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.

Waiting For Goat Kids Can Be Funny

Today marks day one of waiting for the goats to kid.  Cupcake is due first, and today is day 143.  We have the baby monitor hooked up now, and it's pretty interesting having the barn sounds inside.  When you're half asleep, you can come to some strange conclusions about what's going on.  :)  Early this morning I thought the chickens had gotten out and made their way to the house.  Dan got up around that time to look for "the crazy toy we had that sounds like a rooster".  I'm going to have to get a human kid to go to the barn and bleat like a doe in labor so I can tell where to set the volume. ;)
I think Cupcake will go a little while yet.  I can still feel tail ligaments and her udder isn't very full yet.  She's looking hollow though, so it shouldn't be too long.

Find Us On Facebook

We're on Facebook!  We'd love for you to find us there and like our page.  You'll get all the latest updates on what's happening here on the little farm, and meet other Nigerian owners as well.
 Here's a link.

Once again, we're having some real camera problems at North Forest Farm, but if one of them decides to work today, I'd like to get some new photos of the prego gals put up.

Preparing and Waiting for kids...

Waiting is the hardest part about kidding season.  The does are getting so big now, and having more trouble breathing around those bellies full of kids.  It's fun to speculate on how many each doe will have, and what they may look like.  Cupcake seems pretty uncomfortable.  She's often reluctant to move from her favorite spot now, and it's easy to see why.  As she should have about two weeks to go now, I've begun a bit of grain for her.  Just 1/2 c. per day for now, 1/4c in the morning and 1/4c in the evening.  I'll also be offering her a little alfalfa in about a week, when I can start all the pregnant girls on it without the risk of having huge kids.  I like to stay away from the chemical wormers as much as possible, especially when milking, so I try to get that over with before I start milking for the family.  I will be administering a wormer to each doe the day after she kids, and hope that combined with the earlier start to our kidding season will give us a better spring in terms of parasites.

I plan to clean kidding pens this week, and have one more kid safe hay rack to build.  We used these little wire hay racks
 
our first kidding season, and won't do that again.  Way too many close calls with the kids.  They want to jump into the racks and curl up on the hay, and can so easily get a leg, or worse, their head, caught in them.  I had one kid nearly hang himself that year, and the same month a friend of mine had a kid break her leg in one.  I made the racks in the following photo with old crib rails.

Much better, and no danger to those always curious and busy kids! :)

I'll also be getting my kidding supplies ready this week, and getting the baby monitor set up so I can at least hear what's going on in the barn.  I'd love to be able to see as well, but that will have to wait for now.
For anyone curious, I'll try to post about what I keep in my kidding kit soon.

Visiting Goats, Urine Scald and the Final Stretch

We have had two visiting goats at North Forest Farm this month. They belong to a 16 year old girl who really wanted her doe, Irena, to kid this year.  I had a separate kidding stall that wasn't being used yet, and felt like helping her out.  The buckskin is the doe, Irena and Willie, her companion, is black with some white.  They've been fun to have with us, especially Willie, who is always up to something and a big snuggler as well.  We are just waiting to see if Irena goes into heat again, which I don't expect, and then she and Willie will be going home.  I'm really excited to see what her kids are like.  She's been bred to Aspen and should be due around June 3rd.  If you'd like to keep an eye on her progress, you can find her here.

Willie and Irena

We've been struggling a bit with one of our bucks lately.  The bucks are...bucky.  They do "bucky" things, such as pee on themselves, especially on the back of their front legs.  It's less than attractive to us humans, but I guess the does are supposed to find it irresistible.  Unfortunately, it causes a condition called urine scald, where the hair falls out and the skin becomes very irritated.  Shamrock has some bald, inflamed skin that has needed treatment.  It is less than pleasant to have to wash, blow dry, trim and medicate a stinky buck, but it is required to keep them healthy.  Right now, I'm using bag balm with lavendar oil in it to treat the area, but when I get some zinc oxide, I'll make a salve from lanolin and zinc oxide for him.

We are down to the last month of waiting for new babies!  We may have our first kids on the ground around March 1st.  Our girls are getting round!  Well, two of them are.  Starlight is less rotund that Cupcake and Japanzy.  She still seems pregnant, judging by her udder, behavior, and vulva...I HOPE!  She was, after all, my best milker last year.  This last month of waiting is the hardest.  It gets so exciting!  There's a lot more to managing the herd before kidding starts as well.  I like to deworm does about a week before they give birth, and again the day after.  I also begin to feed a bit of grain and alfalfa about a week before kidding.  This means more moving goats around, so they can eat their individual diets without interference.  There is no such thing as feeding something to one or two goats when they are all together.
Once, I tried to feed them each their dose of copper in a little "sandwich".  I was mauled by five does at once, ten little front hooves all jumping up on me, and a melee the likes of which I've seldom seen. :)  It was fun!  But, not effective.

Shere Country SH Starlight x North Forest Farm MX Shamrock

Starlight was exposed to Shamrock yesterday and today, October 15 and 16, 2012. She was in a strong standing heat today, so we should see kids around March 9, 2013. Starlight is my best milker, still giving nearly a pint per milking at 6 months as a first freshener. That's not bad for a Nigerian! I like her so much that I still own all of her kids from 2012, two does (Bet and Ginger) and a buck (Aspen). Starlight is a lovely gold and white doe. She's very long and beautiful with a lovely udder. Shamrock is a great buck, and should produce some lovely kids. I'm expecting long, strong legs, strong and correct feet, and level top lines out of him. I don't see any obvious faults in him.
I see I'm going to have to get a new picture of him up, as the one in this post is a baby pic.  He looks a bit awkward in it, but he isn't so anymore.

Shere Country SH Starlight

Starlight's 1st freshening udder, 3 weeks fresh and 10 hours bagged.

Starlight's 1st freshening udder, 3 weeks fresh and 10 hours bagged.

North Forest Farm MX Shamrock

Frostbitty Japanzy x North Forest Farm TR Aspen

Today Japanzy was in heat, so I put her with Aspen again. He seems to have possibly been able to get the job done this time! I'm really looking forward to seeing the kids this breeding produces. Japanzy is sort of a mediocre milker, though she seems to have a steady and long lactation. She is, however, an awesome doe in all other respects. She has awesome feet and legs, and is extremely hardy and resistant to disease. She's an extremely easy keeper as well, leaning toward overweight very easily.  She was pregnant in the photoi below, but you can still see that she's not thin by any means.   She does have a nice udder, as you can see in the photos below.  It is very well attached, nice medial, and nice fore udder.
Aspen is my best milkers buckling from spring 2012.  His mom, Starlight, hasn't disappointed me in any way!  She kidded very easily with triplets her first freshening, all by herself.  She was/is a great mama, still nursing her two doelings who are almost 6 months old now.  She has them with her all day, and I separate them at night.  In the morning she gives me a pint of milk, and I let her have her girls back again.  So far, she's steady on a pint every morning for 6 months now.  I'm pretty happy about that!   I hope I'm able to sell any doelings to someone who will milk them, so I can see if they live up to their potential.

Aspen is the buckling on the left.

Aspen's mama, Starlight