I'm glad it's spring!

I'm so glad that it's spring! Yeah, we get some rain and mud, but it's such a relief to get outside and enjoy the day.

Our area has been swarmed with black birds! Huge flocks, swooping about and chirping noisily. Robins are everywhere, hopping about the lawn looking for early spring bugs and worms.

It's time to enlarge the kids pen. They're growing so quickly and are very active now. When the weather is nice out I like to have them in the pasture with shed. It's good for them to be outside and playing, just like our 2 legged kids! When I bring them in after work, they are pretty tired out. It's been a hard day having fun!

The Mob

Things have settled into a bit of a routine here on the farm. All the does have freshend except Esmay, and she's due next week. Right now she looks a bit like a balloon, and rather uncomfortable, but she's holding her own with her bossy pen mate K.

Today was the first time that all the kids (a.k.a. The Mob) were put out into the pasture with the shed in it for a few hours. There are 13 of the little buggers, and they are a hoot to watch. I don't think that I'll ever get tired of seeing them leap and twist and then tear around like their tails are on fire. Most of them are Alpines, but our daughter raises a few meat goats, so there are a few BoerX kids in there also.

Here they all are, hopping about and chasing each other. The little white one with the black head and long floppy ears is Dolly. She's an orphaned BoerX doeling that was given to our daughter. Dolly will stay.

This is Bonita

And this is Buena. They are Baco's kids that I wrote about in an earlier post. They'll be staying on the farm.

Aren't They Cute!?

These are Eunice Unihorns 2 doe kids. Melissa decided to name them Spot and Blondie, and is considering keeping one of them for breeding. They are just the cutest little things, very furry and soft.

The personality of a Boer Goat kid is much more laid back and relaxed than the Dairy Goat kids. When you pick these guys up they just kinda lay there, totally unconcerned about the fact that you just took them from their Mother. The Dairy Goat kids would be freaking out and squirming around. Nope, it's just not a big deal for these guys.

Waiting is over for Eunice Unihorn

You may recall the post including a photo of Eunice Unihorn a couple of days ago. The poor dear looked ready to explode..and today was her day.
This afternoon Eunice delivered a set of very healthy twin does! Both have a light head and cape like she does and one has a red spot on it's back. Our daughter, Melissa, was very happy about this and plans to keep them as breeding stock for next season. Pics coming soon, they're very cute!

Finally!

Today Dixie Chik finally freshened. She had 1 buck and 2 does, this is the 4th year that she has had triplets! I think this will be her last freshening, she can live out the rest of her days as a pasture bum.

This is Dixie taking a nap with the buckling. He's only a few hours old. It's so amazing to me that they can get up within minutes and know where to look for their first meal. God sure is wonderful in his creations!

Lady in waiting

This is Eunice Unihorn, she is a Boer Cross doe. As you can see, Eunice is very pregnant, and we are anxiously awaiting her delivery.

Pasteurizing Colostrum

Colostrum: The first milk a mammal produces after giving birth. It is thicker and yellower than regular milk and contains special nutrients and antibodies to help a newborn.

I choose to bottle raise my kids on pasteurized milk for two reasons.

1) Bottle raised kids are generally much easier to handle. They associate people with food and are less skittish than dam raised kids.

2) Pasteurization kills the virus causing CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis) This virus doesn't affect humans, but it can be debilitating to

goats.

Here are some supplies you will need. A thermos, candy thermometer, a measuring cup and a funnel. I got this funnel set from Hoegger's Dairy Supply, and it has been one of my most used kitchen items. You can screw the funnel off the bottom and add on a screen to use it like a strainer. Very worth purchasing! You'll also need a tea kettle and a double boiler type set up.

Colostrum is touchy stuff, if you get it too hot then you'll end up with a very unappetizing and useless pudding. First I heat up my tea kettle of water, when it comes to a boil then pour it into your thermos to pre-heat it. Next set up your double boiler. As you can see, mine is creatively made. (polite terminology for rigged)

Heat the colostrum to 130*, make sure you stir occasionally. When it reaches the proper temperature dump the hot water out of your thermos and put the colostrum in. This is where the funnel or measuring cup would come in handy. Close up the thermos and set your timer for 1 hour.

When your time is up, your colostrum is pasteurized and ready to use.

This is Baco, she gave birth to 2 beautiful doe kids this evening. Baco is a registered Alpine doe.

Above is Buena and below is her sister Bonita. Aren't they just too cute?

2 More Does

What a day, Baco has been in labor all day long. Not hard labor, just very restless with much nesting and licking. Baco and Harper (a.k.a. Nougat) were given to me by my friend Cindi. Both had been bred to a nice Lesniak Hill buck in October. Harper appeared pregnant, but Baco really didn't.

Surprise! She had twin does hidden in there. Baco is a very deep bodied goat, I'll have to remember for future freshenings that if she looks really round then there must be 4 in there!

Anyhow, twin does are a good way to end the day. Both are chamoisee with black trim, one has white front legs. We're calling them Buena and Bonita.

Another Day Goes By

Dixie Chik


In case you don't know, goats are on a timetable of their own. Never mind the fact that she was technically due yesterday, or that today would have been a beautiful day to have her kids...
When you're a goat, time has no meaning.

New Life

The title of today's post is fitting for 2 reasons. First, this is the beginning of "The Crazy Goat Lady" blog. Second, we have new life on the farm!

Last evening I had promised to take the kids (2 leggers) to the mall. Having a gift card to spend was just driving someone crazy, so I agreed that as long as none of the goats looked like they were in labor or suspicious we'd go. Off we went, shopping was completed and we were just going to stop at Tim Horton's for a bite to eat when Jim called to say that "I think there's babies in the barn!"

Uh oh! Turns out that Nougat did a surprise delivery on us, she wasn't actually due for a few days. 2 nice bucks, one of which I'm planning to keep. So, I pulled them to bottle raise, not sure of her CAE status yet. Went out first thing this morning to find K in the midst of delivery. She did quite well for a first timer, 2 nice doelings. I'm leaving them on her, she is second generation bottle raised with CAE prevention.

Had to bring them all inside to make sure they were good and dry. It's been frigidly cold here this week, and I don't want to lose any ear tips to frostbite. Maddy (the Great Dane pup) is quite interested on what those small, noisy critters in the mudroom are up to. They're all back out in the barn now, doing well.

Dixie and Baco are due next..