Mortal wounds, scrap, new stock, rehoming

The very first thing I did when I got home yesterday evening was to check on the condition of our wounded goat, Maximus. He was still breathing but it was obvious that he was not going to survive the wounds he received in the dog attack. I could tell by the cleared spot on the floor of the goat shed that he had been struggling to get up through the day, but he was basically lying in the same spot I had left him in the night before. His belly was very distended so there was something going on internally. Mama and I were sure he would not survive another night. I had an errand to run before I could put him out of his misery, so I left him alone until I got back to the farm.

The errand was to unload the trailer of the old fencing I had piled there in a beginning effort to clear some of the scrap and trash from the farm. Most of the fencing had been taken down and replaced in several areas in the back yard but there were several rolls of old rusted chain link fencing from little enclosures around the farm that I had taken down a couple years ago. All in all, it was not much, but it needed to be gone and I could sell it as scrap metal versus paying to put it in the dump. I was expecting to get about $10 for it but was pleasantly surprised that I got just shy of $20. It made it worth the trip. It also makes it a little more worthwhile to continue gathering all the metal scrap that is still at the farm – and there is quite a bit of it. I really want to get the cleanup done by Spring, but I needed to get this load off the trailer so I could get the lumber for the well house in the barn lot; hopefully tomorrow. It is getting to the point that I need to get that structure in place to protect the well and waterlines that feed the coop, the garden and the barn hydrants. Tonight, the temperature is forecast to be 30°-32° F. A freezing event much quicker than I expected.

With the loss of the goats, Mama has been working her contacts to find a home for our other little male, Solomon. As I said before, this little buck is too well made to just sell him for meat. It would be good to give them the opportunity to reproduce. In her networking and God’s providential timing, Mama came across an opportunity to help us get Solomon to a good while helping two other families in the process. One of the Wycoff children bought a place recently and inherited four nanny goats. They are not Myotonic goats, but they are very nice-looking goats. We have arranged to take the goats because they do not want them on their property. They have no love for goats of sheep. That works for us. Mama and I will keep two of the nanny goats and give the other two to a family that she knows through the school. This family will also take Solomon which will allow them to start their own little goat herd. That’s what I call a win, win, win situation. So, of the three goats we have lost, two will be replaced and our little male will not only go to a good home, he will get to produce offspring.

The initial portion of this rehoming will happen tonight when Mama and I go to get the orphaned nanny goats. For the final phase, I am going to ask for a week or two for the nanny goats to run with Solomon to see if he will breed them. We need the offspring too. Mama and I have pretty well settled on concentrating on the goats versus cattle. There is almost as much money to be made with the goats with much less hassle. They are easy to work with, take less space and less feed and weighing 75-100 pounds, are easier to manage than the 1200-pound cows we just sold. they are fun animals to care for, playful and highly social.

They suit Mama’s and my personality – and the kids love being around them.