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12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
4 H FRETTER-ER
A BUCK GROWS UP
ADAPTING
AGAIN, THE SKY IS FALLING
ALL YOU NEED IS ... CARDBOARD
AMANNAMEDJED
AND THEN IT GOT COLD
AND THEN IT WARMED UP TO ZERO
ANGRY GOAT FARMER
ANTIQUE GOAT FARMING
ANYTHING BUT THAT
ARE BUCKS EVER BABIES
AROMA THERAPY
ARTFUL DODGERS
ARTIC FRONT
AUTUMN BOQUET
B U B - B U B - B U B
BABY BACK EXCUSE
BABY MONITORS
BACK TO NATURE
BAIT
BARKING AT GOATS
BARN SOUR TRUCK
BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED
BE HAPPY
BEAUTY MISTAKES
BEHAVIORS
BEHIND THE GATE
BIG 10-4 GOAT FARMER
BIKINI WEDNESDAYS
BILLBOARD GOAT FARMING
BILLIES & STICKWEEDS
BLIZZARD OF 92
BLONDE GOAT FARMER
BLONDE HUMOR
BOTTLE BABIES
BOTTLE BABY TALK
BOTTLE BABY WITHDRAWAL
BOXING SUNBEAMS
BRONCHITIS.
BRUISE OR DIRT
BUCK LOVE
BUCKETHEAD
BUCKS IN STOCK
CALLING YOOOOU
CAN'T TOUCH THIS
CANE I DO IT?
CARPAL TUNNEL HAY
CATCHING PEARL
CHICK CHICK CHICORY
CHOCOLATE PLUM
CHRISTMAS KIDDING
CHUCK
COLD IS OUR FRIEND NOT
COUGH DROP WORMER
COUNTING
CRUMPLED
CUD CHEWING CONTENTMENT
DAYCATIONS
DEAR FAVORITE RELATIVE
DELOUSED
DOES ANYBODY REALLY KNOW ...
DOES ON KIDDING
DOWNSIZING
DRAMA QUEEN
DRENCHED!
DRESS FOR SUCCESS
DUCT TAPE.
DUMPSTER RAIDERS
EARPUGS
EGG SHELL MASSACRE
EMMITT
EMPTY NEST SYNDROME
EQUIPMENT OPERATORS - DANCERS
ESCAPE ARTIST
ESCORT SERVICE
FALLING SKY
FARM WALK
FARMER C S I
FEEL LIKE A NUT
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
FIRST YOU TAKE YOUR SOCK
FLOATING MUSHROOMS
FORKS IN THE ROAD
FULL OF BULL
G G
GATE ATTACK !!!!
GIRL WATCHER
GLIDING
GLOBAL SUPPORT CENTER
GNAWED AND BASICALLY CHEWED
GOAT ADDICTION
GOAT CELEBRATIONS
GOAT FARMER SONG
GOAT FARMER WEIGHT TRAINING
GOAT FARMER'S CREED
GOAT FARMING CAMP
GOAT HOLIDAY GIFTS
GOAT HUNTING
GOAT KLEENEX
GOAT LANGUAGE
GOAT OLYMPICS
GOAT PROFILER
GOAT SCIENTIST
GOAT WHEELS
GOAT WRITER
GOATS RULE
GOOD GRIEF
GOT RUNS?
GOTTA WORK KIDS
GRAND CANYON OF CHILDRESS
GREAT KIDDERS
HAULING GOATS
HAVE MILK WILL TRAVEL
HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE
HAY MONITOR
HE-BE-GEE-BE'S
HELP! HELP! HELP!
HELP! I'M IN THE BATHTUB
HELPING HOOVES
HERD OF TURTLES
HERE COMES KIDDING TIME - A CHRISTMAS TUNE
HOBBLE, HOBBLE
HOLIDAY TRADITIONS (A GROANER)
HOME DECORATOR
HORNLESS
HOT CHOCOLATE
HOW TO BUY GOATS
HOW YOU FEELING?
HUGS
HUNDERD YEARS
HUNTING LUMBERJACKS
I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE
I FEEL PRETTY
I PREFER LONG EYE LASHES
I REALLY DO HAVE A HOME
I'LL HOLD HIM BACK
I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT
I'M STILL HERE?
INDIAN SUMMER
INNOCENT 1ST TIME KIDDERS
INTERNET AUCTIONS
INVESTMENTS
IRON WILL
IT TOOK TWO
JINGLE BELL GOATS
JOKE - GET A JOB!
JOYFUL
JUMPY LITTLE SNOWBIRD
JUST 1 MORE GOAT
KEYSTONE KOPS
KID CATCHING
KID IN A BOX
KID SENSORY OVERLOAD
KIDMARES
KNUCKLE SANDWICHES
LADYLIKE BUCK SELLER
LAST BUCK STANDING
LEFT OVERS
LETTERS
LETTERS FROM THE FARM
M. D. GOAT
MAD AGGIE
MANIPULATE WHAT?
MASTER BLASTER
MAYBE THIS TIME
MEMBER ME
MIND CONTROL
MR. SNUFFY
MUSHROOM HUNTING
MUTTER MUTTER
NAMING GOATS
NANNY BERRIES ~ DEAR FAVORITE RELATIVE
NEW "KID" ... SHOWING
NEW HAY IN THE HOUSE
NEW KIDS.
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
NORMAL
OCTOBER KIDDING
ODE TO ODOR
OH, MY
OUCH
PANIC ATTACK!
PAW PAWS
PHILOSOPHY OF HYPOCRISY
PHONE CALLS
PHONE CLASS
PICK POCKETS
PIRANHA PEN
PLAYING DEAD
PLEASED AS PUNCH
PLEASING GOAT CUSTOMERS
PLOP
POOF POOF
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
PRESENTS
PRISCILLA THE HUN
PRO WRESTLER OR PUPPY
PROFESSIONAL POO CHECKER
PSYCH ME OUT
PUTTING ON A SHOW
QUIPS & QUOTES
QUIPS-N-QUOTES II
REAP THE WILD WIND
RECORD KEEPING
REDNECK TANK TOP
REFEREE
REQUESTS
ROAD TRIP 2003
ROCK ON
ROLL'UM ROLL'UM
ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN'
RUB DIRT ON IT
S-T-R-E-S-S
SANDWICHED
SAWDUST.
SCHEDULING
SCREAMING BANSHEES
SECRET AGENT
SHAGA GOOBLE SHAGA BLIP
SHANNIGANS & KID SLOBBERS
SHORT TIGHT STEPS & OTHER ODD EVENTS
SHOTS
SHOULD EVERYONE VOTE
SLEEP DEPRIVATION
SMART GOATS
SMUDGED
SNAP, CRACKLE, POP
SNATCHED BALD
SNEAKY
SONG OF THE FROG
SPIES, SECRET AGENTS, SPOOKS, AND OTHER GOATS
SSSNAKE
STAMPEDE!
STARGATE BOERS
STEAM-IRON SANDWICHES
STEP BY STEP
STICK IT WHERE
STOMPING ORANGE STRINGS
STUCK AGAIN
STUDENT ANALOGIES AND METAPHORS
STUPID IS...
SUNSHINE BOO BOO'S
SUPER HERO
SUPER SUCKERS
SUPPER AT SEVEN A.M.
SURVEY SAYS
SURVIVING KIDDING
SWASH - BUCKLING BUCKS
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
TALKING POCKETS
TATTOOING
THANK GOODNESS FOR MUD
THE $37.50 BUCK
THE 2003 DARWIN AWARDS
THE COWBOY WAY
THE DACHSHUND AND THE LEOPARD
THE DANGERS OF GUM BOOTS
THE FARM WOOKIE
THE FLYING GOATZANIES
THE FRAGRANCE OF HAY
THE GAME'S AFOOT
THE GOAT WHISPERER
THE MOB SQUAD
THE MORAL BUCK
THE PET CHICKEN
THE PIED PIPER
THE PLAN
THE SCARECROW GOAT SELLER
THE SMELL OF MONEY
THE TALKING GOAT
THE TARP ANNIHILATOR
THE THINKER
THE TICK
THE TRUTH ABOUT DOGS
THE V WORD
THE WINDY TAX
THE WORM HAS TURNED
THEN THE KNEE DOCTOR SAID
THIS END UP
THUMP, BANG, WHOOP, AND HOLLER
THURSDAY, THURSDAY
TIE THE ROPE TO THE HAMMER
TOO MUCH FENCE
TORNADO ALLEY
TORPEDOS AND TIDAL WAVES
TOSS THE BLOCK
TOY TRUCK
TRAINING HUMANS
TRUE LOVE
TWITCHY HANKEY
UGH DAYS
UNCLE ARTHUR
UNWITTINGLY
USING CAFFEINE WISELY
WALK LIKE A TURTLE
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
WALK THIS WAY
WANNA BUY A GOAT (WINK, WINK, WINK)
WARNING LABLES
WAS THAT 65 OR 66?
WAS THAT CHRISTMAS?
WAS THAT THE WIND
WATER BUCKET TOAD
WAY TO THE HEART
WEANING WEANERS
WEE GOAT FARMERS
WELFARE GOATS
WHAT A DAY
WHAT DAY IS IT
WHAT'D YOU SAY?
WHATSTH THISTH
WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU VEGETABLES.
WHERE'S THE BRAKES
WHOOWEE
WIDE LOADS
WILD GOAT MILKING
WINTER LIST
WOE, DISPAIR...
WRONG.TURN!
YOU CALL HIM WHAT?
YOU COME HERE, NO, YOU COME HERE, NO…
ZAPPED!
BEHIND THE GATE AND OTHER TRIALS

Editor's note, June 16, 2008. CONGRATULATIONS to Connie Reynolds on her 200th Nanny Berries on BoerGoats.com! A little history for those of you who weren't keeping up (grin)... Connie offered to let me publish her first Nanny Berries "Blizzard of 98" almost eight years ago. I was so impressed by that first offering and received so many positive emails about it that I asked her if she'd be willing to start a series. Her only question... How often? My response was a long time in going back to her - I'd received more positive emails clamoring for more like Blizzard. I didn't want to scare her away but I asked if she could do a new one every other week. "Not a problem", was her instant reply.
Well, 400 weeks later, here's "Behind The Gate...". Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Baby goats find the world a very perplexing place. You can almost see them wrinkle up their little foreheads as they try and figure out what on earth this all means. Mainly, what it means to their little lives. They aren’t worried about world peace, unless it’s about their little world that surrounds them. So, at times, they really do find their new world a bit perplexing.

The minute they are born they do find life a tad difficult for a while until they catch on. And, it doesn’t help one bit that some mothers like to stand while kidding, and the kid enters this world landing on his head. But, baby goats learn how to survive, some quickly, some have to give it some thought, but with a little help from the goat farmer, life is made a bit easier until they do catch on.

When kids are weaned they have to learn a lot of things on their own, without mom’s help. In the beginning, mom can be a lot of help in showing kids the ropes on how life works on their farm, but at weaning time, the kid is all on his own, and usually with a lot of other kids being weaned at the same time. Some kids are bottle kids, never having a mom to teach them, but one big bonus for them is an unshakeable trust in the ol’ goat farmer that used to feed them their bottle.

New things happen... Like a big gate being opened up for them to go out to their own little hillside pasture. The goat farmer usually finds a bunch of the babies behind the gate watching the rest of their crowd head through the gate opening to pasture. Heartfelt crying starts because their buddies are leaving them and for some unknown reason, they have been confined behind this gate. It doesn’t matter if the gate is opened wide in such a way no one is really trapped. Ours is perpendicular to the fence when opened, all the kids have to do is simply walk around the gate and leave with their buddies, just like their buddies did it, but they think they are trapped.

The first week you will always get a group behind the gate, and it’s a different group each time, when that gate is opened. It can also be just one or two kids, and a different one or two kids each time, that some how get “trapped” behind the gate. Usually I go up to the “trapped” kids and tell them to come on or lightly clap my hands to get their attention to follow me. If I am fortunate, one of the bottle kids is in with the trapped group and the moment she sees me, she follows, with the rest of the kids following her. Sometimes I have to go out in the field and call for some of my bottle kids to follow me back to the “trapped” kids and then the “trapped” kids follow the bottle babies, who are following me. Yes, it gets a little complicated at times, but I don’t want to go impatiently pushing and scaring my kids out of their “trap”. Acting impatiently only makes it more difficult to handle them later.

Learning to cross our creek to get to the hillside pasture can be a biggie to learn. The creek can vary in size from two to three to up to six foot across. The depth can range from a couple of inches to three feet deep. I always show them the narrower places to cross with just a couple of inches of water in it and plenty of rocks to step on. Still, their mommies had not had the chance to take them to this pasture and that creek is new and frightening.

Usually they stand back and stare in horror at the mighty rapids the two- three inch deep water is making, but then the intrigue of that lovely hillside on the other side of the rapids just calls to them. I step across the creek a few times to show them it is possible, that in fact they could even jump it, it they wanted. Finally, I have to turn to my bottle kids and tell the girls to come on, and with mighty leaps or simply just plowing through the water, they follow me. This usually inspires the others to give it a try.

So, with eyes as big as frying pans, and usually with Kamikaze squeals, the little girls do make it across the creek. Often it is either me or Lee that will have to go get them in the evening because they are stuck on the other side of the creek. They aren’t sure what they did last time to cross the two inch deep rapids. With a little work and help from the bottle kids, we get them back home. After about a week of helping them with the creek, they catch on and see it as no problem.

After that sometimes they get so brave that they think they can jump that creek at any place. Unfortunately, some pick the widest place and instead of taking a running leap and arcing over the creek, they jump straight up at a stand still into the air and drop like a rock in the middle of the creek, usually in the deepest part. That has sent me running down the hill from the house many times thinking I was going to have to dive in and save a kid, and seriously wondering if I needed lifeguards at the creek. Oddly enough, kids can swim, whether they want to or not. Or either they have a hidden propellant that jetsam’s them out of the water once they touch it.

Then there is the trial of meeting the barn cats. Now that the mommies are out of the picture, the cats feel it is safe to come out and say hello to the new kids. The kids are terrified at first, swearing that these are goat eating cats. But, after a dozen or so stampedes, some across me, at the sight of a barn cat, the kids settle down and either accept the fact that these cats like to pet on them or a few act like their mothers and actually try to chase and butt the barn cats.

One of the next trials is learning to settle arguments with each other. This involves butting, which is quite new to them. Usually they rear back to butt someone who has insulted them, only to miss and land in a heap way past the one that was to be punished. When two line up to butt over an argument and they both awkwardly miss and either go staggering off wondering where their opponent went or both land in a heap, their conclusion is to get really mad and try again or to wander off thinking that the other kid really packed a punch and is better off left alone. It is tough being a baby goat, but they did defeat the behind the gate trial and crossing the wet creek trial. So hope springs eternal in the goat farmer’s and baby kids’ hearts that many more trials can be overcome. Especially if you aim right and leap far enough for the kid, and the goat farmer is willing to give a helping hand along the way.

THE END


 

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