Monday, March 25, 2013

Sold Out

All of our 2013 kids are currently sale pending.  I expect deposits on them this week.  I'm always so happy when I feel they're all getting great homes where they'll be loved and appreciated.  I feel sure that's the case with the ladies who will soon be bringing them home. :)  I'll try to continue posting information about Nigerian dwarf dairy goats, and whats happening here at North Forest Farm.

If you're interested in future kids from our farm, keep checking back.  There's a SMALL chance I'll be breeding a couple of yearlings next month for September kids.  I'm still waiting on one of them to reach 40 lbs., which is where I personally feel comfortable breeding them.

If I don't breed them this spring, I"ll be breeding four does for spring 2014 kids.

For now, though, we're just going to sit back and enjoy playing with these kids until they're weaned in May. :)  And milking!  Of course, milking.  I can't forget that.  Of course, we had one tragedy in the loss of Cupcake, and Panzy's hard kidding has caused her to have significantly less milk than she would have.  I'm not sure that it will pick up again, but she does have a fat and happy doeling who is growing fast, so I guess she has enough milk.  Starlight, however, appears to be trying to single handedly udderly?  make up for it.  She is nursing her triplets, and yet still always appears to have a ton of milk in her udder.  Tomorrow I plan to attempt to milk her in the morning without separating her from her kids.  Not sure how much milk she'll let down for us that way, but I'm going to give it a try.  When the triplets are three weeks or a month old, I'll be separating the kids at night and milking the does in the morning.  I'll try to get some udder pics at that point, starting with only 8 hours of separation.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Introducing Starlight's Triplets!

Starlight kidded uneventfully (thank God!) on Sunday, March 10th.  She had triplets, a buckling and two doelings.  #1, blue eyed doeling, 2 3/4 lbs.  #2, brown eyed buckling, 3 lbs.  #3, blue eyed doeling, 3 1/2 lbs.  All are doing well, bouncy and nursing great.  Starlight has more than enough milk for all of them.  Either buckling or doeling #3 are sale pending!  I'm a very happy, tired goat mama!

Triplets are Shere Country SH Starlight X North Forest Farm Shamrock


Laboring Starlight

baby #1

Our awesome new goat go to gal, Alisa, with one of the triplets.

Baby #1 and #2

Alisa dries off baby #2

Japanzy's Blue Eyed Doeling

Japanzy kidded on Saturday, March 9th with an adorable little doeling we've nicknamed "Kimmie" in honor of the veterinarian who helped her into this world.  Kimmie is a black and white, blue eyed doeling.  She weighed 3.8 lbs. at birth.
Kimmie had a twin who died sometime before birth.  The stillborn twin was seriously holding up the birth process, and was tangled up with the live twin trying to be born.  I couldn't untangle them so we made a trip to the vet.  Little Kimmie came out breech but pretty easily.  The twin was coming out front feet first, head wrapped over her back.  We had a long struggle getting that kid out, and it wasn't pretty to say the least!  Japanzy is hopefully recovering, but she's sore and moving slow.  She's on antibiotics to prevent a uterine infection now, and I hope she makes a full recovery.  She's such a great mother, and a great milk maker too!


Here's little Kimmie (Frostbitty Japanzy X North Forest Farm TR Aspen)
Kimmie already has a sale pending!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Thankful For the Time We Had

We lost our sweet Cupcake on March 1, 2013... we are so thankful for the time we had with her.
For the love she gave...





For her silly antics...
...and her delicious milk.
Cupcake was a wonderful, sweet goat.  She will be missed here.