goat brothers Moxie & Moose - Sunflower Farm Creamery #Video

Plum taught us an important lesson this week. But not before giving us a bit of a sleepless night. After the vet came to disbud the kids (remove the cells that would become horns if left) Plum suddenly decided one of her newborn kids was not hers. When we put them together in a stall, she pushed him roughly with her head and nipped at his ears. If they were out and about the farm she let him nurse, but she looked at him with obvious confusion, clearly trying to decide why suddenly he seemed unfamiliar. It is so hard to see one of your favorite goats be mean to their baby. Mama Plum is my lap goat. She was one of 5 kids born to Rhubarb and we bottle fed her twice a day to make sure she was getting enough milk as the smallest of the kids. I knew she was just confused and needed some time to work it out. As night fell, we discussed our options. Leaving Moose in a stall with his mom who was being mean was not an option, it was just too dangerous. We considered sleeping with them, but that meant keeping a careful watch all night. We couldn’t put him in a stall alone and didn’t want to take both her kids away if she was still being loving to one. We decided to leave Plum and her kids Moose & Moxie, out in the big center of the barn (with the end doors shut) where they had more space to come back together. I gave her lots of kisses even though I was mad because it was clearly confusing for her that the tops of her babies heads smelled different even though their tails smelled like hers! I was restless all night but when we went out in the morning, she was loving both kids equally again! Plum was relaxed and happy, the worry gone from her eyes. She almost looked thankful as she settled on my lap for a snuggle. It reminded me of saying my teacher once shared regarding dealing with people who are challenging, “consider maybe they are not GIVING you a hard time, maybe they are HAVING a hard time.” Plum was having a hard time sorting out complex competing emotions and intuitions, she just needed some time and space to sort them out and make sense of how she was feeling. Life can be complicated, perhaps the same is true for each of us and those we love, a little time and space can be a gentle gift that makes a huge difference.
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