Udder Update

I am pretty please with all three does' udders and milk production, and yesterday I took some pictures.  We milk twice a day and weigh each doe's milk individually, so we know what they are producing.  Once our machine milker gets here (I have really bad hands/wrists, and with soon to be 4 in milk, my hands are dying milking them all), I may pour off each doe separately to be weighed, or may do it all together, by my husband will continue hand milking at least a couple times a week, so we know who is doing what still.

Amber freshened first, and was doing at least 2lbs per day (there are about 8 lbs in a gallon, so about a quart/day) from the start.  Yesterday, she did 3lbs in a 24hr period (2 milkings)!

Here is her udder at 14 hours in milk, 2 weeks fresh yesterday morning:

And yesterday evening, about 10hours milk, 2 weeks fresh (so the next milking):

Peekaboo kidded two days after Amber, and her production this year is surpassing what she did last year (this is her 4th freshening).  She started out at just under 2lbs/day, and by 3 days fresh was over 2lbs/day.  Now she is at about 2.75lbs/day.  Her teats are good sized, have nice open orifices, and great udder texture making her quite nice to milk.

Here she is yesterday morning, 13 days fresh, 14hours milk:

Peekaboo last night (the next milking), 13 days fresh, 10 hours milk:

Lindy freshened on 3/10, with a single buckling for her first freshening.  I am very, very impressed with FF udder!  I had read/heard so much about tiny udders and very little milk from first fresheners, that I wasn't expecting much.  She sure has surprised me!  By 2 days fresh, she was giving over 2lbs/day, and is now giving about 2.5lbs/day.  She is by far my most easily milked doe, with great teat placement, large teats, wide open orifices and great texture!  I am so excited to see how the rest of her lactation goes, and to see what she does next year in her second freshening!

Lindy however, does not like to pose nicely for pictures, but this should give a good idea at least. Here she is at 11 days fresh, 14 hours milk (please ignore the bad trim job):

This is the next milking, 11 days fresh, 10 hours in milk.  The pictures are a bit blurry, but show the overall shape of her udder.

Alibi is not due until 4/8/2012, so we are expecting babies sometime after 4/4 (all the other delivered 3-4 days before their due date).  Her udder is coming along as well.

Available Bucklings

We have two buckling available. They have been disbudded and will be tattoo'd and get their CDT sometime this week.  They should be ready to go to their new homes after the weekend.

Amber's boy is cream and white with blue eyes.

Peekaboo's boy is also cream and white (he also has some black on his legs), with a moonspot under his eye and brown eyes.

I wish baby goats were easier to stage for good pictures!  If you are interested in one or both of our boys, you are welcome to come visit them.

Peekaboo's Twins-3/9/2012

Peekaboo kidded twins at 3am March 9th.  It was a long night waiting her out, but we did it and the birth went well.  The buckling was first, at 5lbs 3oz; he was a big guy!  Doeling followed a few minutes later at 4lbs 2oz.  Both are doing very well, and are hanging out with the other kids in the kid pen.  Everyone is getting the hang of the bottle and moms are recovering well.

Here is the buckling (Brown eyes) (1st picture is last night, and hour after birth; the rest are from today):

And doeling (blue eyes) (again, 1st picture from one hour after birth, the rest are from today)

The doeling will probably be retained, the buckling is available.

Triplets from Amber!

Amber's triplets were born last night between 6:30 and 7pm.  The births all went very smoothly, Amber is doing great and the babies are healthy and adorable!  She had 2 doelings and 1 buckling.  One doeling will be retained, and one will available for purchase (we will decide which we are retaining in the next few days), and the buckling will be available as well. See pictures and weights below.

Amber, 30 minutes prior to kidding:

1st born: DOELING 2lbs 9oz (Brown eyes)

 2nd born: DOELING, 3lbs 3oz (Blue Eyes)

3rd born: BUCKLING, 3lbs 9oz (Blue eyes)(available)

Group shots (the buckling is the lightest one; it's iodine from their navel dipping that you can see on the towels)