One of the things about being a farmer is cultivating and
growing things, only to let them go. This is certainly true about breeding
livestock. We work with the best livestock we can find, and do our best to
match them with others who will complement them in the best interests of the
breed standard and future generations.
Some, we train to visit nursing homes and schools, some are show animals
who are also breeding stock. Some of the little ones are sold as show animal
projects for 4Hers, or as breeding stock for other farms.
One of the hardest things we do is to say goodbye to these
friends who are certainly a part of our farm family, but in order to move
forward with our breeding goals, or to function as a farm, we have to say
goodbye and let them move on. Some animals will grow old with us, like the
rather senile and goofy Treasure, or Huey who happily lived out his years with
us. This fall, Obediah moved on to another 4-H family.
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Obediah loved being an uncle and cousin at Patriot’s Dream,
but he loves to go to shows and meet people, too. Since Bailey has been working
more with the therapy animal program, he wasn't getting to do as much of the travelling
and visiting and showing that he loves. Obediah moved on to live with friends of ours,
where he will be shown in 4-H and is doted on by four youth and their parents. He has also become buddies with a miniature horse named Frankie.
When Obediah first moved, it was a big change for him. He
had never seen a miniature horse before! Within a week, though, they were teaming
up to pull pranks and sneak into the chicken feed. While this sounds crazy,
pranks are a hallmark of the pygmy goat personality, and let us know he was settling
in just fine. The family’s neighbors had somehow no idea that a goat and horse
lived there. I find this quite surprising, since Obediah had long known to
come running when called\. This means that anytime we stop by. or anyone comes
through the yard and says Obediah, he runs to the gate of their pen talking and
demanding an ear scratch!
At Patriot’s Dream, we free feed alfalfa pellets, so that there is always food available. So Obediah has never worried for
food, he would just go get a mouthful when hungry, then go back to playing with
his buddies. Some of you likely know that this doesn’t always work with horses,
and Frankie gained weight having Obediah around. So he new family put the boys
on a feeding schedule.
It turns out Obediah had lost a little weight with this
feeding schedule thing, so how were they to up Obe’s feed without letting Frankie
get too fat? These are the moments that my friend Kate talks about being a
flock or herd social director! We came up with a plan of stashing some pellets
in a spot where Frankie could not get tot hem, but Obediah could get them
anytime. Unfortunately, either Obediah was helping Frankie get tot hem, or
something else was off kilter there, so Obediah’s new family as giving him
extra a couple of times a day by himself. Frankie isn't too sure about this
notion, but Obediah loves the extra attention, so there is a good bit of
attention for the animals to keep everyone happy!
Another thing Obediah is loving about his new home is that
there are several chickens who wander his pen every day. He and Huey used to
let chickens ride around on their heads. After hawks moved in to the field down
the road from us, we had to keep the chickens under a much closer guard, where
they are only free ranging under supervision. So Obediah is enjoying have
chickens around again, he loves anyone to play with. Before he left our house, he gave some young Polish pullets a ride...
So as much as we would love to have our animals with us
forever, for others to enjoy the love and fun of goats, there have to be
breeders, and for the animals to have full lives, they need homes with devoted
families. And we are glad that Obediah has found a special one. I heard someone
talking that they will be looking for a friend for him, too…
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