Goat Herd: The Girls Are Out & About.

Hooray for Spring in Maine. Finally. It is now time for our girls to escape their barn a bit every day ... to enjoy the greens ... antagonize the chickens ... destroy some perennials ... and follow us all around the yard during our outings.

And here are last year's kids ... You and Sweetie Pie. My how they have grown! And so have their hooves. So, Meaghan and I spent the other morning cutting and filing their hooves down. Not our favorite chore. Or theirs. And sadly, there was some blood involved. Me (our Queen of the herd) is not easy to work with ... and I cut a bit too far by accident ... but all is well now. Well, except that she is WAY overweight ...

... as can be seen above. I am almost embarrassed by this. But my Dad thinks that loving the goats means giving them food every time they "bleat" (click here to hear a goat bleating). And so, I have to give my Dad some of the blame for my overweight goats. No matter how often I tell him to leave them be ... that I know how to care for them ... he doesn't listen ... and thinks I am starving them. Ugh. I think I may need to hide their food from him. But he would likely just buy them more.

But tis the season for less grain and more natural greens ... so here is hoping I can get their weight down a bit.

Sweetie Pie above. Named by Isaac. And totally lives up to her name. She is so very sweet. Except when she bites me for trimming her hooves. She was our replacement for the goat that died within 24 hours of coming to our farm. That sweet goat was named Mini-Me ... and was so very ill. She was Isaac's goat ... and he and I tried desperately to save her ... but she passed in our arms ... and he later picked this one out to replace her on the farm. This Sweetie Pie is all the more important to him because of the passing of Mini-Me. And she is doing very well.

You is above. And she may be my favorite. Such personality. Always hangs out right by my side. Always a bit comical. And never bites when I am trimming her hooves. Thank you, You.

We love our goats. They are way more work then we initially thought ... but their company is so worth it. We have yet to milk them ... or put them to "work" for the farm in any way ... but we do so enjoy them.

And who could possibly resist these faces ...


Or even THIS one. (Our dear Emily).

So there you have it - a quick update on our small goat herd. They made it through a looong winter ... and are so happy to be out and about in the spring mud. As are we :)

ENJOY!

Love,

Jodi

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Farm Updates.

Blossoms everywhere! Gosh I love spring ... and this spring in Maine has been wonderful. So early ... so warm ... and so much sunshine. Good stuff.

I recently found this colossal (yes, I think it is safe to use that adjective here without exaggeration) apple tree on our property. It must be 30+ years old, though I have no idea how to tell these things. I have read that we will need to significantly trim this tree up in order to get it to bear a good quantity and quality of edible fruit. So, we are currently in the process of learning about this. Anyone care to offer some tips?

I also just discovered that we have a broody hen sitting on about 8 eggs right now. I was so hoping that one of the girls would try to hatch out a clutch this year ... and I got my wish. The expectant Mom is our only Rhode Island Red. I am a bit surprised, as they tend not to be broody at all ... but she has been sitting on the eggs for at least 3 days, so we shall find out in less than 3 weeks whether any of them are fertile. Very exciting! (My fave chicken, Teeko the Red-Sex Link, is shown above).

As for Emily and Me, well ... they are not so in love with me these days. They seem to blame me for inviting 2 more goats to our farm. They used to nuzzle me and play with me. Now, they just stare.

Good news is that I believe Me went into her first "heat" ... so will be searching for a buck to invite over asap. I have a new connection and am looking forward to getting these 2 ladies "in the family way" when the timing is right.

The kids, You and Sweetie, are doing very well. Sadly, the kid that we purchased at the same time as You ... the one we named Mini-Me ... died about 28 hours after we purchased her. It was horrible. We called in a wonderful local vet and tried everything we could to heal her ... but she had no fight in her and passed away in my arms. A few days later we picked up Sweetie ... as our "replacement" for the deceased kid. She is an absolute treat. I think she is going to be our most friendly goat. She loves, loves, loves people.

You (pictured above) is also very sweet, but has an independent streak that tells me she may try to gain some dominance over Emily and Me as soon as she is physically able. Right now, she enjoys racing Isaac to the barn ... and watching it is a hoot!

The kids are down to 2 bottle feedings a day, and are currently eating greenery, so their timeline is healthy ... and I look forward to less feedings so that we can take some day long trips around Maine.

Halis has finished turning over the food garden plot. (Chase helped). We are almost to the point of planting some tomatoes and peppers in there. Just a bit skittish that we will see another frost. But I am thinking we will plant this week. Have any of you planted yet?

Today we will finish painting the goat barn ... and readying it for an extension to effectively house the new kids.

So - what is happening on your little piece of earth?

Love,

Jodi

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Learning to Milk my Goats ... via web videos.

* Milking a goat without any stands, stools or other equipment:

More likely the way we are going to do it:

Someone else learning too:

Any other suggestions from my fellow goat farmers?

Love,
Jodi

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You. The Goat.

You is such a little sweetie. Yes, her name is You. Aren't we ridiculous? Since we have a goat named "Me", it seemed all too right to name one "You" ... so I could call them into the barn by yelling, "Hey You, Me & Emily!"

Sadly, we did have another little sweetie named "Mini-Me" that we purchased at the same time ... but she passed away in my arms only 30 hours after I brought her home. After a midnight visit from our local farm vet, we discovered that she was suffering from Shipping Fever and the Scours. The vet did his best ... but she passed away just hours after he left. Isaac and I cuddled her before she passed ... and we tried to heal her with love ... but she left ... and Isaac took it very well. Better than I.


Anyway ... now little Miss You is a spoiled goat. Because she is missing a fellow kid to grow-up with (the older goats don't count, as they are not liking her quite yet) ... we have allowed her the occassional run of our house ... and some bed snuggles. She is fond of all of us ... and is just an all around sweetie. She wags her tail quite a bit and enjoys a good romp outside.

The farm we bought both kids from is going to replace the goat we lost sometime next week. So You will have a new friend soon. But until then, we are enjoying her company as she follows us around the house. Hopefully soon the older goats will take to her too.

As the old-time Maine famers say, "Ain't she cunning?"

Love,

Jodi

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Looking for Love.

It seems that the lovely, sweet, little girl goats that I just bottle fed this spring are now all grown up and 'looking for love' ... in order to start 'families' of their own. I knew this day would come soon ... as all my goat books told me so ... but I was a bit caught of guard when I let them out to play yesterday and they began 'mounting' each other. My goat books tell me that when this happens (and after they reach 100 lbs) ... that it is time to find them a mate (usually in the fall) ... in order to have spring kids.

So, it is now time to search for a handsome Nubian buck for my sweet Emily & Me. I have never done such a thing before. I have a few ideas ... but this is totally new territory. I plan to 'rent' said buck for as long as needed ... but have no intention of keeping one. Male goats are far too much work for me. But what a concept eh? To rent a male for the purposes of breeding? Gives me a chuckle really!

I am thinking that I will plan a trip today to a local Nubian farmer and see if I can rent a buck. And not just any buck ... he will have to be the Prince Charming of goats for my sweet girls.

And here is their honeymoon suite ...

Wish me luck!

Love,
Jodi

P.S. If you happen to know some Nubian Farms in the Bangor, Maine area ... please pass their names along. Thank you!

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Goat Meets Butterfly.

We are all a bit under the weather around here ... but I just had drop in for a moment to post this sweet photo of our goat, "Me" and her curious interlude with a butterfly in our yard:


Hope you all have a great Friday ...

Love,
Jodi

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10 Things My Goats Have Taught Me So Far.

These young ladies are teaching me so very much lately. Here are a few of the highlights:

1. Anything you continue to feed - over a period of time - will eventually believe that you are its Mama.

2. I pay more attention to the nutritional intake of my goats than I do my own son (this will soon change).

3. Goats make better pets than dogs. They follow you around everywhere, lick you, play with you, appreciate you ... but then they can go back into the barn so as not to chew your chairs, lift their legs on the furniture, or get fur all over your bed.

4. I now know what it is like to bottle feed a baby at all hours of the day and night. (Isaac came home to me when he was past this stage).

5. Baby goats smell almost as wonderful as baby humans. They have that sweet newborn smell.

6. Letting your children name your barnyard animals is not always a good idea. I find myself yelling, "Come here, Me. Hey you, Me, get over here."

7. Some cats (especially the evil kind) will try to catch and eat a baby goat. Seriously. My Mom's evil 200 pound cat went for the jugular. But same cat is afraid of chickens.

8. Goats milk is incredibly good for humans --- much better than cows milk. No cholesterol in goats milk ... among other things.

9. I never knew I could love goats so much. I could wrestle and play with them for hours. So much fun. Never boring. Who knew?

10. My husband will allow just about anything in order to please me ... (or to make up for those moments when he makes me wish I were single). The goat barn is almost finished and I only told him I was buying the goats on Friday --- on a whim. Not to mention that the babes are hanging out in our kitchen till the barn is complete.

Love,
Jodi

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