So, as I mentioned last month, we did buy July, the young wether (neutered male) from our friend Laura. Then a couple things happened very rapidly, and now we have three goats. We ended up with a choice between a mini-Lamancha/Nigerian dwarf cross doeling, and an alpine doeling. And we ended up choosing them both!
Meet Dulcinea, our mini:
As a miniature breed, Dulce will give less milk than her larger counterparts, but as a half-Nigerian-dwarf goat, she’ll give milk that is very high in butterfat – ie, sweet. She was disbudded on her farm of origin, so her horns will never grow in, and she must have been bottle-fed, because she is absolutely sweet as pie. As sweet as her name, in fact. She runs up to the gate to be petted whenever someone comes into the barnyard, and is very nearly as interested in pets as she is in treats, which is saying a lot for a goat. She’s tractable and responsive to human needs.
and meet Stella, our Alpine:
She’s being held by our wonderful long-term intern Adriana because we had to rescue her from inside the feeder – she somehow managed to climb in, and then got stuck. It took three of us to get her out again. Prior to that moment, she hadn’t let any of us touch her – but she was very calm stuck inside the feeder, and seemed to understand that we would help her, even if she doesn’t quite trust any of us yet under ordinary circumstances. The next day she was willing to accept weeds out of my hand, though, so I think maybe it helped! We will keep working on domesticating her. She seems interested in the idea – she watches July and Dulce intently while they interact with us. Unfortunately, July sees himself as being in charge of the herd, and he’s jealous of both food and affection, so he will butt her away from us when she comes close enough to get petted instead of him. I am going to start working with her without him in the pen, I think.
And in case you missed the instagram/facebook photo updates of me and July:
