The Whole Famn Damily

Now you've met the whole family. There are a few other important players.

Toni (Tratonia), I mentioned breifly in the first post, is my dearest goat friend. Okay, okay, I realize it sounds like I need a good therapist, but... Well, when you've had a bad day and you need to unwind there is nothing like spending time in the goat pen. And there is nothing like spending time in that goat pen with Toni. Toni will happily nuzzle with you or just stand next to you in quiet company. She also will crawl up in your lap (even as a full size goat) and snuggle. So, she's not for sale... but someday, get my goat I will!! At least for now I have her precious first-born daughter. Watsonia will hopefully share her mother's lovely disposition, but will (please, please, please) be a bit more steady on the milk stand than her tap dancing mom or her ticklish, jumpy grandma (Jamie, who is the french kissing goat - a story for a slow blog day!).

Charcoal is another grand goat, she has had her first babies, two small bucklings. I am hoping that her next pregnancy will bring me a daughter. She has a beautiful udder and the softest coat of any goat I've met to date. She also is a tad hardheaded and is negotiating with one other goat to be Queen of the Herd. I'm needing to limit my herd size, but believe I will find room for one of her daughters if I have the option!

Now that you've met the herd, I can concentrate on stories from the pen and have happy goat dreams tonight.

More Family Photos

Meet Velvet Rose, daughter of Rose and Boog. The picture on the left is more recent, she is a model - in love with the camera. All the rest of her pics are closer, perhaps too close?
The second pic is of her just 2+ months old. Curious as can be, balancing on a log sneaking a sniff of a grown-up goats tail.

Here is Charm, my daughter's goat. She is on the right (the darker brown goat). Her best friend in the whole wide world is Weda (I think her formal name is Viola, but I'm not certain). Both of these pictures of her are hanging out with her pal. Charm was a great deal for my daughter, but the orginal owner/breeder was so upset when she heard about the deal/trade she won't return calls for getting the paperwork to register her. Why are people that way? *sigh*

She is a sweet girl despite her paperwork drama, and my daughter put a lot of effort into bottlefeeding her (even during school - and keeping her in her bedroom at night) until she was ready to be weaned.

Pictures of the Girls

This is the picture of the first born, and mommy, Tulip, before the other two babies were born.

The black and white girl was the last born, this picture was at 2 days old.

Meet the herd

Tulip had her babies 2/7 - she had two does and a buck. Tulip is my first doe. Technically my first doe was Goozy, but she has gone to live with a nice couple with 4 other goats. Tulip was my daughter's FFA project that she lost interest in (from the FFA standpoint). My daughter wanted a goat named Charm and was willing to let me have Tulip so she could keep Charm. I guess it's time for an introduction to the herd.

First there is Tulip, a troublesome goat that loves to jump over barn doors and is pushy and singleminded. She was supposed to settle down when she was pregnant, but 3 weeks before delivery she was still hopping over doors like a 7 year old boy! Fortunately she has settled down now that she has had the kids, but she is still bull-headed. She is a sweet girl, these are just personality quirks.

Then there is Velvet Rose, the daughter of Rose and Boog (Booger the Buck). Velvet was born last summer and is a beautiful, affectionate young daughter of Rose. Rose was one of my first goat buddies. She and Penny would let me scratch them for hours in the pen. They were always happy to see me and hang out with me. They could reduce my blood pressure from a stressful day in minutes! Penny has some defects that I would be afraid might be carried on by her offspring, so I have no daughter from her, but treasure my baby from Rose.

There is Charm, my daughter's goat. Technically she is not part of my herd, but she is just a few weeks older than Velvet Rose and is almost as cute (depending on who you ask). This girl won't get to move to Washington with us... but that's a whole other story.

Then there is Toni's girl, Watsonia. You met her in my first post. She looks just like her momma. Watsonia is a cuddle-doe. She is a little bit timid, and I hope she'll grow out of that. When you pick her up she cuddles right in to your neck. Since I already posted about her, I'll save space here.

Now there is Tulip's 2 does. Her buckling is already sold to a man who is going to use him for breeding his herd (yes, he's that beautiful). Her first born doeling is brown with black markings and white spots. She is strikingly beautiful. The second doeling was the last born of the three. She is black with white and gray spots. She is also is a striking sight to behold. I will upload pictures soon of the whole herd for your viewing pleasure. Three incredible babies from a plain looking, headstrong doe with great conformation and a big, beautiful, plain-looking buck.

Well, so far, that is my herd. It's going to have to stop growing because we need to move all of our goats from Southern California to Washington (in 1-2 years), and I can only reasonably move 4-6 (well maybe 8) goats!!

Tratonia's daughter

The goat I have been trying to obtain for over a year had her first baby last night. One beautiful girl later, I now have two goats to covet.
I promise to take the time to introduce you to this saga, for tonight (set-up night) this is all I've got to offer.
Enjoy the pic and meet Toni's girl (as of yet nameless and less than 24 hours old).