Gilly Goat's story was going to be a childrens book but when I wrote it, I sent it to a classroom of Kindergarden Children to see what they thought of the story.

The whole class had to come to the farm and meet Gilly and had such a good time playing with all of our goats that I decided to make it a story online for parents to sit down and read to their young children.

Gilly and I hope you enjoy her little story. It is true and Gilly is still here on the Farm in the Ozarks of Missouri.  

GILLY GOAT

      In Jan of 2007, an ice storm hit Springfield Missouri. At our farm in Many Springs Missouri, there was no ice storm but we had some very cold freezing weather and it was during one of the coldest nights that Betty Lou, our herd leader, decided to give birth to her daughter.

     Many nights I stayed awake waiting for the moment and capture it on film, but it was not to be. I fell asleep and when I awoke, her newborn was still wet and shaking in a corner of the little goat stall. Steam was swirling around her from her little body.

     Pete and I were excited. This was to be the first kid born on our farm, that excitement soon desolved as I realized this little baby was in trouble. She was freezing and I knew she had to go in the house to warm up. She was just five minutes old.

     There was no time for pictures and no time to rejoice in the birth. There was no time for me to take care of Betty Lou who gave me a sad look as I bundled her little girl in my coat and disappeared into the house.

     Quickly, all of the cats blankets came out of their baskets to wrap her in and then the rubbing started.

     "Hey," Ralphie meowed, "that's mine."

     He watch intently as I sat in my chair and buffed the baby warm then jumped up in the chair too, trying to see what I had in the bundle. I let him look and smell the small baby goat and as I rubbed, he started licking the little ones foot and after a few minutes, the cat decided that he was going to stay by the baby goat and snuggled into my lap next to her.

     I named her Migilla and that name came to become Gilly and then Gilly Goat when she got hollered at. She and Ralphie bonded in the chair that day. They continued to sleep together on the furs in front of the fireplace and when it was time to feed Gilly.

      Ralphie was usually there begging me for some of her milk. When she finished her bottle, he would lick her face to clean it. Gilly didn't like it much but he held her down with his paw until the job was done.

It was on this sheep skin rug that they became friends and one day, Gilly woke up and Ralphie wasn't there. She was hungry but she wanted Ralphie more then her bottle. She called and called him and refused the bottle which sent me into panic wondering what was wrong. Out inthe barn, I could hear Betty Lou, calling back in a panic. She must have thought I was hurting her little girl and wouldn't settle down until I took Gilly to her.

     It was joyous and sad at the same time. Betty Lou tried to get the little one to nurse but she had no milk. Gilly got confused and yelled even louder. Betty Lou was getting to upset. Gilly came back in the house and I gave her a stuffed fox to keep her company until Ralphie came back from his hunting trip for mice. Gilly snuggled right up to the fox and went to sleep. What a relief, she'd be quiet until Ralphie came back to her side.

     My next problem was consoling Betty Lou, she wanted her baby badly as she paced her goat stall. I took her a soiled blanket that Gilly had slept in. Betty Lou promptly sat on it and settled right down.

      Baby Goats are called "KIDS" and usually stand up with-in 30 minutes after being born, not Gilly. She was weak and when she finally tired to get up, she was mighty shaky, but she did it and it didn't take her long to roam all over the house following Ralphie and getting into everything.

      At just four days old, she was falling into the furs, she fell in the woodpile and almost into the ask bucket before we got her. Gilly Goat was getting stronger and I was getting exhausted chasing her around with paper towel. My rugs were in extreem danger and I didn't need Goat Berries all over the place.

     One day Pete left for the store and came home with a wonderful surprise for me. He got a Gilly Goat Play Pen. It would be her own space to sleep but, not for long. Ralphie decided he liked it too.

     Gilly, Ralphie and the stuffed fox snuggled to keep warm. The cat was in his Glory. He finally found his blankets.

     Each day Gilly grew. She learned to walk around the house and then she ran around the house. It was fun to watch her new legs develope but it wasn't fun to watch her go to the bathroom all over the place and running after her with the paper towel got old quickly so,

Gilly got a diaper and she wasn't happy about it one bit. It worked great too and after a week, she learned to let me know when it was time to go outside. Actually, she followed Ralphie. When he went to the door, she went with him.

     Gilly was constantly in the house keeping warm and going outside was hard for her. It was cold out there and her visits to her mother had to be quite a few times during the day and night. I had to do something so she could spend more time in the cold.

I made her the Gilly Coat.

     Gilly likes her coat but Ralphie thought she was something else when she wore it. Betty Lou wasn't to crazy about the thing on her little one either but they soon got used to it and Gilly knew when the coat came out, she was going outside to visit and play with anyone she could fine.

     The hardest one to understand the goat in a coat was the dog, Periwinkle. It just walked away when Gilly wore it.

Some days when the sun was up high, she went out without her coat and the cats became her babysitters.

Sam put up with her when she followed him but ran when she stepped on his tail.

     All play stops when Betty Lou calls from the barnyard. Gilly runs to her after she calls back to let her know she is there. Each day they get to visit for a little while and soon, Gilly will be old enough to stay out in the cold air. She is learning how to be a goat from her mother and Betty Lou will protect her while she is outside. While she is with her mother, I'm free to do my own chores. Like, TAKE A NAP!

     There was one small problem, Gilly thought she was a cat. She chased leaves that the wind blew around and jumped in the rock flowerbeds with the cats. Gilly followed the cats everywhere and she even tried to eat their cat food.

     One day, Ralphie jumped on the old wood pile in the barnyard and Gilly went right with him and then, jumped from the lowest board. Each day she went higher. She ran up the concrete back steps. Betty Lou is always watching her and somehow tells her what to do and shows off her little doe to everyone.

     Gilly is just two weeks old when she started jumping on everything she could find. Even her mother. Poor Betty Lou never got a moments peace while Gilly was in the barnyard

,

but that didn't stop her from teaching Gilly how to lay down and take a nap,

 and to eat hay, like a goat should. 

    This would be a glorious repreave for me. Gilly would still have her formula but as soon as she started nibbling, she could go for longer periods of time between bottles. Kids learn from watching their mother.

GILLY IS THREE WEEKS OLD

      When Gilly turned three weeks old she really started to travel. She has learned how to jump up on her play pen but she stands there and just looks around for Ralphie then she yells and demands her bottle. After she is fed she wants out so she can go outside and if you don't get to her quickly, she paws at the sides of her playpen.

     We still carry her down the steps and as soon as she hits the ground she takes off looking for someone to play with or jumps on the sleeping dog. Her new playmates are Sleepy and Curley. They are a few months older then her but they are all she has in goat friends.

       

      Slowly but surely, things started to happen to Gilly. She spends most of the day in the barnyard with Betty Lou but always came running to me at her feeding time. Even though she was eating her hay and grain she still wanted that bottle.

     Now, when I go to the barnyard to feed her, Betty Lou takes control of Gilly and comes to stand by her side as I hold the bottle. If Gilly didn't pay attention to her feeding, Betty Lou would nip her in the butt and push her toward the bottle. She knows that her little girl needs milk. 

Gilly goat is One Month Old

"Hey everyone, today is my birthday. Four weeks after I was born and the weather is warmer and this ... is MY CHAIR in the kitchen. I wonder if I get a birthday cake or a party? Probably not, but I'll watch Marty cook anyway."

Hum, maybe I can talk everyone into a party? She thought.

"Sam, get up. Today is my birthday. Wanna have a party?"

"Don't be a silly goat. Animals don't have parties. Look out now, that's my tail. I know goats eat anything but don't EVEN think of chewing on my tail." Sam said in a huff. "Besides, I'm to fat to eat birthday cake."

"No comment," Ralphie yawned behind them.

"You two just don't wanna do anything neat anymore." She yelled at them.

"I'll ask Meeshie." And off she went to look for him.

"Oh Meeshie, it's my birthday today. Wanna Party?" She asked the sleeping cat.

"UMMmmm not now," he whispered, "I'm napping. Go find something to do."

     Gilly looked around at the cat baskets and knew it was fun to get in and out of them. Sometimes she could jump in then out real easy but ... something was different.

 
"Oh my Gosh, what gives? This basket has changed.

     Without a second thought, Gilly turned and ran to another basket. Seems this one has the same problem, Oh well, she thought, I'll just give that camera my good side for a picture. I'm to great for a small basket anyway.
 

     Gilly had finally grown to the point where she could stay out in the barn at night with her mother. My heart was heavy that first night the little goat wasn't by my bedside but she did stay in the barn, grow and become a herd goat, one of the finest in our herd today. She is no longer my little baby but she is a mother herself this year having twins on her first birthing. She has raised her twin kids with the same pure trust she has in humans and brings both of them to me to Babysit while she grazes in the pasture.

This is Gilly Goat today

August 23, 2009

AND she has had a set of Twin Girls and raised them all by herself.