Goat News! {Introducing Charlotte & Elly May}

I had just gotten off the phone with yet another goat farm.  I felt jittery, thrilled, nervous, elated, and every other intense emotion on the spectrum.  I was getting another goat!  Well, I was actually getting goats--plural.  And, I was getting a full-grown goat already producing milk.  The adventure sure took an unexpected turn.  Here is how it happened:

The breeder where I purchased Edna never had anymore available doelings.  So, I began calling around to try and get a goat from another breeder.  Strangely, many of the farms had stillborn doelings and/or a huge crop of bucks.

After much fruitless searching, I finally found a "lead."  However, the goat owners were reluctant to sell a doe kid by itself.  They felt that a goat kid really needed to be raised on goats milk (not cow's milk from the store like I had been feeding).  They explained the benefits of raising goats this way and offered to sell me a milking doe with her doeling.  She was a first freshener (first-time mama) with twins, a buck and doe.

As I got off the phone with the farm, a nagging feeling came over me.  A full grown goat?  No.  I don't have a milking stand or a permanent shelter built, I reasoned.  But then again, how hard is it to build these things?  I called the farm back to tell them I seriously wanted the pair!  My only concern was that the kid's name was Enya.  With Edna around, that name would have to be changed to Elly May!

 Enya--now Elly May

Early Monday morning, my alarm woke me up at 5:15 am.  I hurriedly fed Edna, cared for the puppies, and climbed into the van pulling the cattle trailer.  I was so excited (to say the very least)!  About 8:15, we pulled into the farm.  The owners of the farm led us to their goat barn.  It was more like a goat palace!  We started the tour in the milking room.  Charlotte (the goat we were purchasing) was eager to be milked.  She hopped up on the stand and greedily butted her head for some grain.  I learned the process of wiping her teats off with an Iodine solution.  Then I started squirting away.  The milk came out easily, although the whole process was a bit laborious and tedious (teat-ious!)!

A rear view of the goat barn...

Next we were given a demonstration of how to mix up goat ration.  The goats have been on a barley/oat mix.  These grains are mixed together in a large barrel with some sunflower seeds, beet pellet, and molasses.

The goats at the farm had a lovely yard with lots of trees.  Charlotte stood on her hind legs trying to reach some high branches in the trees!  While the big goats played, Elly May got tattooed.  Her one ear has the letters SHTX while the other ear has E4 (E for 2014, 4 for the 4th kid born on the farm).  It is quite funny, Edna is tattooed with E4 as well!

We brought the goats home without event (except for stopping at three feed stores looking for alfalfa hay).  Charlotte seems quite stressed out by the huge change, however she is settling in nicely.  Edna loves having a little playmate, and Elly May is very sociable.  They weigh the same amount (22 pounds) even though they are 3 weeks apart!

Elly May rode in a dog crate, and Charlotte carefully guarded it the whole way home!

Finally Home!

I am learning so much through this process…flexibility, patience, persistence, trust, etc.  "Everything you need to know about life, you can learn on the farm!"  I am thankful to the Lord for setting me in this marvelous classroom.

Sneak Peak: I plan to post a "milking update" soon, but Charlotte milked almost 1/2 gallon just this morning!

Exciting Milestones

Each new week of goat-adventuring brings new challenges and new joys.  There are many fun experiences and many frustrations along the way.  Through it all, it is amazing to observe the way God designed goats to function and how to be a good goat keeper.

 

One new milestone this week was Edna's increased grain intake.  She should have been eating grain several weeks ago, but she didn't seem too interested in it.  I had it out in a little feeder for her, but I had not forced her to eat it.  This past week I realized: my goat is 6 weeks old and not eating solids!  I kicked in a grain-eating scheme.  I crushed up the pellets into little pieces and held Edna in a "head-lock."  I pressed the handful of goat feed to her mouth and forced her to take a nibble.  Crunch, crunch, crunch.  Hey, it wasn't too bad!  My goal is to get her to eat about a handful per day.  Edna now is starting to nibble on grain when I leave it out "free choice."  The challenge is to keep the puppies form gobbling it up and the rain or dew from soaking it!

The other milestones reached this week were the building of the shelter and milking stand!  These had been looming projects and it is nice to have them finished

Building the shelter:

First, an 8' by 8' square was framed out of 2x4's.  Then two 16' cattle panels were bent over the top.

The cattle panels were secured with fence staples.

After that, 8' fiberglass sheets were screwed into some wood strips on the other side of the cattle panels.

 Ta-Da!  The finished product!  

I realized didn't get any pictures of building the milking stand.  The two middle pieces of wood on the milking stand will be able to "clamp" a goat's head to constrain the animal during milking, hoof trimming, etc.  The floor is braced underneath the platform so it should be strong and wide enough to hold a heavy goat and let me sit next to it to milk.

Edna already likes the set up!

Other notable facts this week include closely monitoring Edna's weight.  She is a few pounds underweight still.  She is 6 weeks, and has just hit 20 pounds.  I have started looking into the possibility of coccidiosis (worms).  This disease is a leading cause of stunted growth, and it could be mineral deficiency.  I plan to continue to check into these different causes to figure out what might be the problem!

I have also continued the goat shopping this week.  I have called many different goat farms in search of another doeling.  Edna is still so lonely!  Thankfully, I have a couple of leads.  I hope to bring home more goats this week!

Looking back over this week, all of the frustrations and joys combine into a long string of milestones…What an adventure!

Scrub-a-dub-dub

Edna got really dirty this morning.  So dirty, I deemed it necessary to give her a bath!  After a quick Google search, I figured out it would probably not hurt to dunk her in the tub.  An old molasses cow lick tub was moved into position on the front porch for the purpose at hand.

(Notice Edna looking over the edge as the tub filled with water...she is very curious!)

 

I swiped the shampoo from the bathroom.  Edna got organic shampoo!

I plopped Edna in the water.  I was very careful not to get her head wet, as her disbudding scabs have just fallen off.  The water was not terribly frigid, although she her back arched considerably.  She was peaceful as I squirted a bit of shampoo and scrubbed her body.

Scrub-a-dub-dub!

I sprayed her off with the hose to get all the suds off.  She smelled sweet!

I dried Edna off with an old sheet.  She bounced up onto the puppies crate and proceeded to shake vigorously to get dry!

She was a wet...but clean...goat!  (Her head looks sad with the scabs gone.  Hopefully her hair will grow back soon!)

Thus, was the adventure of giving my goat a bath...

Around the Farm

 It is fascinating to observe the symbiotic relationships of farm animals.  The dogs "protect" the goat, the goat produces milk, the chickens produce the eggs, and the cattle produces beef.  All of this works together to create the complex relationships of farm life.  Simply beautiful.

Okay, back to reality.  It doesn't always work perfectly.  The dogs sometimes terrorize the goat, the goat and chickens don't even produce their "products" yet, and the cows fight the neighbor's cows over the fence.  Although the animals can create challenges, it is still interesting to watch them interact.

 

I don't think Edna realized this steer was several hundred pounds bigger than her.

 

The puppies' crate makes a great stage for Edna's performance!

 Edna's goal: Higher and Higher

 Whoa!  She surprises me when she jumps down so quickly!

 If there is one word that describes Edna's behavior, it is "feisty."  She likes to challenge the dogs!

 

 The chickens don't interact with the dogs or goats too much, but they are still a vital part of farm life.  Their happy chirps fill the air!

It truly is an amazing sight to see the animals living together on the farm.

Got Milk?

My #2 reason for owning a goat is for the excellent milk production. (My #1 reason, of course, is to enjoy the goat adventure!)  Goats produce more milk for their body weight than cows (from what I have read).  The entrepreneur in me understands that that is a better return on my investment.  I have "milky" dreams of drinking cool glasses of yummy milk and even trying to make soft cheeses.  

The ironic aspect of raising a "bottle-baby," is that I first have to put milk "in" to one day make milk come "out!"  Edna doesn't seem to be gaining as much weight as I would like her too (she is maybe a pound or two under weight).  So, I have started adding a little bit more fat to her diet.  There is a common bottle-feeding recipe circulating using whole milk, buttermilk, and evaporated milk.  I poured out about 1/3 of the whole gallon, then added the can of evaporated milk and a cup of buttermilk.  I refilled the gallon with the milk I had poured out, shook it up, heated it up, and fed it to the goat!  Hopefully, it will help her gain weight at a steady pace now!

 Poor Edna!  She had to wait to be fed until I took this picture for the blog!

 Got Milk?  Yum! Yum!

The other excitement of the day consisted of getting a new collar!  Edna now has a sporty pink collar which is a lot stronger than her previous ribbon around her neck.  She is getting quite zippy when I open the gate and sometimes needs to be puuuuullllled back into safety!

 Edna happened to be munching on a flower in this picture!

The permanent shelter in the goat pen isn't up yet, so she is still sleeping in a dog crate filled with hay on the front porch!  I still have a heat lamp on her, not because it gets that cold at night, but because I like the warm, comforting glow as a night light shining in the window!

Edna is ready for bed!

This Way and That Way

Edna seems to keep herself pretty clean.  I found myself in the goat pen this evening with the camera, and I was surprised by the wide variety of positions Edna used to "primp."  She twisted first this way, then that way, fluffing her hair and cleaning herself off!

Clean the hind leg this way...

Clean this that way...

Stretch out to clean the front legs...

And twist around to fluff up the back...Edna is one agile goat!

 Here are some parts of Edna you might not see very often:

Little Chompers...

 Hooves:  These will need to be trimmed soon!

I gave Edna another dose of herbal wormer today.  Here's how it works:  

First measure out 1/2 teaspoon (she'll get a full teaspoon in a few months.)

Mix the wormer with a little bit of water in a small cup.

Suck the mixture into the drench syringe and you're good to go!

Well, maybe.  The wormer should be slowly squeezed into the side of the goat's mouth.  The goat should happily swallow it.  But Edna and I are both learning about wormer!  It was quite the experience!

 I am not sure Edna got the whole dose, but she got some!  Hopefully we will do better next time!

Minerals and Musings

 Hello There!  Thanks for stopping by "The Great Goat Adventure!"

Minerals:  I still have a lot of research to do in the area of minerals.  Minerals are vital to goat health.  Copper is a must, along with calcium and phosphorous.  I have heard that salt and kelp are great minerals to feed "free choice," and I am hoping to eventually formulate my own mineral mix.  Until I more fully understand minerals and find a source for purchasing them, I started feeding out MannaPro Goat Mineral.  Edna didn't seem too interested in it, however, she isn't all that interested in grain either.  Hopefully her solid-food intake will increase soon!

             
 Many goat owners have "breeding goals."  "Breeding Up" is a common term, and many breeders try to improve the genetics of their goat herd.  There seems to be two types of goat genetics: family milkers and show goats.  Both types can produce large amounts of milk, however, much of the differentiation has to do with the way the goat is "built."  I hope to strike a balance between the family milker style and the show goat style.  At this point, I don't have a desire to show, however, I might like to sell goat kids that other people can show.  Although I am still learning to understand the conformation of goats, Edna is somewhere in between a family milker and a show goat.  If I breed her to a show buck, her future kids should be really nice!  As a fellow goat owner once told me, the characteristics of show goats improve functionality.  And functionality is my main goal!

Apparently Edna thinks the grass is greener on the other side of the fence!