This is Denali.
If you don't remember which goat I am talking about, let me fill you in. Denali was one of the two female goats that we got to be the mothers to start our herd.
Unfortunately we found out just last week that she was the host of a parasite. The Vet. was very optimistic about her, however Denali was worse off than we had thought. Saturday morning we found her dead.
The morning was a messy confusion. There was crying, shopping at tractor supply, burying her body, and dealing with her kids. The kids are only a month old and still in need of milk! So, my mother and I took a trip to tractor supply this morning and bought some bottles and milk powder.
The thing with bottle feeding is that it seems like a really fun activity; you hold the baby and it drinks from the bottle until it is empty. Right? Unfortunately that was not our experience. It went more like this...
One person grabs the goat and holds its flailing limbs. While a second person attempts to insert the nipple of the bottle into the goat's mouth. Most of the time it would take several attempts to get the goat to start sucking and even if the goat started to suck it would hardly last for a moment. All the while the goat is bleating!
We are learning though and by today they have gotten so much better! Now, more about Denali...
Isn't it interesting how the things that annoyed us the most about someone are the things that make us break down in tears when they are gone? Denali was obnoxiously loud, a bully and a grain hog, but to remember her we sprinkled grain over her grave.
Denali was a good mother though! She gave us two sets of twins and nurtured them to the very end!
We love you Denali!
Denali with Matisse and Pablo.
Harper and Talkeetna (Tally for short), our little rascals!