Well the year has well and truly got going, although the routine has been the same since we started milking so the holiday season has passed seamlessly. A little sad in a way, but no "holiday hangovers" to contend with - which is a wonderful change for us!
Milking the ladies has led to new insights into the depth of the personalities. You may think this is odd, but goats are kinda like the farm-version of the household dog - the more you have, the more you realise that they have their own personalties. And with the personalities, living in a herd (harem?), comes the pecking order. It has been so incredibly interesting to watch - the pushy girls who are (or think they are) the queen, the ones who just want their food NOW!!! (they take after me), and the girls who are quite happy waiting until the end, because they just can't be bothered with all that nonsense.
Wanda is one of those goats. Being born in 2012, she belongs to our "Heroines" bunch - "Wanda", for Wonder Woman. We have since decided that we completely and utterly got her name right: she wanders along to the ramp, and then wanders along, often stopping to check out the view. If she's hungry, she doesn't pause, just looks up and out as she meanders along until she finds her stall, and in she goes for the barley.
This evening as we were tucking them into bed, she came up to me and rubbed up against my leg, like a dog looking for pats. She's a lovely affectionate girl, who is a great milker. Fingers crossed she has many beautiful daughters for us in the future.
