A New Kid - Owen Riley

December is a big month for our family, as it may be yours, with all the holiday madness. In the past few years its gotten even bigger and busier here, with grandson Jacob's birthday on the 4th, mine on the 11th and between the two of us now is Jacob's baby brother Owen Riley, born December 9th. With the hereditary lack of promptness, Owen was able to spend his extra time growing to 21 inches and weighing in at 8lbs. 3 ounces at 8:27AM when he was delivered by Cesarean section.

Once again the labor and delivery area was a madhouse, and the nursery short staffed for the flurry of activity that morning. I was lucky to be waiting in the visitor's room when Owen was rolled up the hall for a visit before he went to the nursery for his "bath".  Because of the lack of staff to prepare and supervise the rooms, I felt like I was at the airport with three peoples worth of "carry-on", sitting there with bags and cameras and reading materials.

Jacob holding his brother for the first time.

My daughter Kristin and son-in-law Andrew were able to bring Owen safely home during one of the warmest December days in history. All the grandparents and Auntie Jess have taken a turn at burping and changing, with some cooking and big brother entertaining on the side.

Now that I have these two December birthdays around me, I am planning my future getaways with my boys. Oh! What fun we will have!
(And I am dreaming of the next little goat farm for the future 4-H duo!)

Wet and Happy Fourth of July

 Happy Independence Day Friends! 

Its raining and cool and we love it, and the gardens love it. 

Its the heat break and rain that we needed.

Hurricane Arthur has cancelled all the fireworks around here till tomorrow, but our little firecracker is having fun in the rain and puddles. A town event for children had great attendance in spite of rain that poured at times. You would have thought that playing in the rain was a planned activity.

All the animals in the barn at Northwest Park in Windsor were visited and spoken to(Baa! Quack! Etc.) and then we got to the car before the next deluge for the ride home.

 

Have a great holiday!

Derry Fair 2012 - 4-H Goats

 Recognize these two buff boys?

How about now?

 And here at days old with their triplet sister on the left.

Yes! Its the former Bingo and Boris, now winners Geo and Cash, at the Derry Ag Fair with their 4-H owners Elizabeth and John Clark.

Congratulations!

I am so impressed with how these goats look!

 Elizabeth and "Cash" won first in showmanship.

No wonder why. 

Enthusiasm alone!

 We still can't agree who looks better in the hat.

 Tough call.

And why are small dogs in the goat pens?

I had to wonder.

Then I moved to take another photo and realized that these are 4 month old Angora goats. 

I think I have a new love!

And Doeling Makes Four

Abi had her first kid at her new home ten days ago, and I finally stopped to get a few photos of her new doeling. Belle is looking on from behind.

Doesn't she look big? I think she was only four days old in this photo and I am amazed at how tall and active she is. 

Now we have to wait until month's end to find our what Ariel(left) will have. Fingers crossed for twins.

Doesn't the barn look better with a little one in front of it?!!

Foodie

We've had quite a few kids here in the past six years, but this little guy is the most oral kid since day one. He is from a fine line of food dominant goats, but he really is into eating already.

The video is from day two, and already he is putting everything in his mouth.

He's just trying to eat everything, standing or in a bowl.

He's put on a bit of weight and if he keeps it up, he'll really fill in that wide chest of his.

Meanwhile, Adeline doesn't look like she kidded in the past week, but for her udder. Some gals have all the luck getting their girlish figures back. She's in great shape.

Looks like she will be in good shape for the fair at this pace.

First Cutting

With some dry air and warm sun, I imagine the farms nearby are gearing up for their first cutting of hay.

In our case, with rotational grazing, we just let the goats have at it. 

The machinery alone makes it too costly for us to bale hay as we don't need that much to get through the winter(To compare - one horse needs as much as 15 goats). 

During the Summer and Fall the goats have absolutely no interest in it anyway. 

Why would they when they come in with round bellies every night after getting lost in this.

And get lost they do. 

The kids actually cry to find their mothers because they loose sight of them.  The screeching is pathetic sometimes.

But you have to laugh, because they are RIGHT THERE - in the hay.

Meanwhile, the nanny is so absorbed in her munching, it takes a while to register.

"Whose kids are making that racket? Oh! OOPS!"

Well, at least we are confident no one will starve to death!

Kids and Kids (and Chickens)

Its great to have kids visit and I usually take lots of pictures, and I did on this visit, but these were taken by the (human) kids mom, Elizabeth.

Its nice to see the interaction though other peoples eyes. This is so dear. 

I think these photos are special.

We just don't know what Zola found so delicious looking about the camera, but she couldn't resist trying to get a taste.

The hens will do anything for corn!

 It was great to have such enthusiastic kids.

Silly, Dizzy Goats

 The mornings are full of energy and fun.

Here's a VIDEO of the kids burning off a little steam.

We've moved across the alley and are on lush pasture - for April anyway.

Maternal Instincts

I was heading up to move some fences, and stopped to check on the babies, outdoors for the first time.

They were sunning themselves against the back of the shed. A favorite spot it seems.

As I was leaning on the fence, Saba started snorting and acting quite odd. 

I'd never seen a goat "sit" like this.

She was doing all she could to put her body over and around her babies as she tried to stare down the cats. Even her ears were pointed at the cat. 
Here's more of the action and the sounds of Saba snorting.

That's one thing about goats, they confront. They don't run away. We find it very curious that the goats seem to be most afraid or disturbed by the cats. Only one goat had gone after the dog when she had new kids.  Makes you wonder what they fear.

Why Its Great To Be A Goat Herder