Spring is here! Finally! I was beginning to think I'd never get warm again. The cold is damp here, kind of like a wind chill factor, only it's a dampness factor. It creeps under your sweater and into your socks. It grabs you around the back of your neck and drips down your spine. The thermometer hovers between 40 or 50, which in Rocky Mountain-ese is getting warm, but here in the NW, it's C O L D. The kind of cold that takes more than a cup of hot chocolate to warm you up.
Today it was 61 degrees. We turned off the heater and opened up the windows! The birds sang their heads off and the daffodils opened. The sky shone blue, and such a welcome change from clouds and rain! Yesterday was in the mid-50's, and I hoed up the bedding in the chicken house and in the evening, we went to get the other goat.
Goats, now, is it?
I happened to mention to a friend of mine and K's, who has goats, that I'd like to get a Pygora goat. It's a cross between a Pygmy (those cute dinky fat ones you see at petting zoos) and an Angora (large goats raised for their silky fiber called "mohair". "Angora" fiber is from rabbits). K and I saw some at a Fiber Festival last summer and got a bad case of the wants. I recently aquired a spinning wheel, and so the thoughts of another animal with renewable fiber just set me drooling.
Anyway, the friend knew a friend who had some Pygora goats for sale. So Papa and I and K went to look at them. I only had enough money left to buy one goat, so I chose the one that is expecting twins or triplets in a couple of weeks. I also want to milk it, so that S can have fresh goat milk since she is very sensitive to cow's milk.
Here she is, we named her Mrs. Tiggywinkle. She's very sweet and likes to be petted. We got her on Wednesday, the 28th. We crammed her in a borrowed home-made crate, she barely fit through the door, and she is so fat (pregnant, not fat, I should know that) that she couldn't jump down out of the van, so we had to lift the whole crate down the the ground. The little girls are besotted and love to pet her.
Well. Come to find out, the lady we bought her from deals in Muscovy ducks. She was willing to work out a trade for the other goat. And we have 15 Muscovy ducks. 20, if you count the ones in the freezer. K decided to keep three for breeding.
You can't catch two ducks, even though you could hold two. You have to throw some feed on the ground, wade through the ducks and chickens, with your eye on your target, and grab it around the neck. Then you can scoop it under your other arm. K and I could handle three ducks at a time between the two of us. If you hurry, they won't poop on you.Papa lined the floor of the van with a sheet of plastic, and we crammed the ducks into a wire cage and a dog crate. A and n went with us.
Now, just if you ever have the opportunity to ride in the same van with 12 ducks for 30 miles or with a loose goat, choose the goat. We had the windows rolled down until it got too cold, but after that it was ... earthy.
The second goat, already named Angie (we haven't come up with a better name yet) has even nicer fleece than the first one. She had twins on Friday, but unfortunately they both died. But... that meant that she is coming into milk. So S will have milk without having to wait on kids to wean.
We had already returned the crate, so K just held her with a rope collar and a lead rope. She did pretty well, figured out that it was easier to lay down, until we'd slow down, then she'd want to look out the window. Papa stopped at A&W for a quick meal, we were all pretty hungry, it was nearing 8pm. Angie was very interested in the hamburgers. R and N had stayed home to make grilled cheese sandwiches for the younger troops.
When we got home, K and I made an attempt at milking her. We hit upon a method and got about 1/2 cup of milk. We tied her to a stud in the wall, and I stradled her with her head between my knees (in the chicken house, mind you, it was pitch dark but there's a light in there) while K kneeled (in the chicken house) and milked her. Angie must like men because when Papa came out to see what we were doing, and then left to get the camera, she bawled and became too unmanageable to continue, so we let her loose.
So two Pygora goats for $60 and 12 ducks. Where'd we get all those muscovy ducks?
Well, that's another story.
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