Goats On Pasture

I know that the goats on pasture is nothing new here, but after the ten dismal days of Sandy, it felt new.

Smiling Speckles

This past week, their personalities are starting to show through again with their cozying and curiosity, when I spend time in the field with them.

Post Sandy gloom and rain had them hunkered in the sheds way too much, and hay was becoming a larger staple in the evening meal.

Brianna at six months old

Now with the newest rotation, they would likely burst with more hay.

As a matter of fact, I had one close call on Election Day with a bit of bloat, but a couple hours of attention with baking soda "shots"(oral), and the crisis passed.

Twee

I think Vinegar, here in the background of her first daughter Twee, got into something the third day they were in the corral. She came into the barn looking five months pregnant(that's full term for those new here), but luckily was not foaming at the mouth. After that day, the girls ended their corral clean up.

Adeline

 VIDEO of the goats at breakfast

Today I took a walk in the lower field, partly to inspect the fences, and partly to get the girls to the far end of the field.

When all else fails, I am the leader and they easily follow. They'd still be by the barn, had I not led them today. Its an important job, being the Herd Queen!

And here they have two acres of pasture, but four of them have to try and eat from the same square foot.  Herd mentality.

48 Hours Later And A Nice Surprise (Or Two)

Lucky for us we have great neighbors, and neighbors that love our goats.

Julia came twice on her school conference day to help get the orphan twins bottle fed.  Trust me. No easy task. We are not as good as mom.

Then her mom Allison came today and came up with a better technique and the twins ate twice as much as they had the first day.  Luckily, no scours (diarrhea) after 48 hours on powdered supplement. 

They are probably not getting as much as they would with mom, but we are getting used to the bottle and hopefully they will get used to the change and get easier to get started.  There is a lot of resistance, but patience is key.

After the morning shift and watching the herd come and take care of the orphans, we were closing up the barn when I looked on the hill and saw a bear walking the tree line.  As it turned out, after closer observation, he is sick with mange.

Our Game Warden was called, but of course, the bear ended his one hour nap in the sun and wandered off before he could be caught. We have the neighbors on the look out as none of us want any of our animals, or us, to share the bear's affliction.

Then just as things were settling down, Allison noticed Vinegar on her side in the corral. Yes, she was starting to kid. 

I struggled to get her out of the field with the buck, and once through the gate, she took herself into her stall. 

After a long half hour, she gave birth to a single, lovely, paint buckling.  Here she is unwrapping him!

 This evening he was fluffy and soft and a great cuddle after a long couple of days. 

1 11 11 @1PM Twin Does For Vinegar

Be Warned! A bloody photo and short video clip.

It was starting out to be one of those days.

For starters, I hadn't slept well listening to the monitor in the barn all night. I was anticipating the possibility of getting up for babies, as Vinegar's and Twee's udders were getting pretty tight. The morning before I had run out in 11 degrees to a false alarm. The cats meowing?
Not us.

I got up and let the dog out for his morning bathroom activities, and I as I closed the kitchen door, I caught a glance of the thermostat. 59 degrees F. WHAT? Why didn't I notice sooner? Our wood stove does a nice job of heating the upstairs via the balcony and a window (that's right, and its an outdoor window dating to the original farm house structure) to our bedroom. That, and I get dressed for the barn, which meant 18 degrees this morning.

We had plenty of oil, and after an attempt with the starter button, I called in the furnace troops. They said 11am, which worked fine for me, so I went on with my morning as usual. Noon came. Lunch was eaten and now it was 12:45pm when I called again. Another fifteen minutes. OK. My errands will have to wait.

A half hour later, the truck shows up. Jock and I go out to greet our hero, and as I am saying "Hello!", I hear YELLING from the field. I can't see anything, but I know - - kidding season has begun.

VIDEO OF VINEGAR WITH HER TWIN DOES BORN 1 11 11 AT @1PM

Out I ran to the field with a bag of rags and grabbed the babies to dry them and carry them to the barn. This distressed Vinegar a bit when I took the first one. With the second one she came trotting behind me, talking all the way. The darker doe is a bit slow getting going, but my neighbor Allison has gotten it on the teat to nurse a bit. After Vinegar finally lay down, we left them to all rest.

Shots,Tags, and Weaning

Today was a bit of an ugly one here. After separating Ella and Tisa from their Mom at night this past week, today they did not get to join Vinegar at all.
The carrying on all day gave them laryngitis. Then it was past due for the April kids' CDT shots, so that got checked off the list. All the kids then needed to visit Mom for a bit of comfort, but not before watching the other two get their shot.

Zuri and Zahra nursed away their pain. Then the older twins needed to get tagged to leave the farm.
These are the required scrapie tags.While they were yelling, might as well give them one more thing to yell about, but the pain was quick, and they are all set to move to their new home.

Ella and Tisa have one more day to get all grown up.

CUTE VIDEO OF ELLA AND TISA IN THE BARN

I think Tisa is too mad to talk!

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.

Sleep Tight

Tucking in for their first night. Happy Birthday!