Still Can't Respond To Posts!

I cleared my cookies (that sounds rather weird!) and still I cannot respond to messages. Considering that my knowledge of computers is middling at best,it may be a while before I can figure it out. Please bear with me :)

(Update---I tried allowing third party cookies and now I can respond to posts! YAY!)

Yesterday we finally took down our tree,since we put up our tree late. Right now it's sitting on our deck,but today it will probably make it's way to the goats!

I am going to go through our bookcase and donate books that I no longer want. I am one of those people who will read and re-read a book I love many,many times,but there are books that I have read only once and that was enough. We do have a set of encyclopedias that are useless now-many countries don't even exist any longer!

We have been having bitter cold weather,with wind chills down in the teens. In fact,we brought our goats inside the other night because our heat bulb was broken:

They may have been OK,but I was too worried about them.

The next day we bought extra hay to bank around their cage and picked up a heat bulb. Our barn is still a work in progress:

The blue tarp in the photo covers the goat cage. Even though the barn is not complete,we figured it would give them some shelter from the wind. We put a piece of plywood across the top of the cage and and blue tarp over it. They have a large dog igloo to sleep in,and we make sure that they have fresh shavings for bedding. We also make sure we bank it with bedding hay to help keep them warm.( Plus the heat lamp,of course).

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Morning Stroll

When the weather is nice,we take the goats for a run up the Class VI road that runs along our property. There are only 5 houses on it,and it's a dead end,so it's not busy at all. 

Since Zach was in school,Rick was the runner this AM:

Our neighbor who lives behind us had her Great nephew visiting,and he loves our goats. She has brought him down on a few occasions to visit with the animals,and he adores the goats. He had to help Rick with the morning run:

It's great to introduce little ones to farm animals,and wonderful to seem them have fun!

The Ladies see us running with the goats and they call out to us..."BAAAAAAAA!!!!!" They let us know in no uncertain terms (very loudly,I might add) that they are hungry and ready for breakfast. We tell them to please be patient,the little ones have to come first.

Patience is rewarded by some fresh water and tasty feed hay.

While they are still a bit skittish,yesterday I was able to pat Starlight for a few seconds,and when I got a quick pat onto Violet and Woolsey,they didn't bolt away from me like before. They just backed away a few inches. I guess they are finally getting used to me :)

The Goats Have Arrived!

Last Thursday,we were able to pick up Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats!

We had ordered three doelings from Tiny Hill Farm in Milton Mills  last year. When their does started birthing,it was clear that it was the Year of the Buck. They had been hoping for at least five doelings,so they could pick out which ones they wanted to keep and then sell us at least two,which makes sense. They only got three,so they had none to sell. They did,however,have plenty of bucks,and we decided to buy three so each of us could have a pet goat. Tiny Hill has a friend who has bought does from them,and her does are in the process of birthing this month. One doeling was born in late March that she wanted to sell,so we bought that one. Tiny Hill has been so kind in helping us out.They are keeping us in the loop regarding other doelings. We really would like to get two more. The bucks are fixed,and all the goats have been debudded.

Since we don't have a whole lot of space,we decided to go with the Nigerian Dwarfs. They are half the size of normal goats,but the females,once bred,can give up to a 1,000 gallons of milk a year. We are going to wait until Half Pint is at least nine or so months before we breed her (9-12 months is a suggested time for first time breeding). I didn't want unfixed male goats because when they go into heat they pee on their faces,and the smell is less than pleasant.The main reason is that if the males are not kept far enough away from the females,the smell can work it's way into the milk,giving it an odd taste. 

We bottle feed them twice a day with a goat milk replacer,and will do so until they are past 8 weeks old.We do have fresh water on hand for them,and give them a bit of goat feed if they wish to have it (which they really don't at this stage). We keep them in our garage for now in a 6 ft high link fence enclosure (just like we have for the sheep).We keep the floor covered with pine shavings,and have a an igloo dog house for them to curl up in at night,which we also laid shavings down in. We do take them out to run around the yard or up and down Avon Lane,much to the delight of our neighbors. Honestly,who wouldn't love seeing these cute little things running,jumping,twisting,and hopping?

                 (From bottom left clockwise:Blizzard,Barrett,Half Pint (our doeling) and Scout)

  
It's funny to see folks driving by slow down and watch the goats on the front yard. Thankfully it's not a busy road!

The goats love to chase people. Zach ran around the house with the goats right behind him:

 Rick Shaw,the Goat Whisperer!

Too cute!