and the rest of the gang...for now...

So it's been a while since I've really posted anything here for several reasons, limited time being one of them. But wanted to introduce you to some of the newest members of the herd. Below is Birdie.

Birdie bears this name because she was born with a parrot mouth and parrot = bird and it sort of just stuck.... Quite honestly when I saw that I was afraid she'd have to be put down because I thought she wouldn't be able to eat or drink, much to my delight I was wrong! It took a bit of patience and it was a learning curve at first, but she's eating like a champ! She's eating hay and will now even drink water from a bucket.

 Next up it was FINALLY Katie's turn to deliver. I was convinced that she was going to stay "sleek and single Katie" forever so when she started showing signs of pregnancy I was over the moon happy! Though she kept it a secret for a looooooong time. Had I not felt the baby moving I'd likely never have suspected she was carrying. I like to be in the "delivery room" with my girls and I love it when they come to me to seek comfort while laboring.

 Katie didn't venture too far from me and I was SOOOO glad to have been there for this delivery. One of the pictures Ron took of this delivery was of me praying for Katie and I gotta say, it's one of my favs, I think it was intuition as Katie's delivery was a rough one, she labored normally but when she started pushing and pushing and pushing and nothing really was happening I started getting worried. I ended up having to go in and get the baby out. Katie was exhausted and this baby was not coming out. I was scared but remained calm and went through all the kidding scenarios I had read about and had the kids start praying too. I worked with her contractions and prayer and got the baby out and both momma and baby survived. Then let out a huge sign of relief and a prayer of thanks. It was no wonder she had trouble, Jumpin' Jeffery weighed in at exactly 9 pounds! For a first freshener that is HUGE!

 This is Jumpin' Jeffery and I'm not sure if it's because of the traumatic delivery or his innate goat-ness and goofy personality but I am completely smitten with this not so little guy. Maybe because it's Katies first baby too, I have no idea, just completely smitten.

Next up was Strawberry, she hadn't taken since she had Buckley and Katie and I thought it was because Blackberry had been so mean to her and hurt her internally, but I guess not! When she came into season shortly after Dealer arrived here I honestly didn't hold much hope of her taking and when the first breeding didn't take I figured well, I'm not surprised. Then she came into a full blown screaming (literally) heat, she literally chased Dealer all over and kept flagging and my thought was geez, Strawberry have a little self control girl! But this cycle was different and this one took! This produced twins. A little girl that we named Laudamus (meaning "we praise!" - and after all we have been through the past couple years in general and with this little girls mom I figure it's a fitting name.)

 And another buckling which we named Vedder, yes, as in the last name of the lead singer of Pearl Jam - Ron's favorite band. Vedder had showed signs of selenium deficiency because he was walking on just the very tip of his front toes then would take a few steps and lay down, heartbreaking?! YES! I called my vet and was able to get some selenium and vitamin E for him. That worked very well! With in days he was better and up and running with the rest of the herd and his legs have completely straightened out. We live in a very selenium deficient area and despite the fact that I'd never had problems with it for kidding this year I had a few. Turns out that Birdies parrot mouth and the lack of pregnancies for Katie and Strawberry all these years could also have been cause by that too. So now I know and can take steps accordingly.

 This is the second group of kids all snuggling together in the bean bag, cute? oh yes! Below is the introduction of all the babies this year. I see a pattern with Dealer's offspring. two white, two black and two brown. I find it maddening that forever now I have wanted a little black doe, because I love the way they look and I got white does and black bucks. Sigh, maybe next year.

Let me tell ya folks, this is a wonderful way to start my mornings, sitting in the sunroom in the early morning light with a bunch of babies in my arms! L to R Vedder, Jeffery, Laudamus

hard decisions...

These handsome guys followed me home from the Fiber Frolic yesterday, meet Bear and Shakespeare. I had absolutely no intention of bringing anybody new here but like most of the other animals that live at From the Country Farm these two little boys are here because of some hard decisions that needed to be made. Welcome Bear and Shakespeare, though I certainly see a name change in your future, never was a big fan of Shakespeare....

As you may know Venus and Spice are here as milkers because Strawberry and Katie didn't take this past fall or deliver the year before. Don't get me wrong, Venus and Spice are great and I adore them but that is how they came here. Two years ago I tried to breed Strawberry and Katie and feel that at least Strawberry took, but it was never confirmed, but feel that she did. Katie I'm not really sure at all, like most things with Katie it was an odd situation all around. Well a few months into gestation Blackberry started beating on the other goats especially Strawberry, the one whom he'd been with from two other farms!) and I mean beating on them so I took him out of that pen and put him by himself for a bit in an attempt to figure out what happened and re-group. I think the beating they took caused them to abort the pregnancies.  I then put him in with the llama and alpacas figuring they are bigger and the llama is guardian of the alpaca herd so he wouldn't take crap from a 60 pound goat, that worked - for a while. After a while when that herd was fed he'd go lay down in the middle of the pile of hay and toss his horned head at the llama and alpacas and prevent them from eating. Not cool. So he was separated from them and with no other animals for him to be with I was out of options. Feeling badly for him because he is a herd animal but cannot be with a herd I decided to try putting him back together outside where there was room for the other goats to escape if need be. Venus was not out at that time, I was not going to jeopardize another pregnancy. It was a disaster. And back into solitude he went. It was then I knew what needed to be done. He could no longer stay here like this, it was a hard decision to make but one that needed to be made. It's not right for him to be by himself because he is a herd animal but it's not fair to the other animals to be beat on, running away from him in fear or starved because he won't let them eat. It's just not right. It's also not responsible of me to just ship him off to some unsuspecting farm so I have made arrangements for him to be sent to "freezer camp." It sucks, but it's the humane and right thing to do, he's never showed aggression to humans, but terrorizes other animals and it needs to stop. There is no place for that on our farm.

You may be wondering how the two little guys at the top have anything to do with Blackberry or hard decisions well, let me tell you. At the Fiber Frolic this weekend during the lull while it was pouring some of the vendors had a chance to get together and chat. My children had seen an older woman trying to bring in a couple goats and a sheep and had seen her struggling so they offered to help her. Then they stood there for a while and were asking about the animals, she chatted with them and answered questions and off they went. Sunday morning comes around and she and I were talking during a lull and she asked me to take these two boys. As it turns out her ailing mom with dementia lives with her and is requiring so much of her time she has to find new homes for her flock. With a quivering voice and teary eyes (this I understand) she said she just cannot do it all and only has her 6 year old grand-daughter to help so new homes must be found. She'd found homes for a couple animals and a few more were in the works but it takes a while sometimes to work out the details for others. It is a hard decision for her as well but one that must by made, so these two little boys with fleece as white as snow, shiny and lustrous as a pearl and as soft as cashmere joined our farm. They are pygora goats who are nearly full grown and are roughly 40 -50 pounds each, not at all like the large milking does. :-) They are a bit freaked out be all the changes right now but have started to relax and walked up to me tonight cautiously, but that's a start.

Good Morning from our herd to yours!

and without a bursting bladder!

 "What is she doing?" may be a question you're asking right about now. Well this is an ultrasound to check for pregnancy being done on a goat. Strawberry to be exact. I'm very frustrated with this doe lately. With her first kidding she couldn't have made it look easier, Buckley was a big boy but not so big as to cause damage. Katie just slid out like one going through a tunnel on a water slide! No issues conceiving, kind of a one shot wonder type deal. Last year; two years after Buckley and Katie were conceived, I tried to breed her again, no luck. Figuring it was just too late in the season or what have you I chalked it up to a loss. This year I've used two different bucks and not has success with either one, both of which are proven bucks. So it's certainly my doe, what is frustrating is I have no idea why this is happening. I've talked to the vet about this and we've got a game plan, starting with this ultrasound to see if the last time was a charm. It was not. :'-( I've given her a dose of something that's supposed to help this process along and bring her to the buck tonight, but in all honesty I'm not counting on this working. I'm sooooo very discouraged. Right now Venus is the only one that is bred and I'm so hoping she took, but I'll have an ultrasound done on her as well to be sure. If she didn't, my last hope is Katie, cantankerous, persnickety, tail wagging Katie. And counting on her is comparable to counting on a politician to fulfill campaign promises. Don't hold your breath!

Strawberry was so good and the vet was so patient and really was hoping to find babies in there but with no success.  I fought back tears in vet's office wondering what I'm going to have to do. This sucks!

And oh, I know she didn't have the bursting bladder that any mom who's ever had an early pregnancy ultrasound "needs" because she walked into the office and promptly peed and dropped 'goat berries' all over the waiting room floor! Sheepishly I asked for some paper towels...

co-operation from Katie

If everything continues along the path we're on right now we should have goat kids at the beginning of April 2012! I'm so thankful that Katie found the visiting buck WAY more alluring today than she found him repulsive yesterday despite the fact he has peed all over his face and beard and reeks like a rutty buck will at this time of year and maybe tomorrow Strawberry will find him completely irresistible as well! Venus is holding out for a buck at another farm, one that met her fancy quite well last year and had a stunning doe with!

Our Nubian Herd - for now

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture! Was out enjoying the sunshine, my kids and my barnyard this afternoon, camera in hand, and just happened to get this shot and I'm so pleased!! This is our Nubian dairy herd, until the spring when we should have at least one doe kid! Have I mentioned I'm excited about that?! Or that I'm really looking forward to Spring?!

I CANNOT wait!

I simply cannot wait for the little pitter patter of hoofbeats around the farm again, it's been nearly two years and I am ready! I was playing with the kids in the yard yesterday and brought Katie and Buckley out to play with us too, Katie decided while I was sitting on the ground to walk by me and stuck her butt in my face. Ordinarily I would not have been impressed, however in this case I was able to see her teats. She would not stand for the buck when I took her to be bred, but in all fairness Katie never stands still, she's always acted like a hyperactive kid on Redbull, but he did mount her. I've not been watching her for signs of pregnancy since I didn't think 'it' happened but after seeing a change in her teats I've got my doubts that 'it' didn't happen. This might explain when she never seemed to come back into heat! I may have met my breeding goal this year after all! I'm hopeful that 'it' happened, but not sure one way or the other, so I'll be watching her more closely now and will keep you posted! This is exciting! We may just have two momma goats kidding here this spring after all! I know Strawberry is due either the 4th or 5 of April, I cannot remember right this minute, but I'm really hoping she goes early, like on the first so I can call one Foolish!




I love love love this video, it was taken early in the morning the day after the kids were born and Andrew had just woken and wanted to help feed the goats. I love his sleepy eyed, scratchy voiced, bed headed, toothless delight! And Buckley is pretty cute too.

Strawberry

Today while taking a break from putting up fencing to talk to Ron, Strawberry meandered over to us and stopped in between us; fully expecting to be loved on. She looked up at us with those sappy love-y dove-y goats eyes of hers and how could we refuse?! She has been such a blessing to us and our farm and I am so thankful for her. My sister's fence was not powerful enough to hold her in which was sad for them, but since they sent her over here they can come visit anytime and know that she's got a good home and by the look on her face I'd say she's happy! She has given us two little goat kids and will hopefully deliver more in April. We've been milking her since she kidded and it's been almost two years! Her production is down now, but still gives me about a quart a day, so I've nothing to complain about! She follows us around like a puppy and moos similarly to a cow when we're too far away from her or she's calling the rest of the herd. She snores when she sleeps, slurps when drinking water and tries to sneak into the grain room almost daily when I take her off the milking stand but I adore her. Thank you Amy for this wonderful blessing.

to sleep perhaps to dream

The other post for today was technically for yesterday, but I got home really late and had to boot up the computer due to a power outage so it was shortly after midnight when I was able to post, but it is what it is right?

Well it's been a hectic two days and it's been a good two days, so I'm not complaining, but tonight I'm chilled having been out in the damp cold night air and I'm beyond exhausted, I'm extremely thankful for my bed, flannel sheets and an electric blanket! It's where I'm headed in about 10 minutes.

I'm also thankful for the flexibility of the life I have, I noticed this morning when I was doing barn chores that my does were wagging tails and exhibiting other signs of being in heat so I figured a trip up to visit with a nice 'experienced' buck was suddenly 'on the docket' for the afternoon. I called the owner of the said bucks and we made arrangements to meet after he got home from work. Up country we drove after loading the girls and it was halfway successful. Katie, the younger of the two does and daughter of Strawberry would more likely 'participate' I was told by the buck's owner. Well, Katie showed him! She would not have anything to do with the buck, she tucked her tail down tight and hid behind me! Which consequently ended up made me smell buck like... ugh! Anyway, it didn't appear that Strawberry would co-operate, because of her behaviour, she was not a doe to behave wantonly, she'd more of a hard to get type of girl... besides, that young buck was just trying to 'be' with her daughter. ::Shuddering:: She was more interested in the "Big Daddy" buck that strutted out into the 'deed' area. Oh. My. Word!! He. Is. AWESOME!! I cannot wait to see the babies!! AND he throws mostly girls! ::doing a happy dance, tyring not to count the chicks before the hatch, but oooooh I cannot wait!:: Did I mention he was a nice looking buck? Later we went into the barn and saw some of his daughters and WOW! So anyway, we're half way to the breeding 'goal' for the year, if Katie had stood, we'd be at 100%, but now we get to load her again and head up country, fortunately it's not too far and I have a pretty flexible lifestyle, which I'm thankful for.

Patience

The dictionary describes patience as 'an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.' This picture personifies patience to me. Our doe was a few days past her due date and although we'd been counting down the days my son displayed great patience with her. He go out to the barn and just lay with her hoping to give her some comfort at a time when she must have been extremely uncomfortable. Oddly enough she really seemed to be comforted by it.

Meet the Cast - Strawberry

Strawberry as she has come to be called, (well in all fairness she had that name even before we ever thought about getting goats,) is a purebred Nubian doe. Andrew again, he started saying shortly after we got Coreah that he wanted to live on a farm and have a goat named Strawberry and a pig named Scramble. (We had a pig for a short while and let me tell you, I do not see any in the near future, but that's a story for another day.) She belonged to my sister for a short while but she decided not to keep her as she wouldn't stay behind their fence, knowing what we have for fencing and all she asked if we'd like her, one catch, she was part of a herd that could not be seperated, she had a buddy, a little pygora wether that was part of the deal. I talked to my saint of a husband we decided we'd try it. So December 26th 08 they came to live at From the Country Farm. I really didn't think it would be an issue with all the herd animals getting along seeing at they are all herd animals anyhow. They all blended together nicely. FYI she stays behind our fencing... ours 'bites' a bit more than my sisters did.