Updated 9/17/06
Since all the kids were dam raised this year we were unable to taste the milk until recently. Darlene freshened for the first time this year and her milk is delicious. Cameron has always had great tasting milk but Darlene's is better.
We no longer have any goats for sale now that Bob and Sirus were sold. The couple that purchased Bob also wanted Sirus so Christi decided to sell him to them as well.
Updated 9/05/06
Cameron's kids were weaned Sunday when their new owners came to pick them up. Buster Brown and Cisco Kid were sold as wethers to a young family that wanted goats. The new owner's called us to tell us that the boys were well and they were all bonding nicely.
Since Darlene's kid was sold on Saturday and Cameron's kids were sold on Sunday we are now milking two goats twice a day.
I will be making soap, lotion, cheese, and ice cream now that we will be getting more milk than we can drink.
Updated 8/15/06
We had our first open wound that required stitches last week. Cisco Kid, one of Cameron's bucklings, caught his side on something and required 6 stitches to sew him up. Christi and I disinfected the wound with Iodine wound spray, gave him a Tetanus Antitoxin shot, and called a friend asking for assistance.
Since neither Christi or I had any experience sewing up an animal, I took Cisco to our friends house. Mike & Jenefer had a bowl of Nolvasan with fishing string and instruments soaking when I got there.
Mike shaved the area and since we didn't have a suture kit, he used a needle that is normally placed on the end of a syringe, to sew Cisco up. Cisco was the perfect patient and didn't seem to realize he was being poked at all. He was so perfect, Jenefer was afraid he was in shock. After he was sewn up, disinfected, the wound covered, and started on antibiotics, Jenefer came back with a small bowl of Goat Chow and Cisco proved he was not in shock by enjoying the grain.
Cisco is still getting his antibiotics and wound spray twice a day. The wound is looking good and if he didn't have a yellow patch of iodine on his side you wouldn't even know he was injured.
THANK YOU MIKE & JENEFER!
Updated 6/27/06
Cameron had triplet bucklings on 6/16 with two surviving. I had Christi check on Cameron around 9:30 p.m. and she didn't see any signs of labor. I went out around 11:30 p.m. and she had all three kids on the ground. Two of the bucklings were attempting to stand up and the third was being cleaned by Cameron but still had mucous membrane on his face. I worked on him for about 10-15 minutes but it was too late.
I named the two kids Buster Brown and Cisco Kid. I will be taking pictures soon and get them posted.
Updated 5/09/06
Ashelin's doe kid finally has a name. She was named Divinity since she is sweet and white, like the candy.
The following does are expecting kids on the dates posted:
Darlene (Nubian x Boer) on May 31st, June 16th or June 20th;
Cameron (Nubian x Nubian) on June 14th;
Leila (Nubian x Boer) on June 16th;
Adelaide (Nubian x Boer) on June 23rd.
I have added new pictures to the Kid Photo Gallery.
Updated 3/23/06
Nora, the three year old we sold last year, gave birth to triplets on 3/21. She had two does and a buck. I went over to see them on 3/22 and took pictures. I will be adding their photos to the gallery soon.
Updated 3/12/06
Ashelin, our Nubian Dairy Goat, had our first Nubian/Boer doe kid on 3/07. She was scheduled to give birth on 3/07 as well as 3/31. Christi checked on her in the afternoon and didn't see any sign of labor. We both assumed she wouldn't give birth until the 31st.
When Christi went out to feed, later than usual, (8:30 pm) she discovered a dry white kid in the shelter. She brought the kid in and got me so she could go look and see if there were anymore. Since there were not anymore, we moved Ashelin and her kid to the "kidding pen". We weighed the doeling and she was 9 lbs. Christi checked on Ashelin and the kid before she went to bed and everything looked good.
I went outside first thing the following morning and Ashelin and her kid were in the heavily bedded 4x4 building. The doeling was laying down and since I am used to removing Dairy goat kids from their dam, I got her up to check on her. She stood up, stretched, and walked over to her mom to nurse. That was a good indication that all was well with both of them.
I have taken pictures and will get them up on the website as soon as I can.
Updated 1/31/06
Cameron was bred to Sirus on 1/15 and is due to kid on 6/14.
We will be having Nubian/Boer goat kids this year because we bred Lazarus to four of our Purebred Registered Nubian Dairy Goats.
Ashelin was bred to Lazarus on 10/08 and 11/01 and is due to kid on 3/07 or 3/30. Leila was bred to Lazarus on 1/17 and is due to kid on 6/16. Darlene was bred to Lazarus on 1/01 and 1/21 is due to kid on 5/31 or 6/20. Adelaide was bred to Lazarus on 1/24 and is due to kid on 6/23.
The buckling that we purchased in November is for sale or we will trade him for another Purebred Registered Dairy Buck.
Updated 1/06/06
The buckling was moved in with Sirus, Krios, and Lazarus. Sirus must have known that he was his son because he mothered him from the get go. The buckling has been with the bucks and ram since the end of November and he is doing great.
I have decided to keep all of the does since they are all old enough to breed. My plan is to breed Cameron to Sirus so we can get Registered Purebred Nubian goats.
Ashelin was bred to Lazarus on 10/08 and again on 11/01. We are expecting Nubian/Boer kids on 3/07 or 3/30.
Leila and Adelaide will be bred to Lazarus for Nubian/Boer kids soon.
Darlene will be bred to a Registered Purebred Nubian buck if we catch her in heat in time. If we neglect to get her to a Purebred Nubian Buck then she will be bred to Lazarus for Nubian/Boer kids.