Goat-Keeping Report!

Dear Emma (and other readers of this blog who have doubted the existence of "The Great Goat Adventure!"),

Thank you for reminding me recently that my last post was May 16th.  Ouch! A whole three months ago!  This summer has been fast and furious.  In fact, it seems that most days I spent more time out-and-about than actually on the farm.  But summer is coming to a close and I am reevaluating my priorities.  Goat-keeping reminds me that life isn't all "out there."  There is so much beauty and fun to be had "right here."  I truly enjoy my animals and pursuing an agrarian lifestyle.  It is important to me to enjoy yummy goats milk, observe playful goat antics, and work hard to provide my goats a clean, healthy environment.  And so, despite the lack of blog posts, I whole-heartly march on with this goat adventure!

Last time I posted, my little goat kids looked like this...

Frisky bundles of energy!

All of the disbudding scabs came off of the kids.  Overall, I was very pleased with the results of my DIY disbudding!  Hillbilly and Hurray are completely clean.  Howdy, Hilarious, and Holster ended up with very minimal scurs.  All of them were better than the vet did last year, so I call it a success!

The goats had a little adventure at the beginning of the summer (of which I have no pictures to document, sorry!).  We left for a week-long vacation at the end of May and had plans for friends to come do the morning/evening chores.  We left at 5am and I admired the beautiful clear sky as I told my goats "goodbye."  That evening we were notified that our community was experiencing record flooding!  (Something like 22 inches or so?)  I was unsettled because I wanted to be able to care for the goats and know that they were okay, but thankfully they were all fine after the rough storm passed!  Their pen is up on a hill so they didn't experience any harm.  However, we had just hauled a whole trailer full of hay to our hay/cow barn.  The water backed up at the creek and flooded the whole lower field and up over the whole barn!  All of the hay floated away!  Bummer!  We had purchased the hay from a friend who graciously sold us their next cutting several weeks later.  I am thankful!

Also, our garden did fairly well at the beginning of the summer before it got stifling hot.  We got some yummy onions, squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  

I was able to sell Holster (Charlotte's buckling) at the beginning of the summer.  I am still trying to sell the bucks.  It has been hard to downsize the herd.  And the longer I keep the kids, the more I like them!  

I have also been reluctant to wean the doelings.  I have the bucklings (Howdy and Hillbilly) penned up by themselves and I do not have another area to keep the girls separate from their mamas right now. It actually makes the chores much easier because the doelings drink quite a bit of milk so I don't have to worry about finding ways to use 3 gallons of milk a day!  Usually, we get about a quart or two daily from all three goats which is plenty for our family!

Hilarious gets to eat with Charlotte (her mama) during the evening!  Each milking doe is getting equal alfalfa pellets, beet pulp, and grain (a cup of each) at night.  In the morning they get 2 quarts of grain.  

Always ready to climb and explore!

Edna has been growing quite the beard!

I forgot to get a good picture of Hurray (Edna's doeling) and the bucklings last night when I was snapping photos and now it is storming out!  I'll have to get a better picture soon!  She is really changing colors right now and turning quite black.  Hurray has a really sweet disposition and I am often accused of showing favoritism towards her!  

I was disappointed when I realized that she has four teats (goats are only supposed to have two!).  I did some research and it is debatable if she should be bred or not.  I am still deciding what to do with her...

It has been amazing to watch the affects of restored copper levels for Elly May!  What used to be an orange/brown coat has now returned to jet black!  She is also so silky now!

(See how rough and shaggy she looked this Spring?)

Elly May's udder has also returned to normal.  After I weaned her buckling, all of the pimples on her udder seemed to clear up.  Maybe he was just being too rough on her!  Being a first freshener, Elly May has had to learn her manners on the milking stand.  Every morning is a race to get her milked before she eats all of her grain!

Thank you for following my goat blog!  This goat adventure is great!

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!

Happy Hillbilly!

The goat pen has been a happy place since Hillbilly arrived!

Sometimes a picture doesn't fully capture the fun of having a baby goat around!

(Note: If you are reading this blog post via email update and the video does not display, click on the title at the top of the page and you will be redirected to the web page!)

Mama goat and baby goat...

They look so much alike!

Elly May often licks her little buckling!

The sun was setting in this photo and Hillbilly was snuggling into bed!

Hide and Go Seek!

He has already gained weight!

Happy Hillbilly!

Opening My Eyes

Things have been a bit quiet in the goat pen the past couple of weeks.  I, the goat keeper, have quite the full schedule with a summer job and other "life duties!"  These duties don't leave much time for goats, so I have been quickly milking them in the morning and quickly feeding them in the evening!  

Daily chores consist of a complicated routine of hooking up the goats, feeding, milking, straining the milk, refilling the hay, refilling the water, refilling the minerals, trimming hooves, giving supplements, etc.!  

Some mornings it is a little overwhelming!

But being frenzied doesn't get me or the goats anywhere!  After a few very busy weeks, I am beginning to realize the importance of slowing down to observe and enjoy my goats!  Proverbs 27:23 says: "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds."  I have a great responsibility to care for these animals which have been entrusted to me.  They are a valuable resource for which I must be a good steward!  So, instead of just rushing through the goat chores, it is a privilege to open my eyes to all of the amazing fingerprints of God that are all around me!

 

I then begin to notice cute expressions from Fritz!

I begin to appreciate this baby goat a little more!

When I slow down, I can laugh that Charlotte has no problem with Frankincense crawling all over her!  And Frankincense is over 40 pounds!  She doesn't see much need for discipline!

I can marvel at the intricate, geometric designs of the "zipper spiders" which fill the trailer where I keep the hay!  Every time I refill the hay, there are more and more spiders!  God's creation...multiplied!

It realize that I frequently end my posts with a nature picture.  So, here is a stunning sunset picture!  I am thankful for the opportunity to have seen the sun this past week. The goat pen has dried out and the grass has had opportunity to grow!

Even though life hasn't slowed down much, it is so much more pleasant to enjoy the "busyness" while embracing the beauty that surrounds it!

A Goat Update

A monarch butterfly that we watched turn from a caterpillar to a chrysalis to a butterfly! I love new life!

Sadly, I haven't been able to upload new pictures of the new addition--Fritz--until now due to internet difficulties!  But life hasn't slowed down.  He is growing and thriving!

This little guy gets hugged quite a bit!  It's hard to resist!

Edna sure is a good mama.  She loves her new charge!

I am pleased with Edna's udder.  Fritz only likes to drink out of one side though.  I have been milking out the other side and she is quite easy to milk.  I have seen her milk producing increasing, and I look forward to being able to drink it soon!

Fritz was disbudded at 3 days old (see the silver rings on his head).  I am glad it is over!  The vet told me I should be getting used to it by now!  Disbudding is a goat keeping skill that I probably need to learn next kidding season.

Frankincense likes pestering the other goats during eating time.  He steals their grain or jumps up on the milking stand.  So, he has earned a "tether" when breakfast and dinner come around!

It has been pouring down rain for weeks, it seems!  We have had several very powerful storms.  This morning the storm lasted over 4 hours and over 4 inches of rain fell!  The water you see in the background of the picture is a hay field.  In the front is the pond...everything was completely flooded and overflowed!

"Hoofprints" in the sand!  The soggy ground makes the goat's hoof prints quite impressionable!