Annabelle and Penelope have a new home!
Saying goodbye is never easy but often what we have to do. Goodbyes to animals come often at farms and homesteads.
Annabelle and Penelope were our first goats and biggest goats. They are so sweet and everyone loved feeding them. But we were not the right home for them once we found out they had hooves that did not like the wetlands. Plus, we had made some changes in our agrotourism model and because they loved people but not other goats or the dogs we had to rehome them.
The process was not easy but we learned a lot from it. Why was it not easy? We bought the farm three years ago and had never worked with animals on a farm like this prior to moving here. Yes, we both had a lot of experience with animals in many different capacities but making decisions concerning farm animals is difficult.
Annabelle and Penelope had a job, they were the big bodies in the duck and chicken area. But the duck and chicken area is also in a tidal area as well as the duck pool area. This was a big issue for the goats hooves. They both had super sensitive hooves and the wet areas were too much for them. We tried to open open the fences and allow them to hang with the littles and dogs but Penelope made Zoe very nervous. We worked on it long and hard. Annabelle and Bo have a love hate relationship. It was too stressful for all.
Boer goats like Annabelle and Penelope were not the right fit for the future of the farm.
The truth is, if we could not find them the perfect home we had a plan for new fencing for them in another area. We started a search and had many people inquire about them. After many many messages and some research we found the perfect home for them.
We meet a woman starting a therapy farm just 30 minutes South of us. She had horses, but these would be her first goats. The great thing about Annabelle and Penelope is that they are perfect first goats. They are easy going, sweet and as my vet says, they have life skills. All but two of my little goats lack life skills. So we arranged pick up.
Now Annabelle and Penelope are living just a short distance away on a therapy farm where they will have very important jobs and lots of land. They will not be restricted to a small dry lot during high tides and wet season. We also will get to visit them and will be headed there soon to help with their hoof trims.
What’s next you ask…Wait and see!