The Goat Adventure Goes On!

Hello Again Blog!

I regret that I have not updated this blog more frequently the past few weeks.  But, the great goat adventure goes on!  

The rowdy kids are getting bigger by the day!

From left to right: Howdy, Hillbilly, and Hurray!

They are good at climbing and jumping and having fun!

This little guy was even limping around a few days because he had played too rough...

Yay!  I am done with disbudding for the year!  The kid's scabs are starting to come off and time will tell if I did it correctly.  I took a picture of everything in my "disbudding kit:"

1) Rhinehart disbudding iron

2) Beard trimmers to shave the hair around the horn bud (I smuggled these out of the haircutting kit that we keep in the kitchen).

3) Two gloves (please note, they do not have to match!)

4) Steel brush (sometimes hair sticks to the end of the disbudding iron and it causes a small flame, so the brush is great for cleaning off the end of the disbudding iron while it is still hot).

5) A piece of wood to test if the iron is hot enough.

6) An old towel to place the kid on during the process.

Hilarious was my last goat to disbud!

I burned until I saw two amber rings around the buds.  I did not have to do the figure 8 shape around her buds as doelings have smaller horn buds.

She didn't enjoy the process, but thankfully it was over quickly!

The milk if flowing freely around here!  Hilarious and Holster enjoy a drink!

They are so cute to watch nurse at the same time.  They bend and arch and wiggle and push to find their coveted milk spigot!

The people are even getting some milk too!  The kids are separated from their mamas at night and the does get milked every morning.

Here is the first jar of milk that Elly May gave us!

Sadly, the milk supply for humans has been a bit interrupted by what I think is a staph infection.  Both Charlotte and Elly May got big, pussy "pimples" on their udders.  (I chose not to keep the milk since it could have been contaminated).  I have been treating the udders every night by spraying Chlorhexidine on them and also rubbing Nu-Stock on the affected areas.  Although they are not 100% clear, everyone is doing much better and I am back to keeping everyone's milk!

More posts coming soon!