Home!

 Edna the Goat is finally on her new homestead!  She was picked up around 10:00am this morning.  Goat ownership has been wonderful so far, although not without its challenges!

As far as I understand, goats in Texas must be tattooed before they leave the farm they were born on.  Edna was tattooed with the 2WS (the farm identification) in her right ear and E4 (E for 2014, 4 for the 4th goat born on the farm).  This tattoo will serve as an identification of the goat, with "codes" for identifying where she was born and what year she was born.

The tattoo process was quite interesting.  First the numbers are loaded into the tattoo gun and tested on a piece of cardboard to make sure the configuration is correct.  The numbers are formed out of many tiny "needles."  The numbers are pressed into the goat's ear, puncturing the skin slightly.  Then, bright green ink is smeared all over the ear and absorbs into the punctures.  The excess ink will be wiped off in a day or so.  Although the tattoo may fade, it should be readable for many years.

In order to prevent the green ink from getting everywhere on the car ride home, I tried placing socks over Edna's ears.  It made for a cute picture, but the socks easily fell off!  Oh well! 

Ahhh....The joys of bottle feeding!  Both Edna and her owner have been trying to figure this one out!  She is being fed pasteurized goats milk for now.  Originally she was drinking from a baby bottle.  She would only drink 1 oz. at the most, and put up a fight every feeding!  After a couple of failed attempts, I tried a larger lamb nipple on a soda bottle.  This arrangement was much more successful and Edna downed several ounces at once.  There is still no schedule to it, except for trying every couple of hours, but hopefully that will come soon.

 Edna stayed in her goat cave for the first couple of hours.  However, it started pouring down rain and the arrangement got all wet.  Uh-oh.  So for now, Edna is staying in an enclosed area in the barn.  I plan to work out more permanent shelter, but raising a goat is just a lot of "trial-and-error!" 

Raising a goat is also a lot of fun!  Edna has the cutest little cry (I think she is looking for her real Mama.)  It feels so good to tuck her wobbly legs under her body and stroke her baby hair.  I look forward to the days and weeks ahead, watching her grow and watching me grow as well!  Warning: Character Lessons Ahead!