Friday afternoon we had a lovely visit with four very charming goats, and their guardians, our friends Bob & Julie. The kids, Chai and Brie, are seven months old. We brought them a treat to eat, our holiday tree. 🌲 I had a blast with the photo op!
Chai loves to be held, although she’s starting to grow out of that a little.
Addie (above) is a fainting goat, which I learned from Bob is a goat with a hereditary condition that may cause her to stiffen or fall over when startled. Thankfully our presence didn’t startle her.
The fir tree was a hit, at least when the goat crackers weren’t being offered. 😉
Clearly, Julie and her goats adore each other. It was so heartwarming to see. 💕
a quick detour on her way back to her barn
We walked with them back to their barn and got to see where they spend the night. What a treat and change of pace this visit was for us. Thank you, Bob & Julie!
I would never have guessed that they would enjoy a piney flavored fir tree. They really will eat anything!
I wonder if it isn’t really spruce? not that it makes a difference 🙂
Leelah, I’m no expert at identifying evergreens but the guy who helped us at the tree farm identified the tree as a Nordmann fir.
Anna, we had no idea they ate evergreens until we saw a story about it on the news. That’s when Tim decided to offer our tree to Bob’s goats!
Fun, Barbara! lucky you who got to hug live animals( and even be kissed?)
It was fun, Leelah, but no hugs or kisses for/from me. I was content to pet them and take the pictures. 😊
This is the heartwarming story I need to be reading. Cuddling goats with clever names, doing something different. I am charmed.
So happy you were uplifted, Ally. Being there was just what I’ve been needing, too, a change of pace and something else to focus on. 🐐
I’ve heard of fainting goats, but this is the first time I’ve “met” one — thank you, Barbara. About the closest I’ve gotten to goats is during our county fair, when the 4-H kids vie for prizes showing them. They’re really cute, but their little horns are harder than you might at first imagine!
You’re welcome, Debbie! I had an unpleasant experience with a goat many years ago that involved what was probably playful head-butting but I didn’t understand that at the time. The goat wound up chasing me across the yard and when I escaped into the house it butted the kitchen door a good one. But these goats weren’t like that one, thankfully!
Wonderful way to up-cycle a tree! Aren’t goats such fun? My sister raised them in the 70s, what characters they are!
They are! They all had such interesting personalities and I enjoyed watching how they hopped up onto stones and tree trunks, sure-footed with ease and perfect balance. Amazing.
How adorable and sweet they are, those baby blue eyes are gorgeous! What a great outdoor adventure! I am sure they enjoyed nibbling at your tree for the next few days. I have never heard of a fainting goat, so I learned something today! Prior to the past two years, I’ve enjoyed taking our grandboys to the Baltimore Zoo where there is a petting zoo area filled with goats. The photo ops with the boys and goats were awesome. Those goats were always really friendly too, especially because they knew the kids had food to give them. 😅
I had never heard of a fainting goat before, either. We really do learn something new every day. I can well imagine the photo ops the combination of grandchildren and goats would offer. 😊 I hope when this pandemic abates you can take your grandboys to the petting zoo again and maybe I will get a chance to bring my little ones to visit one some day. We took Kat, before Finn was born, to the Farmyard at the Museum of Life & Science in Durham, NC, but I don’t remember it having a way to pet any of the goats.
That is the best tree recycling place. Those goats were nibbling on you too! And gave us all grins from ear to ear.
The student livestock show is here this weekend and our city is giving out awards. A prize turkey was given $9,000. Yes, that is nine thousand!
It was fun to see these young children in their showmanship caring for of all sorts of animals beautiful heifers, pigs, goats and all. Even though I just saw the highlights on the TV news, it tickled me. Instead of Holy Cow; it’s Holy Turkey!)
A $9,000 prize for a turkey — wow! It’s been many years since we’ve been to an agricultural fair to see all the different kinds of farm animals. Sounds like something we should revisit this summer or fall, pandemic permitting…
Oh, I just love your posts!
I was wondering where may people, maybe, visit these goats? I’d so love to.
Thank you, Susan! Sorry, these goats live at a private residence but if they ever open to the public I would let you know.
What a wonderful visit you had with the goats! Thank you also for teaching us about fainting goats–who knew? And what a wonderful recycling of a tree! This feels good.
It was wonderful, Kathy, the high point of our week, maybe even of the month. I learned so much I never knew before, got some fresh air and sunshine and a chance to safely catch up with friends.
What a cute post Barbara and the goats are so sweet and lovable. I like their names too. I follow a nature site on Twitter that has cute videos of all animals, domestic or otherwise and the baby goat videos are the cutest. The kids will stand in place and jump up and down like a pogo stick. Heritage Park has a petting farm and a few years ago, they had an event called “Christmas in July” so I decided to go, lured by the idea of Santa in a Hawaiian shirt and a few of his reindeer that would be making an appearance. I thought it would make a fun blog post. Entrance to the petting farm and barn was included in the admission. The goats were doing a “scream thing” where they make the screaming noises and the baby goats came over the fence to be petted. It was fun, even though the loudspeaker announced it was too warm for the reindeer to make an appearance, so to come back in the evening. It was early morning and I didn’t return.
Thank you, Linda. I can just picture the little ones jumping up and down like pogo sticks. 🙂 I was amazed at how nimble these girls were jumping up onto the log and the rocks. I didn’t hear any goat screaming on this day. Hmmm. The “Christmas in July” event sounds like a lot of fun.
Yes, they are so cute Barbara … I saw where someone dressed their baby goats in kids’ PJs – then they made a video of it. It was fun at “Christmas in July” but I felt badly the reindeer couldn’t make it that morning. They always have them at the farm for Christmas time. I may go to see them whenever the pandemic ends as it is usually crowded there (with kids) (says this overgrown kid).
I was about to write that we saw a couple of reindeer at the farmers market last summer but now I’m thinking my memory is playing tricks on me, I think it was a couple of donkeys. 🤣 I don’t think I’ve ever seen a live reindeer the more I think about it. I can imagine how disappointed you must have been to miss them but hopefully you’ll get to see them next time!
They are pretty big – I saw the pictures from the Christmas Open House they have. I had no idea what to expect – wandering around in a pen, or standing next to Santa. 🙂 I hope to see them when they come to the Farm for a visit again.
Wishing you luck! 🙂