Out of the agony of loosing the sweetest goat I have ever met, grew a love for a new mischievous doeling! Out of the goodness of their hearts Bit of Whimsy and Caprigem farm gave me first pick of their doe kids for 2018. I reviewed their doe and buck pairings with scrutiny and settled on a kid out of Coral and Frisco Bay. After Coral kidded two beautiful doe kids, I went to see them and settled on a light brown doe with a white belly splash. We picked her up at the April 2018 Western PA Dairy Goat Association meeting, where she heartily participated in the meeting by crying out frequently.
After bringing her home we realized she was too young to live in the barn, so she became a house goat! We set up a dog crate with puppy pads and towels beside our bed and that became our newest little doe's home. Rob and I debated heavily as to what we should name her and finally we settled on Marigold. From the very beginning she was an incredibly silly goat, but also very smart. One memorable moment after dinner, I was in the kitchen cleaning up and Rob was sitting on the couch. He called Marigold over to him and she ran to him bouncing on the couch and immediately laid down next to him and fell asleep. I knew right then she would be a permanent fixture at our farm.
She proved to be a very difficult goat to bottle feed, since she was accustomed to the lamb bar,
she regularly refused her bottle. I was the only one able to feed her which required sitting on the ground, covering her eyes with a tea towel and putting the nipple in her mouth. She weaned herself around 10 weeks of age and has been eating hay and grain ever since.
Marigold became a regular house goat, I would take her to her crate close the door and tell her to go pee and she would! To this day if I close her in a cage or stall and tell her to pee she does on command! Although, she was very well potty trained she began showing her athletic prowess early on. She could jump from the ground onto our counter which is about 4 feet tall at only a few weeks old! I was folding clothes one spring day, and I turned around to find the laundry basket closed..... when I opened it up I found her inside!
Marigold and I went everywhere together, she went outside to do chores with me, helping her to get acquainted to the other goats and the temperatures, but she also came with me to Tractor Supply, and even learned to love ATV rides! She still hops onto the back of the ATV and rides around with me voluntarily. Marigold continued to grow and become the goat she is today, stay tuned to see how Marigold did in the 2018 show season and how she got her nickname!