I'm soooo excited....

... my eggs are hatching! There are 3 chicks out and half a dozen eggs pipped. Every now and then there's a "cheap-in". I so hope that at least 50% and preferably 75% hatch with most of them being pullets! I have a cheap incubator so I can't expect as good a hatch as a quality incubator would do. Also shipped eggs don't have as high a hatch rate as fresh from the coop. Most of my hens are very young and just started to lay so may not be as fertile yet. I lost my blue roo, Blue Man (after the Blue Man group), and the black roo had just started mating with the hens so he wasn't as agile yet as he'll become.

At least I know I can successfully operate this incubator successfully!

Pics coming soon!

I've gotten some major fence work done so haven't had as much computer time lately. I have decided where to put the new fence line in and just need to get out to drive posts and start wiring it. I'll do this in stages as I need the deer to realize there is a repaired fence line running out to the new back line. The deer are a major headache with my fence. We've gotten some NICE weather the last few days and I have to take advantage of that for outside work.

Plus, my break line broke on my van. It will be back tomorrow.

Then I can go buy a refrigerator as the freezer in mine has croaked. This isn't a good time as I'm milking so can't keep my milk near cold enough. (I'm just grateful it's not mid-Summer!!!) Service calls to the country are $100 so I might be able to buy a good used one for what it would cost to repair this one. Do I put this one in the barn for use as storage of grooming tools, work tools, fencing "junque", etc or be rid of it? It might be handy to have a place to put the supplements and wormers and such during good weather too. Oh, and kidding supplies such as all the blankies, baby coats, towels, etc. Maybe I better try it out for storage. It can go to recyling if I don't find it real handy.

The septic problem is RESOLVED! FINALLY! Now I need to get the dishes and laundry caught up and that's going to be a major project unfortunately.

I'm still waiting on Claire to have her kids. What a huge belly she's swinging as she waddles along!

Raquel and Danika are now doing milking boot camp and jumping up on the stand to get some food while I pet and handle them. They're VERY ticklish and boy can a young goat hop in the back end! I swear they're trying to do a front leg "hand-stand"! They look like they'll have nice teats to milk and nice udders. Their udders aren't bagged up enough to know for sure yet but I can see the udder and teats as they are walking away from me! I like what I see so far! Kendra, their dam, is VERY easy to milk. She has a nice udder, NICE teats, NICE orifices, and NICE production. She's milking over a gallon a day already!

Busy? Who me? lol This is country life and life in general.

Kendra's Kidding!

Kendra delivered twins again on the 24th! I keep hearing people say that goats won't deliver at feeding time but they forgot to give Kendra that info! I walked into the barn to do evening chores and she had a bubble and hoof showing! I high-tailed it to the house for the towels and camera and back to the barn. She was laying down and the nose was coming along with the feet just like it should happen. I blinked and he was out and she was back on her feet in a flash to attend to her brand new boy! By the time I could get the gate open to go into the stall she turned a little and the doeling was born before she even realized what was happening. I put the TINY TINY doeling up along side her brother and started helping Kendra attend to them. I don't think she really realized she had the doeling and she didn't seem to realize she was hers! She was all about the buckling though!

I got these pics out of order! I am just stunned over how tiny this doeling is. Granted Kendra is a standard sized Alpine doe and she was bred to Nipper, a Nigerian Dwarf, but I still didn't expect this small of a baby! The kids are first generation mini Alpines. I kept thinking I should find signs of the doeling being a premie but I don't see any! She's fully haired and developed.... just extremely small. In this first pic she's under Kendra who didn't know she was there! The buckling is on Kendra's other side looking for dinner!
Meet Cute As A Button and Burglar! Button is a chamoissee doeling and has a white star on her forehead and frosted ears and muzzle. She was JUST 3 pounds soaking wet. Burglar is a cou blanc buckling and weighed just over 8 pounds almost dry. Chamoisse is the brown with black trim. Cou Blanc is the Alpine pattern with white in the front and black in the rear for a pattern and color. Both are endowed with Kendra's ability to give her offspring wattles! Some folks hate wattles and even snip them off. I LOVE wattles. I think they're cute, unique and add a bit of "extra". You can see a black spot under Burglar's neck and that's one of his wattles. His are white where they attach to the neck and black on the tips. Button's are brown with black tips.

The kids are both garbed in sweats/jackets to help dry them and then they change to another dry set to keep them warm. Kendra is noticing Buttons and just doesn't know what to think of her. She's tiny and she has a very high pitched squeak. It's a tiny squeak but not the low tones of most kids.

Here you can see how petite Buttons is (above) and you can see her star and the frosting on her ears and muzzle.

This pic (above) cracked me up even though I was concerned. Buttons is again standing directly under Kendra and she did a little bleat. Burgler is looking for the snack bar and Kendra knew he was there. She couldn't find Buttons! Buttons is so small that she can walk under Kendra and even her ears standing up don't touch Kendra's underside! Buttons also startled Kendra a few times when she came out from under her. It was like she thought she was a bug or something annoying.

It's still getting well below freezing at night and it's just too cold for Buttons to survive outside. She and Burglar are now in the house, safe and warm. Their foster mother is a mini Australian Shepherd who loves the baby goats. She grooms them and watches their every move. She cleans them up after their bottles and thinks they are HERS!

So, with kidding season in full swing, milking time is also! I'm back to milking 2x a day, bottle feeding kids and waiting for Claire to kid shortly. I've asked Claire for triplets as she's HUGE and being bred to Nipper, ND, they will be smallish compared to her past kids. She had a single her first kidding and twins last kidding.

I'm also loving the snuggling of kids. I'm loving their antics and it's amazing how young they learn to cavort, jump up on "mountains" and do mid-air gymnastics. Goat kids are just one of the cutest creatures on earth!

Daisy's Kidding!

Daisy kidded EARLY morning on the 21st! It was a very long night and I knew she was going to have them. I also knew she was having multiples and it could easily be triplets as her dam has triplets every year. We are still having COLD nights below freezing so I knew the only way they'd live is if I was present. I got a half hour nap early on in the evening and then an hour before hubby was going to bed. That was it as I was afraid I'd fall asleep and loose these kids. At 4 am Daisy finally got going better and delivered the first 2, both doelings and both red heads!

Then over an hour passed and I really didn't think she was done as the doelings were "too small" for her to have twins and she still looked too wide! She had twin doelings last year and they were both much larger than these 2 little girls. So I was patient and of course occupied as it was COLD out by then and I had 2 soggy wet little girls to help Daisy clean up and to get DRY and warm! Those LONG ears sure do hold a lot of fluid and took for ever to get really dry. I didn't want to have them frost bit so it took some work! In the mean time Daisy was still having contractions and would pause and look, lay down and get right back up, and pace.... along with trying to tend her girls. Sometimes it just takes time for a baby inutero to get in position to be delivered normally and successfully and boy did this fella do that! He's twice the size of the doelings and he's a little chunk from the get-go!

I'm having a time naming the kids this year. I'm working on names for the 2 doelings. In the meantime, meet Clifford, the red goat who will eventually be a big red goat! He does have some white on him though and he's SHARP!

All 3 are doing wonderful! Daisy had a rough time after delivery and put some fears into me. I've heard it said that a doe will produce milk based on the number of kids she has. That may be true with Daisy! Her udder is HUGE and she just kept getting bigger and bigger! Her udder was so swollen and getting hard that I was afraid she was going to be engorged badly. I warmed olive oil and peppermint oil and took it out every 2 hours during the day for a couple days and gently massaged the oil into her udder and made sure the kids were getting enough to eat and all 3 were getting fed. Daisy really appreciated the gentle massaging and stood snoozing furing it. She did soften up and the kids did increase their intake so that she now is not near so large and they are eating very well. Daisy is a WONDERFUL momma and if the kids want to eat she's standing there letting them. She mothers them and seems to be enjoying their company.

Hubby and I really like Daisy a LOT! This doe is super sweet and will stand at the gate gazing into our faces and LOVES to be loved on! She has horns and she keeps them out of the way and off everything. She's very conscientious in that. I never liked horns on goats before but she's given me a whole new opinion.... some goats are NO problem with their horns! So far last year's twins are the same way with theirs!

This year I will most likely sell all 3 of Daisy's kids. I have Daisy and her 2 daughters from last year, Latte and Coffee Bean, who we really enjoy and like. I also traded 2 young red-headed bucks for Daisy's sisters, Mo'Nique and Macey. The 2 are triplets and one doe had been spoken for before their dam kidded. I was tickled to be able to get Mo'Nique and Macey! They are also VERY sweet. So, I can't keep all of them and will probably let the triplets from this year go. Their sire is one of the red-headed boys I traded for Mo'Nique and Macey.

Spirit's Twins

Spirit kidded twins on the 19th! What a WONDERFUL way to start kidding season! Spirit is fairly new here and she's also one of the sweetest goats there is. She insisted at the start of labor that she wasn't doing this alone and I was EXPECTED to be right there holding her hoof, massaging her neck and withers and coaching. When I THOUGHT I was leaving her side for a bit she was at the gate SCREAMING bloody murder for me to get right back there! After all, I forgot to ask if I could leave and she'd never have agreed in the first place. I had a job to be doing and she fully expected my presence and cooperation.

In my defense, I only wanted to go get towels, sweats for the kids (is was evening and daylight was soon to be gone.

Spoiled goat that she is, I hurried to get the towels and then hurried back to her side as a good goatie owner SHOULD!

And, who would have wanted to miss the birth of these 2 darlings?
Here's Becca (as in Rebecca) and what a doll she is! This little doeling (below) is technically, per the registery, a two-toned chamoisee but she has the cou blanc pattern. Cou blanc requires all black for the rear and she has the brown of the chamoisee on her sides and the black trim that goes with it. You can call her color/pattern what you want, but she's gorgeous either way! In non-goat terms, she's black, brown and white. Meet Bandit! He's wearing a mask and stealing hearts! What a sweet and charming little buckling he is! He's a chamoisse with no white! In non-goat terms, he's brown with black trim. If you think he's cute here you should see him in person! He's gorgeous! I'm not sure how I got this pic as they stand still for less time that the delay on a digital camera is. I have never taken so many blurry pics! And then all of a sudden the camera and Bandit had a brief moment of cooperation!

Spirit and her beau, Mikey, did a FABULOUS job! I'm really tickled to have the opportunity to own this wonderful doe and now these to GORGEOUS kids! All 3 will be staying here!

A HUGE thank you to Udder-Paradise for allowing me to own Spirit and these 2 remarkable kids! I can't thank them enough!

Goat Games and Puzzles!

Marna, over to www.workinggoats.com , has something new on her site! Memory games and a daily jigsaw puzzle are available at: http://www.workinggoats.com/?id=282

I just did today's jigsaw puzzle and it was a great level for a bit of a challenge and not too easy. I enjoy jig saw puzzles and that I can do them without the cats destroying them during mouse maneuvers!

My tip for Marna's puzzles is to enlarge to the full screen so you can move the pieces around the edge of the puzzle while working on the border pieces. And, HAVE FUN!

I can't wait until she gets her new mooonspoted wether home and has pics of him to make into puzzles!

Great idea, Marna, and GOOD JOB!

She's TINY!

After my update I went to do chores and there's Kendra, AT FEEDING TIME, with hooves and a nose in the bag just emerging. So we have another set of twins! These are mini Alpines and MINI fits this doeling! She was like picking up a feather and just 3 pounds soaking wet! The white under Kendra's belly and above the doeling's back is her twin brother who is black and white - cou blanc in Alpine terms.


And this is why I've been soooo busy! These little "gifts" need to be dry and well fed before I can end my day. I did get up and go check on this tiny gal a few times during the night to make sure she was not chilling and was eating. She's wearing sweats so has some help being warm (and her brother has sweats too).

Now it's Claire's turn and she's not far off and has started nesting.

Belated Update

Wow.... I've been busy.

On the 10th, my eggs came to try to hatch out the light Brahma chicks. Eggs need to set for about 24 hours to stablize the air cell in the shell from being "tossed about" in shipping. On the 11th I put the shipped eggs and my saved eggs in the incubator. I have 43 in there and have my finger crossed. I so want this to work....

Friday, the 19th we had to do some errands and get groceries. I was watching Spirit as she was very alert/vigilant and her udder had made a big progression on the 18th. When we got home from errands, she had a bit of goop and when I walked into the barn she was just a screaming at me. I quickly fed everyone and she ignored her food and continued to issue her goatie orders. I went in her pen and she immediately settled down and got quiet. She then wanted to give me a goatie bath. What a licker! We had gotten home about 4:50 and she kidded at 9 pm. It took a couple hours of course to dry the kids and get them fed. I'll introduce her twins in another post with pics!

Sunday, I was up all night except for a half hour nap and later an hour nap. I've been wiped out from loosing so much sleep and busy with taking care of Daisy and her triplets! Daisy had twins last year and kept focusing on the first born. So I knew as big as she was I needed to be there to assist with anything needed and to make sure they got dried up quickly. Our night temps are still down in the teens and low 20's. Daisy had trips and being Boer, there's a lot of ear on them. So the babies had to have those ears dry so the cold ears didn't add to all over chilling with their entry. It was a long day on Monday! And I'm still trying to recoup. I'll introduce them in another post too. I do have some pics now!

The worst part was I missed a couple of the dances on Dancing with the Stars. I had to make a couple trips to the barn during it to check on Daisy and the kids. Then when I tried to vote on line I couldn't get on the site! Bummer as I love watching and voting for this show. But, the 3 kids are eating and Daisy isn't ignoring any of them. She's got her momma game on and doing her job. We do have a huge udder that is just FULL. They should all 3 eat well!

I also had to do some more fence work as the deer took out some more of my electric fence. I kinda enjoy this time of year making a trip around part of the fence line at a time. It's a time of year to see what winter has done, what the deer have missed or damaged, and signs of spring. I also check out the fence and see what is needed to make the 2nd trip around to have a good repair done. It's also a nice relaxing time to ponder things as I like to be outside and enjoy the quiet of nature and it's soft sounds. It was a good day for that work as there weren't a lot of sounds from human things.

We're also working on trying to figure out where the cover is for our septic tank. It needs some attending and I thought the rock was on the cover. Wrong...... So I've been trying to find it digging here and there. I got hubby to start helping and he went out and filling in my holes!!!! If it was a good lawn like in town it wouldn't matter but this isn't a good lawn. It's rough digging with heavy clay soil and lots of rock. :( It needs done ASAP.

That's the highlights and of course there is all the other daily doings!

Brief Note!

Where has the last week flown too? I've been so busy and yet kept thinking about HAVING to get something posted! Well, one thing leads to another and the faster I go the behinder I get!

I will post more asap but thought I'd check in and let you all know one of the does kidded so be ready for the announcement. I got the pics (not the best) and have them cropped and ready. Now I have another I think might be kidding tonight or in the morning. It's pretty cold out so I'll be in the barn most of the night if this looks to be progressing and not just the plug. I thought she'd already lost that so we'll see. I wasn't able to judge alertness the last trip out because I had to grab a hen and relocate her which caused a chicken ruckus so I would assume that was the cause of her alertness.

This is spring on a farm with babies being born! The incubator is also running so I need to update you all about that news too!

So don't forget about my blog and I'll be back with the announcement asap. Thanks for your patience!

A Sign of Spring - Chickens!

I'm all into chickens the last couple of days!

I don't remember where this photo came from but I LOVE it! Some hens are worth their weight in gold for being good mothers! And what a nice warm, snug place for a nap for a kitten! I have this pic on my computer as wallpaper. I don't know who owns her and her odd brood, but thank you for sharing such a neat pic! Of course I'll remove it if requested. I do envy them a neat hen!

We made the trip to meet up and trade chickens with some folks. Mr Roo went to live with some Isa Brown hens. The folks had a trio of Favorelles and they lay a pinkish egg. They wanted brown eggs. Their roo is a happy fella who likes to crow more than they liked too. So Mr Roo went there to tend their hens and I have a trio of Favorelles. I'm tickled as I love the coloring of a Fav roo. He's a handsome dude, was a "noisy" dude and is now dubbed Dude. He and his pair of hens have joined my Favorelle X and the Silkie X hens in the goat pen in the barn. They seemed happy to find the goats have grain scattered all over for them to clean up. My Fav X hen hid and the Silkie hen followed them around talking to them. The goats weren't sure what to think about the roo's bright colors and gathered round to investigate and watch them instead of finishing their dinner. It looked like it would all work out fine.

The hatching eggs are on their way, having been shipped from 3 hours away yesterday. They weren't on the am express truck at the PO but hopefully will be at noon. They'll need to settle so the air cells stabilize and tomorrow they and my collection of eggs will go in the incubator. This will be fun to hatch my own eggs. The eggs coming will be mostly light Brahmas. They are white with black hackle feathers around the neck and some long wing and tail feathers also black. They also have feathered legs. The shipper has an Australorp roo with some hens who are Australorps, buff Orpingtons, Americaunas and Rhode Island Reds. There will be a few eggs from that group of chickens also to make a full 2 dozen eggs.

I've been collecting my eggs with hope of having a new blue Cochin roo being a racoon or possum got Blue Man last week. My pen consists of the Cochins, 3 Americaunas, 1 buff Orpington, 1 Orpicauna and another Americauna X hen.

Depending on the breeds, I'll have a few roo chicks to either sell or butcher. The pullets will be kept or sold depending on the breed. And I hope there's a blue Cochin roo to keep or even a blue splash Cochin roo!

I'm making several trips per day to collect eggs with hopes they don't get too cold and then marking them with a pencil as to the date collected, how the egg feels (cold, tepid, warm) and if it was a Cochin's egg. I have gotten 1 blue Cochin egg and 1 black for sure so marked that also.

I have to take hubby to get blood work done Friday and I'm going to head out to TSC to see what they have chick wise. Maybe they'll have a few I "can't live without"! I already bought a bag of chick starter and I'm ready to set up the brooder tub.

I'm going to learn to candle eggs too! I've done it a long time ago but now it's "serious business"!

Did you know that chickens are our "pets" with benefits? They have a life expectancy of 8-12 years if they live a natural life. The hens are definitely "working girls" with a job that includes bug control, weed reduction, soil aeration, and composters. They often times share the experience of the cycle of life. They sing, dance, cavort around, race, play bug tag and fly a bit. They also supply us with eggs, sometimes meat, and an opportunity to pause to enjoy them and smile!

I'm off to get in gear! It's been a quiet morning but I have a lot I need to get done! Have a good day and thanks for stopping by my blog for a few minutes. I hope you find something enjoyable to read!

Sunday Report

This is my 5th post of the day! I have 4 does who will be do soon/any time. I thought folks might like to guess how many kids they'll have, when, etc. So I posted them individually with a few pics and gave what info I could. The junior does will come later. So make sure you read all the posts today!

The goats are due soon and I'm started to get excited. I hope it's a good year kidding. With my first mini Alpines due out of a new buck, Nipper, who is an ND it should be!

This last week has been very busy. We finally got some warmer weather and I gave up and bought new hoof trimmers. I also got quite a few goats trimmed. We were having problems with Daisy's feet and I'm still a bit concerned. I don't know if the incessant laying down is due to her huge belly or if her feet hurt or what. The soles were a bit crumbly so I treated her for foot rot. We've continued to trim on her feet every few days trying to get them caught up. During a goat escape, my nippers (which I LOVED) disappeared and I couldn't find them. I was to the point they must have flown off the stand and bounced away from where the basket landed. True to form, after I found some new ones I like, the others surfaced!

Last week a predator got into the chain link pen with a buck and my Cochin chickens. We've seen coons, possums and smelled a skunk all last week. The dogs killed a possum in their dog yard and Murphy (corgi) broke out and killed one in the back yard. I don't know what got Blue Man, my blue Cochin roo who I REALLY liked, but it also returned. The hens aren't happy and have cut back on the egg laying in protest. Now every day I go out I'm cringing hoping my hens are ok. I REALLY like these Cochins and don't want to be loosing them! I don't want to loose any of my chickens! Hubby hopes he has the broken live trap fixed. I'm hoping so too as the war was started by the predators who think I'm offering free and easy chicken dinners! They can raid the compost piles all they want. They just need to leave MY critters alone and live harmoniously but they don't. :( So it's a critter war.

Due to the loss of Blue Man (yes, after the Blue Man group I've seen on tv), I've been saving every egg I do get and marking the date and what it's temp felt like when I got it. I've been going out hourly to collect eggs as the Americauna hens were eating eggs bad last year. I'm HOPING that I might have some fertile Cochin eggs. I just don't know if the individual brown eggs are laid by the Cochins or the Orpington hens. I also have 3 green eggs so far that I'm adding in. I have fiddled with the new incubator a lot and checked the temp, etc. I decided what would help me watch the humidity, etc. I'm ready to set eggs. I've sent my money for some hatching eggs to add a new breed I'm interested in.

Tuesday we are to go meet the folks with the Favorelles and finally get the chicken trade done. Between bad weather, illness, family commitments it's been hard to get it done with their daughter (who seems really nice and has a BAD drive to get down here in the winter). I was hoping the new little hen and my Fav would start laying so I could add their eggs to the incubator too but no luck. I'll have to wait til the next hatching for adding theirs and the new Favs' eggs. It will be a Fav rooster though and that is FINE!

Fortunately, some of the snow is melting off. It's a mess. I'm out of grain in the barn and my van is LOADED! I went out to move it to the barn this am thinking the snow was down enough and the ground would be hard enough but.... of course not. My van is stuck half way to the barn. I'll now dig the front wheels out and liberally add kitty litter and hope I can move it later when it gets back below freezing. This isn't good as we have one or 2 more nights of the temp dropping below freezing over night and then a few nights with it above. Once it's above, the frost will start dropping out of the ground and I'll be there for ever! I hate to ask the neighbor to come pull me out as his tractor rips the yard and drive up terribly and I HATE those deep ruts.

On the home front, my 2 dogs are coming into heat. I'm not breeding any pups in this economy. I won't breed unless I have puppy homes mostly prearranged, etc. It isn't a good time. Also with the economy, there are more dogs in the rescues and shelters due to people needing to move, and the rough things happening in their lives. I'd rather see those dogs rehomed first and the balance in life stableized. I was attending shows and hoping to show my male - didn't work out. I also don't want to breed my female Corgi. I don't know if it's her former hip injury or DM, but she's having problems and her eyes have gotten bad. I'm afraid her genetics might not be up to my standards so no pups for her. She had 1 litter and I now regret it. I've not had the money to get her spayed and I'd like too. I don't live where there are low cost programs and the vet quoted me over $100. I do a lot of crating and confining with crates and gates! The boys can get quite testy with each other. But that is also life and has it's responsibilities!

Homesteading and farming are definitely something one must think about and plan around! Other wise it's too hard, too messy and just not a happy proposition! I like to try to make things easier on myself. I try to do what is right for the animals I'm lucky enough to have!

My walnut squash bread is done so I need to get a move on! Have a great weekend and I hope you'll post your guesses on the kiddings on the threads for each of the first 4 to kid. I sold the other 4 who would have been in the first-round kidding.

Kendra

Kendra is very hard to get pics of! So we end up with 2 bad pics! I'm sorry but at least you can see her belly!

Kendra is the herd queen. She came from a larger dairy and acts like she didn't have a lot of individual attention or maybe it's just her status of royalty, being queen! She's not a lovey, hands on doe but she has finally decided she does like having her neck and jaws rubbed and scritched and she now comes to ask for it. She finally decided she could lower herself to eating treats and would rather grab the whole container than have it held for her. I guess she thinks if she grabs and drops the spillage gives her a better method for choosing her favorite and scarfing up more than I intended on doleing out!

Kendra is also bred to Nipper, the ND buck. He's black with frosted ears and muzzle, around his tail and has a couple moon spots. Kendra should be 5 this year and I'm not sure how many kiddings she's had. I know she kidded a large buckling before I got her (in milk) and last year she produced twin doelings (Raquel/chamoise & Danika/cou claire) who are very elegant. Kendra is a bit long bodied, and deep bodied. She carried her twins well last year and looks to be doing the same this year. She was in heat Oct 2nd and joined Nipper October 16th. These will also be first-generation mini Alpines.

Leave a comment with your guesses!

Claire

Again, I'm sorry for the cruddy pics!

Claire got to join the buck of her interests, Nipper, who is my ND buck on Oct. 16th. I didn't know if I was going to breed her this year because she tore last year and had a very rough couple weeks after kidding. I thought I was going to loose her. She made the valliant effort to rally and pulled it off.


I spent a lot of time trying to decide what was best for her and if I should breed her. The decision was made and I'm going to have to live with it of course. Breeding decisions are not always easily made. I so hope I made the right one. I also hope she has SMALL kids being Nipper is an ND. The kids will be first generation, experimental mini Alpines. Nipper is also black with frosted ears and muzzle, some frost around the edge of his tail and a couple moon spots. Claire is Sundgau and no white spots other than her normal Sundgau white trim.

This will be Claire's 3rd freshening. She had a single buckling the first kidding, twins (doeling/Cinnamon & buckling/Buckley) last kidding and all of a sudden she is really "popping out" to the sides. She's also slowed down, but not nesting yet.

Claire is a very sweet doe. I like her immensely. She's also VERY personable. Milking MUST start with nuzzling my neck and face and then we can get down to business. As soon as she's done eating, she likes to pull the ponytail band off my hair or bandana off my foreheard and dink around with them up in the air. She also expects her treat before leaving the milk stand. She has a variety of treats she likes and prefers to use her own muzzle to choose one rather than me choosing unless it's fig or apple newtons. Then she would just prefer the whole package right now! She's a fund doe to have around and very cooperative.

Leave a comment letting me know when, what, how many or what ever guesses you'd like to make!

Free Spirit

Here is Spirit, who is the new doe I recently got. She's another sweetie! I can't give you details other than this is her 2nd freshening and she had twins the first time. She was an accidental pasture breeding so they didn't have a good date.... just that she's bred (had an US) and should be due in March.

She has started laying down a lot more and not getting up so fast when I walk into the barn. Yesterday she was doing a lot of pawing and had me stopped to watch and look closely at her. I've not seen signs of the plug but had the feeling from what was said that she'd kid maybe next week or the following.

She's softening quite a bit in the ligaments, partially bagged up like she could just fill and kid. I've seen discharge but have noticed the change to being due soon.


She's a very deep bodied doe so carrying this load pretty evenly spread out. She's DEEP and WIDE and would be elgible for a large load bumper sticker! She's not moving other than a walk these days.


Leave a comment for Spirit also as to when you think she'll kid, how many and what.

Daisy

Daisy is a 75% Boer x 25% Alpine doe and the sweetest goat one could have! She LOVES people and doesn't have a mean bone to her. She's bottom of the pecking order and shouldn't have to be but she's just not competitive. She's white with a heavily roaned, red cape that is hard to see. She has horns that she NEVER uses except to scratch herself with a dreamy look of enjoyment to her face. She doesn't like her horns to touch us and ALWAYS moves her head if there's even light contact with them. She passed that kindness and like of humans to her 2 doelings SHE raised last year. They are as chummy as she is and just "dolls". That was her first kidding - 2 doelings that we also adore.

Daisy was stalled (Oct 16) with a young buck (98% & caped), Maury, who was also very nice disposition wise and handsome! I can't wait to see what she produces this time! She's getting very close and is spending a LOT of time laying down. In fact the other day, hubby went in to trim on her feet and she layed with her head in his lap and fell asleep!

Daisy brought her udder and milking through the Alpine side and she has a beautiful udder for being a higher % Boer! She's bagged up, swollen behind, very loose in the ligaments and looking read to go soon. She's had a couple days of her tail looking like it's been "slimed" some so I'm thinking that was maybe her plug or she's just CLOSE.

Sorry for the crappy pics. I had to take them in the barn to get them still enough to get pics and it still wasn't easy as Daisy is a doe who's either standing up on the gate to be loved on or eating. I thought you might like to guess when Daisy will kid, what she'll have and how many. The pics are here to help you guess. She has her hair coat roughed up as she's been rubbing her horn on herself making her look rough. She's thinner over the spine this year and I'm giving her what seems to me too much grain mix. It has alfalfa pellets, black-oil sun flower seeds and beat pulp in it so they can be given more than one would like but..... Also, this is her 2nd freshening.

Leave a comment and lets see who gets what right and who's closest to her
kidding time.

Recipes and Yahoo Groups

I have started a 2nd recipe/food group and thought I'd mention them in case they are something you may be interested in. Both have a write up on the home page so you can get more details if you're interested. Here are the links:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoatMilkCheeseMeat/
Along with our goat milk, cheese and meat, we welcome those who have a milk cow or milk sheep. Also if one buys goat or sheep cheese, milk or meat they can find some good recipes and a place to ask questions.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PoultryLoversCanCook/
This group JUST started for folks with poultry to have a place to get ideas and recipes for use of their meat and eggs.

I'm considering putting links for all my groups here on the blog. I can add them through the gadget feature and then have the purple group logo and hot link.

Yesterday and Today

Now, aren't they just the cutest? I really do think pigs are cute and boy are they ever SMART! We've raised quite a few over the years and like all meat, home-raised is the best!

I JUST (today, this evening) read that yesterday was National Pig Day. A day to be thankful for and celebrate the domestic pig.

Yesterday we had green eggs and ham for dinner! Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday. I didn't remember that!

I find it interesting that I made green eggs and ham for supper yesterday and today find there is a correlation between it all!

Aren't my green eggs great? I enjoy marveling at the colors that eggs come in and enjoy photos of eggs. Maybe that's weird, but .....