George
George is otherwise known as Georgeous George because he is!  George is a large pygmy goat and very handsome, he came to us in 2007 after his unhappy owner contacted us to say he was out of control.  George had a caravan to live in at night and was tethered during the day, having systematically trashed his caravan.  He then went to work on biting through his tether, the last straw came when he knocked his owner over.  It was the spring of the year and my guess was that George was feeling lonely, goats after all are herd animals and even though George had been castrated he still yearned for the company of his own kind.  Luckily for George just before we got the phone call about him we had lost Treacle, one of our oldest goat residents, so we had a pen available for a newcomer.  George lived not far away so two of us set off in the car to collect him, he was tied up to a fence waiting for us and did not hesitate to jump into the car and sit on a knee for the journey home!  On arrival here George seemed to quickly understand that he had to keep a low profile until the other goats accepted him and this he did but it did not take long before the others allowed him into the herd and he has never looked back.  His loves his companions, humans and most of all food!

Horace and Wilfred
Horace and Wilfred came to us in 2003 from Sunderland, they were part of a herd of seven goats whose owner had died unexpectedly and her family were at a loss as to what to do with the animals.  We found homes for five of the "herd" but had to take these two in ourselves because Wilfred was totally wild.  Wilfred is yet another example of a pygmy goat and has unusual colouring in that his coat is mainly blue.  When he arrived here we thought he would follow his friend Horace out of the horse box into a pen but no, Wilfred took off up the road and it took three hours to catch him as he sped round the local village, it was only thanks to a very athletic young man that we caught him at all.  Poor Wilfred did not like humans, he was a very frightened wee goat but nowadays although he is not the friendliest of goats he is okay about being caught and handled.  Horace on the other hand loves people and being petted.
 
Horace is a Toggenburg goat and has a pair of very small and twisted horns which tend to grow into his forehead and sometimes have to be sawn off, a process that, although pain free, Horace does not like at all!  Horace is a laid back friendly goat and his favourite thing in life is definitely Wilfred though he gets on well with all the other goats.  He is forgiving too and does not hold the sawing of his horns against us but prefers not being touched on the head.
 
We have no idea what age either of these goats are but guess they are well past their first flush of youth.

Gandalf

Gimli

Gandalf and Gimli
Gandalf and Gimli are brothers who were born in August 2002 and who came to live with us here on 15 May 2003. They are Toggenburg goats.

Most goat breeders do not want a preponderance of male goats so these two were both destined for slaughter, despite their endearing characters and good looks! They were seen by two neighbours who could not bear the thought that they were to die and who agreed to take them on as a joint venture. They took them home, had them castrated and proceeded to look after them in turns. All went well until one half of the partnership decided that she no longer wanted to look after goats, which meant the remaining lady was unable to get away on her monthly visits to her family. She telephoned us in great distress to see if we could help and, luckily for all concerned, we had a space at that time.

These two are a pair of real characters who sometimes take a collecting box out to help the funds here. They are difficult for people to resist even when they take their ice creams out of their hands, which they have done on more than one occasion!!

Joey
Joey is our very latest arrival at the time of adding this to the website, 1st september 2010.  Joey is a pygmy goat aged seven years, his lifelong companion died in February this year and not only has Joey been lonely since but his humans were moving and could not take Joey with them as they no longer had land.  Joey was a bit sad when he arrived here and did not settle in with his look alike Wilfred and his partner Horace, he spent his days escaping from the field and only wanted the company of humans, making no attempt to escape from the actuall yard.  Eventually we discovered that he had become friendly with our Angora goat Barney so we put them in a pen together where Joey has settled and become much happier, in fact he now play fights the other goats and is content to be in the field during the day alongside of them. Joey is what we describe as a blue goat, his coat being blue with white running through it.  He is a friendly wee chap and we are pleased to have been able to offer him a home among his own kind. 

Dobby

Dobby.

When Dobby arrived here he thought he had died and gone to goat heaven, Dobby had lived on his own all his life since being bought by his owners as a kid and had no idea that there were so many other goats in the world.  I think his owners were a little disconcerted as, from the moment of his arrival, he set about getting to know the other goats and play with them, totally ignoring all humans.  Every morning Dobby goes round all the other goats and has a horn/head banging session, he is one very happy little pygmy goat. 

The strange thing about Dobby's arrival was the reaction to him by one of our senior goats Gandalf, he decided instantly to become Dobby's protector and friend and when bedtime came that night Gandalf literally herded Dobby into his pen.  Gandalf had a brother who died so was used to sharing his accommodation but we never for one moment thought he would become so attached to a new goat arriving here.  Gandalf is a great deal bigger than Dobby but they live happily together and there have been no incidents of fighting or bullying, even at feed times.  Dobby of course thinks he is a great deal bigger than he actually is and takes on all comers, we have seen him play fighting three of the other goats at the same time and enjoying every minute of it! 

Morris and Sutty
In 2002 we were approached by the wife of a football player who desperately needed to rehome the family's two goats and two pigs, it being untenable for her to look after them at home due to harassment by fans of an opposing team. So Morris, Sutty, George and Dunhill duly arrived to take up residence with us and an utterly charming four they are too. Morris and Sutty are castrated male Saanen goats. They were both hand reared in the house and they love human company. When they first arrived they were not too keen on the other goats but through time they have adapted to become an integral part of the herd. Their idea of heaven is to be around people "helping", they are very good at emptying wheelbarrows, maybe not where you want them emptied but emptied none the less! They are difficult to tell apart except that Morris has a little horn on his head.

Twiggy
Twiggy is a goat of mixed breed, probably Saanen crossed with a smaller breed.  Twiggy came here with a kid at foot in 2006, part of the rescue of thirty five animals that were being neglected, starved and abused.  Twiggy, her baby and an elderly goat were found a new home and the kid was rehomed again when he was weaned as he was very boisterous.  Recently Twiggy's companion died of old age and Twiggy was so lonely her owners asked if she could return home here to us.  We were delighted to welcome her back as she is a loving little goat with lots of character, every morning when the the feeds are taken into the goat byre Twiggy is standing up on her door anxiously awaiting breakfast!

Rosie

Rosie

Rosie has come home!
 
Rosie came to Mossburn a few years ago with her companion Lindy who sadly passed away not long after arriving here.  A neighbour also lost a goat and Rosie went to be companion to the baby of that goat, years on and that goat also died so on Boxing Day 2008 Rosie finally returned home to us here at Mossburn.  It was a bit of a cultural shock for her as she had been living with just one other goat and ours are a boisterous lot but they are also a bit short of girl goats so she was greeted with an amount of tenderness as well as enthusiasm by the boys!
 
Rosie is a shy little goat, she will be mainly Toggenburg but there is something else in her breeding as she is very small for a Tog.  She is delicate by nature as well as in stature and would not dream of jumping up to welcome her breakfast and supper the way her next door neighbour Twiggy does.  She is fine with humans but would never push herself forward, in other words she is a bit of a wallflower, a very pretty one!

Billy

Billy came from a horse dealers yard where he had outgrown his usefulness on the 13th of March 1999. How anyone could part with an animal as sweet natured as Billy is incomprehensible. He is utterly adorable and will stand for hours while children cuddle him. He also has a sense of humour.

Some years ago Billy broke a front leg.  We never discovered exactly how but the leg was put in plaster and healed successfully.  But forever after Billy would limp if he wanted extra attention.  Nowadays he unfortunately no longer has to pretend to limp as arthritis has set in and his old injury causes him to throw the leg out stiffly.  This in no way hampers his ability to get about and have the odd pretend fight with other goats.  Old age has slowed him down a bit in that he no longer feels the need to undo bolts and doors and quite often when you take in his morning feed you have to place it just so under his nose as he likes 'breakfast in bed'!

Dougall
Dougall is a castrated Pygmy goat, we believe him to be quite old. He came to us just days before the Scottish outbreak of Foot and Mouth. If his owner had not been worried about him pining for his dead companion and asked us to take him in, Dougall too would now be dead. The farm he came from was culled as part of the 'contiguous cull' policy. Dougall is a very inquisitive chap, he has a lovely nature but needs to know everything that is going on! When we ear tagged and blood tested all our goats as part of our fight to save them from being culled, Dougall stood by and watched as everyone was done, he's a sort of supervisor!