Farmin' Funnies

The farm is a funny place - never a dull moment.  The animals each have their own quirky personalities and I've enjoyed getting to know them better.  Sometimes I feel like Fern in Charlotte's Web except the animals don't talk (unfortunately) and I haven't yet seen any words in a spider's web. :)  I thought I'd share a few moments from the farm that just made me chuckle.

     In teaching you are never supposed to show favoritism.  I try to apply this same equal love for all when I'm on the farm.  But it is so tough because of Brandy.  Brandy is AWESOME.  At 11, she is the oldest goat at Legacy Farms.  She is losing her teeth and she's a little chubby, but I think she is just beautiful. 

Beautiful Brandy

Brandy has an obsession with bleach.  When I am cleaning the goat barn all of the other goats go out into the pasture to frolic around and dine on delicious leaves and grass.  Brandy stays as close to me as possible because she knows that I clean with bleach and she LOVES bleach.  If I look away for a moment, Brandy makes a waddling dash for my bucket of bleach water.  Susan says that it's probably not good for her, but she is the only goat on the farm who has never had worms - so maybe Brandy knows something we don't.

Bleach Bucket Brandy

If I guard the bleach bucket well, Brandy still finds a way to get a little taste.  She licks the things I've cleaned with bleach water.

Brandy licking the bleach bench

     Brandy's daughter is Pepper.  Pepper has a lot in common with her mom.  She waddles when she walks.  She makes a goat purring noise when she is super comfy.  She loves having her neck rubbed.  Thankfully she does not share Brandy's love for bleach.  Pepper is pregnant and she's due the 3rd week in November.  Susan says that the babies will do 70% of their growing in the last month of gestation.  So, Pepper's belly is starting to get very large.  Most goats have good control over their bodies when pregnant.  Pepper - not so much.  You can often catch Pepper stuck on her back like a turtle. (You would LOVE it Tabitha!!)  She tries to roll over and cannot quite make it.  She gets stuck halfway with her legs straight up in the air.  Pepper loves to lay just outside the goat barn at the top of the hill.  A few days ago she made the mistake of pointing her back downhill instead of up.  Gravity took over and she went rolling down the hill.  She was able to stop herself and quickly bounced to her feet to look around and see if anyone saw her. :)

Pepper after her hill roll

     Mocha is a sweet goat.  Unfortunately she had a skin infection and had to be in the sick pen for a couple of weeks.  It was my job to give her daily shots of antibiotics and treat her with topical creams to get her back to 100%.  I really enjoyed taking care of her.  She was on the mend and I was doing one of my last check-ups.  I was using a flashlight to really check out her udders, under her legs, and her belly.  As I felt around her belly I felt a scab I had not felt previously.  I called Susan to come check it out.  Susan got the flashlight, lifted Mocha's leg, felt the spot I was concerned about, and then started cracking up laughing.  Then she said, "Elizabeth, that would be Mocha's belly button!"  HAHA - oops!  Who knew?!?!  Goats have belly buttons!!!  So, Mocha is doing great! :)

Sweet Mocha

     The baby goats are a constant source of entertainment.  It is so much fun to watch them figure out life on the farm.  One of my favorite things about Brandy is that she is like the granny goat.  She loves to spend time with all of the babies (even though none of them belong to her) and she teaches them a lot of valuable lessons.  Orchid is the smallest of all of the babies.  For a while we had difficulty getting her to put on weight, but she is growing well now.  I was lucky enough to observe Brandy teaching Orchid.  Brandy is about triple the size of Orchid, but she allowed Orchid to "win" the head-butting battle.  She actually let Orchid push her backwards and Orchid was beyond proud of herself!

Brandy teaching Orchid to head butt

     I think one of the reasons I love goats so much is that they truly enjoy eating.  I have that in common with them.  While they all love to eat, Gracie Jade has a special spot in her heart for food.  She just cannot get enough of it and she loves to get to the crumbs at the bottom.  When she eats hay with the other babies she always knocks the hay bin over and dives right in.

Can you tell which one is Gracie? :)

I hope at least one of these farm funnies put a smile on your face.  Life is good here in North Carolina.  We are happy and healthy and we hope you are as well!


We'll keep you posted as we keep pharmin' and farmin'!
Love,
Elizabeth, Jake, and Tillie