Jacques the Pigmy Goat

As you know, Scott got his chickens. A couple of weeks went by and I still had not gotten a goat. I called around to people that sold goats and learned that either no one had one or they wouldn't be available until October.  I could put a $75 deposit down on a kid and get it once it was weaned, but that just seemed pretty expensive.  After listening to Scott tell horror stories about goats that he'd heard at work, I was pretty much convinced that our life would be better off without a goat.  I had not shared that with Scott, however and when he heard about a free Pygmy, he all but told the guy we would give it a home.

Scott was out doing boat inspections on a day that I was working when a Fish and Game officer went through the area.  They all got to talking and somehow it came about that he had a goat that needed a new home.  This particular goat had belonged to a neighbor and when the neighbor moved, they had left the goat. Their own personal goat had passed away over the winter and they were looking to down size.  Scott was not particularly happy that he'd found out about this goat because he just knew, once I'd learned about it, it would become a part of our expanding family.  Sure enough, I called the guy that night and the next day we went out and picked him up.

We found him tied up under a tree.  He would have nothing to do with us, but that didn't deter me.  The owners gave us the goat, his collar, a leash, and a partial bag of goat treats and helped Scott load him into the dog carrier.  We couldn't quite understand what his name was, so we decided Jacques sounded pretty close and was pretty cool given that he had a goatee.

He made all of these pathetic grunts and brays on the way home and kept falling over in the carrier.  When we made it home, we got him out and the barking began. Casey was not a fan. Neither was the goat. Casey was barking and snarling at the goat on one side of the fence and the goat was ramming Casey through the fence from the other side.

The next day Casey dug out from underneath the deck and came charging at the goat. Thankfully I was there with Daniel untangling him and was able to scream for Scott (who was in the backyard working on the chicken coup). Jacques was ramming Casey pretty hard but Casey wasn't letting up. Scott came running, Jacques broke free and started running. So there goes Jacques, being chased by Casey, being chased by Scott. Casey finally lost interest in the goat and took off down the hill and Jacques quickly followed Scott home. Unfortunately, Casey came back and went after the goat again. I got in between them and had some pretty interesting bruises for a while.

I went in to PetSmart to get a muzzle for the dog when I started talking to one of the dog trainers.  He guaranteed that he could make Casey and Jacques be friends or our money back.  We scheduled a time that we could both go, but alas, I'd forgotten that my shift had changed.  I had to go to work and Scott took Jacques in the trailer, Casey in the carrier in the car, and Daniel in his car seat to PetSmart. I guess everyone there was excited to see the goat that there was a welcoming committee outside the store.  After an hour they were starting to do better. Casey is slowly learning that we are the Alpha's and that she needs to accept Jacques as a member of our pack. Or something, but she doesn't bark constantly at him as we have him staked out around the yard eating down the weeds.

Jacques' coat was looking a little shabby so I decided to bath him.  We'd used the rest of our flea and tick shampoo on the dog, but we do have an overabundance of baby shampoo. I didn't see a problem with it. That way if I got any in his eyes, it wouldn't do any damage. The neighbors must have been thoroughly entertained watching me bathe the goat in the backyard.  I had him on his leash and he would run circles around me while I hosed him down. He didn't mind the shampoo - I think he actually liked getting rubbed all over. Then it was back to running in circles while I rinsed him off. He was so cute and curly when it was all over with!

Our male cat, TC, has taken quite a liking to the goat and drinks his water and hangs out in the shade near him. They make quite the pair.

So now I have my goat and Scott has his chickens. My goat has been much cheaper and has been useful since the weed eater decided to stop working. The chickens have grown feathers - that's about it. Lol! I love my goat!