One Up, One Down

Sadly, the goat born late last night didn't survive his first full day. Despite making it through the night, and being up on his feet and nursing this morning, it seems the barn proved too cold for him. We left all the doors closed today, and the lights on, but I guess that wasn't enough. When Homeschooled Farm Girl came out to the barn this evening to milk, she found that the kid had expired in that fresh dry straw bed I'd made for him.

Here he was, this morning:

Lesson learned: We definitely need to invest in a blow dryer. I've been trying to avoid spending the money on a new one, but it's looking like we should bite the bullet and pick up a cheap dryer the next time we're at Wal Mart. Getting the kid totally warmed up and completely dry might have given him a better shot at survival.

But we also have good news to report in the goat department: Puddles continues to thrive beyond all expectation. She's hanging out in my office pretty much all day, and this afternoon achieved a major milestone: she managed to climb/jump onto my couch. She'd been trying for some time now, but had never been able (especially with the slick floor). Today, she put all the pieces together and jumped up to join me as I read a book. And now that she has it all figured out, she makes the jump perfectly nearly every time. I suppose it's only a matter of time before she figures out how to work the remote for the TV.

She enjoys sleeping on the couch, too:

Fear not, we will begin transitioning her to the barn tomorrow. We'd been hoping that the newborn goat kid could be her companion, and that his presence would make her transition to "goat life" easier. There are five other kids in the barn, but they're all significantly bigger and more agile than she. So, we'll keep a close eye on her tomorrow.