Thursday, March 06, 2008

My husband's gift


Doc (who now has her own domain), what do you think? Do you see anything bizarre about the gift from my hubby?

About twenty minutes before my husband was to leave for his February frolic, he said, "You need to feed your goats at the sale barn."

I said, "I don't have any goats."

"You do, now!"

I spent the next month trying to contain 5 goats purchased on a whim by my husband who was leaving town for a month, who felt sorry for the man who drove from Alabama to sell goats at the goat sale the C's used to host at my husband's barn once a month.

They are cute. But there is one small problem. Can you tell from the pictures? Take a guess!

7 comments:

Doc said...

A gift of goats, wonderful!

Oh, but there are problems.

They're boers. They don't give milk (much anyway). Boers are naughty, by the way.

And they're designed to be eaten.

Look at those faces! What kind of beast eats a goat? Cows slobber - they're easy to eat.

You could cross them with nubians!

Wisteria said...

You mean these are going to be mean! Ugh. I don't like mean by nature animals.

I assure you these won't give a drop of milk.

Angela said...

I would suppose they are all male? SOrry, but that is an utterly useless gift. Grandpa always said there is one basic rule of livestock: why feed it if you can't milk it, eat it, or breed it?

Know anyone with females who is not concerned about bloodlines?

Jennifer said...

I read the wiki article on boer goats. It claims they're docile.

I beg to differ with Angela. Anything with ears that cute is a most excellent gift!

Need recipes?

Doc said...

Naughty, not mean.

Are they all boys?

I hope they're wethered, cuz otherwise, they're going to STINK.

You could rent them out as a brushing crew. My 10 goats cleared a 5 acre patch of icky brush right down to the bare ground last summer.

Their horns are small, I'd guess they're under 6 months. You could still sell them for meat.

I can't eat goat. It would be like eating a dog or cat.

Wisteria said...

I was wishing for dairy goats because I wanted to check out the milking and cheese making tasks before investing in a Guernsey, which is what I have wanted for a long time. I also suspect I'll have a difficult time eating a goat if I have to do the killing.

Angela is correct, too. They are all boys. The largest one stinks already. The other boys are just babies, so are just cute. We will use them as brush control until we find a new owner or decide they are pets.

I'm glad they aren't mean, but I will keep an eye on them for their naughty, mischievous ways.

Angela said...

Oh! Great idea to set them out as a brushing crew. are they too old to have the horns burned off, if they will be wandering about? I've seen some do a number on a dog that was too slow.

I'd add building a pen far from the house, as that musk can be nauseating in the heat!