Wild WIndy Wether Morning

As my vet said today, "It's always something crazy with goats."

This is Sophia, is our F2 Mini-Nubian Bezoar doe and two of the three doelings she just kidded. She is an absolutely gorgeous girl. She is very "dairy" and has really nice wide ears. The above picture does not do her justice, as this was taken only about an hour after she kidded.

Sophia is probably our best looking doe, but she has never really been one of my favorites because she has a very timid personality. She does not always have her nose in your business like Oreo. She does not constantly check your pockets for treats, like our Wilma. She does not expect you to bend down so she can give you goat kisses like our girl, Betty. She is not like Drifter, who insists that you scratch his back and chin and nose and LEANS on you if you forget. No, Sophia is the one that hides behind a tree and peeks out at you when she thinks you are not looking. Sophia is the one that stands statue-still, hoping that you won't see her if she doesn't move.

She has gotten more friendly, especially with me, since she kidded. I think a lot of that is because I was there when she kidded. Some sort of a goat bonding thing. Anyway, now she will come up behind me and nudge my hand with the top of her head for a pet. Or she will come and stand close to one of us, hoping you will get the idea to scratch her cheeks, but too dignified to just crawl in your lap like Betty.

We are keeping one of Sophia's girls. Bell, the brown one with white spots. So, we had thought about selling Sophia. But I was very impressed with her first freshening, and what a terrific mother she is, I was beginning to think we might just keep her and repeat her breeding with Drifter next year. After today, I think I've changed my mind. At around 9:00 this morning, we almost lost dear, stoic Sophia. Actually, I am sure we would have if it hadn't been for my 6 year old son.

In the mornings, after I milk Oreo and Betty, I give Wilma and Sophia their grain, and then take a small amount to Drifter. This is exactly what I did this morning. I had intentions of staying back with Drifter for a while. He has been a bit lonely, and I have been feeling a bit bad for him, although his mood has brightened since the goat kids have been sneaking away from their moms to visit him in his goat shed. :) He was in a fun mood this morning and was appreciating the extra attention. I would have stayed with him much longer, but Titus yelled, "MOMMA! COME QUICK! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH SOPHIA! SHE'S THROWING UP!"

You have to know that throwing up for goats is REALLY, REALLY bad. So, I hotfooted it over to where Titus was standing by Sophia, telling her, "Calm down there, girl. Calm down!" She was throwing her head from side to side, long strings of white mucous were flying out of her mouth, hitting Titus in the legs and sticking on his pajama shirt. "It's OK, Sophia. Just calm down." He was completely unaffected by having goat spit-up on him. (I LOVE farm kids. :) )

She was throwing her head around, and then she fell down and started to roll in the mud, her ears flopping this way and that way, mucous spraying on trees, the ground, rocks, Titus, me. Her eyes were bulging and her sides were heaving. She made a terrible sound, something similar to grating cabbage, in her throat, and then no sound at all. She threw her head again, from side to side, and I finally saw something green sticking out of her mouth.

I jumped on her back and held her head still in the crook of my arm. With the other end, I reached in her mouth, grabbed the green thing and pulled. And pulled. And pulled. What came out was a solid piece of yucca, about 7 inches long. As soon as it cleared her mouth, she heaved, spit up and then started gasping for air. My normally shy little goat laid there with her head in my arms for at least two minutes, eyes closed, sucking in air through flared nostrils.

Then, just as suddenly as it had all started, it was over. She jumped up, shook out her fur and yelled for her babies. I ran to get two buckets of warm water and the box of baking soda (the miracle cure-all for bad stomach stuff in goats). She inhaled most of the water, but did share some with her best goat friend Wilma. She nibbled on the baking soda and burped. That seemed like a good sign. Then she took off up the hill with her friends.

She spent the rest of the day harassing trees, nursing her babies, yelling at Drifter and butting Oreo around. She did NOT stick her head threw the fence and nab any more of the yucca. She spent the day just being a goat, as if nothing special had happened. I spent the day watching her be a goat, and was thankful to get to do it. She really is quite remarkable.