Blue
What was that noise? “Maaaaaaa!” Was I dreaming? It was 4:30 in the morning, I had to be dreaming. No, actually it was Ophelia, our LaMancha goat , announcing last week that she was in heat and that it was time to find her a buck and quickly please.
I pulled on clothes and groggily went out into the yard to try and bribe her into silence with a bit of tasty grain. She was having none of it and stamped her dainty little hooves and called out again with an insistent bleat. I closed her up in her barn and went inside to make some coffee and wait for a decent hour to arrive to call the owner of the charming buck we had bred with Lavender a couple of months earlier. “Sure, bring her on out this evening. Blue will be all ready for her whenever you get here.” said the buck’s owner.
Getting home from work I backed up the Subaru to the garden gate, threw in a bit of hay then leashed Ophelia and led her out to hopefully climb cheerfully into the back. Oddly enough she was having none of it so with a bit of effort I shoved her in and off we went. Careening down I-5 startled drivers did double takes then smiled and waved as we headed towards Ophelia’s intended up in Arlington.
Happy Blue
Upon arrival Blue was indeed quite happy to see Ophelia and he greeted her with lots of enticing lip rolling and snuffling. She looked over his flowing blond locks and baby blue eyes with an air of disdain but she did endure his attentions long enough for him to do his duty. Once done he gave a few more snuffles for good measure and sauntered off to spray himself with urine to further enhance his dashing good looks.
Now we wait; it’s very hard to tell if a goat is actually pregnant. Gestation is five months and only about a month before the due date do they begin to show. If she is pregnant and carries to term we should have new kids on May Day. While we didn’t actually plan this due date I can’t think of a better way to bring in the spring.
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