Due Dates Fast Approaching!

Spring is in the air!  We have been experiencing very warm temperatures (I often forget the calendar still says February!).  With the changing of the seasons, I am becoming increasingly mindful that the goat's due dates are only six weeks away!  I can't wait to have cute little goat kids again, although I am thoroughly enjoying this season of no milking and minimal chores!

I had to create a reminder list to help me remember when to give what to which goat.  I plan on giving vitamin E and selenium gel to the goats both 5 weeks and 3 weeks before they kid.  I plan to give them their yearly CD/T (Tetanus) shots at 4 weeks before kidding.

Their goat tummies are getting rounder by the day!  Expectation is growing!

See you next time!

Frosty Morning!

It was 29 degrees on this beautiful, brisk morning!  The water trough was even iced over!

My morning chores consisted of refilling the minerals...

...and the kelp!

Elly May was very thankful for the new yummy treats!

Poor Edna!  She got pushed out of the goat hut while the other goats were enjoying the minerals and kelp. This expression looks like she is asking if I have any more for her!

Hello from the Goat Pen!

This blog has experienced another quiet season!  Since it is a goat blog, it seems to follow the yearly cycle of goat farming.  There is lots of busyness in the Spring with baby goats and lots of milk!  Then things settle into some sort of "normal" (may I use that word?) routine during the late Summer and into Fall.  There is a burst of excitement in the Fall when the goats get bred, then they are dried off for a while and the pattern repeats.  Here is a little update of what has been going on in the goat pen:

All of the does are finally bred!  Depending on the weather, goats typically have a "heat" every 3 weeks beginning sometime in August and lasting until December.  I waited and waited and waited for the goats to go into heat this year!  About mid-October I began to get a little concerned that they weren't going to get bred!  I think the goats were reluctant to go into heat since I don't keep a buck.  They often need the scent of a buck to start up their heats!  So, we went on a "field trip" to the visit a buck.  I rubbed a rag on the buck and hung it in the goat pen when we got home.

Charlotte and the buck!

Finally, at the beginning of November, Edna went into heat.  Then Elly May.  Then Charlotte!  I am so glad that they were all bred within 8 days of each other!  Come the first of April, we should have a full week of kidding time!

Except for the occasional goat fight, things have been peaceful in the goat pen.  Edna is dry now and Charlotte is still milking about 1/2 quart every other day.

Since the does are all pregnant, I have been boosting their vitamins.  They get apple cider vinegar dumped in their grain several times a week.  Thankfully they don't mind the tart taste!  Elly May is slightly copper deficient.  I noticed this as she has several copper colored blotches on her jet-black coat.  At the recommendation of a friend, I began dosing all of the goats with Replamin Gel Plus to make sure they are getting enough of the right minerals and vitamins.   They have also been getting kelp, a nutrient-dense dried seaweed, which they absolutely love!

I am enjoying these "Winter" days of goat farming.  The routine is efficient, the goats are peaceful, and we have the expectation of baby goats arriving when our Texas winter turns into Spring!

See you later...

Hay There!

I have been greatly enjoying the generosity of some fellow goat keepers!  They gave me access to a free hay source.  I was able to load up the truck and get enough hay to last the summer (hopefully)!  It is such a blessing to have others share their resources with me!

I have a new hay feeder for the new hay source.  This feeder holds a WHOLE bale of hay.  I was having to refill the hay every day or so with the other feeder which made for a lot of work!  This new feeder (designed and constructed by my brother) makes chores much easier and the goats like it too!

Now, for a few random goat pictures:

Edna...she seems to miss Fritz quite a bit.  I hadn't started weaning Fritz, so she found it quite a shock when he left the goat pen and never came back.  She most misses him after milking time when she makes a sad, low goat cry!

Charlotte's udder!  I am milking only once a day, and she milks about 3/4 gallon.

This picture accidentally got uploaded with this group of photos and I thought I would post it anyway!  This was sometime last spring.  It is amazing how much Elly May and Edna have grown!

Cute Kids!

Once I knew that the bucklings would be "gone for good," I took a bunch of pictures of them.  Enjoy this mini photo-shoot of Fritz and Frankincense!

That expression is so funny! 

Fritz exploring new heights!

"Why do you say I'm nosey?"

This photo shows Fritz's coloring quite well.  He has so many colors that I wasn't sure how to describe his coloring on his registration application.  I finally ended up calling him a "Belted Chamoise (the male spelling, not to be confused with Chamaisee the female spelling) with white markings on his face and legs." 

Howdy, Y'all!

Lick, lick, lick!

Wattles are Wonderful!

Thanks for enjoying my "Cute Kids" today!

"Go Green" with Green Ears

In order to legally register the goats with the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA), they must be tattooed.  The easiest place to tattoo them is in the ear.  The left ear is for the year identification letter (this year is "F") and the goats "birth order" number (Frankincense was born first in my herd, so he was #1 and Fritz was #2).  The right ear is for the herd identification letters/numbers.  Tattooing goes along with disbudding in my list of goat herding dislikes.  It makes them cry, which makes me feel sad too!

First some green ink is rubbed into the goat's ear.

The number/letter combination is placed into the tattoo pliers.   When the prongs squeeze into the ear, it permanently presses the ink into the ear's skin.

After that, more ink is rubbed into the ear and the tattooing is over.  And the goat is left with green ears for a while!

Green ears!

It is quite funny as the newly tattooed goats rub on the other goats and everyone ends up with little green streaks on them!  It will soon fade and disappear, but for now...

"Go Green!"

Sold!

Ahhh...I feel like peace has been restored to the goat pen.  The bucklings are sold!

About a month ago I put an ad for this little goat on Craigslist.  I was so busy that I didn't take time to see whether it had actually posted.  I don't think it had.  (And I wasn't that serious about selling him either at that time!  I was still enjoying the kids!)  

But last week I realized that the bucklings needed to go.  The does are showing signs of heat and I didn't want them to accidentally breed them as bucklings are "mature" at only 8-12 weeks old!  They were also taking up space, stealing milk from the does, starting to smell, eating more, and causing a ruckus at feeding time with their yelling and whippersnappering.  They needed to GO!

I went into my Craigslist account and reworked the ad.  Then the inquiries started coming!  Within a few days, I had a serious buyer!  I only had Frankincense listed, but I gave the buyer a sales pitch to take Fritz too.  Thankfully, they agreed to purchase both!

Sunday afternoon we loaded up the bucklings in the back of the truck to meet their new owner!

I gave them some water and parked in the shade.  It was hot!  In the future I will remember that it is best not to transport animals at midday in the Texas summer.  We enjoyed the bucklings and reflected on how fun the past 3 months had been with the goat kids:  I was giddy with excitement waiting for them to arrive, I cried when they were born, I had worried about them throughout the torrential rain storms, I had cuddled them on an almost daily basis...It had been fun.  But it was also time for them to go.

The new owner arrived at our meeting place and loaded them up in the back of a nice air conditioned Saab.  Spoiled goats!  I have heard that they are settling nicely into their new home.  The new owner hopes to breed Frankincense to his goats.  I am excited that he will be used as a "herd sire" and I hope he will produce some nice offspring next year!

I am truly grateful to have the 2015 kids sold!  When I returned to the goat pen, it seemed so quiet and peaceful.  It was just me and my 3 goats again.  Ahhh....

Post Script: 

This isn't the last you will be seeing of the 2015 kids.  I still have lots of pictures from the past couple weeks that never got posted, so you will be seeing more in the coming week...