Hindel Kidz 19: Beauty and The Beast
Hindel Kidz 19
Beauty and The Beast
They were beginning to wonder if Elmer had lost his touch. He was at least seven or eight years old. Pearl had been the only one who was expecting a baby and he didn’t breed Ruby or Joy the first time around. Jack called down to Rolling Hills, but Shelly didn’t have any baby boy goats for sale.
One day when Grace was up there feeding, she went over to give Elmer’s side of the pen molasses and she saw a goat standing at the gate. She just thought it was Elmer.
“Hi, Elmer.”
As she was dumping molasses into the dish and trying not to get run over by six other goats and a deer, she noticed this goat was bigger than Elmer. It must have been Merlin. She turned around and saw Merlin standing right behind her. She looked at this goat again.
“So when did you get this one?” she asked.
Jack had gotten him around two hours ago from Rolling Hills. Shelly had goats for sale as long as someone would buy them…just not any baby ones. This new boy goat was three years old (the same age as Joy) and his name was Rueben, Ben for short.
Poor Joy.
“If I’m not expecting a baby already, I will be soon. I will be getting chased from both sides,“ Joy thought.
Ben was not related in any way to Elmer. He will be able to have babies with most any of the girls. That was why Jack got him. Elmer has got some competition now.
Since Pearl’s triplets had not been okay and if Ruby and Joy were expecting they wouldn’t have their babies until summer. Jack thought Ruby might be expecting a baby. He really wanted her to have one. Whether she could be shown at the fair or not would depend on when she had her baby. Joy would definitely have hers too late to be shown that year. Jack would be up the creek when it came fair time. Jack already had Carolyn, Lainie and Libby for Savannah, Elissa and his step-granddaughter.
But now Jess wanted to show a goat. Jack called down to Payton’s Pygmies where he had gotten Pearl. They had some baby girls for sale. This goat would be Jack’s, but he was going to let Jess pick it out and name it.
When they went up on Saturday, Grace heard Libby squalling in the birthing pen. She had just been separated from Becca. Grace went in the building to see Libby and saw a little black goat standing inside the plywood divider. Grace went in to see if she could pet her, but she ran away.
Jess named the new goat Bella, Belle for short. When they went up to feed, Libby let Grace pet her more than she ever had and Belle even came over and sniffed at her hand. Grace was able to pick up Belle and hold her on her lap.
They figured Belle had just been weaned; she was so small. She had been born on January 25th, twelve days after Libby and Libby was twice as big. Since she was small and skinny, Jack really didn’t want to buy her in the first place. But when Jess saw her, her eyes got as round as saucers.
“Oh, she is so cute! I love her!” Jess exclaimed. And Jack couldn’t say no.
Later on, Sven got Belle out and tried to walk her around the house. She put on the brakes. After once around the house she did walk for him a little bit. Grace walked Libby after having to pull her out of the pen. She let Libby loose, but they had to keep Belle on the leash since she didn’t know to stay in the yard yet. Grace picked her up and held her on her lap for a little bit.
“I have been able to sit and pet her, but she wasn’t too sure on being held yet,” Jack said.
She tried to get away a few times while Grace was holding her. She didn’t want to get beat up so she put Belle back in the birthing pen. Jack got Belle out again and held her on his lap and she laid there a little more than she had for Grace. Jack said he had been playing with her for three hours before they came up. The third day, when Grace picked Belle up she just laid on her lap, chewing her cud just as happy as she could be.
“Are you starting to spoil her already?” Jack asked.
Grace was wondering if Jess was going to be just like Bree and Savannah and not work with her goat. She had been up there a couple times to walk Belle. Grace was waiting to see what would happen once the new wore off. Jess hadn’t been up there for a couple of weeks. When she did show up, she complained. All she cared about was holding and petting Belle. When Savannah found out Jess was going to show a baby goat and had gotten to name it, she got all upset.
“It doesn’t matter. You said you wanted to show Lainie and Lainie is who you’re going to show,” Jack said.
But now Lainie isn’t the newest little goat up there any more.
One day Jack said he had a message for Grace. It was from Belle. Grace had left the lid off of the pellet container and Belle had fallen in. She liked to climb up and jump around on the containers.
“Sorry, it was an accident. At least you wouldn’t die of starvation,” Grace apologized.
Luckily, Jack had been outside and heard her start crying and squalling her head off. He walked into the building, but didn’t see her. He said he didn’t want her to suffocate since it had been so hot.
Bella was the perfect name for her since she bellowed all the time. She sure was a feisty little thing.
They found out Belle had an incurable, contagious disease called CL. She was born with it. Belle’s original owners failed to tell Jack about it. The disease caused her to get abbesses on her skin and possibly on her organs as well. That’s when it could become deadly. She had one abbess surgically removed from her neck. The vet had told Jack, Belle might never have one ever again, but she could also have one starting at that very moment. It could happen at anytime. If she gets another abbess the best thing to do would be to drain it.
