The Kids These Days

Nanny Granny Chelle needs to get her booty up to goatlandia to take more pictures of the wee ones, but, in the mean time, I hope these photos and the linked video at the end will satisfy your baby goat adorableness quota until the next installment is available. 

Chardy's babies, Cocoa & Fiona, 2 days old

Scarlet & Evangeline, 1 day old

Elodie, Mama Sidney, and Evangeline

Elodie & Evangeline, 1 day old

For your viewing pleasure: A video of some very skeptical baby goats. For the life of me, I can't get this thing to upload normally, and so... viola. The magic of the facebook at work, ladies and gentlemen!

Long Time, No Write

Things have been slightly nuts here. Scratch that. Things have been full-on cuckoo nuts here. The details aren't glamorous, just the usual holiday crunch on top of trying to open a business. When I'm not submitting reams of paperwork to the city/county/state for the store, I'm feverishly knitting dishcloths and leaning way too heavily on Amazon to wrap up my shopping.

Thus, I'm all manner of distracted and haven't had the time or mental oomph! to post anything. So here's an update from the Boggy Hollow crew, in a nutshell.

Bunnies - Marshmallow is *possibly* pregnant. We'll know definitively in another 20 days or so. We're moving her hutch into the basement, just in case, to keep her and the (maybe?) babies out of the weather.

Dogs - We've started up fostering again! We hosted a sweet little girl named Mariah for just 8 days this month before she moved on to her forever home. We were lined up to pick up a Pyr/Aussie pup to foster today, but he was adopted at the last minute. Fostering is work, but it's so rewarding.

'Riah and Rexy, snoozin'

Chickens - We've already lost a few this Winter to a trio of raccoons that were slowly picking off the less-wary gals (the ones who roost up outside regardless of how often we've wrestled them into the safety of the coop at night.) Rex managed to tree the thieves one night and Bill gave them a little something to think about with a few pellets to their butts. No one has gone missing since!

Goats - We still have 6, five girls and one stinky boy, though that number is about to grow soon. 

Greetings from the Boggy Hollow maternity ward!

Ol' Bluey, as wide as she is tall.

Buckley, the cantankerous, highly smelly, soon-to-be Papa of the lot

And that's about it. The giveaway is still forthcoming, though I'm rapidly reaching knitting fatigue, so the goodies contained therein may be slightly different that originally planned, but still good stuff for all that. In the mean time - have a wonderful Christmas/Solstice/Ugly Sweater season, and kindly chug a mug of something spicy and bourbon-laced for me. ;)

The Month of May (so far) in Photos

 Scarlet & Sophie

Our piggies, three

Sidney sneaking a nibble of our neighbor's sword ferns

Chardonnay and her twin Doelings

Chardy's baby girls, Bramble (in front) and Dahlia

Coming in for a landing

Busy little fly-girls!

I am very much enjoying both my new camera, and my newly-acquired ability to take a walk up the hill to pay a visit to my critters. 

This has been an incredibly busy month here so far with the two beehives going in, eleven goats being sold, eighteen new raised beds going in the garden, a self-imposed crash-course in turkey husbandry (soon to be followed by the arrival of actual turkey poults!), 21 chicks due to arrive next week, AND spending every spare second researching, planning for and generally freaking out about a new business venture that a friend and I are embarking on. 

With all of the hustle and bustle, it's easy to miss the small things; the miracles and the beauty that we get to live smack in the middle of on our little piece of earth. I'm so thankful for the sweet little camera that Billy bought me for my birthday, so that I can capture a glimpse, now and then, of the amazing critters that we get to share our lives with here. 

Life right now is a little crazy, but it is a lot good. 

Names?

Our blue-eyed beauty needs a name! 

Chardy's doeling and Hop's little wether, half-siblings (and also Aunt/Nephew - goat family trees are kind weird and twisty.) 

We didn't name any of our little goat babies this year, as most of them were destined to move on to new homes. But - we've finally decided which of Chardy's twin girls we're keeping (the little black goat with the big blue eyes), and so she needs a name that is as pretty and vibrant as she is. Scarlet has suggested the name Moulin, which is the French word for "windmill". Heaven knows why, but she's seriously feeling that name. So far, she is the only one to put a potential name in the hopper. I happen to think that this girl deserves a better name than windmill, but I haven't hit upon one just yet. Suggestions?

Just in case it helps, her Mom's name is Chardonnay, her Dad is Buckley, and her siblings are Hop, Barley, Liberty & Hope.

Update: Ladies & Germs - introducing the lovely Miss Bramble. :)

Critter Census - Spring 2013

For better or for worse, these numbers are likely to change due to either loss or gain - hopefully gain - within the next 12 weeks leading up to Summer.

Chickens - 14

Sir Rosco Peckins - Lavender Orpington roo
Leroy Brown - Splash Cochin roo
Leon - Black-laced Red Wyandotte roo
Lacy - Silver-laced Cochin hen
Coo-Coo - White/Wheaten Americauna hen
Amelia - Dark Americauna hen
Rose - Brown Americauna hen
Gracie - Golden-laced black Polish hen
Puffy - White Silkie hen (currently sitting on 9 eggs at last count)
Ewok - Brown Americauna hen
Miss Bitey Pants - Black "Policauna" hen
Jasmine - Black Policauna hen
Australorp hens who's names I don't remember (2 of them)

The coyote seems to have picked off a few look-alike hens without our notice, based upon our slowly but steadily shrinking flock. 

Guinea Fowl - 2

Spotty & Sylvia - Pearl Grey hens

Rabbits - 1

Prince Charming - Neutered mini-Rex male

Goats - 19 (Aye, chihuahua!)

Blue - 11 year old Agouti Grey, disbudded Nigerian Dwarf doe
Chardonnay - 5 year old Caramel brown, blue-eyed, gopher-eared, disbudded mini-Lamancha doe
  Chardy's twins - dark in color, doelings
Hop - 2 year old Fawn & White spotted, gopher-eared, mini-Lamancha doe
  Hop's male kid - White & Grey, ND "erect" eared, disbudded mini-Lamancha wether
Valentina - 2 year old Fawn colored, elf-eared, mini-Lamancha doe
  Valentina's twins - Fawn/buckskin colored, gopher-eared
Liberty - 1 year old Caramel brown, blue-eyed, gopher-eared, mini-Lamancha doe
  Liberty's kid - Black with white markings, disbudded
Hope - 1 year old Caramel brown, blue-eyed, gopher-eared, mini-Lamancha doe
  Hope's kid - Fawn colored, disbudded
Sidney - 4 year old, White with black markings, erect-eared, disbudded Alpine doe
  Sidney's kid - disbudded wether
Sophie - 3 year old, White with black markings, erect-eared, disbudded Alpine doe
  Sophie's kids - Black & White, gopher-eared, disbudded, mini-Lamancha/Alpine doeling
                         Black & White, erect-eared, disbudded, mini-Lamancha/Alpine wether
Buckley - 2 year old, Buckskin colored, gopher-eared, mini-Lamancha buck

I feel bad that I can't recall off the top of my head all of the pertinent details about all of the new babies, but between my memory issues and the landslide of babies born in the past two weeks, I'm just out of my depth at the moment. :\

Pigs - 3 (I'm not too committed to learning these guys' names, and so I venture a guess at who's who here.)

Baykin(?) - 9 week old spotted gilt
Prosciutto(?) - 9 week old black gilt
Porkchop(?) - 9 week old black barrow

In addition to our livestock, we have the pets - dogs, Rex & Penny, curmudgeonly old box turtle, Bob, and our lone parakeet, Applesauce. That brings our grand total to 43 critters. HOLY CRAP.

Bottle Feeding a Weak Kid - The Story of Cookie

Cookie was the second born of triplets to Hop, a two year old mini-Lamancha and first time freshener. The buckling that preceded him presented breech, and was stillborn after having been stuck for sometime. Cookie weighed maybe 3 pounds at birth - a petite little thing from the outset. We gave him some colostrum gel, as we do all of our newborns just in case, followed by a couple squirts of nutri-drench straight down the gullet. He seemed small but steady, so we figured that in spite of his rough entry into this world, that his Mama would take care of him and that, eventually, he'd thrive.

Maybe it was because of his extended wait to be born, or because Mama played favorites with her third born buckling, but Cookie simply failed to thrive and grew weaker by inches every day. Hop didn't pay special attention to her weak boy but old maid Auntie Blue would cuddle up to him, and Sidney, our Alpha Alpine, would let any hungry kid nurse whenever, wherever, so we struggled initially with the idea of taking him away from his herd who were clearly doing their level best to foster him, and hedging our bets and bringing him in to be bottle fed. Yesterday afternoon, we finally decided that he needed our intervention, and brought him in from the goat yard in a Tagalongs Girl Scout cookie box. Hence his name.

Finally having picked him up, we saw the he was almost literally skin and bones. If he'd been nursing at all, clearly it hadn't been enough. We mixed up small batches of milk replacer with a shot of nutri-drench in it, and trickled it down his throat. When he pooped twice, we were encouraged that his gut was working, and that the milk was landing in his stomach rather than his lungs, which can happen when a very weak kid is essentially force fed. I toyed with the idea of "tubing" him, since my goat emergency kit came with a weak kid feeding tube set up. I didn't end up doing it, because if you don't know what you're doing (and I don't), you can thread the tube into the trachea rather than the esophagus, and drown the baby with milk.

So we kept him warm and continued to feed him as much as he'd take - usually not more than a half an ounce - and he'd swallow the majority of it by sheer reflex. Every once in a while, he'd muster up enough strength to be slightly combative with me. We also took that as a good sign. He slept fitfully, nestled inside his cookie box, waking at random intervals to utter a few pathetic moans before drifting back into sleep.

He made it through the night. We thought we'd turned a corner.

Come morning, his breathing remained fast and shallow, and he wouldn't take milk like he had the night before. Most of it was just dribbling right back out of his mouth. I called my goat-wise cousin to see if she thought it was time to tube him. She came over within the hour and ran through a checklist of symptoms and potential cures. We'd warmed him up, fed him and kept his bum-bum from pasting up, but it wasn't enough. Before we could try anything else, our little guy just stopped breathing and slipped away. We don't know if he had a congenital issue that rendered him unable to thrive, if he'd caught a bug of some sort that slowly drained his very limited resources, or if he'd just been rejected by his dam, and hadn't ever had a good feeding, and burned through his reserves. We don't know, which is one of the worst things that can happen when you lose livestock. It shatters your peace of mind. I don't know if whatever took him was contagious, and the rest of our herd is in danger of sharing the same fate, or if he would have survived if I would have plucked up the courage to tube him last night.

Live and learn, I guess. The trouble is that I'm not sure that I've learned anything from Cookie's illness and passing. I don't know what I could or should have done differently or better. Maybe there wasn't anything I could do, and that is the lesson?

The New Kids of Goatlandia

Hop's babies -

 Little Girl

 Baby Boy

Hop's little buckling. He's a spirited little dude!

Hop's boy, Hop, Chardonnay & Valentina. We think that Teeny may have 3 or 4 babies on board!

Liberty's Babies -

Baby Boy (in back), Baby Girl (in front)

Little Man (in the foreground), Little Girl (in back)

Sidney's Kids-

 Sidney and her buckling

Sid being hounded by her twins and one of Liberty's kids.

"Helllppp Meeeeee!"

Sophie's Kids -

Soph's boy

Sophie's big girl with Hop's little girl

A Heap o' napping Kids :)

Spring has Sprung and the Babies are Booming!

All signs seem to point to an early Spring this year -

The Forsythia has just started blooming, and the Snowdrops have been up for a few weeks.

Scarlet has personally tended this impromptu clump of snowdrops for a few years now, calling them her "fairy forest". 

The years first kidding went off without a hitch by first-time freshener, Valentina. She delivered twins, a boy and a girl, on the sly. Scarlet and her Grammy discovered the babies yesterday upon a visit to the back forty.  We think that they were delivered the day before.

Lunch!

Our newest blue-eyed babies, little girl (in the back) and baby buckling (in front)

I was relieved to have a lactating doe and a pair of healthy babies join our herd, but also a little bummed that this year will be the first time that I haven't been able to attend the births. Being a goat midwife is one of the sweetest gigs on this farm, and we may have as many as seven more does due to deliver any day. Heal fast, bionic knee! My girls need me!

For all that I'm missing out on, I should be able to manage at least a few early Spring farm chores, like starting seedlings on the heat mats and under grow lights, in anticipation of the new raised-bed garden that Bill is firing himself up to build.

I'll also hit up some of my usual, easy-to-reach spots to see if the stinging nettles have started to pop up yet. Nettles are some of the first greens of Spring, and we're all in need of a little spring green tonic to chase away the months of grey. With the hens now laying well again, I anticipate that we'll have some nettle egg noodles for dinner soon.  

Another sure sign that Spring is near? The frogs o' the bog, singing their little green heads off. The collective sound of a thousand or so frogs singing Are You Lonesome Tonight? in unison is pretty intense, though they blend together to make a sort of wall of white noise (This is a wav file of somebody else's frogs. Ours sound like this times about fifty.) It's one of those sounds that might make for a great track on a nature cd, along with waves crashing and rain falling on a tin roof. One of the previous owners of this house once told me that someone associated with some tv or movie production came out and recorded our frogs for use on some soundtrack. I have famous frogs!

I've been chipping away at this post for long enough now that an additional FIVE kids have arrived since I started. HOLY GOAT FERTILITY, BATMAN!

Gotta go pace a hole in the rug over these babies that I can't see. :\ More pics forthcoming asap!

The Frets of a Feeble Farmer

Our herd of nine goats - 5 mini-Lamancha does, 1 mini-mancha buck, 1 Nigerian Dwarf doe and 2 Alpine does - has had me hand-wringing worried as of late.

Let me digress a tad. Because of the state of my knees, I can't make the walk to the upper pasture and back, especially in mud season. So I haven't been up to visit my babies in a long while, and it really, really sucks. I miss these sweet faces!

Valentina, Blue & Chardonnay, February 2012

So the daily visitor to Goatlandia for the past 9-months-plus has been Bill, exclusively. And the goaties love their Papa.

The daily love-in/treat shakedown.

In fact, they even know the sound of Billy's truck pulling into the driveway and start bleating to beat the band when they think Pops is home and headed their way with chow. He does right by them and they love him for it. 

Alas, Billy is a dude. 

Now, at the risk of coming across as some sexist Neaderthal, I'll attempt to explain how this hinders him ever so slightly as a goatherd. He takes amazing care of our guy and gals, but as a fella himself, lacks that sixth sense about babies and critters that I feel is inextricably tied to the X chromosome. It's a nurturing/intuition/mothering thing that goes bone-deep. I don't know how to explain it really, but I know when something is a little off with one of my goats (or dogs, or hens), even when they're "fine". It's a skill that I unfortunately have not been able to translate to the world of plants and my garden is living (half-dead) proof. I can also usually tell by one means or another if and when my girls are pregnant. Unfortunately, since I haven't had a face-to-face with my gals in a while, and can only see them from a distance out the window, I have no idea whatsoever who might or might not be pregnant, and I'm worried. In fact, I don't know whether anyone is pregnant so we might be looking at a very dry year.

This past Fall and Winter we finally found a profitable way to use our goat milk in soapmaking. There are a lot of very talented craftspeople and artisanal products made and sold here in Olympia, including a good number of small-batch soaps, but our beautiful, organic goat milk was the ingredient in ours that set us apart. In fact, we sold out of it! And now that we have a product that sells and have begun to build a knowledge base about making and marketing it, we're looking at the possibility of not having our magic ingredient available to us for drinking, cheesemaking, soapmaking or as a protein-rich food for the hogs that we'll soon have. The loss of it would be pretty major for us.

I started wondering if Buckley, our lone buck, did, in fact, have "the goods" or not. Billy and I talked about what our next steps would be if it turned out that Buckley was sterile. Our only viable option would be to cull him. Neither of us were looking forward to that possibility.

Well, a reprieve came in my inbox yesterday in the form of an email from my friend, B. The mini Lamancha does that she bought from us last year, and boarded here for a few weeks this Summer, were both successfully bred by none other than Buckley himself. Fritzen delivered healthy twin girls yesterday, Blackey & Wobble.

Wobble is the tan gal in front, and Blackey is the girl way in back. The mini-Lamancha breed is achieved by crossing a standard Lamancha with a Nigerian Dwarf. Blackey somehow ended up with tons of the Nigerian traits, including her long ears and frosted nose. My more experienced fellow goat ladies tell me that long ears can occur about as often in mini-Mancha kids as blue eyes can, as much as 25% of the time. But this is the first long eared baby mini-Mancha that we've had, out of 10 born. 

B says that her cry is even different sounding - loud and whiny like a Nigerian. Genetics are fascinating!

B's other doe, Oreo, is due any day. :)

Anyway - there is hope yet that at least one of our eight lovely ladies may give us babies and milk this year. I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and truck my tushie on up the hill, wonky knee and all, and give my girls a thorough once-over to see who, if anyone, might be in the family way. I think that Bill had pretty much resigned himself to the fact that we wouldn't be milking anybody this year when B's email came. Now he's worried that we could end up with babies and milk times eight!

Aye, chihuahua. 

In the event that rampant fecundity ends up being the way that this all shakes out, this year Bill won't be alone in caring for our girls. I'm getting a brand spankin' new knee next week, and after a month or two (or three) of rehab and therapy, I'll hopefully be able to get right back in the trenches! I suspect that I may actually be the first person on earth who looks forward to mucking out a chicken coop or cleaning birth goo off of a newborn goat, but I do. I totally do. 

Farm chick Chelle will shortly be back in the saddle again. :)

The Goatses with the Mostest

Dairy time is about done for us here. The does have all been dried off, and have very likely already been  re-bred by our escape-artist of a buck, Buckley. So we'll be buying milk until February at least, but not having to milk in the cold and wet makes the trade off quite fair.

On a day like this, when I'm missing my goat milk in my coffee, I come across a post from a fellow farm chick, Matron at Throwback at Trapper Creek. She has a gorgeous Guernsey, Jane, who gives her four gallons of milk per day. I have a mild case of cow envy.

Sure, we'd drown in 4 gallons per day, but the stuff is golden and just...amazing. I could make a whole different assortment of cheeses, and enough butter that I wouldn't have to hit up Costco whenever a baking jag hits. And we could feed the extra to the pigs that we plan to get this Spring. Oh, the things I could do with all that milk...

But.

But, we only have 3 1/2 acres.

A full acre of that land (the bog) is under water 9 months out of the year.

We have well water and a septic system, which means that we basically recycle the same water constantly. I try really hard to maintain balance in those systems by not overwhelming the septic with chemicals, phosphates or tons of cow poo. Goat poop is in "jellybean" form, and can be cleaned up/moved easily, and breaks down slowly. A giant cow pat in the rain will end up running off into our bog, and eventually our septic/well system. Simply put, it would just be too much for our little foothold to handle.

We've already committed to pigs this coming late Winter/early Spring. And their care and "output" will be plenty for this little farm to take on. The reason that we green-lit the pig idea, rather than the cow, was primarily because there is an end date to it. The pigs will be with us for no longer than 9 months, at which point we can evaluate whether the cost/work/impact was worth the trouble.

So, for the foreseeable future, goats will be where our dairy begins and ends. And really, these little gals do a pretty bang-up job of providing us with milk for our coffee, little batches of snowy white butter, some really intense aged parmesan, and the secret ingredient for our lovely homemade soaps.

These are the gals who make it happen. Thanks again, girls.

A Plethora of Good Things

Life has been wacky for a while now, so I'm going to focus on nothing but the positives today. I've got a heck of a lot to be thankful for!

*I just found out that we've been accepted as doggy foster parents! We get our first foster pup next weekend.

*I got SO HOOKED UP with garden goodies by my sweet and generous friend, Lisa, that my kitchen runneth over with garlic and beans.

*Three of my four apple trees are loaded with fruit, as is my one and only pear tree. Pies & cider... nom.

*It's been 3 months since my accident, and I'd say I'm, 80% back to normal. My broken arm has healed, my scalp wound has finally closed, and my cognitive issues seem to be dogging me less. :)

*The girls go back to school in two weeks and three days. But who's counting?

*Fritzen & Oreo, two Lamancha does that we sold to a friend earlier this year, are here for a romantic getaway with our guy, Buckley. I get extra goat nuzzles this week!

*The vet got back to us re: Anabelle. It seems that she had something like cancer, which sucks, but the good news is that the rest of our flock is not at risk. Trying to see this as a good thing, even though I know her last days were hard.

*The heat wave seems to have passed, temporarily at least. The difference between 75 degrees and 95 degrees is too beautiful to describe.

*I have an awesome giveaway in the works! Stay tuned. :)

Milk Mania

I'd love to include pictures with this post, but my camera was riding shotgun when I took my little tumble in the desert back in May, so my words will have to do until really nice Canon SLR's start raining from the sky. It could be a while...

Anyhoo, we're up to our eyeballs in milk lately, and still only milking one of our two lactating does right now. Bill's been doing the milking, which means that I'm the one who gets to figure out what the heck to do with all our milk.

Today we have 2 1/2 gallons on hand, so I'm making a mighty batch of cajeta, in addition to a small, first attempt at goats milk butter, which I learned about (how else?) via youtube.

Sidney's milk seems to either have higher butterfat than her Lamancha sisters' milk, or is somehow less homogenated, because after a day or two in the fridge, it gets a lovely layer of cream on top that is perfect for scooping off.

That being said, it takes FOREVER to get enough cream to make the whole shebang worth while.

Well, I've got nothin' but time... and goat milk. So here goes!

Homemade Goat Treats

So, I'm still not 100%. Some days, I don't even feel fifty percent. I can't do "real" farm chores yet, so I sit on my duff all day and think of stuff I can do.


We've recently started milking Sidney, our 2 1/2 year old Alpine doe. Rather, Bill has started milking her. He said that she is a decent milker, but she loses patience with being milked the second that her food is gone. I wondered if I could make a milking treat that would be too good to refuse. Ergo, the Goatmeal Cookies.


I googled "homemade goat treats" and got 90% items containing goat. No. So I sort of winged my "recipe"


Goatmeal Cookies
Makes 12-15 Half-dollar sized cookies


1 big carrot, grated finely
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
2 slices crumbled oat bread
2 tbsps +/- Unsulphured molasses
1 tbsp water
sea salt


I mixed and mashed all of the ingredients until the consistency was like overly moist stuffing, then shaped it into pinball sized rounds that I patted flat (a la a hamburger patty). I dusted the tops of the "cookies" with a little extra sea salt, since my goats are nuts for it! I baked them at 300 degrees on a non-stick foil lined cookie sheet for about 20 minutes, until firm and nearly free of moisture.


The goaties dug them! Woohoo! Next batch I'll try adding some grated apple as well, and maybe some kelp powder or sunflower seeds too. It sure is gratifying to feel like, even though I'm not the one taking care of our critters, in my own way, I am taking of them. ;)

My Swingin' Shepherd

Goatherd, technically, but you know what I mean.

Bill turns the does out to graze, then passes the time playing his ukulele. It's become such a routine that when the music stops, the gals stop their munching and come thundering back up toward the pen, knowing that it's time for their grain.

Having that kind of peaceful rhythm with your animals is an amazing experience. I feel blessed to be surrounded with so much sweetness every day.

Our Swiss Misses

Our new girls, Sophie & Sydney, both bred Alpines.

These little gals joined our herd absolutely seamlessly, almost 2 weeks ago now. They are the sweetest little ladies!


Yo.

Being used to having Lamanchas here, it's kinda weird to have goats with ears, especially those ears. :)

S & S were bred to an Oberhasli buck (another variety of Alpine dairy goat) and are due to kid in May. We've never had three milkers at once, let alone full-sized milkers. We're looking down the barrel of a full-fledged dairypalooza over here.



And I could not be more excited!

More Mamas on the Way

Through one of the most annoyingly persistent and bitterly cold Winters that we've had in a long time around here, my hard-working hubby finally finished fencing our back pasture. It was no small task! Being able to turn the goats out of their pens and into the larger pasture now means - less money spent on feed, the goaties get to frolic and exercise more than they did in their pens, and we're getting more goats!

As I've mentioned previously, my cousin is looking to get out of the goat raising business, and so is bringing her two favorite bred does to live with us for the foreseeable future. They are Alpines, which is a full sized breed, and are significantly bigger than the minis that we've cut our teeth on. This is the big leagues!

Alpines are French/Swiss in origin, and are one of the most popular dairy goats in the United States. They make great milk, and a LOT of it. They're also just great little critters all around, as I'm learning in my crash course on the Alpine breed. Dairy Goat Journal puts it nicely -

"Alpines are a versatile utility animal. Great milkers for both home and commercial dairies, Alpines produce a high volume of milk. They have the ability to produce over a period of one to three years between freshenings or milk through. This produces valuable year round milk and reduces cost by not breeding every year. Alpine milk has a high cheese yield because of good butterfat and protein content. They produce well on pasture or in dry-lotted hay fed conditions. They are known for being exceptionally hardy, curious, and friendly."

All good things! Our only concern is that they might be a little rough on our smaller goats, but we have the option of separating them if that is the case. No bullies allowed on this farm!

More goats, more babies, more milk = crazy exciting times in the Hollow. :)

Introducing...

Liberty & Hope!



And congratulations to Sue on winning the auction and giving these little girls such beautiful an hopeful names!

The gift of her donation to Heifer International will most certainly mean hope and liberty to the family who receives it. Your generosity and support are endless and inspiring to me. Thanks, friends. :)

xxoo
Chelle

Name these babies!

Chardonnay's little girls are three days old, but they still don't have names! So, here's what we've settled on - a naming auction.


Hello, world!

The highest bidder will get to choose the babies names, with 100% of the auction's proceeds going to Heifer International, an organization who's goal is to end hunger and abject poverty by giving families in developing countries livestock to help supplement their diet and family income. (Read more about Heifer's works here.)

This auction will be occurring on this blog, as well as on my personal Facebook page, with regular updates about top bidders and name choices. So get creative and bust out those checkbooks people! FYI - It costs $120 to donate a goat to a family in need, therefore $120+ is our goal! And fear not for these babies' fate. They will either remain with our herd or be sold as milkers to another family. They will, God willing, have a long, productive, happy life as someones family milker. :)

I'll start the bidding at $20 for Snowdrop & Blossom. :) I'll keep the naming auction going through Valentines day. Payment for a winning bid may be made directly to Heifer (on your honor), or to me, which will in turn be sent directly to Heifer (on my honor).

Now - go bananas in the comments! Lets give these happy lassies some great names! :)))


Proud Mama Chardy and her wee ones

Babies!

Chardy delivered her babies just about an hour and a half ago now - two beautiful little tiny blue-eyed doelings!





Mama and babies are doing just fine. Chardy, as always was a trouper. She is the easiest birthing Mama ever!

This is the second time Chard has had babies since she came to our little farm, and I have been lucky enough to be present at both births. Not all critters welcome human "helpers" during labor, but Chardonnay not only doesn't seem to mind it, I get the feeling that she waits to go into labor until I'm there with her.

I knew she was going to go soon, though we had no idea when she was bred (oops!) so we couldn't count the days to help narrow down her estimated due date. Yesterday I spent some time "up top" with the ladies. I don't know how else to explain how I knew that she was about to begin labor other than to say that she gave me a sort of vibe that said "Stay close, Mama. I need you."

So I fed her up good last night, and Rex and I went to peek on her late in the evening, with no signs of active labor to be found.

This morning I got up, and thought - I need to get my butt up to the goat house! I dressed, grabbed an old towel, my birthing kit, camera, phone and a bag of hot dog buns.

When I first got up there, things seemed completely normal. I fed the girls the bread, giving Chard a little extra, figuring that a carbo-load couldn't hurt right before birthing. I grabbed my folding camp chair and had my daughters turn the other does out to graze so that Chardy could have a little peace and quiet. At this point she went into the manger and laid down. This was the first indication that she was, in fact in labor. Up to this point, it had just been my gut telling me that I needed to sit with her and watch her a little. The bond between a farmer and their animals is amazing!

Things progressed rapidly from there. Chardy only labored for about 20 minutes before delivering her babes. (I will post video over on The Bog Blog later today for those of you who'd like to see the full monty. ;) )

The little girls both have Mama's blue eyes, and both are getting around a little already, slowly but surely.

I've given both babies some colostrum gel and some goat drench to get their blood sugar up and their rumens going. Last I saw, they were in the neighborhood of Mama Goat's udders, but couldn't quite figure out how to connect the dots. I'll be checking on them hourly, just to make sure no one gets rejected or goes hungry.

Oh, what a way to start a morning. I'm so exhausted from helping and tidying up after, that I feel like I gave birth today.

Goat Granny needs a shower and a nap - stat!

Bleating Beauties

This afternoon I spent quite a bit of time with my goatie girls, snapping tons of photos since it has become increasingly obvious that they are going to start kidding any day, and I wanted to document their rotundity for posterity. All of the pictures of my goats are cute, of course, but this is my hands-down favorite -


Teeny, Blue & Chardonnay. Aren't my babies sweet?

The countdown is on for Chardonnay. She looks ready to go, so I'm on high alert for the sound of goat-in-pain wailing and teeny-tiny baby bleats. :)))