We watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them recently. At one point in the movie the main character says “When you worry, you suffer twice.”

Try as I might to tell myself that, we worry. If anyone thought everything here was fun, that we’ve learned all there is to know and that our reading has adequately prepared us for what we’re doing, then I’m afraid that we’ve failed to underscore some of the very real second guessing, overthinking and worry that happens here.

I alluded to the fact that bringing Flora and Pepper home was like bringing home a newborn. Even though there’s nothing to worry about, you can’t help but doing so because this tiny being is completely dependent on you. These girls aren’t exactly tiny, but they are fully reliant on us to meet their needs and care for them. Because of that, their coughing was getting to me. Yes, after looking into it we determined that it was probably just them regurgitating their cud to chew and it was nothing to be concerned over. Well, we caved and wormed Flora and Pepper ‘just in case.’ We had no reason to believe that they had lungworms. In fact, their skin is bright pink and their mucous membranes are clear which puts them in the pinnacle of health category. But what the heck do we know? What if we’re WRONG?!

So, we went out, bought some Ivermectin wormer and completed a worming regimen over the last 20 days. This goes against our normal philosophy, as we want to raise our dairy products as naturally as possible and avoid giving medicines that aren’t strictly necessary. However, in our research we found that it’s smart to worm new goats before you bring them home. The reason being that if one did unknowingly have new goats with worms brought onto their property, it can be very difficult to eradicate said worms from the soil once they’re present. Now that we’ve eliminated the possibility of transmitting parasites from one pasture to the next, we’ll be able to stay away from the chemical wormers and stick to the all natural route from here on out.

We decided to give Flora and Pepper a leftover Christmas tree to browse at. We thought we were being smart by putting it on one side of the fence so they couldn’t eat too much of it at once. The reason I’d seen that advised against feeding Christmas trees to goats was that they’d gorge themselves on it and become bloated. So, putting it on the other side of a barrier seemed like a great idea to limit their intake. Turns out, the naturally occurring resin in Christmas trees can cause miscarriages in pregnant goats in higher amounts. The Christmas tree has been taken away. And there’s more worry.

Now, I’m wondering why the goats seem to be gaining weight. Okay, yes, they’re pregnant. They should be gaining weight, shouldn’t they? Well, yes, but I’ve heard numerous accounts of goats hiding their pregnancies until much later in the game than this. Is it just that they’re expecting, or are we feeding too much grain? Not providing enough exercise? Augh! More worry.

Some guys fuss over their sports cars. I fuss over goats.

Honestly, having ‘fat’ goats wouldn’t bother me. I want them to produce dairy, not walk the runway. The problem is that extra fat puts unnecessary extra strain on an animal whose body is already working hard to produce milk. That fat can lead to birthing difficulties, reduced production and just an overall unhealthy animal.

I guess we’ll just have to see. In the mean time, we’ll do our best not to suffer twice.