January 15, 2006

With the weather comes ...

The change in weather came with a big wind. Overnight it actually sounded like a train going through. Hank is not an inside dog, but he slept inside last night, only coming up the stairs a few times and only stealing one sock.
It was bitterly cold when we did chores. Chores were made harder with the cold. The waterers were all frozen solid, and stuck to the ground. Besides feeding and watering everyone, we had round bales to move around. The heifers needed one, and the ground was almost frozen enough for the tractor to move around and not tear up the mud too much. Gary noticed one of the metal roofing panels on the heifers' run-in shed was loose and banging in the wind. At the same time he entered the pasture with his screw-gun and extra screws, the wind finally blew the panel off. He returned the panel to its place and added some extra screws.
We didn't get inside for breakfast until about 10:00a.m. Gary made sausage gravy and homefries while I threw together some biscuits and whole wheat waffles. I like to make a big batch of waffles on Sunday to eat for breakfast throughout the week. We realized it was too late to make the hour trip to visit his parents like we usually do on Sundays, and had a quiet day at home.
We started chores again around 2:00p.m. After graining the pregnant does in the barn, I realized that Sarah was starting to go into labor. After the rough time she had last year, I was worried about her labor this go round, and hoped that she would pull it off without a hitch. I watched her for a couple minutes, then joined Gary inside the house. I returned a phone call from someone looking to buy goats, and went back out to the barn to find Sarah had delivered one baby and was working on number two. (congratulations, Shepherds Run Farm!) She had another set of twins, a buckling and a doeling, and had no problem.
It was still bitterly cold, and we set up heat lamps for them. I worked with Sarah to get the kids nursing. Her bag was so large it was hard for the little ones to get a grip! Once they were settled, we went back inside and had a light dinner of cheese and crackers. I finished a sock I had been knitting and we were asleep by 8:00p.m.

Posted by roosterh at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2006

Could it be?

As I left for work today, one of the does looked like she would kid later today. I can't tell you who though, because of the contest ;-)

Posted by roosterh at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)

January 9, 2006

Baby Pictures

Gary took some pictures of the kids today. Even though it is unusually warm, the goat kids stretched out under the light this morning. (Later in the day as the thermometer reached 40, they moved away from the light.)
Even Nala enjoyed the warmth of the light - and the kids. Gary told me when he took this picture, he first thought just one of the kids was sleeping with babysitter Nala. But looking around he realized all of the kids were missing, and they were probably all over with Nala in the corner. "She's killed them!" he thought. But no, they all shared the light.
A favorite kid activity is to ride mama. Here Febe is with one of her kids. We have caught them jumping up and down on Nala's big bouncy belly too. She puts up with it although she grunts and groans with each leap. Maybe Nala hopes that with each jump, her own babies are pushed closer to the door ;-)

Posted by roosterh at 6:09 PM | Comments (0)

January 8, 2006

Keep guessing for the contest

I decided this was too much fun. We still have 4 more does to kid. If you can guess who and when, I'll send you soap too. I have been watching the comments as each doe kids to see if anyone guessed correctly, but no one thought Febe would kid yesterday. Heck I didn't even think Febe would kid yesterday, so there you go. So keep your guesses coming. ;-) Post them here:
Contest post.

Here are some recent pix, all but Bugsy's were taken this morning. Bugsy's picture was taken yesterday morning. Pictured here, Sarah, although Bugsy is pictured here, sharing a meal.



Here is Ma.



And grunting Nala.



Bugsy, yesterday.

Posted by roosterh at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2006

We have a winner!

Emma kidded this morning sometime between 7:30 and 11:30 with a pair of twins! She delivered all by herself and the kids were up and nursing when Gary got home. The little doeling (pictured here) was even running around a kicking up a storm like goat babies do.
The buckling, pictured here, weighs in at 9 pounds! The doeling is 7.3 pounds. Congratulations Emma! And congratulations go to Janice who correctly predicted Emma would kid on Jan. 4th. Let me know what soap and shea butter you would like!
Here are what the other gals look like today. Here's Febe.
Sarah (front with an unflattering view) and Ma.

Posted by roosterh at 3:06 PM | Comments (2)

January 2, 2006

Kid Watch 06 Update

A quick update -- we moved Sarah and Ma into the barn today. Nala was to be moved as well, but she had her own ideas, and took a leisurely stroll around the place before returning to the pasture. I bet her walk would not have been so leisurely if she weren't so pregnant and HUGE.
Still not too late to enter the contest!

Posted by roosterh at 8:03 PM | Comments (0)

January 1, 2006

Start the New Year with a Contest!

Happy New Year everyone! I have decided to start the year with some excitement by having a contest.

As you may know we have a number of does who will be kidding soon, very soon. But when? Maybe the sheep know, but your guess is as good as mine, only if you guess and you are right, you WIN! I will tell you as much as I know about these girls, and we will each be armed with the same info. If you can guess who will kid first, I am offering 2 choice bars of my goat's milk soap. If you can guess who will kid first and WHEN they will kid, I offer you 2 bars plus a matching 2oz tin of whipped shea butter. Just leave your guess as a comment to this entry. Ready? Here we go with the lowdown on the does.

I took this picture about 2 weeks ago, but the gals look no different today. Here we have Emma in the front (behind the turkey!) and Febe behind her. It is Febe's first time kidding. This is Emma's second. They were put in with our buck Kong August 1.
Here is Nala. She grunts all the time and has to rock back and forth to rise from her naps. She was put in with Tucker the buck August 17. This will be her 3rd kidding year.
Here is Sarah. She was put in with Kong August 12. She's pretty big and she is always eating, like she is here. This is her third kidding year.
Here is Ma. She was put in with Tucker August 17. She kidded for the first time last year.

So here is a tip. Goats' gestation time is 5 months plus about a week. They could get bred the first day they are in with the buck, or the first week, or it may take even longer. Good luck!

Posted by roosterh at 11:48 AM | Comments (47)