Karen the Nubian goat stuck her nose between rungs on the show ring fence and bleated woefully at her twin, Lucy, who was being led around the arena.
The twins were on display Tuesday morning during the dairy goat show at the Lyon County Free Fair.
Like many young human twins, the does seemed to suffer from separation anxiety when circumstances parted them, whether they were in the arena or being led outside by owner Kevin Veatch of Rinker 4-H Club and his sister, Cheyenne, 15. Earlier, as they waited for the competition to begin, Karen had turned around and dog-trotted back — pulling Cheyenne behind her — when Lucy let out a string of lonely bleats.
Because Kevin’s twins competed against each other in one of the classes, rules allowed Cheyenne to show one of them on Kevin’s behalf.
This year was Kevin’s third for showing dairy goats, in addition to the rabbits, pigs, electricity, arts and crafts, horticulture and photography projects he completed and competed in during the 2007 fair. The goats are something the 13-year-old enjoys.
“They’re easy to take care of and they’re fun,” he said. “I go out and play with them.”
For now, Karen and Lucy have a simple life, with none of the responsibilities of raising kids or producing milk.
“They have to have babies to be milkers,” Kevin said.
Milk that their mother produced was fed to the family’s cats and dogs when she wasn’t nursing kids. Goats can be milked for 10 months out of the year, according to an information board made by Rinker members that hung above the twins’ stall. Gestation for goats is only five months, and twins are not uncommon.
Karen and Lucy’s mother, called a nanny goat, had given birth to triplets when the two were born; the third kid died at birth, Kevin said. The nanny threw her colorfully dotted coat to both of the twins.
“Their mom looked like a deer from far away,” Kevin said. “She was dark and spotted” like a fawn.
Chances are she also threw her ability to produce ample amounts of rich Nubian-quality milk, with its 3.5 percent butterfat content.
“It’s quite a bit,” Kevin said of the butterfat. Goat milk can be used to make everything commonly made from cow’s milk.
“They make goat cottage cheese,” he added. “They’re the No. 1 dairy goat. They provide more milk.”
Nubians were bred from Asian and African goats, which were combined in Europe. In addition to rich milk, Nubians are distinguished by their prominent Roman noses, long flat ears that are flared at the ends, and their short, fine, sleek hair, among other traits.
Without help from humans, they also have the arc-shaped horns often associated with goats. The “buds” from which the horns sprout have to be removed at an early age, with a technique that is not always effective. Karen and Lucy have a total of three two-inch long horns between them.
“It’s hard to debud them,” Kevin said. “You have to do it at three to five days old.”