An Unexpected Goat

Last Sunday, we had a surprise visit from the farmer down the road.  He has goats and horses on his farm.  One of the mother goats had given birth to twins and had abandoned one of the kids.  Normally, the farmer would have just let nature take its' course but this time he thought he'd offer the unwanted twin to us.  If we could keep it alive, we'd have our first farm animal for free.  I was out of town so my husband was responsible for this decision.  And upon my arrival home I got to meet the newest addition to our farm.

We are probably the most unusual farm in the state, home to a piranha, a potbelly pig and a baby goat.  I'm not sure that any of this fits in with our vision for the farm but how do you say no to children and orphans?

Truth be told, the goat is adorable.  A year ago I couldn't have imagined that I'd own a goat, much less a goat in the house.  I remember reading a blog a few months ago where someone was listing things they'd have done differently on their farm if they knew then what they know now.  One of the bloggers statements was something to the effect of, "I wouldn't allow animals in the house."  Having had a variety of house pets I thought that was kind of strange.  Now that I have a goat in my kitchen, I'm thinking that she might have been very, very wise.  Yet, how do you put a tiny baby goat out of the house knowing that the kid requires warmth and security for survival? 

Our hope is the goat will give us all a glimpse of the responsibility and energy required for real farming.  Our hope is also that this baby will survive.  We don't have a stellar track record with animals on the farm.  It would be good to have a positive example of our husbandry skills.  So far, so good.  We've made adjustments but she seems to be thriving.  Only time will tell if I'll have a goat in my kitchen this time next year but for now, it's working.  I'm not sure if that's good farming practice but it's what works right now.