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Friday, February 20, 2009

Rescue Goats

I know I have talked about how we came to be pygmy goat parents but this is about the conditions from which they came. Doyle did some calling around and checking Craigslist for a while before he agreed to go pick them up from a place about an hour away. The original plan was to get two babies, similar in age. When he got to the little goat farm there were 85+ goats on 5 acres or less without a blade of grass in sight. These animals were living on a dirt knob without shelter and without the ability to forage for their own food. Few had been socialized with humans, as is the case with Mama Goat (Clarabelle). As a result, Doyle decided removing a mother from the breeding population was a prudent idea. So the mother goat, above, and her 4 week old baby, Clementine, came to live with us. When we got them home, they were both infested with all three kinds of goat lice, had worms and the mother had very little hair on her whole body. Her head was nearly bald and her coat in general was falling out in large clumps. Off to the vet we went. We deloused, dewormed and brushed the heck out of these two. The mother goat hated to be brushed because we had to catch her first. The baby, on the other hand, loved it. In the picture above my daughter is offering grain treats to Clarabelle, it took her weeks to even get this close. For the entire summer we kept them in a dog run close to the house. This run is big and has good shelter. We wanted them to get used to the other animals and us being around all the time.
If the baby, Clem, were to climb on your back now it would not be comfortable. She came to us at 8 lbs and now tops the scale at about 45 lbs. We laughed when we saw this picture because she looks so skinny in this picture. She is nearly as wide as she is tall now. Definately a hoot and a half! We added Ollie to the bunch a few months ago so Clem would have a playmate. All three goats have beautiful coats, have hair covering their whole bodies and are likely overfed, which is the case with all of our animals. If you have thought about these little guys for pets I highly recommend it. Just make sure you have a good, safe place to keep them and time to play with them. There is always someplace to rescue them from!

10 comments:

  1. What a heart-warming story this a.m. Love the pictures too.

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  2. How adorable! I love goats. They are on my list of pets to have at my future farm! Were you able to alert authorities about the neglect?

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  3. Yeah that's horrible Heather....the neglect at that place! My god. I'm glad you rescued two of them and now they are thriving with you guys...that's great!

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  4. Yay! What a great story, Heather. I'm wondering if animal control was called out to investigate the animal abuse of those poor goats. Here in western Oregon this would be all over the news and the owner would be jailed. This recently happened with a woman and her dozens of cats and there have been stories of rabbits, horses, dogs.... Kudos to the teams of rescuers for diving into the unimaginable filth to rescue these poor creatures. We're the proud owners of a rescued cat and can't help feeling the gratification of saving a life. Cheers to you!

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  5. It would be hard not to take them all home if they were in those kind of conditions. They sure are lucky they were chosen by your family and now get the love and care they deserve. I think the picture of the goat on your daughter's back is hilarious!

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  6. Pictures are great! Did Clem lose her white coloring? When will she be old enough to breed? Hmm, maybe we can go on the adoption list...my kids would go nuts!
    Thanks for sharing, Heather.

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  7. Hi everyone- thanks for reading this post. We have such a soft spot for animals that this is often how we end up with them.
    *We did call the authorities and they must not have been terribly concerned. I suppose as long as you feed, you can neglect around here. I don't get it but we couldn't rescue them all. Much as we would have liked. It has taken me a long time to get to that place. I intentionally don't watch the news as it seems that only the negative is showcased and I can't sleep if I watch. I am a control freak learning what I cannot control.
    *Clem is still mostly black with a big white band around her middle. She is not dehorned as you only have a short window of opportunity to do this safely and we couldn't trust that the previous owner was accurate about her birthdate. Fortunately I am the only one who has suffered injury (black eye) due to those cute little horns.
    *All of the books I have read say not to breed a young goat until they are 18 months old. Clem is only 10 months so it will be a while. They would be darling babies.

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  8. I love goats! These are just dolls, too. How wonderful for them that they were rescued by such loving people.

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  9. How wonderful that you could rescue some of those lovies. Poor things. They'll be much happier and healthier with your family.

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  10. I love that your husband rescued goats for you as a birthday present..that is so cute!

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Thank you for your ideas, suggestions or greetings. I love to hear from you and read them all.
-Heather

About This Blog

We started this blog in Feb. of 2009 to help us stay motivated and to track our progess in the garden. We live on 5 acres surrounded by Idaho farmland. We have wildlife galore and are attempting to attract more in the bird catagory. This is our journal. Welcome!

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