When Butterfly got hurt, Phil and I couldn’t leave her alone with the herd. She was too slow, too fragile, and she couldn’t get up easily when she fell or was knocked down. So we kept her in the house at night and supervised her outdoor playtime. When Sunday came she still wasn’t ready to be left alone so we brought her to church with us! Our church has been holding services outdoors so it’s perfect for bringing baby goats. George accompanied his sister so she would have someone to play with.

George is a wild man and he LOVES people. One of the ladies in church took him around to visit every car in the parking lot. It helped keep him from bugging his sister too much.

For a few days, this was Butterfly’s favorite position. I haven’t seen too many goats that would sit like a dog, so I suppose the broken pelvis made this position more comfortable somehow. I found it absolutely adorable.

Sunday, May 10th was the first day for Butterfly to really interact with the herd. She started getting around pretty well on Saturday afternoon and was able to interact with the other babies, but her mobility was limited. But by Sunday she actually started hopping and climbing with George and the other kids.

Skeeter has been remarkable through all this. Many mothers would have abandoned a hurt baby that spent so much time separated from her. Some would have been careless and knocked their baby down or been too impatient to wait for them to shuffle slowly toward the udder. Not Skeeter. She has impressive mothering skills. At first she was a bit savage toward Zelda and Sonic when they would try to play with Butterfly, and she would even reprimand George for playing too rough. But as Butterfly has improved, Skeeter has become more permissive toward the other kids. What a smart mama! Now if only she were smart enough to keep her kids out of the horse pen! This is still a trouble spot we’re working on. Pepperjack can’t resist chasing the babies.

Daisy-dog loves baby goats.

Play time!

A week ago our friend Emma, who attended Butterfly and George’s introduction to the world, got some ducklings! She wanted me to come see, and since I couldn’t leave Butterfly unsupervised yet, I brought her along. “Butterfly, meet ‘Ducky’!”