Goats Growing Up

The little goat kids are growing fast!  Enjoy an update from the goat pen!

Weight update:

Hillbilly: 11.6 pounds

Hurray: 6.8 pounds

Howdy: 9.2 pounds

Hilarious: 8 pounds

Holster: 8 pounds

Floppy Ear Update:

Hilarious was rightly named!  Her floppy ears make her look like a puppy!

They are slowly beginning to pop up!  

Just a few more days and no one will ever know her ears were floppy!

Exploration Update:

The kids are discovering new things every day.  It is so funny to watch them explore the confines of their little pen!  Yesterday Hillbilly jumped in the water trough!  I think he decided it was wet.  Haha! They have also discovered that tires are fun to walk around or hide inside.  They have learned that it is fun to hop, dance, jump, 

Edna's Twins: Howdy (L) and Hurray (R)

Charlotte's Twins: Hilarious (L) and Holster (R)

  

Elly May's Kid: Hillbilly (center!)

Disbudding Update:

All of the goats are disbudded except for Hilarious!  It gets so much easier with practice.  However, I still "worry" that they might get scurs.  But then I remember that even the vet didn't get it perfect.  I know I did the best job I could!

Holster!  He looks a lot like Charlotte!  He is also a screamer...He yelled and yelled when I sat him on the towel (before I even got out the hair trimmers or disbudding iron!).  He was quite the drama king!

Little horn buds!

All finished!  It wasn't that bad!

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!

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!

The Adventure Continues...

Life with a goat has settled down a bit.  However, owning a goat truly is an adventure and there is always something new!

Edna is now 3 weeks old!  She weighs over 14 pounds and can definitely out run me.  I thought she might follow me around the yard this morning, but she took off and I felt like I was a part of a rodeo calf scramble!  When I caught her, I put her back in her new shelter arrangement: Part of the large goat pen is partitioned off with welded wire and a leftover piece of goat paneling is being used as a gate.  It won't work long-term, but right now she can enjoy some freedom while the puppies are close by in the goat pen.

Edna is getting some "free time" with the pups.  When the puppies are sleepy it works great!  However, sometimes the puppies (especially Blue Bell, the female) seems to think Edna is a toy.  No!

What is this?  A tail!  Nibble, nibble…

Speaking of nibbling, Edna consistently nibbles at grain and hay and she drinks her water.  This is in addition to about 40oz. of whole cows milk daily.  I need to start adding minerals into her diet, but I am still researching exactly which minerals I need to put out!

I thought a hay net might be a good option for saving hay and cheaper than a manger.  For some reason I forgot that goats like to chew on twine…We'll see how long it lasts!

Some of you may be wondering when Goat #2: Elly May is going to join the herd.  I am wondering the same thing!  I am working with several breeders to try and get another doe soon.  Edna needs a friend!

Until next time…

Blessing and Goats

So the Lord alone led him, [Israel]
And there was no foreign god with him... 

He made him ride in the heights of the earth,
That he might eat the produce of the fields;
He made him draw honey from the rock,
And oil from the flinty rock; 

Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs;
And rams of the breed of Bashan, and GOATS...

Deuteronomy 32:12-14

This verse came up in our Scripture reading today, and it seemed so appropriate!  When God blessed Jacob, He blessed him specifically with goats!  I feel that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has blessed me in a similar way.

As a side note, my parents, siblings, and I are reading through Bible in a year.  We read about 3-4 chapters per day, just enough to enjoy each day's reading, but not so much to feel overwhelmed.  It has been a great exercise and just like today's reading, it often speaks directly to the events of the day.  I have posted the link to the reading plan HERE.

Edna is going through milk like wild! She's a hungry and happy goat!  I went back to the breeder to milk Edna's mama yesterday.  It was so much fun!  Squeezing the goat's warm, squishy teats between my fingers, feeling the teat tighten, then hearing the pressurized "zing" as it streamed into the milk pail was a satisfying thrill for an aspiring goat keeper.  I was able to get about 20 oz. from the milking.  Since Edna is drinking about 8 oz. per feeding, 4 times a day, (36 oz. daily) I am starting to supplement with whole cow's milk from the store.  According to what I have read, cow's milk from the store is better than a powdered goat's milk replacer.  I plan to alternate goats and cows milk.

The weather has been lovely.  Such a wonderful change from the ice storm that had settled on our community a mere week ago.  Edna has been frolicking in the goat pen, although she doesn't like to be left alone (and she lets me know!).  Edna performs a funny little dance by rearing up on her hind-legs then flopping back down.  It is quite the show.

(You can see the reflection of the sunset in this picture!)

At a week old, I weighed Edna.  I did this by weighing myself, then weighing myself with the goat and subtracting the amounts.  She is a hearty 9.6 pounds.  Goat kids should gain about 10 pounds per month, and Edna is right on track.  

 

Next up: Disbudding Time!  Edna should be disbudded at the vet tomorrow.  I have heard it can be a uncomfortable procedure, but it is absolutely necessary if I don't want a goat with horns!