Who is Josie you might ask?  Josie is a Boer goat that beat the odds that were stacked against her.  On a cold Feb. night Josie was born premature.  Her mother wouldn't care for her or her brother at birth and refused to feed them.  Hence they did not receive the nutrients as healthy kids do.  Her brother did not make it, and she soon developed bad arthritis in her front legs.  She would not eat very much.

When I met Josie, she was about 2 weeks old.  She was placed in a large rabbit hutch and kept company by another rejected Nubian male goat called Einstein.  I spent 4 days at this particular farm to learn about goat birthing, and animal care amongst other issues as supporting local farms, agriculture, and businesses.

Since there were many kids born before and during my stay, there was quite a few that needed to be bottle fed for one reason or another.  They were to be fed every few hours.   Josie would barely eat 2 oz. of milk replacement.  At the end of my stay, things were looking grim for Josie.  The farm was run by mostly volunteers, and several were leaving the farm.

At that moment I had a crazy idea.  Josie would surely not survive without the special attention she would need.  I called home and told my husband Rob my thoughts.  His reply was " I can't wait to meet her."  Thirty minutes later I called back and told him goats need to have a friend, Einstein would come home too.  "O.K." he said. 

He borrowed his brothers portable dog pen.  The goats lived in our dining room for a month since they still were being bottle fed in the night.  Josie had a knee tap done.  The worst was confirmed.  She had septic arthritis.  Shots for pain, antibiotics, and daily water aerobics in the kitchen sink.  It was almost like having twins.  Feedings, changing their pen and keeping it clean, and as anyone with pet goats knows, keeping them out of trouble!  They grew to love our children, the cats, even the pellet stove!  I'd like to thank all my friends again who donated money to help with Josies vet bills.  What great support she had.

Unfortunatly Josie ended up losing her back hooves.  We're told from frost bite back at the farm.  We soaked her feet in epsom salts, added bacitration, and wrapped her feet everyday.  She gets around really good concidering.  She's a happy little goat who now does not stop eating.  That is why the logo has the hay in her mouth.  Josie enjoys sharing her barn with Einstein, Nina the llama, Chuck the Guinne Hen and our cats Dodger and Oliver. All exept Chuck, we have taken in.

We believe that if we could give the same love and dedication to the store as we do to the kids we can't go wrong!  Josie reminds us of this every time we see her name above the store.  Please come and meet Josie along with her pals.  She always loves a good scrathing!