Thursday, January 23, 2014

A Goat Kid Visit

I had not expected to be visited by our neighbors and former goat-school participants this morning when I awoke. My plan for the day was to roast a turkey in anticipation for dinner with friends, preceded by some house cleaning, home-schooling, and perhaps a little work on some more jewelry. But, a phone call at 9 am changed up our plans a little.

This is Jane, a 2 week old alpine/saanen cross doe kid. It seems that Jane's siblings are typical kids; little bundles of bouncing energy. They bounced a little too roughly with Jane this morning and injured her left hind leg, causing her to limp a little. (The back leg facing me in this image.) I ran my hands over both legs to see could I feel anything obviously out of sorts. I couldn't. Jane did not recoil or make any kind of noise to indicate pain or discomfort. She did not attempt to pull away. In fact, she seemed most interested in wagging her tail at the cats and nibbling on my shirt collar. In situations like this in my herd, I usually watch the injury and if it is not better in a day or two, wrap it. If it is not better after that, I call in my vet. If Jane had seemed to be in pain or was holding her leg strangely, I would have suggested a trip to the vet immediately. I suspect in a day or two, Jane will be sorted and tumbling along with her siblings.

I was sorry to meet Jane under this kind of circumstance, but some "goat kid therapy" was a perfect way to begin my day. The cats were not as enthusiastic about it. Photographing multiple cats and one very active goat kid is not the easiest task. This is what I captured:
Zoe cat is happy to watch from afar.
Machias is unimpressed.
"What are you sniffing at?"

Jane thinks: "What strange goats! But, they are smaller than me!" (Look how she is smiling.)

Spot gives Jane the once over.
And then, rubs all over Jane.


Machias is not impressed and chooses to ignore this new beast in cat-fashion.
We're still a few months out for out goat kids to be born here at the homestead. A half hour of sweet goat kid snuggles was an unexpected and delightful treat for me on this otherwise average cold day in Maine.

Thanks for popping by for a visit today. Before you go, I'd love to know, what unexpected thing happened in your world today? You can tell me in the comments below. :)

Sonja ♥

5 comments:

  1. Our neighbors have goats and I love them! I love their sheep too - but especially love the babies.
    My day was spent caring for dogs/cats/parrots and horses and chickens, fortunately all is well here today! Loved your pictures!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I didn't know you had so many cats!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have 6 cats. All fixed. They spend most of the year chasing mice and moles and deterring the occasional weasel from entering our animal housing. They are rarely spotted inside. In the winter, they have a cat door to come inside from the cold and use it. This was just before I fed them their breakfast. They were quite curious about the happenings for all of a minute. Once they realize the visitor had no food, they decided to sun themselves instead. :)

      Delete
  3. Before we got goats, Sean wanted sheep. I don't know much about sheep, but I think we chose wisely. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yesterday, our day was full! Viera Sanctuary--birds, ducks, alligators. International Bakery. Dinner at Grilles at Port Canaveral. To top it all off, a rocket launch. Slept very well. miss you guys.
    Becky

    ReplyDelete