Good Thing I'm Hard-Headed....

Last night we decided to go to the local Goat Auction. It's held every Monday night at a sale barn not far from where we live. Deb has been faithfully saving up money to buy a new Boer Buck for the one we lost. We just decided that it was the right time to head for the sale.

Normally, the sale starts at 6:00 pm. We've been there before, when there where enough animals that the sale was still going at midnight. Thankfully, this sale was not as long.

The BEST part about last night's sale, was that there weren't many sheep. Usually there seem to be THOUSANDS, with a sprinkling of goats mixed in. It's great - if you're looking for sheep - not so great when you're looking at goats. Fortunately, this sale only had about 40 head of sheep, and about 60 goats - not very sale big at all.

I think the weather had a lot to do with it - 25 miles east, the snow and wind were NASTY, so a lot of folks didn't venture out. Another reason I'm glad that it was a short sale - the ring HAD NO HEAT. It turned into a frosty evening.

We ended up buying two nice Boer Does (or is that Bordeaux....?), and a REALLY handsome Black Boer Buck (and I thought BBB stood for something else...). All three are pretty tame, but not used to US yet.





After what had to be a rather COLD ride home in the back of the pickup, they arrived at their new home about 8:30. Even with stock racks and straw - it MUST have been a bit nippy back there.

We proceeded to unload them in the shadow of the barn and take them into a holding pen for the night. The two does came out first, one at a time. This was pretty much uneventful, until Shadow decided to investigate the newbies. Evidently, the goats were NOT used to being around a dog. We couldn't use our chute, and the two does had no horns, so we just had to use the old "rope and lasso" method.

Everything was going along nicely until Shadow spooked the second doe. I found out EXACTLY how fast a good sized Boer Doe can run, even dragging me behind.....

Then it was time for the Buck. Ever wonder how hard it is to see a black goat, in a dark truck bed, on a dark, cloudy night? I found out. I was sitting on the side of my hip, sliding through the straw in the truck. I could see an OUTLINE of the goat in the corner, but couldn't make out which way he was pointed.

It didn't take long to figure it out. I must have pinched the wrong end, and the goat jumped up in front of me. I was a good 2 1/2 feet away, but goats have good reach. In a flash, we hit heads....

Now, I don't know if you've ever experimented with head butting a goat, but - take it from me - you WILL NOT like the experience. I never saw a thing. The next thing I knew, I was leaning against the inside of the stock racks and allowing my repressed Naval language to come back to the surface.

In short - GOSH it hurt (dang goat didn't feel a thing...)!

It wasn't a malicious butt, it was just a case of my head being in the wrong place at the right time.

After a few "golly gee's", and "Oh my's", and a couple minutes of recovery, I managed to get the goat out of the truck and into the barn. About half way through the barn, I had one of those "is it bleeding, or is it my imagination?" moments. You know the ones, sometimes you THINK you feel yourself bleeding, only to be disappointed you aren't.

At any rate, I wasn't disappointed - I WAS bleeding.

We figured that I'd have a large bruise this morning - sort of like a black eye - but I got nothing to show for my efforts except a cut about 1/2" long on my cheek bone, a 1/2" from my eye. It's sore, but isn't even gonna leave a scar.

I still owe the goat, though.

This morning, I went out to check on things, and the first thing I found was the puppies eyes are STARTING to open. It won't be long before they are crawling around and chasing mom.

After that, I looked in on the new goats. One of them resting her chin on the railing. She stayed like that for about ten minutes. I reached up and touched her nose, then she'd move her chin over, if I touched her again, she'd move it back.



She's got a nice personality, but just needs to get used to her new surroundings. Hopefully it will be soon when they settle in.

Deb wants to name the new Billy "Blaze" because of the blaze of white on his forehead. I am thinking more toward the "Black Knight" or "Darth Vader" ("Goat.....I'm your fatherrrr....").

What ever name he ends up with, I'm keeping a (sore) eye on him.

Remember, if you EVER think about head butting a goat, rethink your position REAL quick, and - if it comes to the point of you saying "Dude, WATCH THIS...", put down the beer, you've had enough.