A Trip to the Baby Goat Farm

Molly holding the bottle for the cute kid.

​This week is National Farm Animals Awareness Week, the third full week in September. When the kids were nine years old, we went to my sister’s friend’s goat farm, Goatberry Hill, to visit and feed the baby goats. There Frau Morgan raised her animals humanely and produced goat milk products for alternative living. She carefully alerted my kid when we arrived to be careful around the chickens, not to startle them or rile them up, because chickens can easily have heart attacks. I’d never heard that before. Maybe it was a wise way to greet all van loads of kids who showed up at her doorstep to keep them from running wild among her animals. Makes me think I should have gotten some chickens and used that line to keep everyone in line and calm.

​Also this week I’ve been putting the final touches on the third (and last) book of my Chloe trilogy. (A big WHOOT WHOOT because it’s basically FINISHED!) I’ve been glued to my desk chair reading, which has led to thinking about baby goats because I have a special goat character in the third book, and reading about him has reminded me of the day we spent with real live cute baby goats.

Pierce holding while Charlie is petting the baby goat.

Spencer taking a turn trying to keep one in his lap.

​As a vegetarian, I have learned a lot about the industry of animal farming. It’s a frightening business, the way some animal keepers process animals through their meat, dairy, and egg mills. “Eating Animals” and “Omnivore’s Dilemma” are two books worth reading to get a better idea of what goes on out there. In observance of this week’s awareness campaign, I’ll just throw those two titles of many more available good books out there for anyone interested in learning more. I’m not a big animal lover, so it’s not that I’m a crazy extremist who wants to give more rights to a chicken or endangered mouse than a person, but I don’t like animals to be treated badly or to suffer. It’s just a good thing to be aware of what is happening in some places. So, the books. Read them.

Spencer and a friend bottle feeding.

Pierce bottle feeding, just like I used to do for babies in the stepdown room of the NICU.

​Because of this "national calendar" week, and to celebrate that I’ve finished Chloe’s Odyssey and it’s now in the editing phase, I’m going to share several photos from our fun day out on the baby goat farm. Enjoy the field trip to Goatberry Hills with us!