Puppies, kittens and ducklings may be incredibly sweet, but few creatures are cuter than baby goats. From the moment they stand up on their four wobbly legs they are a pleasure to watch, and their fragile-sounding and somewhat frantic bleats whenever they lose sight of mama are downright heart-warming. The babies grow quickly, and it’s a treat to watch them as, with little tails twitching, they joyfully leap about with grace and agility.
A couple of years ago someone dropped a baby goat into our back yard. The appearance of the kid wasn’t an accident; there’s no way it could have just wandered onto our fenced property, and we wondered who had placed it there. I spread word throughout the neighbourhood but no-body came to claim the wee animal, and after a while it became obvious that Nik and I were now the proud owners of a very beautiful little ram goat. He didn’t have a name at first but, when his beard turned orange during mango season, we started calling him “Mango Face”.
Mango Face had been a pretty baby with a lovely brown and cream-coloured coat, and he became a very handsome adult. He likes to be petted, and has a wonderfully calm nature. He LOVES his food, and is especially fond of the blue bucket filled with kitchen scraps that Nik carries over to the farm each day. After a while, deciding that Mango Face was lonely, we purchased a little ewe to keep him company.
The exceedingly small female goat arrived and, because she is quite dainty in appearance, Nik named her Miss Daisy. She’s very timid and doesn’t seek human company, but she gets along well with Mango Face and that’s what we got her for. Before it seemed even POSSIBLE Miss Daisy’s belly was round from more than just food, and she gave birth to a strapping ram. The baby is pretty like his father with the same lovely colouring, and he has grown quickly. He definitely has his mother’s personality and avoids human contact, but he’s happy and healthy and that’s all that really matters.
Vanessa, on learning that Mango Face and Miss Daisy had produced a son, asked if we had named him. Nik’s answer was immediate and very much to the point;
“His name is Stew”.
Yes, “Stew” will be food for us some day, and I am looking forward to cooking and eating meat that I know has been farmed in a healthy and humane manner. That day will come very soon, because Mango Face and Miss Daisy had twins recently, a ram and an ewe, and it’s therefore time to say good-bye to Stew. I never got to know him due to his anti-social behaviour towards humans, but I guess if I had been named “Stew” at birth I would be avoiding the hand that feeds me too! As for the newbies, Nik gave them names the day they were born. The ram is “Shishkebab”, and he will provide us with meat while his sister, although “Shashlik” by name, will most likely be given the job of increasing the herd so that we can assign names such as “Curry” and Roti” to her babies!
Wonderful story, I agree that there is nothing quite as satisfying as raising your own food, “we love and feed them while they are alive and they feed us when it’s time!”
The realities of raising animals as it has been for centuries!