#64 Goats and piglets and grieving roosters.....oh my!

Did you know that goats have a tread on their hoofs similar to those latex grippy things you use to open a jar? I didn't know that before going on a slot canyon hike with three goats named Skippy, Luna and Dewey.

Luna was a baby goat and was just learning her way around climbing up the canyon walls. Apparently, when she was learning, she would tumble down regularly, but like a cat, she would get up like nothing happened and do it again.

Skippy was a sweet little shy goat who was happy tagging along at our feet and chomping on whatever leaves she could find, even if those leaves were 20 feet up the side of the cliff.

And Dewey was a dick. He kept headbutting Luna, grabbed leaves away from Skippy, and took a bite out of my phone.

Let's back up, though. AirB&B now hosts "Experiences" as well as stays, and I found one that looked pretty badass -- "Hike with Goats". Let's do it!

To get there, we drove around and around and higher and higher through this upscale neighborhood with houses getting bigger and bigger than the next until we got to our destination -- a gorgeous mansion at the top of the hill overlooking breathtaking canyon views. After the giant iron gate slid aside to allow us entrance, we drove through the property to the barn area. There we met Gabe, our 15 year old guide who we had dragged out of bed to take us on the tour.

He was absolutely wonderful!

Apparently, he's saving up for a truck. So after one day when the goats got out of their pen and came along with him for a hike, and once he realized how funny they were on the hike, his mom suggested that he could make a bit of money hosting Goat Hikes.

He said, "I thought she was crazy. I mean, who would pay to do this?"

Lots of people, as it turns out. He's hosted 150+ hikes since October, sometimes two or three a day.

And now he's thinking broader -- "Wouldn't it be great if people were willing to come and do my chores for me on the farm? And pay to do it?"

Yes, Gabe. That would be awesome for you. And people would pay to do it.

So the goats love these hikes because they get lots of exercise and get to eat plants along the way. And they are just like dogs -- they might take off for a bit on their own, but when they hear us resuming the hike, they would come bounding down the rocks and run after us to catch up.

It was crazy how high up they would climb, and how they were able to grip onto an almost vertical side of the canyon.

And the slot canyon itself was cool. Lots of little nooks and crannies all up the rocks. In fact, there was one small cave where Gabe told us the story when he and 15 of his friends tried to see how many they could fit. Turns out -- they all were able to scale the wall and cram themselves in.

He also told us the story of how he started doing Survival Training when he was 13 years old, where he and his friends would be dropped off in the wilderness and need to complete a list of military challenges before they were able to be rescued. Pretty cool stuff!

Definitely a great experience being with these goats.

Later in the day, we drove to our AirB&B for the night. It was listed as a "Farm Stay" where you can play with their farm animals.

We were greated by Jessica, the daughter of the house, and shortly after our arrival by Tom, her dad. Right away, they invited us into the animal coops.

It was wild!

There were 8 pigs -- three of them were piglets that are a month old who just now came out to Gen Pop after being in the maternity ward for the first few months of their lives.

There were lots of goats, including three Fainting goats, who when they get spooked, they freeze up and fall to the ground.

There was also this dude who loves to roll his lips at visitors.

And there were chickens. Lots and lots of chickens. Strangely, many of the chickens were missing feathers on their backs. Tom explained that the Roosters are very active and each hen is taken advantage of several times a day, thus the worn out feathers of their backs.

There were silky chickens and frizzled chickens. Some were so fuzzy they looked like they were wearing pajamas.

And then there was this guy.

The story goes that he bonded with a special Silkie chicken with beautiful black feathers and they had a love affair for the ages. But unfortunately, the black Silkie died suddenly and the rooster went out of his mind.

All his feathers fell out from grief, and he turned, in Tom's words, "into a freaking crazy maniac", attacking the other chickens and just simply losing his mind.

I'm rooting for him that he finds solace in his grief. And maybe gets a sweater.

And there was a baby chick in the henhouse! Most of the other baby chicks are in the incubators inside their home, but this one was recently hatched and with his mom. I got to hold her!!!!!!

Today, I'm going back in there, where Tom gracuiously said we can go ahead and jump into the animal area anytime we want. There's a chair in there for us to sit on, and shortly after, the goats will come jumping on my lap.

I can't wait!