Goats are funny creatures. They can be every bit as stubborn and rebellious as a strong-willed human child who has entered his toddler years- only they weigh more. However, goats lack our language ability, and while they understand some, reasoning skills are not on their radar. As we have tried learning to milk both a dancer and a squatter, we discovered the art of gentle 'parenting'. The slightest harsh tone and these girls dig in deeper into their rebel behavior. If there is any sanity for the herds-people and hope for cooperation, it is patience and a soft voice. "Now young lady, enough of this disobedience!" does nothing to make goat cooperate, no matter how intimidating you growl it out. As my husband and I softly work with our little goats, we are reminded how much more our children deserve this gentle and patient way. Never pansy parenting, this way is firm and persistent, unrelenting until the desired behavior has been fulfilled- no matter the inconvenience. Consequentially we have found ourselves with lower voices across the board, and better consistency with both our goats and our human kids. God's design between His creation and His image bearers is brilliant!
This gentle approach has been sorely tested on the milk stand and administering the medicines. We are starting the goats on a system of herbals from Molly's Herbals at Fiasco Farms. Mo'Milk, Herbal Supplement and the Wormer system are our regular 'medicines' to administer. We made these herbal mixtures into the suggested herbal balls after unsuccessfully adding the herbal powder into their grains. They ate all the grain, left all the herbs. Now supposedly the goats should love these sweet little concoctions and gobble them right up. No, not my goats. I think I can successfully rope a calf and tie it up after wrestling these herb balls down these goats. It's with great pride that I can say, I never lost my religion either, nor my gentle voice. Although, it must be a sight to see me in a wrestling match with a goat while talking in a sing-song soft voice. This was the new normal, until today. Today, Mattie and Lily both decided to voluntarily eat their herb balls! Great Balls of Herbs it was a great day if nothing else good happened but this!
There seems to be a constant element of drama threatening to pop up. Learning new things, especially of this magnitude, can be unnerving when it has to do with life and investments. These goats are both. First its abnormal poop, then weather changes and food changes. Stresses, more weather, runny eyes and rowdy kids have all tested Mattie and Lily's health and wellness. Today's hot weather made my girls pant. If only goats would read the books I do, I would not be so stressed. Normal respiration is 15-18 a minute. These two were breathing 2 times a second. Of course, all the literature and google results tell you the goat is dying of pneumonia or crazy lung parasites and to rush to the vet immediately. Thankfully, Kellye at Twincreeks is so patient with my questions. She assured me her goats are doing the same, and that they are just adjusting to the new hot weather. Kellye has answered questions almost daily about milking, skin bumps, breathing and then some. What a blessing she is! I can say that I have learned a lot this past week. I now know more about goat breathing, rumen sounds and taking animal temperatures. I can wrestle medicine down a goat, drench a liquid into their throat, coax a stubborn goat to let me milk her and clean a barn in less than ten minutes to beat the thunder storm. There is still so much to learn, and I hope to know by the end of the week a little more about farm fly control. Between my farming skills and parenting skills, I feel like I am running a good hard race. Life is good, and God is awesome!