Brrrr...

If you speak with almost anybody up here in the North

Georgia Mountains, they will tell you the same thing,

“I am tired of Winter, and ready for warmer weather.”

According to the old-timers from around these parts,

it has been an unusually cold Winter.

One of the sure signs that Spring is approaching is the birth of our baby goats! We have nine kids, all born within about a week of each other. They are precious!

... some of our kids...

As a facility dedicated to education we allow visiting guests to be more engaged with our animals. We are socializing our new baby goats more with people and less with their mothers.  This will make them friendly and trusting toward our visitors.  The kids nursed from the the Nanny goats for about a week, during which time they were able to get the much needed colostrum which is only produced for the first three days and will allow them to be much healthier their whole lives; this week is also important because it allows time for a bond to form between the mother goats and their babies. The kids were then placed into another pen and are being bottle-fed.  Of course, this created more work – milking the Nanny goats, then bottle feeding the kids – but, the results are already obvious.  When the kids see the workers arriving with their bottles, they EAGERLY approach the men.  And, this is a good thing.  These little creatures will grow up associating people with food, petting, being held… just what the doctor ordered for our guests first experience with farm animals!

One-one-one attention

One on the Nanny goats had three kids – a pair of twins, plus a little runt who weighed less than half what the other kids weighed.  Momma goat rejected the runt, so this very special little goat is being cared for almost entirely by humans.  ”Lil Bit”  has been bottle-fed since birth, wears a diaper when she is in the home of her caretakers, loves to be held,  and socializes with her foster parents’  cats, dogs, and chickens.

Where is your diaper, young lady?

We predict that “Lil Bit” will be the star of the farm. Our regular farm tours typically start Memorial Day weekend, but we are expecting our two cows to calf sometime in April or May so we will begin tours early this year if there is enough demand.

Other  Springtime plans and projects another day!

ENOTA Retreat Campground & Eco-Village

1000 Highway 180, Hiawassee, GA  30546

(706) 896-9966

email: enota@enota.com

http:// www.enota.com