Do you remember this cute little guy? My neighbor's offered him to me. I said yes.
And then I had to figure out how to tell Rich who doesn't care that much for goats that we were going to have a goat.
Sven was born on the 16th.
Here he was 4 days later when he met Charlie.
And here he is on the 28th. It was warm enough to take him outside with a harness on.
Sven will be coming home...down the driveway to our place once he has been weaned and the weather turns. [We have another frigid polar thing going on this week!]
He is a Lamancha, which is the funny looking tiny eared goat. His one job will be to eat weeds along the fence-line and clean up areas of nettles which goats love along with another weeds.
But I thought what could a whethered goat be good for? I've had goats before but really just raised them to milk them. After the kids no longer liked the milk, I sold the ones I had.
That was many years ago.
I like to hike. So for whatever reason, I looked up 'hiking with goats' and found out that full grown goats can be trained to be hiking pals that carry packs! How fun would that be to go on a hike and have Sven carry my water and lunch along with a tripod?
The training is pretty straight forward. Bottle fed goats just like Sven are the best candidates as they form a bond with their human handlers.
Yesterday we did some 'training'. I wanted to see if he'd come to me without me trying to ask him too.
So I waited.
And...I sat in the snow bank....
And Sven came to me and ...
Here is some reasoning to have a goat carry a pack for you. While hiking you have company and someone to talk to --- yes, Charlie also! Two, if you are hiking and pass another hiker it will cause a conversation.
Goats are easier to work with than a mule or horse and a lot smaller!
Sven won't be able to fully pack any significant weight until he is 3 yrs old. But the experience of trying to train him would be a very fun thing.
After all, I have tons of trails in my woods and surrounding area that he can hike with me.
He is a perfect candidate for this sort of training. He was rejected by mom, and has been bottle fed by humans. He has no idea that he is a goat.
This will be fun!
I have figured out where we will have to put the Sven Pen, now I just need my Kenosha Gang to help me make it work as soon as the weather gets decent!
Stay tuned for more stupid and crazy ideas from the mule/goat/dog lady.
It sounds like a fun adventure - you, Sven and Charlie going for a hike. He is a wonderful addition and maybe he can even carry Charlie on longer hikes. It makes me happy to see him have a home. :)
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, mixing a dog and a goat up for hiking partners will be interesting since they usually are never friends in real life. But Charlie has met Sven and also plays with the neighbor's little dog in their back room.
DeleteIt will certainly be a great and fun challenge.
Oh I am so jealous! I love goats and had one that liked me to be in his sight all day long. He would wait outside the front door when I went in the house. They can get into trouble...mine jumped on cars and in the boats of the tourists...I did love having him but finally gave him to tourist attraction with a goat bridge. I think you have a perfect plan:)
ReplyDeleteThey are incredible climbers and jumpers, so we will build him his own playpen with climbing things, but he will be on tie out with Lil' Richard when he isn't hiking and he will be working on the weeds along the fenceline. He can eat the weeds and then I have less weed whacking to do! It has been a long time since I had goats!
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