Meet George and Mildred….these two little gorgeous kids were born to my main milker on my birthday this year. Their mum decided that, as I liked them so much, she would make a gift of them to me and so they ended up in our kitchen for the first few weeks!

So, I milked Myrtle and then fed it to the kids…. far more work then I needed at that time, with 4 other goats having kidded previously and another set of twins having been rejected and a set of triplets to a Boer First Kidder needing extra support.

It took a little while in the beginning to get them to accept the bottles, but I soon worked out that I needed to actually BE Mum to them and then they didn’t look back! I really didn’t need two kids to get attached to as we had no intention of keeping them, but they were so bright and intelligent and loving that they stole my heart and they are now here to stay.

George showed his intelligence very early on by learning to wee on the towel that initially I hastily put under him to save the floor! After a few days, he actively sought out the towel that I placed on the floor when I let them out of their crate. Mildred, affectionately known as Midge, decided that she like the privacy of the crate and would go back inside when she needed to wee.

A pair of cheeky and mischievous little goats, they made friends with our two dogs through the stair gate that we put up to keep them in the kitchen, sniffing noses with them and bleating at the gate to call them to come and see them!

Midge was the more adventurous of the two, quickly finding her bounce would take her on to the chair, then on to the table and then finally when she managed to leap up onto the worktop at 3 weeks old, we found a space for them outside!

Surprisingly enough she never made an attempt at the hurdles, being quite happy with her brothers company in their little pen with all the Boer goats across the shed as company and a calming influence generally. It’s only at feed time does chaos ensue in the Boer shed, all of the peace and calm becomes a chaotic frenzy of bouncing and shoving as each lady fears that she will be forgotten!

George and Midge however, have a lovely little ritual of coming to say hello first, then going back to wait on their box while you get the food ready, then rushing forward to get to their bowls as you appear with them.

It’s no wonder they have stolen my heart!