A lamb is a lamb is a goat!!

by Pameala
(Alabama)

I own a 40 acre farm in Alabama and we lease land adjoining us for cattle. I raised chickens commercially for 25 yrs. Giving up my job was the hardest thing I've had to do. I got to where I couldn't handle it on my own anymore. My husband drives a truck and isn't home enough to help.

I thought I'd adjust to a slower routine but being a farm girl through and through I couldn't resist bringing home some chickens to raise for laying and then I ventured to unknown territory.

I thought I wanted to raise some lambs and I began reading some about sheep. I read that there are hair sheep you didn't have to sheer and I thought I could handle that. I went to Tradeday looking and I saw two of the sweetest tiny faces looking at me from a small cage.I asked the man how old they where and what breed they where and he said mixed. I said they are lambs right and he said yeah.

I bought Merlin and Mischief and brought them home went to buy lamb mild replacement and was a happy new mother to two of the sweetest creatures I'd ever seen.

As I began showing off my two new residents to my husband and others they all had this amazed look on their faces and finally someone said, "They look like goats to me!".

I said no the man said they where lambs and I think they must be hair sheep because they aren't curly.

Needless to say as time went on I knew I'd been had and I felt dumber than dirt but the thing is they were orphans and I'd have bought them if they had been jack asses but I wouldn't have paraded them around for all to see calling them sheep.

I still have my goat babies they are nearly 4 months and think they are human. I keep telling myself that at three days old it was an understandable mistake but I'll never live it down.

Moral of the story, orphans are orphans no matter what if they are lambs or goats. Farm girls can love them all. My husband had to take a second look at my new chickens to make sure they weren't pigeons. Ha!

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Thank you so much for making me smile today, Pameala! I am sure you weren't the first one who has been had like that, and rest assured, you won't be the last.

The only problem with male goats is that they will become difficult to handle in time to come, especially when they are old enough for mating.

When they get to that age, they start to smell quite strongly. The older they get, the worse the smell, until it will get to a stage that if you touch them the smell with permeate through to your clothes and everything else you touch!

That's before we get into the subject of rutting time when male goats urinate all over themselves! Very nice! :)

I suggest 1 of 2 things. Either have both of them castrated. As wethers, they will then not smell, they won't pee on themselves and they will also be less aggressive in nature and they will make good pets.

The other suggestion is to get some milking goats, breed them with your Billies and start making milk soaps and cheese!

All the best, and let us know what you decided to do in the end. We are interested in the follow up story.

Regards
Countryfarm Lifestyles