Brees Update

A few people, including myself, have been wondering how Brees is doing in his new home. Today I heard from his new family, after he got tagged for this summer's Westmoreland Fair. This photo was on their Facebook site. Doesn't Brees, now Wally, look like he is having fun with his new pal Oscar?Brees, on the right, with a collar and leash, getting his exercise with Kayla.

Twenty, Nineteen...

So what are these people watching? Looks like fun doesn't it? Just the bored neighbors watching a goat birth. Trinity didn't drag things on like her mother for weeks. That udder popped last night and she woke me up (yes - the baby monitor was back on) around seven this morning with some crying. The poor thing has a hard time compared to the other girls who seem to barely make a noise and shoot the kids out. After a good hour of concern from ALL of us, Trinity pushed out a lovely baby buckling. He has been cleaned inside out (I mean she even cleaned inside his mouth!), but had not latched on yet before I came in to cook dinner. Trinity keeps turning to clean him when he gets beside her. Her udder is really tight and full, so she is tender. I feel for her, and it makes it harder for the little guy to get a good go at his milk. We've done a little milking, but its out to the barn this evening to relieve the pressure some more.
It was amazing to see this young goat turn into an obsessive mom within a minute of kidding. She even impressed the young ones in the crowd. So just before noon, we were up to 20 goats on the farm, but as planned Brees officially became Wally at about 1:30PM and went to his new home with his new owner. We are very excited to see him in August at the Westmoreland Fair. He was very well behaved when Kayla came to pick him up, but was not to pleased about being introduced to the halter and lead. We made the meeting a better experience by just carrying him to the car. He even got to ride home in the cab after we all worried that he might squeeze out of the crate they brought.

So here we are, back to nineteen goats. Wow! This was a fun week!

Goat Two Ring Circus

This will be Brees' last day here. He's been kicking up his heels about his new adventure.Tomorrow he moves in with his new goat roomie and friends nearby. In preparation, he has been tagged so he can legally leave the premises. Goats and sheep need a scrapies tag to identify what farm they came from. That whole bio security thing. Scrapies is mostly a sheep problem that goats can catch from sheep. Its difficult to do, but happens. The problem is, it is a disease like mad cow disease, so the herd would likely be culled.

http://www.extension.org/pages/Scrapie_in_Goats
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/scrapie/
I was lucky to get Brees and the "big" twins in a very playful mood. Enjoy the clips. I'll bore you with all three. The choreography is amazing

VIDEO OF KIDS PLAYING ON THE SPOOLS.

QUICK VIDEO OF THE KIDS DASHING ACROSS THE FIELD

VIDEO OF BREES, ELLA AND TISA PLAYING AROUND ZOLA

Everyone's Getting Bigger

The herd is getting bigger.

Ella with Sam,...

...and with Isabelle.

Tisa, on the left, and Ella, are getting too big for the young visitors.
They are quite the arm full.

Brees/Wally is getting big for his mom.

Trinity is getting big with her first udder, and first kid(s)! Yeah!

Layla! Can you get any bigger?

I've counted on another 18 days from her last date I had calendared. Tax day baby?

Just Another Day

Busy day that started with a false alarm run to the barn. I swear I heard little kid noises. Its that secret doe thing working again! If you want to know what the horns are really for...itching those stretch marks. That's her own hair. The winter coat is coming off on all the goats.Tisa Ella The kids are doing well on the field, but we are still having trouble getting the twins all the way out with everyone else. Its only been four days of practice. We're close. One of the jobs that pops up after rains and snow, is garbage clean up. Garbage that has been dumped or buried years ago, works its way up to the surface. We have a couple spots where I always come away with my hands full. I need to keep my eyes peeled. There is every size glass shard to injure the goats or dogs feet. Possibly even ours. And the mowers can throw them and injure someone. Its an ugly thought. Family portrait: Vinegar with her girls.

VIDEO OF THE KIDS AND NANNIES ON THE FIELD

Meet Wally!

Brees has a new name. Hopefully my spell check will like this one.

Meet Wally. Wally will have a new home with his new name in a month or so. Lucky for him, Kayla knows he can't be alone and has bought a second goat. She'll be showing both at the Westmoreland Fair. We are very excited for Wally and Kayla.

Fence Training

After weeks of being stuck in the barn, and in the small fenced area near the barn, the two nannies finally got a break. They had a nice relaxing day nibbling up what green they could find, while the kids saw a new side of the barn.
It was more than time to train the kids to electric fences. One more trauma in their young lives.
It didn't take long for the twins curiosity to turn into a squawk. Check out those helicopter ears.
I hadn't gotten the barn door closed, and it took a bit of mother's milk to calm things down, before we all left the barn again.
With a covered pallet as a temporary deck, the kids had a "home" base when they got scared or wanted to rest.
Brees wasn't taking ANY chances. He heard rubber was the place to be, so he napped here to stay out of trouble. Smart goat!

A Day In the Sun, Until...

The month of deep snow has thrown the fence training schedule right out the door. By now, the kids should have found out the hard way about electric fences. The bottom three strands of wire are closer together to prevent kids from getting out, and predators, like dogs, from getting in. For the most part, the two bottom strands are still under the snow.We do have an area surrounded by mesh fence that is saved for quarantining and bucks. Today that changed. We each tucked a doeling under our arm and led a bellowing Vinegar outside to enjoy a sunny day.
Twee and Brees were already outside, having gotten there on their own steam. Things were a bit slow but the twins started moving around, and soon enough they had their "snow feet".
It looked to be a fun first day in the fences for all the kids.
We took the gift of the warm sun on our back to charge us up for a walk up the alley. Partly for exercise. Partly to inspect fences. When we returned to the barn, I suddenly saw a large bird floating above us. If you can zoom in and identify this bird, I'd be very interested.At first I thought it was a turkey vulture because of the size. The coloring was wrong. It was black bodied and white winged from the ground. Then another hawk appeared. This is the second instance of me bringing out small kids on a nice day and having a hawk show up in short order. At this time of year, the pickings are slim with the snow cover. Our presence did not seem to deter the interest of the birds too quickly. Since we had a possum killed on the field earlier this week, I decided to bring the little ones in.Later in the afternoon, we had some hoofs to trim, so we brought them back out. They found the empty feed box to be a nice nest.

Kid Play

The twins are four days old and picking up speed. They still have a while to catch up to their half brother, but they're giving him a run for his money.

Brees on the left at 3 1/2 weeks old, with one of the 4 day old twins.

The twin's mom, Vinegar, is a bit anxious about it though. "Don't play with him. He's bad news!"

Do you see how they listen?

Amazing!

VIDEO OF TWEE WITH BREES, AND VINEGAR WITH THE TWIN DOES IN THE BARN.

February Cuties

Three week old Brees is enjoying big goat food, and is up to 20 pounds. He is really shaping into a great looking goat. He also got his first shot, and got banded today. He is ready for the fairs.
Little Miss Princess Face has been resting and exploring,...
...along with her sister, just enough to worry mom Vinegar, who is quite glad they have a gate on the stall already. Both the doelings have not only discovered the warming barrel, but the comfort of each other.