In which Figaro wins a trophy...

Figaro here. I have taken over the blog from Lucy today. Why? Because I won a trophy and any goat who wins a trophy deserves a blog, of course. Why did I win a trophy? Because I am the coolest goat in Saranac Lake. Why am I the coolest? Because I marched in the Winter Carnival Gala Parade with the Adirondack Goat Club and we won the trophy for "1st Place Best Animal Unit". Why did I march? Because I am an awesome goat who looks like a sheep and who doesn't love to see a goat who looks like a sheep but who is actually a goat. Why do I look like a sheep? Because I am an Angora goat, duh. Back to the parade. There were 12 goats and 20 people and we all marched down Main St. The crowd loved us and even threw carrots at us (I don't really know why the crowd was throwing carrots at all the floats that marched by, but the goats really loved the carrots so please throw carrots every year). The Winter Carnival Parade is a crazy parade where the entire town shows up and acts silly, by "silly" I mean drunk. It's winter and cold but everyone is having a blast and they are having an even greater time when they see a goat who looks like a sheep walk by. So I won a trophy and I got a blog. Yay me.

World War G

To say it has been cold up here in the North Country of NY is like saying that Pope Francis is cool – a hugemungous understatement. It has been super friggin’ cold here with temperatures well below zero for days (and by “well below zero”, I don’t mean -5F – you pansies!). Subsequently all of the goats have been confined to the barn for days on end. Even the bucks have been brought into the barn. To illustrate how unusual the outside conditions have to be for the bucks to move inside, the farmer has often been heard muttering “It’ll be a cold day in Hell when I have stinky bucks living in my barn”. Well, welcome to Hell. 

Just as the weather turned cold, Daisy must have caught sight of herself in a mirror because she decided that since she is the second largest goat on the farm, she needed to be in charge of the smaller goats. Up until recently the pecking order was determined by age with me at 6 years old on top, Figaro at 4 years old next, Daisy at 2 next, followed by the spring babies (Fiona, Curry, and the two bucks). All was good with this order and no one had a problem with it. Well, low and behold, Daisy suddenly decided SHE had a problem with it. She started asserting her authority by beating the living tar out of Figaro who in spite of being older is smaller due to being an Angora. Daisy and Figaro have lived together for years but suddenly Daisy decided that she didn’t like his laissez-faire fuzzball attitude. She pounded him into the stall walls and door until the farmer decided to give him a break and move him to a new pen. The farmer then tried every configuration she could think of to fit 7 goats into 3 stalls without the bucks doing some unappreciated hanky-panky and without Daisy killing her stall mate. The farmer put Daisy in with Fiona but Daisy tried to kill Fiona. Then the farmer put Fiona and Curry in with Daisy but Daisy then tried to kill both of them. Then Daisy when in with me and I tried to kill Daisy. Finally the farmer had to settle on Daisy and Fiona together because Fiona was least likely to suffer permanent damage from repeated poundings. It’s pretty much been one big Ultimate Fighting match in the barn for the last few weeks. 

The weather broke for a few days and relative peace was enjoyed by all because the bucks could go back outside and the girls got to be in the pasture during the day. Now we are anticipating an “artic vortex” to descend. Hopefully the “Daisy vortex” has calmed down a bit and we can all go back to being friends (or at least mildly tolerating each other).

Santa Goat is Coming to Town!

The farmer has been ridiculously busy and she refuses to let me use the computer so that is why you haven't heard from your favorite Alpine lately. All is well in the goat world. Daisy and I went on our annual fall dates with the buck and are both knocked up now. I stopped giving milk when the weather got cold because nobody likes cold hands on their teats in the morning! The farmer wasn't happy with that but she was happy to not have to think about milking for a few months. Everyone likes a vacation once in a while. Figaro and Fiona are doing well. Curry, Samosa and Prince Charming have a date with the butcher next week (Shhh.... don't tell them!). I don't mind that situation as long as my name isn't on the freezer list! More food for me if they are gone! 

Santa Goat came early and gave us a few Christmas trees to celebrate with. No decorations but that is fine with me. Tinsel just gets stuck in my teeth anyway. This winter has been good so far. No real snow yet. There has been a couple of -20 degree days. Luckily the farmer has become an old softee and lets us stay inside when it is below 0 in the morning. I would rather not stand around outside and freeze my tail off (literally!). 

Merry Goat-mas and a Happy Goat Year!

Farm 2 Fork Festival

 There's a festival in the nearby by town that is 1/3 farmer's market, 1/3 local food party, and 1/3 farming celebration. The farmer brings some goats every year to show the townspeople that goats aren't so bad after all. Figaro, Fiona, and Curry were chosen to go to the Festival. The farmer wanted a good selection of different breeds to represent. The appearance of Figaro required the farmer to tell everyone that he was a goat and not a sheep because everyone thought he was a sheep. The farmer's friend brought her ear-less wonder, a Lamancha doeling. This required the farmer to explain to everyone that the goat was born that way and the lack of ears was not the result of a horrible accident.

The Festival went very well. It was very cold and rainy in the morning but the sun came out just as the food came out too. Lots of people showed up then. The only problem was that the farmer had to give a presentation on goat care and she brought Fiona up to the stage to show off. When Fiona got back to the petting pen, she had quite a chip on her shoulder for being the "Chosen One" and decided she needed to beat up the friend's Lamancha doeling. Fiona had to be put in time-out and tied on a lead for the rest of the day.

Summer!

Summer is here for sure! It was very hot and muggy last week. All of us goats spent a lot of time laying around the pasture, trying to enjoy whatever breeze there was. All I can say that was good about the heat wave was that it broke up the 42 days straight of rain we have had. Perhaps there's now a chance that hay will be cut and we will be able to eat for another winter?

 

 Here is a picture of me to compare to the below picture of my kid, Fiona. She is pretty much a spitting image.

Daisy is playing "Queen of the Mountain" on the Dogloo. There's nothing like a sturdy dog house to keep us occupied for hours!

 

The boys. Both are getting big. After 10 years of raising buck goats in a dry pen, the farmer finally figured out that she can put them out in their own pasture so they don't have to eat hay. Duh!

And finally, the obligatory Figaro picture.

What's up with me?

Not much to report on the farm this month. The grass is green and getting greener. It keeps growing and growing with lots and lots and LOTS of rain! If it ever stops raining, I will get out there and mow the lawn. I do work in the rain, but not in a torrential downpour -- of which there have been a few lately.

All of us goats are doing well. I am producing just shy of 1 gallon of milk a day. I have kept my conditioning thanks to the lovely grass and copious amounts of Chaffhaye that the farmer gives me. I have been tolerating the abuse by the farmer's kid when she tries to milk me. I guess explaining the finer points of goat milking to a three-year old is kind of tough... Ouch!

Look at me standing so nicely for this torture! I should get a medal!

Figaro and Daisy are fat and getting fatter. 'Nough said.

Ruby is looking good and the baby she is nursing has had a name change from "Curry" to "Godzilla" for obvious reasons. Godzilla is 10 lbs heavier than her bottle-fed brother. Now keep in mind that he was a runt from birth and had some serious health setbacks. He's catching up fast but Godzilla is outpacing him by a mile with her constant access to her momma's full udder. I guess that goes to show that if you are looking to raise meat goats that you are going to get much better returns on them if you leave them on mom. This is something the farmer should keep in mind for next year since her entire kid crop is slated for the freezer next fall. Take a vacation and let the moms* do the work! *I won't be bred next year so I am all in favor of letting Daisy and Fiona take the responsibility of feeding their kids. Heehee!

My two kids are getting big. They are 8 weeks old today. The farmer has been diligent about parasite prevention this year so all the kids are growing fast! There's even talk of trying to breed Fiona (AKA Cinderella (another name change)) if she can hit the 80 lb. mark this fall or winter. She'll be bred to Samosa (the Boer buckling) so her kids should be small at birth and easy for a young first freshener to carry and deliver. 

That's the update. Happy Summer!

Blurry Early Morning Pictures

For some reason, the farmer only brings the camera out during her mad-dash to do chores in the morning. There are three problems with this: 1. She's rushed and doesn't have time for her temperamental camera to focus so most of the pictures range from slightly blurry to UFO sighting fuzziness. 2. The sun isn't up yet and the light is terrible so the flash goes off and gives all of us those creepy blue ghost-goat eyes. 3. We aren't up yet so bed-head and grumpy expressions abound.

 She got me with my mouth full! At least Daisy looked ready for the paparazzi this morning.

 Here's my two kids. My how they are growing! (Don't worry, the one in front does have 4 legs, it's just a strange picture).

 Ruby and her monster-sized kid. Curry is the biggest 4 week old kid I have ever seen.

 Curry towers over her runty brother. Well, actually, we all tower over him. Don't worry, he's starting to catch up and look like a "real" goat and not a funny runt.

Talk about bed-head! Figaro is one perpetual bad hair day!