.

Here is an up close view.







I don't stand too close to him because well, he smells. All bucks smell, especially in the Fall but I won't go into that in a family blog.


As you can see in the photo Luke is eating some hay.

Luke is usually eating something!

I hope you enjoyed this furry photo.

BRRRRRRR!

I just want to say that I am a NIGERIAN dwarf goat. My roots are in AFRICA. Where it is WARM. I don't mean to shout but it is COLD today. And windy. Which makes it feel even colder. I have spent my entire life in cold places (as far as I know - I think I was born in Idaho but I can't remember that far back) but that doesn't mean I like them. This year has been very snowy and very cold and this goat is having a hissy fit. Today we came out of the barn and the wind was blowing and it was very, very, very, very ,very,very,very cold. I have to say our publicist is good about these things; she doesn't like the cold either so she put us back into our warm barn. She also cares about our little goat feet - she puts hay down where we walk so we don't have to stand on the snow all the time.



Now yesterday was beautiful. It was still cold, but the sun was shining. There is nothing a goat likes more than to bask in the sun, well except for maybe grain, or apples, or pears, or carrots. I spent most of yesterday in my favorite place enjoying the beautiful sunshine and chewing my cud.



On days like that it is good to be a goat.

Visitors

I love visitors! Goats are naturally social creatures and as a spokesgoat I am even more so. We get plenty of people and other creatures that come to visit here at the Happy Goats Farm. More in the summer than in the winter but I have plenty of social activity all year round.

Today we had a visit from our Bald Eagle. He comes pretty regularly and sits on the big tree at the edge of the river. He is looking for a plump trout to eat for lunch. One time he thought Fred the cat would make a good lunch and he tried to take him away. Fortunately Fred is, uh let's just say well fed, and he was too heavy for the eagle to carry. Poor Fred had to go the emergency Vet and have his fur shaved but he was OK. Now Fred watches very closely for the eagle.

The Bald Eagle is our national bird and we are lucky to have a nesting pair not too far from us. My publicist took the photo.