Barn Happenings

Between the next group of kiddings approaching, and my hubby being home for the week, we've gotten lots done and spent lots of time with the goats this week!

At the beginning of the week, our studly adult bucks got all prettied up...well, okay, they got brushed a bit and their hooves done, and their scurs tended to.  Here is Sunday, preening on the stand a bit:

Sunday is our coming 2 year old purebred Nigerian Dwarf buck, and he sure is turning out nicely!  This summer, both boys will be shaved down and bathed.  The sure do, uh, perfume, themselves heavily!

I completely forgot to get a current picture of Chai while he was on the stand, but here is a picture of him from last summer:

Vanilla Chai is a coming one year old purebred Nigerian Dwarf.  He is the father of the upcoming group of kids, so we are very excited to see what he produces next month, as these will be his first kids!

The next group of due dates begins next month, so the expectant mamas all got their CDT booster, BOSE supplement, and first pre-kidding hair cut this week as well.  All three does are in the process of being registered (got a little behind on paperwork last year, oops!) and will be all set by the time they kid.  Due dates fall between 3/8 and 4/8, based on when Chai was in the pen with them.

It was fun to shave them down a bit and find their little first freshening udders hiding under their winter coat! Please excuse their lack of posing, they were pretty done with being on the stand at this point :)  Here, in no particular order, are the expectant junior does:

Pilsner (Pilly), out of Amber and Sunday; bred to Vanilla Chai

Jail Bird (Birdie), out of Alibi and Sunday; bred to Vanilla Chai

Double Dutch (Dutch), out of Peekaboo and Sunday, bred to Vanilla Chai

Our other big job this week was to muck out the barn and replace the bedding in there and re-ground the pen as well.  So today, my awesome husband went and got a huge load of shavings form a local mill and we cleaned out the barn, and laid down shavings in the kidding/baby stall, the doe barn and pen, and the weaning pen.  It looks great and the goats love it!  We had recently put down fresh wood chips, but as they were already partially composted, they didn't hold up very long.  We were using horse bedding saw dust pellets in the barn, but since we were getting sawdust in our eyes, I was concerned it might irritate the goats as well.  So, now there are shavings both inside and out, and we will see how they hold up (we've liked using the baled shavings before; so this should be a more cost-effective solution, and supports a local business as well).  Sure looks nice and smells great out there!  It was getting dark as we were finishing up, so I will try for frolicking goat pictures tomorrow :)

Babies loved the sun this weekend!

Smudge (retained) kissing Marshow (reserved)

Holly in front, Marshow in back (reserved, both)

Lindy with her triplets (and Smudge on the log): Ginger, gold and white, blue eyes, closest to Lindy (available); Fugde, tri color, lowest on steps (reserved); Spritz, highest on steps (retained)

Birdie (Ali's April '12 doeling), Pretty girl!  

Blitzen (available)  BIG boy (over 18lbs at not quite 8 weeks!)

Spritz catching a ride on mama!  She rode her all the way down those steps and...

across the pen! (Blitzen on the stump)

Comet (reserved) testing his strength against Birdie

Pluto says "hi!"

Ginger on top step, I really like how this little boy is turning out; he is getting some nice length (available)!

Shh!  Blitzen is hiding!

Spritz-So glad this darling is staying here!

Smudge (right) and Holly (left); beautiful girls!

A good weekend was had by all, and it was so nice to spend some extra time outside with the goaties and get some new pictures!

All the babies gained over a pound this week, and the biggest is now over 18lbs at not even 8 weeks!  Go babies go!

Most of the babies are reserved, Ginger and Blitzen are still available as bucklings ($175, with registration papers), or wethers ($125, no registration papers).

Blitzen is a solid little guy, and would make a great power buck herdsire for someone!  He is friendly, but not in-your-face, which is very nice in a buck.  His mom (Pluto) has a great udder shape and texture, and his dad (Sunday) has awesome udders behind him.

Ginger is getting to be quite long and dairy and I really like his look!  He is very friendly, and as a part-time bottle baby, he is more people-oriented than Blitzen, but still not pushy.  His mom (Lindy) has incredible capacity, and is very easy to milk with nice big teats and orifices.  His dad (Sunday) has awesome udders behind him.

Both boys are ready for their new homes anytime.  They have been disbudded, had their 1st CDT, had their hooves trimmed, and will be tattoo'd before they go to their new homes.

Baby Update

We've had quite the cold snap here the last couple of weeks, and it has been hard on all the babies.  Last weekend, I made double layer fleece coats for all of them, and they have been much more comfortable this week.  Being coated though, there have been fewer pictures taken.  Today, we went out to give CDT shots, and made a point to take coats off and take a few pictures of each one.  None of the pictures are great, as it was 28 degrees out, and the babies were quite cold without their coats.  The photos give at least a general idea of their markings.

Smudge, possibly retained

Marshow, doeling, available $250

Marshow again, she has a toasted marshmallow spot on her back

Holly, doeling, available $250

Holly again, she has a very dainty head and body structure, though it didn't come across clearly in the photos

Spritz, retained.  She's a real stunner, and I can't wait to see if she got her mama's udder

Fudge, buckling.  $175/$125 buck/wether.  Available at 8 weeks.  Fudge has gorgeous markings, great udder genetics coming from both sides, and is a real looker.  He is also wiggly and didn't want his picture taken :)

Ginger, buckling.  $175/$125 buck/wether.  Available anytime.  Full brother to Spritz and Fudge.

Comet, buckling.  $175 buck, available at 8 weeks.  This guy is so dairy looking and a real sweetheart too!  He would make a great herdsire!

Blitzen, buckling.  $175 buck, available at 8 weeks.  Blitzen is a full brother to Comet, and is also very handsome; great herdsire potential!

Blitzen again.  He has some neat markings on his back, a darker dorsal stripe.  He and Comet both enjoy being held, but did not want to pose for pictures, so that is why there are not standing up pics of these two.

Available babies:

Fudge (Dam-Lindy), buck $175, or wether $125, available at 8 weeks (2/4/13) SOLD

Ginger (Dam-Lindy), buck $175, or wether $125, available anytime (takes a bottle willingly), or at 8 weeks (2/4/13)

Holly (Dam-Alibi), doe $250, available anytime (takes a bottle willingly), or at 8 weeks (2/16/13) SOLD

Marshow (Dam-Alibi), doe $250, available anytime (takes a bottle willingly), or at 8 weeks (2/16/13) SOLD

Blitzen (Dam-Pluto), buck $175, available at 8 weeks (2/5/13)

Comet (Dam-Pluto), Buck $175, available at 8 weeks (2/5/13) SOLD

December 2012 Kidding- Ali's Kids

Ali, 4 days before delivering

Mustang Creek Alibi FINALLY kidded on December 22, 2012.  She sure had us waiting for awhile, as we thoughts she was going to have them "any minute" from about the 7th on...On the upside, she redeemed herself by having beautiful triplet doelings!

All three doelings will be registered/registerable, and at least are available for purchase.

1st born-Holly, 3.44lbs, blue eyes, lt. gold and cream
2nd born-Marshmallow, 3.94lbs, blue eyes, lt. gold and cream (she has a toasted marshmallow spot on her back)
3rd born-Smudge, 3.25 lbs, blue eyes, tricolor

Marshow (in front) and Holly (in back), 6 days old

Smudge, spending time warming up in the house

Due to a cold snap, there are fewer pictures of these three, but we are supposed to be warming up soon, so hopefully that will change!

Holly and Marshow are available for sale for $250.  They are disbudded, registerable with ADGA and AGS, will have had their CDT shots, and ready to be weaned from mama.  They are both currently taking a supplemental bottle morning and night, so they could go to their new homes now as bottle babies.

December 2012 Kiddings-Pluto's Kids

Green Willows Pluto

*Her son, Blitzen, catching a ride

Pluto came to us late summer from a dear friend's herd.  She was bred to our Sunday at the same time as the rest of the girls.  Pluto has a nice build, very dainty and dairy, and a well socked-on udder, with good skin texture.

Pluto kidded twin bucklings on December 11, 2012.  Both were big and healthy, and continue to be that way.  Blitzen, at 3 weeks, is over 10lbs, and Comet is over 9lbs!

1. Blitzen, buckling, dark gold and white, weighing 4.1lbs, brown eyes
2. Comet, buckling, lt. gold and white, weighing 3.6lbs, brown eyes

Blitzen is a real eye catcher, nice and level, long, strong, and already acting like a little stud!  Comet had a really nice look as well, a bit more fine boned, especially in the head.  I think either one would make an excellent buck, and I would keep one if we had a need for more bucks (we don't!).

Some pictures:

Blitzen, just born

Comet, just born

Comet checking out his daddy

I love Comet's head and face

Blitzen is beautiful too!

Pluto's Udder, 12 hours milk, 17 days fresh

Both of Pluto's boys are available for sale.  They will be ready for their new homes at 8 weeks.  As wethers, they will be $125 each, as registerable, intact bucklings, they will be $175 each.

December 2012 Kidding-Lindy's Kids

Lindy (Mustang Creek Lindsay; see previous post for her pedigree.)  In March, Lindy kidded a single buckling and had a stunning udder for a first freshener.  I was definitely the most excited to see her udder this time around, and she sure didn't disappoint us!  Not only did she deliver healthy triplets, but her udder is amazing!  Large, well-attached, very good sized teats ( I haven't seen teats this nice on a Nigerian, personally), and nice open orifices too!

Lindy, 12 hours milk, 18 days fresh

Lindy was bred to our senior buck, Sunday, for a repeat of the March breeding.  She kidded triplets on December 10, 2012.  Two boys, and a girl.

1. Fudge, buckling, tricolor, weighing 3.7lbs, brown eyes
2. Gingersnap, buckling, gold and white (white over most of his back), weighing 2.9lbs, blue eyes
3. Spritz, doeling, tricolor, weighing 2.8lbs, blue eyes *Retaining this doeling

All three were born easily, are healthy and growing.  Ginger is growing more slowly than his siblings, so we've begun supplementing with a bottle for him, and that is going very well.  Because he is taking a bottle, and is too sweet to fight his sibs for the teat, we would like to sell Ginger as a bottle baby.

Thanks to lots of cuddling, by us, and our junior goat tamer (our 5 year old daughter, whose very favorite pastime is to hang out holding baby goats), all three (along with all the other babies), are quite friendly and once picked up, settle in for a cuddle and maybe a nap!

Some pictures:

Lindy and babies, right after birth

In general population, sleeping in the hay feeder

Left to right: Fudge, Ginger, Spritz

Fudge in the front, Spritz on the lower log.  Fudge is such a flashy boy, and with his Daddy's look sand milk background, and his mama's udder, I think he'd make someone a great buck.

Ginger is the one nibbling Lindy's beard.

Of Lindy's babies, Spritz is being retained.  Fudge will be available at 8 weeks, as either a buck($175) or a wether($125). Ginger is available now as a bottle baby ($100), or at 8 weeks as a wether ($125).

December 2012 Kidding

So...I am really not very good with this blogging thing.  I try every year or so, and fail miserably.  That is my disclaimer.  On the upside, being a farm blog, I figure, as long as I have posts about super important things, like new baby goats, I am doing pretty well.  With that said...

This year, we chose to breed our senior does to kid more like 10 months apart, instead of a year.  That put due dates in December 2012.  Overall, it went great, all babies born here were healthy, two does had triplets, and one doe (that we purchased over the summer) had twins.  Two does we sold this fall (Peekaboo and Amber) also had triplets by our buck, at their new homes.  That is up from twins and singles last time around.

General reflections...personally, for us, kidding in December was pretty crazy, especially since one of them waited until 2 days before Christmas Eve to kid, after toying with us for 2.5 weeks.  I felt like the head start on the holidays I got right after Thanksgiving evaporated before my very eyes, and I spent 2.5 weeks in barn clothes, stressed and tired.  At least the slow poke made up for it with triplets doelings!  So, in the future, we will aim for not the month of Christmas for kiddings.  Since 10 months seemed to work, we are planning to kid this group of does again in October 2013.  That should be enough before the holidays, and far enough after our human baby comes (may ish).

Also, crawling around the barn on my knees at 4ish months pregnant (for the 4th time, and man oh man is everything happening faster this time around!), was less fun than it sounds (but it was doable, thanks especially to my helpful assistant goat-midwife (my mom, who actually enjoys driving 40 minutes out here, with little notice, to get to help deliver goat babies), my hubby, and my kids being pretty thrilled to get to spend so much time in the goat pen), and I am not particularly thrilled that I will be doing the same thing at 7/8 months along when our junior does are kidding in March.

All that said, we ended up with 8 babies from 3 moms; 4 boys, 4 girls; everyone is healthy; and we got a keeper doeling from the doe we were really hoping to get a keeper from!