The Boys at Itty Bitty Critter Farm
| Home | The Girls | The Boys | For Sale | Scrapbook | FYI |
|
 |
Buckwheat, Smokey, Brock
All three of these guys were wonderful herd sires - friendly, loving, sometimes stinky as bucks are known to be. But they were just as easy to manage as the girls. When I would give them treats such as raisins or pretzels, I sometimes had to remind them to be gentle (especially Buckwheat who got so excited, maybe even a little bit jealous), and you could just barely feel them take the treat out of your hand. Guys, we sure do miss you! |
| Buckwheat
Sire: Bobby (Aden Farms) Dam: Mama (Aden Farms)
Can't you just see the attitude? dob: 04/28/2007 |
Originally named Snowy, Buckwheat is one of our first boys we purchased. He has waddles, and originally came to us with horns. But he no longer has them. Although he demanded a big share of the attention, prior to his injury we could only pet him during feeding or if we deliberately caught him, which he did not like. Needless to say, after his injury, he became very, very spoiled and started demanding an even bigger share of attention. Buckwheat doesn't bleat - he screams. He is the instigator, picking on others then running as if to say "they are picking on me!" One of his favorite things is getting his butt scratched. Well, actually I guess you would call it his hips. When you scratch on either side, he will almost lay down in your hand, then you switch to the other side and you can make him dance back and forth. He also likes between his scurs to be scratched, which is pretty rough on your hand. | 
Buckwheat has gone to a new home with the Hale family to be their herd sire. |
| One day shortly after they came to live with us, he and Smokey were fighting, like bucks tend to do
when they're too close to the girls, and one of his horns was ripped three fourths of the way off his
head. Since horns have arteries that run through them, he had blood streaming down his face. At that
time, he was still in the "only pet me when I let you" stage. Every time I would try to catch him, he
would run, which would make the blood pump even harder.
Finally, once he was caught, I took him to the vet, who had to remove the horn (actually dehorning both sides). Since he was so hyper around people, they had to sedate him for removal. AND, since anesthesia for goats is a tricky thing, of course Buckwheat didn't handle that well either. He was a limp rag and didn't want to return from the anesthesia. His temperature dropped to about 90 degrees - he was literally dying in my arms. So, back to the vet we went. I held him all day long, trying to coax him back. Being December and really cold, he even had to stay the night in the house (my husband's idea!). Although it took a good 6 weeks to heal, with several relapses due to he and Smokey playing around a little too hard for such a sensitive area, he is well now and is the most spoiled of any of our kids. He knows if he cries, I run. |
|
| Smokey
Sire: Robby (Aden Farms) Dam: Millie (Aden Farms)
dob: 04/29/2007 |
Smokey is our other first boy and he has long grey hair with
brown eyes, waddles and still has his horns. He was shy at
first and had a tendency to stand back and let others come
forward first. Unless, of course, it is treat time! Didn't take
him long to come around with the petting, and as he saw
the others getting attention, I think he decided he just
might like it too! With a very gentle nature, he's another
one that loves to be petted and loved one and especially
loves for his face to be rubbed. Although he likes lots of
attention, he can also entertain himself - looking at the girls
or eating, of course.
Smokey and Buckwheat were born only a day apart, Buckwheat being the oldest and least mature, but they seemed to always be trying to change places on the pecking order. Actually, I think Buckwheat just didn't give up on trying to move up the list. Smokey also had a different name when we purchased him - Randy. But being silly about such things, I wanted our own names for our first goats. After all, they would be our herd sires. Smokey and Brock look alike in the pictures but are actually very different. Smokey has horns and Brock has scurs, usually. They tend to horse around a lot and Brock and Buckwheat seem to lose their scurs occasionally. I guess boys will be boys. |
Smokey and Brock have gone to live at a new farm and are getting to stay together. Last time they were separated, Brock cried for three weeks. Once Smokey came back, Brock was content again. I'm sure they will both be happy at their new home with the Bade family. |
 |
| Sox
Dam: Daisy Sire: BigUn
dob: 02/18/2008 |
The only thing I can say about Soxy is that he's different. He
is our Baby Huey. Just an overgrown kid (compared to
everyone else). He came out playing and will probably always
be found in some kind of mischief. He likes to be on top of
things - like the dog house, the round bale of hay, people! He
has the energy we all wish we still had. We call him our hyper
child. When he was young, he jumped at the wall - just
because he could. (Actually I found out later that they all do
this, just didn't know it at the time.) If you squatted down,
keep an eye out for him because he could see those backs
across the field. He's sneaky and gets a running start to jump
up on you. He just loves to play. Seriously, this is a habit I've
tried hard to break him from. When he was small, it was cute.
Now he's not so small.
By the way, he's not a Nigerian Dwarf. His ancestry is probably Nubian/Alpine cross. His daddy was a big fellow (guess that's how daddy got his name BigUn?). He is a twin to Sassafras and is probably one of the best looking bucks we have in coloring and markings. He is black with white socks (guess that's where he got his name) and those prominent white slashes around his eyes. As he got older, those diminished down to just above his eye, like eyebrows. |
Sox has gone to be the herd sire for the Stark family. I'm sure he will be happy there also with no competition for his girls. |
| Twister
Dam: Maggie Sire: Buckwheat
dob: 05/25/2008 |
Although Twister appears to be white, he is actually an off-white/cream color and has a white band covering the middle of
his body with long, silky hair and lots of coloring on his face.
He has those prominent black stripes around this nose and
across the top of his eyes like his mama (looks just like
Maggie's baby pictures). But he definitely has his daddy's
attitude. His personality is just as mischievous and ornery as
Buckwheat ever thought about being. He has that same "hit
and run" mentality, then cry foul. And he's also a screamer,
not a bleater. |
He no longer lives with us. He went to live with the Wiles family along with Boomer. They will make great herd sires. |
| Boomer
Dam: Baby Jr. Sire: Smokey
dob: 06/25/2008 |
Boomer is tri colored with light/medium grey on his front legs
and head, medium grey and dark grey on his back legs and a
white band on his middle. Because he is being raised with
Twister, who overshadows him, Boomer is more conservative
but has a very sweet nature. Since he and Twister were raised
together, they pretty much are best buds, especially since they
are the only two in the pen. However, I'm not really sure if
they are playing or if they are vying for "king" status.
|
He no longer lives with us. He went to live with the Wiles family along with Twister. They will make great herd sires. |
 |
| Blaze
Dam: Sassy Sire: Buckwheat
dob: 04/11/09 |
Blaze, twin to Glory, is half Nigerian Dwarf and the other half is
probably part Alpine/Nubian. He started out very similar in
colorings to his mama and uncle Sox - a beautiful salt and
pepper mix of brown, black and white. When you look at him
from up above, he has a marking shaped like an upside down
wishbone on top of his head, making a little "blaze" across his
forehead. He is twice the size of his sister (Glory) and much
more mischievous. I guess his name could also come from
how he darts around everywhere and is in to everything.
Now Blaze is older and wiser - and lots blacker. He mostly has colorings on his face and neck and some on his backside, tail and legs. He was weaned in the pen with a buck that is the most gentle I've ever encountered, so he became just like that. Because he was younger and more timid than our other bucks (who just happened to be in rut at the time), we felt we could not put him in with the mature bucks (didn't want him learning their tricks!). His mentor had to go back home, so, Blaze went through a time when he had to live alone (yes, we know the rules), but he got more attention probably than all our goats put together. He still has that personality that is just wonderful in a buck, more like one who has been bottle raised. When I would go through his pen to go to the chicken house, he would help me count the chickens each night as we put them to bed. |
Blaze has now gone to live with the Arndt family and is going to be their herd sire. |
| One day someone so graciously left us a puppy on our doorstep, so of course, we couldn't let him starve. Because he needed companionship, Blaze became his new best friend. Shortly after we got him, the puppy went to that happy hunting ground in the sky and Blaze was really sad after that. Oh, but Blaze, little did you know...once weaning started (and we had such a boy year), Blaze got plenty of company -- seven more little bucklings were added to his pen. Then three more; then two more; then one more; and he was very confused. He wanted the companionship but he didn't understand that he no longer gets all the attention - that sharing sure is hard to do after all that time of one-on-one. Because of his size, he remains top dog without question, but he still loves to run and play with all those little boys. |   |
 |
| Tiny Tim
Dam: Spicebush Farm Queen of Hearts Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 12/04/2009
|
Tiny Tim was firstborn to a set of triplets. He was mostly black
with a dime size white spot low on his right side, another white
spot between his horn buds and a third white patch under his left
front leg with black dots in it. Although the pictures don't look like
it, he had blue eyes. His ears remind me of one of those children's
books about the donkey or mouse with the really big ears. They
were huge (or so they seemed).
When he was born and we saw something was wrong, we consulted with our very knowledgeable goat friends. He was born with contracted tendons in both from legs. On their advise, we splinted him, gave him several doses of BoSe and was told up front that he probably would not make it. Not once did he let his disabilities hamper him from trying anything. He climbed, he jumped, he ran - he played as hard as all the other kids. His personality was a hoot - you just couldn't help but love him. Well, he became another one of our bottle babies. At first he was the first one to mama to nurse but as the days grew colder, he got slower so his brother and sister got there first and mama was done with nursing by the time he got there. Since we already had four in the house, what was one more? So, in the house he came. On one of our warmer spells, we took the bottle babies outside to play and noticed that Tiny appeared to run out of steam in about three minutes. He fell a lot, his front legs giving out on him quickly, even with splints. We decided it was time for professional advise and took him to Missouri University. After taking x-rays, it was determined that he had congenital bone defects (either because of the contracted tendons or there was a possibility that he had been born that way), but he had already encountered stress fractures on one of his knees. He would likely get arthritis within a year or two. He would not be useable for breeding, nor would he ever get to run and play with the other goats in the herd. |
Although it was an extremely tough decision
on our part, we felt we owed it to Tiny to let
him go.
Another one of our special kids, so this one was really hard to let go.
12/04/2009 to 01/22/10 We love you and miss you, Baby Boy! |
| Charcoal (Charlie)
Dam: Spicebush Farm Queen of Hearts Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 12/04/2009 |
Charcoal is solid black with brown eyes. Charlie, as we like to call him, is the ring leader of this group babies (the triplets consisting of Tiny Tim, Lily and Charlie). He is very bold and inquisitive, does not appear to be afraid of anything. We think he will make a wonderful herd sire and seems to have great form. Loves all the attention and is very insistent on being picked up and held, even though he is getting bigger and harder to hold. He doesn't fit the lap any more, but he doesn't care, just wants to be held. He's another one that loves the area between/behind his horns scratched and scratched ... and then scratch it some more. | 
|
| Frosty
Dam: Baby Jr. Sire: Buckwheat
dob: 12/05/2009 |
Frosty is basically white with patches of tricolor on his shoulders extending down his back, one foot, and his face. He has brown eyes and is very inquisitive. Loves attention but does not want to be held, unless of course, it's his idea. He doesn't like the others getting what he declares as his share so he is usually the first one pawing on your back or leg, or nipping you, saying "pay attention to me!" He's also the one butting everyone else out of the way because it's a "me first" attitude with him. Of course, he is the ring leader of all the boys that are in the pen with him now. |
 |
| Snowball
Dam: Reba Sire: Brock
dob: 12/12/2009 |
Snowball is white all over with pink skin. That is probably not good for a boy! But
he's a goat, so he probably doesn't care. He has a really cute little heart-shaped
pink nose and has golden brown eyes. I think he and his brother are beautiful.
He is now getting a collar of pale grey hairs around his shoulders - both he and his brother are getting this. I'm sure if you look really close, there are lots of differences. But out in the field, you have to look for the waddles to tell the difference. They started out somewhat timid but got over that really quickly. Once they see all the others getting attention, doesn't take any of the little fellows to catch on and start lapping it all up. They (both Snows) are pushing on you from behind to get your attention. Just a gentle push, saying "don't forget me". |
 |
| Snowflake
Dam: Reba Sire: Brock
dob: 12/12/2009 |
Snowflake is also white all over with pink skin, that same little heart
shape on his nose, and golden brown eyes. However, he has
waddles.
He is a little bit more timid than his brother but both still love attention. They nibble on you from behind if you don't give them attention. Of course, most of our babies do that - they all love attention! As they are getting older, both of them are getting a faint grey cape around their shoulders. Looks like a collar. |
 |
| The Docs - Due to their birth by c-section, we do not know which order they were born. From their
personalities, I think I could guess! They lived in our house and were bottle fed. The first several weeks, all
they did was eat and sleep. Those days did not last long.
Once they were old enough, they should have been migrated outside. They had also been joined by Miracle and Tiny Tim, so we had a total of five in-my-house bottle babies. Well, this is Missouri. Cold weather set in, then snow. At two months they were still in the house! They outgrew their box in no time and we had to make a "tall" temporary pen for them to stay in. Although it had a door on it, with five fast little goaties, it was just easier to climb over the top - using a chair of course. The little boys soon learned that they were boys and Miracle had to be in a separate area. So the pen was scooted out into the middle of the floor, Miracle's pen consisted of one side of the boys' pen, the wall and all kinds of props for a doorway. I'm so glad I have linoleum in my dining area where they stayed. It was hard enough cleaning up after them three times a day anyway! They did finally get to move outside and enjoy having all the extra attention.
|
Pictured above was taken at home at 2
weeks old. Pictured (left to right) Dr.Ringen, Dr.Middleton, Dr.Lewis |
| Dr. Lewis
Dam: Spicebush Farm Suzy Q Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 12/14/2009 |
Dr. Lewis (aka Lewie) is black with white on his head. He has blue eyes. His personality is a blend of the other two boys, sort of mellow and laid back, but you can see this look in his eyes that says "what shall I get into now?" They all love to explore everything, very inquisitive. When they were being bottle fed, they all liked to have their little snuggle and hugs after they finished eating. As they got older, they still wanted that snuggle, and thankfully, they were still small enough to fit on my lap. However, Dr. Lewis is the one that insists on having a goatie smooch (on the lips) whenever you are around him. I don't know where he got that idea -- I didn't teach it to him, but he is very insistent! Looking back at earlier pictures, he was already reaching for kisses at 2 weeks old. | 
Dr. Lewis has gone to a new home with the Bays family and is just as spoiled there as he was here. |
| Dr. Middleton
Dam: Spicebush Farm Suzy Q Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 12/14/2009 |
Dr. Middleton (aka Doc) looks like mama. He is brown with lots of
black on his body and has an irregular patterned white blob on his
head and also has about one inch of white on the tip of his tail.
Another difference in the two boys is the color of brown. Doc's
brown has a greyish cast to it where Rinny's has a golden cast.
However, it's not something you would be able to tell unless both of
them are side by side. You start noticing the subtle differences. He
is definitely the trouble maker (in a good way, of course), into
everything, another ring leader.
|
Dr. Middleton |
| Dr. Ringen
Dam: Spicebush Farm Suzy Q Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 12/14/2009 |
Dr. Ringen (aka Rinny) also looks like mama. He looks like Doc except his white blob is smaller and more circled than Doc's is. He is more laid back, until it comes time for dinner - and breakfast and supper and snack time.....they all get a bit aggressive then. When they were still bottle feeding, Rinny would prefer to wait to eat just so he can be snuggled. Now who's the smartest? | 
Dr. Ringen |
| Bandit
Dam: Pepper Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 01/01/2010 |
Bandit is one of the prettiest goats we've had at our farm. With brown
eyes, he is black and white with a band around his upper body with
lots of white on his legs, head and tail. He is outgoing and friendly,
loves to be petted, even held.
He and his brother Ziggy have now gone to live with his new family - Mama Katie. |
Trip to their new home (photo by Katie) |
| Zig Zag
Dam: Pepper Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 01/01/2010 |
Zig Zag or Ziggy for short, is another one of our pretty goats (although
as boys, I'm sure they appreciate being called pretty). He was named
for the zig zag pattern on his side. Although he has this beautiful zig
zag of white on his left side, his right side has only one little white spot.
Looks like two different goats. Ziggy has blue eyes.
Ziggy, along with his brother, are now at their new home (and quite happy, it appears) with their new Mama - Katie.
|
At their new home (photo by Katie) |
| Lightning
Dam: Spicebush Farm Minxy Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 01/01/2010 |
Lightning is black with that same white little blob on his head and he has
brown eyes. Because things got so hectic with bottle babies in the house,
bad weather outside, just all kinds of stuff going on, poor little Lightning
was not introduced to the love and support he should have been when he
was born. He was not as friendly as most of our babies. But he slowly
came around. He really likes feed time. He got that one figured out
really quick! Matter of fact, he hangs back because he knows I will hand
feed him. Another really smart one!
It took us a long time to figure it out, but he would jump up on you, then rub his head on your hand when you tried to pet him almost breaking your wrist between his horns. This was hurting and we tried to get him to stop. Finally, we figured out, all he wanted was for you to pick him up and hold him while scratching between his horns. He will bend his head backwards until you think it is going to break off, but he loves it. Now when he jumps up on us, we automatically pick him up and start the scratching. He has us well trained!
|
|
| MisChief
Dam: Maggie Sire: Hoppy Aden's Hoppy Too
dob: 02/08/2010 |
Mischief or Chief for short, is white with black stripes over his
brown eyes and has waddles like his mama. In fact, he looks just
like his mama's baby pictures (and several of his uncles). His
personality is that of a mischievious child - into everything he
came get into. He is everywhere you look, running all over (and
quick at that).
Even though he has that mischievious streak in him, he is still very loving and wants lots of attention. Loves being petted and loved on. He will make someone a great herd sire. |
 |
| Trouble
Dam: Sassy Sire: Smokey
dob: 04/11/2010 |
Trouble is a beautiful little black buckling with white facial markings and white
stripes on all four legs. Looks so much like his Uncle Sox when he was born.
He is highly energetic, which makes mama Nervous Nellie trying to watch after
them. Now that he is a little bit older, it's easy to find a name to fit his
personality - Trouble (with a capital T). He is so friendly and you can just see
the orneriness coming out of him. Loves being petted or just any kind of
attention. If you don't pay attention to him, he is gently pushing on you with
his head. He's not mean or anything, just super funny, running around like
he's just "looking for trouble"!
Now that he has moved to the boy pen, he is somewhat a little bit of a loner so he especially likes the human attention. All the other boys either have brothers or goats they were raised with except him and Mischief. He is also the odd number in the pen so he stands out. He will be in the totally opposite side of the pen from everyone else. However, he is always first one to the gate when we go out to their pen. He's also the first one in the corner where he can see the girls. So far, he is just missing mama and all the "girl pen" attention. Very shortly, it will be because he's a buck (if you get my drift). |
|
| Whether raised here or purchased, all my boys have been just as friendly as the girls. We specifically make sure that all our bucks are easily handled - for meds, for hoof trimming or just to love on them a little bit. That's the part they like best, the loving! (Although it's not so great during the fall of the year. They don't know that they need a bath and they still want you to love on them.) |
| We do reserve the right to maintain kids for our own breeding program. However, just because a goat isn't listed on the "For Sale" page does not mean is won't be sold. See a goat on another page that you have an interest in, contact me for more information. |
Contact Us! Itty Bitty Critter Farm
Gary & Sandra Howell, Irondale, Missouri
(573) 749-0099
Thank You for looking at our animals.
| All rights reserved. All material, art and graphics on this website are owned by IBCF. No material from this site may be used without written permission of the owner, so please do not copy pictures, text or source code without permission. Thank you! Maintained by Sandra Howell at Itty Bitty Critter Farm - Hosted by glob@t.com |
| Home | The Girls | The Boys | For Sale | Scrapbook | FYI |
Picture taken at College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri
(Columbia) while in the ICU for preemies. 
