Just waiting for babies!

We are expecting kids soon, February 16th to be exact and really how exact can we get?  Usually I carefully pair the goats together in the fall and watch for signs that pairing was successful.   This past season was a little bit different.  I have always heard that there is no fence that will hold a goat.  We have always been lucky, even when our fence was not working properly the majority of the goats respected the boundaries. For 4 years this has worked, until this past year!  We had  3 bucks, 2 older experienced boys and one buckling who was not quite ready for love.  The girls were ready and the 2 older boys were ready, the sets of pairings went as expected.  Then Arran decided he wanted more, so through the electric fence he went, Ash wasn't going to be upstaged, so through the fence he went.  Being around the 2 of them gave Bruce some ideas.  They foiled every effort to keep them separated.  The end result, we have babies due anytime after the 16th, and the sire could be one of three bucks.  Ugh!

Bruce, one of the possible baby daddies.

Acheron, one of the other baby daddies.

We are also expecting puppies.  Our Great Pyrenees LGD's are expecting soon, again we missed the act so I do  not have an exact day, but Terra is starting show so it will be soon.  

Loki our boy, of course he is a bit older now.

Terra

 I think GP's are some of the cutest puppies around and the idea of having 7-10 in my barn is exciting.   There is nothing like goat kids and puppies to pull you out of the winter blahhs.

Return of the Blog

It has been almost a year since I blogged, so much as happened, so much as has changed.  It would take to long to give a full recap, and it would probably bore anyone interested in reading.  So a recap of some of the changes.
We are getting out of fiber, so with sadness we said goodbye to all of our Angora goats.  Through two different transactions my babies actually found 1 home together.
The sheep are next, we have sold all but 3 of our sheep, of the 3 remaining, only 1 is looking for a new home the other 2 are our freezer lambs.
So what is left?  Dairy, dairy and more dairy goats.  We have 17 all together right now.  Another change in the dairy line, I am done with being worried about registered goats, pure bred etc.  I now have a boer buckling to bring some weight to my line. I am happiest with my cross bred goats, they are hardier and I still get my milk.
One of our biggest additions to the farm are American Guinea Hogs.  They are an endangered breed of small swine.  Easy to handle, smaller than most breeds, they are great homestead hogs.  We purchased a breeding pair last year and have had 1 litter so far.
Of course we still have chickens and 1 duck.
We also worked out a great arrangement with a friend, who took one of our Great Pyrenees dogs.  We had 2 sisters who  needed to separate.  The good news is that the 'experiment' was a complete success.  Luna is now happy in her new home, a much better Guardian dog than before.  Terra is doing well here and we added a young male who still has a lot to learn, but works well with Terra and we have hopes for a litter of pups.
We have unfortunately lost our barn cats, but have a new little guy in training.  Shadow was a rescue at one of our farm markets, he came to us around 4 weeks old, mother probably hit by a car.  Because he is so small he is spending his winter in Sarah's room.
We have had our share of health issues this past year which have also made us realize our limitations.  My plan to get a milking cow seem to waiver.  Cows don't offer the flexibility that goats do and the idea of being the only one to milk a cow is a little daunting.  I still love the idea of all the milk, cheese and butter though.
So that is a quick recap of the almost year.  More to come and of course pictures.

Right on Schedule

Feb 25th was the due date on 3 of my goats, one I wasn't sure was even bred, one was wide as a house and one didn't look like she was quite ready and as we all know a due date is just a suggestion, not a rule.
The started off bad, with the one goat who was in question going into labor before I got the the barn.  When I arrived she had 1/2 a breech baby out and wasn't looking so good.  I discovered what I thought was 2 goats trying to get out, but turns out that the single was folded in half.  I finally got her out and taken away but the poor mamma was not doing so good.  I got her cleaned up, gave her some vitamins and antibiotics, a little bit of grain and molasses water.  She was up and around and missing her baby. 
She is physically doing better, but very confused about where her baby went.  It is very sad.

we have renamed the barn wall 'The wailing wall'  Alice was quite focused on it during labor.

The 2nd goat who was wide as a house was definitely in labor by early evening. By 7:30 I was camped in the barn with all accessories ready.  She is a 2nd time mom and I didn't really have any concerns about her, but after the Pearl lost hers and we almost lost Pearl, I wasn't taking chances. 
Alice has completely mastered the art of Zen and kidding.  She was happily munching hay and cud throughout her whole labor.  Her first kid had his head down, so after a little rearranging he came out, so much for zen then!  The second little one came out nice and easy.  While I ran to get their little sweaters, I heard a noise.......
All night we were hearing the other goats, Pearl was sad, Betsy was munching hay and Calliope the sheep would talk to her little lambs.  As I walked toward the main pen, I heard a baby cry, and thought that it didn't really sound like the lambs, and that is because it wasn't.  Opal decided that she would have her kids on her due date after all.  She had her first little doeling already clean and ready to nurse. 
I brought them back to the kidding pen and a good thing, her 2nd was also coming out head down with one leg forward and one back.
4 kids from 10:15-10:45, a busy half hour.   
After we made sure all kids where up and had a belly full, we made our weary way back to the house.  And as always, a pot of tea made things much better. 
So now for a bunch of shamelessly cute pictures!

Alice's baby girl.

Alice's baby boy.

Opal little girl and Alice's boy.

Snack time.

Suckle Up!

Already anxious for grain.

She is too cute!

The pups are anxious to make sure everyone is ok.

Nothing like a baby goat to make you forget your in the hay.

They have waddles too, my favorite!

Where have we been.

It has been almost a year since I have posted a blog update.  So much has happened, some good, some bad and some very hard to deal with.  I avoided the blog, because this blog is not about personal hardships, but our farming experiences.  And while they intertwine on our end, I didn't feel fair sharing our woes with you.  I have been 'craving' the blog lately and decided that with the beginning of lambing and kidding season, it would be a good time for a new beginning in the blog world.  After all, who doesn't like the stories of brand new babies on the far.

Part of the change that has happened over the last year has been the focus of what we want from our livestock.  We are moving away from the fiber aspect and more towards the milk aspect.  Right now we only have 3 Angora goats and 4 sheep.  The Angora's are looking for a new home and one of the sheep will be leaving us soon.
We have also gotten a little more serious with our choice of pigs.  We are now raising American Guinea Hogs, a small heritage breed.  We have a breeding pair and hope to have a litter of piglets this summer.

We now have 9 dairy goats, hopefully 8 of them are bred, with the first one due in just 3 days.  With the milk from these goats I will continue to make soap, lotions etc, feed the pigs as well as provide wonderful milk and cheese for my family.

Smile for the camera.

Psyche, the queen bee.

Alice is the first due, just a few days away.

Maple always has time for a little munching.

Maple with her baby Daisy.

We have had our first birth of the season, Calliope, one of our 2 ewes, surprised us with 2 ram lambs this past Saturday.  These little boys are a mix of several breeds, and they are terribly cute.  Currently we call them Thing 1 and Thing 2. 

 

 So welcome back and look forward to a new year on the farm.

Spring's Version of a Bakers Dozen

Our crazy chicken walked out from under the duck house yesterday with 13 chicks.  She is a small mixed chicken and yet she managed to have half of the babies tucked up under her wings.  Chickens make amazing mothers.  Today she had all of her babies out scratching and pecking for good stuff.

The father is probably Araucauna, who knows who the mothers are, we have quite the mix and we have no ideas who was stashing eggs under the house.  If we are lucky, some of the chicks might be half cochin. 
After their stroll around the yard, they were ushered back under the house for the evening. 

The last 2 stragglers duck under.  These guys are about the size of ping pong balls, entirely too cute!
All of the chickens were out enjoying the beautiful weather.

 Our 'teenage' hens are adjusting nicely to the flock, we are adding Light Brahams,

 Delawares, Rhode Island Reds, more Cornish and Black Australorps.

With so many chickens, who needs TV!

Spring Pictures

 My favorite time of the Spring is when the bushes start to bloom.  We have a small hedgerow that has what I assume are cherry trees, though they seem more like bushes.  The most amazing sweetness fills the air surrounding them.  Today was the first day that I smelled the aroma.  The bees where also busy enjoying the  bounty.

Pollen pollen everywhere!

Look at the thighs on that bee!

Moving on to the next batch of flowers.

This beautiful Red Admiral Butterfly stops by.  A true harbinger of spring.

One of the Pear trees we planted last year.

Apple blossoms hiding amongst the leaves.

I love this ornamental cherry tree  in the side yard.  Soon it will covered in (not pink) sweet white  blossoms.

Beautiful Daffodils are still hanging around.

I love the shape of this one.

What you don't notice right away in our yard, is that the ground is covered in these little violets. 

Peonies will be blooming soon.

Bryan is filling the new raised beds in the garden with our compost.

Maggie even made it outside to play today, looks like she is having a good time.

Rosie has come to the porch for a visit.  She is one of our first chickens, and one of our favorites.