Goodbye Goats!

The goat herd shrunk to a herd of only TWO this weekend!  It was bittersweet to say goodbye to five of the goats on Saturday!  But, the feeling of downsizing is quite free-ing!

I had never sold the kids from 2016, mostly because I was "attached" to them and I couldn't decide who to sell.  I also was thinking about the possibility of keeping one of the bucks to breed back the does.

But recently, the goat chores had become overwhelming on top of managing many other responsibilities of life!  Also, the goats were eating a lot of hay, grain, and grass!  If I were to keep seven goats long-term, I would need to make arrangements to enlarge their pen and build more shelters.  So, I logged onto my Craigslist account last weekend...

I got on a roll once I started posting goats for sale!  If I could find good homes, I wanted to sell as many as I could and keep just my two favorite milking goats (Charlotte and Edna).  Although I knew it would be hard to say goodbye, the benefit of having a small, manageable goat herd would be worth the grief!

"Hilarious"

"Howdy" Ho!

Thankfully, a nearby friend agreed to purchase Hilarious and Howdy (pictured above).  So, hopefully I will get to see them occasionally!

A family about 3 hours away contacted me through Craigslist and wanted to purchase Elly May (who is still milking).  Elly May milks about 2 3/4 cups of milk once a day.  She is also really sleek and shiny!

The family that purchased Elly May also agreed to take Hillbilly and Hurray!  Now, all of my kids from 2016 are sold!  Since the family lived so far away, we met half-way and the goats endured half of the trip in our cattle trailer...

...and the other half in the family's goat carrier in the back of their truck!

Goodbye Goats!

It is sad remembering all of the excitement we had experienced when we purchased Elly May two years ago and all of the fun we had with the goat kids this past summer!  They have been good "friends" to us!  The goat pen is so quiet with only two goats... 

But, I am now able to enjoy the goats I still have!  The chores are manageable and I am being a better steward of my resources by having a smaller herd.  (But I am already looking forward to kidding season again!) Sometimes the hard things are huge blessings in disguise!