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!

Thoughts for the Day

Springtime is here, hopefully to stay!  The day was glorious: a deep blue sky with lazy, wispy clouds floating overhead, a wonderful temperature of 75 degrees, and bursting wildflowers scattered on the lush grass carpet.

As I sat outside, rubbing the puppies tummies and petting Edna, I thought of how much I enjoy being with the animals.  I thought of my amazing Creator who made them.  I also remembered how God strictly warns us about worshiping the creation:

"They changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen."  Romans 1:25

When I enjoy the animals, they remind me of the amazing Artist and Designer who made them.  Instead of worshiping the animals, I worship the One who made them!

Today I gave Edna her first dose of wormer.  I mixed up the herbs with a little bit of water in a plastic Dixie cup.  Then I sucked up the herbs into the syringe and squeezed the mixture into Edna's mouth.  I am not sure she got the full dose, Edna had a green mustache afterwards and I had herbal mixture running down my sleeve!  Oh well, I am planning to repeat the process again soon.  (The herbal wormer I am using has two parts.  One is a strong formula to be given every several weeks.  The other is a "maintenence" formula to be given every week.  I gave the weaker, "maintenence" formula today and plan to give the strong formula later this week.)

 

The Wormer

 The Drench Syringe

Ahhh...the empty milk bottle.  It seems that I keep leaving these things around and finding them hours later!  On a fence post, on top of the dog food barrel, next to the sink... Goat care is an endless adventure!

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…

Bottle Feeding Basics

Bottle feeding a goat is lots of fun.  But it is a "life-consuming" task.  Although I have written a little bit about bottle-feeding in previous posts, here is my routine:

Times: Four times a day, typically 7:30am, 11:30am, 3:30pm, and 7:30pm
Amount: 9 oz. per feeding, 36oz. total
Type of milk: Alternating feeding between raw goat's milk and whole cow's milk from the store
Heating the milk: Measure into a glass soda bottle, place in a small saucepan of boiling water, heat 103 degrees.

Thermometer: I have a "cool" laser thermometer to check the temperature.  I point the laser at the milk, pull the "trigger," and the digital screen tells me the temperature!

Nipple: I am still using the lamb nipple.  It has popped off a couple of times (making milk spill everywhere!), but now I just make sure to hold it on the bottle myself.
Feeding: about 5 minutes, my goat is greedy!
Other: Edna is also drinking water from a bowl, and she has crushed goat pellets available to eat.  She has hay in her pen to nibble on as well.

Crushed grain pellets (Before I crushed these with a hammer, these pellets were several inches long and about a centimeter in diameter.  Hopefully Edna will be able to eat them whole when she gets a little bigger!)

Edna has a new toy!  An old tractor tire made its way into the goat pen and Edna thinks it is great fun!

Edna likes to play in the hole...

She also runs around the rim...

Frolicking Fun!

Goat kids and frolicking go hand in hand!  Edna has enjoyed prancing all over her goat pen, and her owner has been quite amused by her antics!  She stands on her hind legs, tries to run sideways, and jumps up on anything elevated.  These snapshots capture a bit of her energy!

Dashing away...

 Here I go!

 Up in the air!

 Running!

 Lady-like…