Monday, September 22, 2008

THE NANNY GOATS NEXT DOOR

Our next door neighbors, the West family, (our neighbors to the west) have goats. Nanny goats, all of them. We live in a rural community where the lots are larger than usual and keeping the lawn in good shape can sometimes be a real pain in the butt chore. I think the idea of owning a goat developed from a need to lessen that chore. So goat shopping the West family went. They fell for a lovely little white nanny goat they called Hillary and a darling black billy goat they called Barack. (Do you think they are Democrats?) I need to mention here that the Wests were assured that the proper measures were taken with Barack that little goats, kids would not be a possibility. Arrangements were made, supplies were purchased but alas, the owner decided they did not want to part with Barack after all. So, Hillary came to live with the Wests all by herself.

Hillary was treated like a queen and much attention was given to her by the West family and the Smart Mouth family who found Hillary to be a great source of entertainment. But even with the star treatment, Hillary was lonely. She missed Barack and her other friends. So the West family decided to get another goat. This time, they decided on two instead of one and brought home a mother and daughter team named Daisy and Brownie, respectively. Hillary was thrilled………for about 5 minutes. You see, Daisy and Brownie are the mean girls of the goat world. They butt Hillary with their horns, rise up on their back legs and punch at her with their front hooves. They just don't like her at all. (I think they might be Republicans.)

Days turn into weeks and while Hillary still isn't able to make friends with her new yard-mates, all are learning to live together and no one is getting hurt. One day, Mr. West mentions to me that he thinks Hillary might be pregnant. It turns out that maybe Barack wasn't as fixed as they were told he was and while they hadn't had her checked out yet by the vet, things were looking like a new kid might be in their future.

Just a few days later, MHS is outside doing some work in the yard when he hears Mrs. West yelling. He looks her way and she yells, "Hey Harley Stud, you know anything about birthing a goat!" Now MHS is my hero and I always think he can do just about anything but assisting in the birth of a goat……I don't know about that.

It seems that Mrs. West was preparing to take the children to visit their grandparents and had just finished showering. With her hair in a towel, she ran outside to feed the goats before blow drying her hair. Imagine her complete shock to see an extra pair of legs hanging out of the back-side of Hillary. Mr. W was at work. She tried to reach him by phone but he was unavailable. That is when she came back outside and called out to MHS.

He came into the house to change from his flip-flops to his sneakers because EVERYONE knows you can't be birthin' no goat in flip-flops. He announced the event to the girls and me and we in turn put our sneakers on too. By the time we reached the West home, Hillary had taken care of the job all by herself and produced the most adorable little kid you've ever seen. She was almost an exact duplicate of her mother. She could stand up all by herself and fall down too. Too cute. We oooed and awwwwed for quite awhile. Eventually we had to pull ourselves away to let Hillary and Donkey (the name given by the West's #2 son…who had recently seen a Shrek movie) their much needed rest.

We've really enjoyed watching Donkey as she grows. Daisy and Brownie seem to tolerate her a little better than they do Hillary but they are still bullies to both of them. I've never liked mean girls and the stunts they pull but I have to say that while Hillary and Donkey are my favorites, Daisy and Brownie have a special place in my heart too. I guess even a bully can't be all bad.

This is Hillary. It was hard to get them to stand still for a picture because when we come to the fence, they are always fighting for attention and moving all around for a better position.

These are the bullies, Daisy and Brownie. Brownie is the brown one if you are wondering. *wink* They are not posing. I had some greenery in my hand and they were going to make sure they got it and Hillary and Donkey didn't.

This is my favorite: Donkey. Aren't her little horns cute? OK, you twisted my arm; I'll share another of Donkey:

The little darling eats my weeds. Don't you just love her?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is a very cute story...and i think you might be secretly thinking you should take Hillary and Donkey home to protect them from the mean girls...

i once took a goat to school for show and tell...true story...i drove (drive) my mother nuts...

Anonymous said...

Great post. I agree with Thistle. I think maybe some of those goats need to jump the fence and start living at your place!

Lori said...

What a cute post. Growing up on the farm we never had goats but we did have sheep which I was in charge of. The baby lambs were so darn cute...we always had a couple that the mothers rejected because mother ewes will sometimes do that when they have twins. So, it was my job to bottle feed them around the clock...so in the middle of the night I would be out in their barn feeding them...maybe thats what prepared me for motherhood and middle of the night feedings...lol. As they grew older they would be on the front porch of the house, baaaing for me, early every morning, because they wanted to get fed. Seriously, I think they thought I was their mother...they would follow me all over the farm. That's when everyone would call me "Mary"...as a teenager I didn't think it was all that funny but my family sure did!

Bear Naked said...

Oh they are adorable.
I think you need to get a goat of your own though.
Those weeds are looking pretty big.

Bear((( )))

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Thistle - I would love to have tem but in reality I really like them over the fence where someone else takes care of them.

24-They have escaped into my yard before but we worry because our fence is open in front and they could really escape. MHS puts them on a leash and leads them back home.

Smiles - I think we are all suckers for baby animals of any species. They are just too cute.

Smiles & Thistle I'm not sure who sounds more like Mary had a little lamb. LOL

Bear - Hey now, I just mowed. LOL
Now that you mention it, maybe I could borrow them for awhile to get into those corners.

Anonymous said...

Too cute!!! I always thought it would be fun to have goats named Billy and Billie. LOL. I'm simple, I know.

Anonymous said...

Well my my, Mrs. Harley Stud can post pictures afterall. You've been holding out on us, huh? We'll be expecting more from now on. I love this story and I've got a distant neighbor who has goats and one is always sitting on top of her picnic table. Or sometimes just standing up there. I'll have to grab a picture some day as I'm driving by.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Fancy - Reminds me of that old show, this is my brother, Daryl and my other brother, Daryl. LOL

Midlife Slices - I guess I'm not a baby blogger anymore. No excuses! There should be some good ones coming soon. Stay tuned.....

Nanny Goats In Panties said...

I loed this post! ANd not just because they are about Nanny Goats! OK, I'm probably lying about that. How funny that Daisy and Brownie are bullies! And Donkey is just too cute. Do the goats come over to visit your lawn for maintenance?

Smart Mouth Broad said...

NGIP-They used to escape under the fence but the Wests fixed it. For awhile it was really funny tho to see MHS out there with a leash trying to lead/PULL them back to their yard. Note: Goats ly down when you try to pull them. LOL

Anonymous said...

My mom has really enjoyed raising chickens and recently mentioned the possibility of wanting a nanny goat. I was thinking of getting her one or two for Christmas. How much yard room do they need and do they eat everything in the yard or mainly weeds? Any input will be appreciated!!

Smart Mouth Broad said...

Elizabeth-Thank you for stopping by. I'm not a goat expert by any means but I will tell you what I know.

The neighbors have about 1/4 acre pen for the goats and they have four. The goats will eat everything they can get their mouths to. When they've eaten everthing they can reach, they will climb and pull down branches and even escape to get to what they can't reach. The greenery is not enough to sustain the four goats and they are fed daily some sort of goat feed as well as fresh water, of course.

I hope this was some help. If you need more information, you can email me at smartmouthbroad@gmail.com and I will forward it to my neighbors for their "expert" opinion.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your information! That really helps! I have two more questions...Do you think they could escape a 4 ft chain link fence, and do they eat Red Tip bushes?

Smart Mouth Broad said...

The goats next door escape a 4 ft fence all the time but I believe they are going under not over.
They just replaced the fence and it still happens.

I don't know what red tip bushes are but they eat everything in sight as far as I can tell.