Kidding Season!

 Phew!!!  It has been a busy kidding season!  It started the week of St. Patrick's Day.  Our first doe named "Ivey" gave birth to twins.  It was a boy and girl and we named the girl "Clover" and plan to keep her.  She is a big sturdy girl! 

  

                                                Myles.... always messing!

McKenzie came over one evening to see our babies.  She has enjoyed being closer and we have loved it!

Myles loves the "bebes". :o)

The grass is green and the horses are enjoying unending grazing days!

This is "Vanilla Swirl".  She is a thorn in our side and we decided after she kidded we would sell her.  Sad, because she is a really good milker about 1 1/2 gallons a day!) but she tears up everything out there! (We have had her mama for years and she is one of our sweetest goats.) When she gave birth she only had one very large buckling.  He was beautiful and healthy and we thought all was well.  The next day she started getting sick and by that night I thought she was dying.  We kind of thought she had another baby inside her that maybe had died.

McKenzie tried to see if she could feel for anything but didn't have any luck.

Our wonderful friend/neighbor (he is an E.R. nurse practitioner)  came down at midnight to help us with her.  Madeline and I were up until 3 A.M. He did an I.V. on her and gave her two bags of fluid.  I honestly hoped she would be either up the next morning or dead.  I really didn't want to pay a vet bill for an ultrasound and surgery. Amazingly the next day she was up and started browsing in the woods.  We gave her a week before we sold her to make sure all was well.  An Indian couple bought her and they have fallen in love with her.  We are all glad she is gone! :o)

I can't keep up with much after those two. I know "Cotton" wasn't supposed to have gotten bred, but we realized over the winter that her udder was developing.  She gave us doeling twins!  "Olive" had triplets, "Dandelion" had a buckling, "Lavender" had twins. I think we had eleven babies total.  We will keep two doelings and sell the rest.

This is "Mandrake" our AGDA Nubian sire.  He is only a year old and already a good size.

These are "Cottons" twins.

                                                    A very pregnant "Olive"!

We bought our own horn burner this year and I have become the official "horn burner". Not sure how that happened.  It isn't a pleasant task, but neither is having goats with horns!  Our goal is to eventually sell off all of our horned goats.

This is "Daisy" one of our doelings from this year.  I can't remember whose baby she is, but Madeline wants to keep her.

This was "Nillas" first morning up after being so sick.

Our last doe to kid had twins really late one night.  This little guy is beautiful!  They were so cold when Matthew and Madeline found them that we brought them inside for the night.

                                                       Mariah the shepherdess!

                                                   Just "kiddin' around"! :o)

This represents hours of work each day!  Most of our milk/egg/cheese/soap  customers appreciate the health benefit of the food we raise.  Those that balk at the prices.... need to come work a day with us and see what it is like!  Rain or shine, hot or cold..... they have to be fed, milked and nursed back to health when sick.  Not always fun, and we certainly aren't making money doing it.  We do it for the health of our own family and hope to break even!

It has been a beautiful spring!

Well, that is just a little of what is going on at our little homestead.  Our spring will be filled with milking, bottles and hopefully selling some goats! Garden has been started (although, we have a lot more work to do there!) We are expecting baby chicks next month!  Never a dull moment!