Hot Buckets

When a relative told me last month that her grandchildren were getting goats, I wanted all the details. When? How many? And of course, WHY?? I had met these three children - well-adjusted kids active in school sports, with sensible, educated parents. Goats? Are you sure? Maybe you heard wrong and they're really getting a puppy.

She explained that, yes, they had decided on a trio of Boer goats (the big kind, with horns, like the ones pictured above). Apparently they had a lean-to shelter out back which the goats would share with a pair of sheep, and abundant weeds in the field would provide their food source. Best of all, there was a year-round cold spring where the animals could drink.

STOP RIGHT THERE!! BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER...(Meatloaf, anyone?) I felt burdened to warn her, before it was too late - Not sure about sheep, but goats will never drink cold water! Nothing below 60 degrees (I read that in a book) and certainly not from an icy spring in the ground. Anyway, how can you add vinegar to an underground spring?

Eager to share my knowledge, I explained what my husband refers to as "the drinking game."  Emerson and Ellie will partake only of water warmed in a teapot on my stove, in special buckets with a generous splash of apple cider vinegar and the occasional animal cracker mid-drink to entice them to finish the bucket. Amused by our twice-daily regimen, my husband asked me how goats survive in the wild. Really, though, how many wild goats have you ever seen? All the proof I need.

Here's the unbelievable thing. That family has had their three new goats for over a month now, and never once provided supplemental water. Somehow, the goats are still active and hearty. Em and Ellie would shrivel up like prunes before sipping from a cold spring. I just can't figure it out!

Hot buckets, boys!! (They come running every time.)