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.