Our goats Geraldine and Josephine freshened within two days of each other. Geraldine was first; giving birth to a buckling followed by Josephine with a doeling. The baby girl arrived and left the same day – to a farm in Colorado Springs to comfort a doe who had lost her baby (altruistic from the start). But Geraldine’s boy…we actually got to spend two days with him! So we tromped through the park, gave him lots of pats, and named him Paco. The whole experience was a bit hectic – we weren’t present for the births so both kids nursed on their moms initially which made bottle feeding a bit of a challenge. Tony had to arrange himself on all fours and keep the nipple close to his wool sweater while Paco rooted around for it. I, however, failed at feeding in that manner – I blame my lack of hippie upbringing. But soon, it took less awkwardness and he gulped down that colostrum while wagging his tail at full speed. And when the bottle was emptied he’d start working on your legs trying to source a nipple. Our two days with Paco was a test in cuteness overload! The hopping, the cooing, Delaware’s jealousy.
Eventually, after many flaky craigslist responders, we found a great home up in Longmont for Paco to live; a petting zoo with, among other animals, two lambs, two baby Nigerian Dwarf goats about his size, and a dromedary – whose shadow greeted us as we pulled up to the farm. At least he won’t be lonely…and we, well, we’ll never forget our first born.