Friday, June 12, 2015

Just washing the goat.

"What are you doing this afternoon?", asks an acquaintance on the phone.

"Oh, nothing much, just washing the goat."

Because, well, that's what we were doing.  

Nettie's skin / coat was in desperate need of a good washing and since it was such a warm afternoon, I figured that she would also appreciate a little bit of cooling off so I let Rhiannon have at it.  She was quite patient, although it probably helped that I kept shoving fresh dock leaves in her maw.

Normally Nettie's coat is short and sleek by now, having lost all of her longer winter coat, but it wasn't very healthy looking.  I've been brushing her and top-dressing her feed with BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) hoping it would give her aging skin and coat a little boost, but it's not helping like it used to.   She's had the driest skin this year and although I didn't want to wash away any natural oils from her skin, she really, really needed some sudsing up.   I've only washed Nettie and maybe two other goats in my entire goat-keeping foray, and usually right after having them in with the stinky-arse buck goats.  

So Nettie got a little bit of unwanted pampering with the garden hose, baby shampoo, brushes and fluffy towels.  I took her out on the leash to graze a bit on the outskirts of the woods while she dried off and put her back in with the other goats.  Who avoided her like the plague.  Not sure if they just thought she smelled funny or if they were afraid that they would be next.

I've also been tossing around the idea of shaving down the Boer goats.  Although their coats are nowhere as thick as they were this winter, they are still much, much thicker than my dairy gals.  The weather is already hot enough that the entire herd is panting during the day so I may just give it a shot.  My only real worry is that I'll get half-way into the shearing and end up not being able to finish it because of unruly goats wanting absolutely nothing to do with noisy, electric hair clippers and end up looking like one of those angry, shaved cats.




5 comments:

  1. Be sure to save that picture of Rhiannon washing Nellie. If she turns out to be anything like my daughter, she'll get great pleasure out of showing it to friends years down the road and telling her sad tale of, " Yes, my mother and father insisted I work like a slave during my childhood. Just look at this picture. Along with my many other chores, I had to wash all the goats twice a week." (Or maybe you shouldn't save the picture. Hee-hee.)

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  2. I have to laugh at the angry shaved cat! Maybe you should draw some lines on the goats and strategically shave so if they get tired and won't cooperate you will at least have some interesting textures. If anyone would come up with silent trimmers, they would make a fortune. I used to have to muzzle the cockers and have someone hold them so I could shave. Some people have told me they use the Schick razor trimmers for women or men for small dogs that need eyebrows and the like trimmed, not for big jobs. They are much quieter. I cannot say I have done this, just heard about it.

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  3. We wash our too. I leave "big boy" to my daughter, ha ha!

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  4. Carolyn,

    Rhiannon is very patient and good with the animals. I'm thinking your other goats thought they were next.....lol......
    The weather has been nice to give animals baths, and work outside. Have a great weekend!

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  5. I bet that felt good! Of course, we know that goats are an ungrateful lot.... :). I keep a kiddie pool filled with cool water so that the llama can flop in it. Summer is hard on a lot of us old gals....

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