The weather has been cruel to us. We had rain, rain, and more rain, followed by a couple of ninety degree days, then rain, rain, and more rain. Today is supposed to be the day! In the meantime the animals have made the best of it.
THE GOAT REPORT:
Our fainting goats, Thelma and Louise actually allow themselves to get a little wet. Our dwarf Nigerians would run for cover at the first raindrop so we are not accustomed to seeing goats out in the rain.
Here are Thelma and Louise enjoying the picnic table during a break in the weather. They are getting bigger and seem to be better able to control their “fainting” spells. They are both very myotonic and faint completely sometimes but mostly just their rear legs stiffen. They have moved down to the pasture and away from the the house and yard. They spend their days playing with the emus and browsing the blackberry vines. I am also working to teach them to high five. It was easy with the Dwarf Nigerians but I am not so sure about these two.
I am jealous of every hobby farmer that has babies born on the farm. I want to get a Tennessee fainting goat buckling to grow up with and eventually make babies with the girls.
I have set my sights on this boy who is currently called Billy and hails from Cottonwood, up near Redding, CA. I think he is a handsome specimen. If he comes to live with us, he will be called J.D. after the Brad Pitt character from the movie, Thelma and Louise. It’s the right thing to do.
To seal this deal I must convince Michael that it is a good idea and the owner of this goat to meet me halfway.
I think he would make an excellent herd sire.
We almost had a third goat move in but luckily her mother wouldn’t allow it. I believe we dodged a bullet on that one!
THE EMU REPORT:
The emus are growing like weeds and they too have moved to larger quarters down by the barn. They spend their days running and acting silly, but mostly waiting by the gate for us to come play with them. They still love to pick, and bite at every little thing, like my feet and Michael’s face. They are losing their baby coloring and their adult feathers are coming in. I am anxious for them to get to four months old. At four months, their feathers can be sent in to a lab for DNA testing. Then we will know for sure the gender of each one. Right now we think we have a girl and two boys. We have named them Mary Catherine Gallegher, PeeWee and Stuart. They always make me smile.
THE DONKEY REPORT:
Jack and Diane are doing well. They are usually waiting for me at the gate every morning to get carrots. They have to be baby carrots because Jack is afraid of big carrots. Look how small the emus were in this picture taken last month!
Diane is still a diva and she pesters Jackson 24/7. He takes it for the most part, but every now and then he puts her in her place by picking her up by the neck and slinging her around. We cheer him on because he puts up with so much from her the rest of the time. We are still having a hard time getting a halter on him so we haven’t been able to go for many walks. We are going to start working more with him as weather permits.
Here is Jack, being bucked by Diane, the love of his life.
GOAT REPORT UPDATE:
In the time it took to publish this blog entry we drove to Chico and picked up the little buckling, naming him J.D. Here he is riding home in the back of the Hummer.
Things went pretty well when we got him home.
Today has been a bit of a different story. The girls don’t want to let him play with them so he gets a little too aggressive with them. He is especially possessive around us. Today he knocked Louise off the picnic table making her faint when she hit the ground. I came right in the house and ran an ad for him on Craigslist. He seems to be fitting in better tonight so hopefully it will all work out and we can keep him. I sure hope so. Wish him luck!
The chicken report will appear as a separate entry, Seen and Heard Around the Coop.