Leslie & Pamela Come to Our Farm

When Marcie the milk goat arrived earlier this month, I promised her companionship in short order; however, she had to wait a good two weeks before her new companions arrived. Marcie, a white Saanen/Nubian cross, is our largest goat; she needed companions of similar size. Craigslist Nashville had a listing for Nubian does born in January who had been “running with a buck” and so may be pregnant. Marcie is not shy; she readily speaks what’s on her mind and the girl is always thinking it seems.


When her companions arrived, Pamela Chrysanthemum and Leslie Lupine, Marcie accepted them but became no less needy for several days. Pamela and Leslie were terrified of me when they first arrived and I had all I could do to get a collar on Leslie and a bell on Pamela. (I tried to bell Leslie, but the string failed when I was tying it onto her collar, so I just tied it onto the piece of twine I’d left dangling to make her easier to catch. I needn’t have worried: she managed to lose the bell within a day and I have not made any move to touch either of the new goats since that day.)

Luckily the three does have formed a herd. They travel together. Marcie comes to be milked each day and Pamela and Leslie wait for her return. In the evening I can put a lead rope on Marcie to bring her into the enclosure down front fashioned for these gals, and Pamela and Leslie follow right along. Pamela’s bell rings to let me know where she is, so I need not even turn to look for the Nubian does.

I think Pamela and Leslie are beginning to trust me. I rarely look their way let alone make eye contact. They have discovered that I will provide then step away so that they may eat, or I will provide an open gate then step away so that they may pass through unhindered. If they are pregnant, they shouldn’t kid before March, I’m guessing, by which time they may accept me. I’m reminded of the Tennessee Fainting goats and of how skittish they were when they arrived. Once she kidded, Gwen, the herd queen, learned that I could be useful—for treats, food, neck and back-rubs, whatever. Pamela and Leslie will learn as well.

Until then, I’m glad that Marcie has companionship and that the three get along well. As for the Nubian does’ fancy names, well, just look at their coloring: the complicated patterns on their faces told me that they needed something more than a single name, so I picked flowers for them. (That's Pam in the foreground and Leslie standing behind her.) In time we may have Leslie or Leslie Lu and Pam or Pammy or Chrissy. For now I’m partial to their full names: Pamela Chrysanthemum and Leslie Lupine.