Sometimes it's really hard to be a big boy.
Cognac found that out for himself today. It was another milestone in the life of a baby buck. Although he is only about four and a half months old, some of the little girls he's been housed with are about six months by now. Old enough to, shall we say, get in to trouble.
None of them really knows what they're doing yet, but I wasn't gonna give them a chance to learn. So this morning, Cognac was bundled off to his own corral. Each of my bucks has his own personal pen, complete with shelter hut, hay feeder, and of course, grain and water. They are separated from each other so they don't fight. They are separated from the does so that - w
ell, that one should be fairly obvious. As I've said before, there is no free love allowed on this farm.
Cognac is situated in Epic's old corral, with Petra on the south side and Mocha to the north. So far, both his neighbors seem unimpressed. I don't think Petra has figured out yet that Cognac is a boy. At five years old, Petra is a mature and very dominant buck who does not suffer rivals gladly. But he barely batted an eye as this little newcomer tootled around the next-door pen and began to cry.
And cry and cry and cry. He was confused, he was by himself, and he was in an unfamiliar pen with unfamiliar neighbors. And he wanted to go home. Nubians are a vocal breed, so I was bracing myself for some serious complaining. So far, though, it hasn't been too bad. We've had wailing and whining and yelling, but no out-and-out screaming or attempts to hurl himself over or through the fence. So we're doing pretty well.
I tell him that by October, it'll all be worth it. By then, Cognac will have figured out a few more things, such as, for instance, his primary purpose in life. He'll have a whole parade of lady goats coming to visit, and he'll have his own corral in which to entertain them. And Petra will just have to watch from the other side of the fence. So hang in there, big guy. You won't be alone forever.
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