Marathon Goat Kidding Weekend (GRAPHIC)

I don't even know where to begin. What a kidding season so far. We have more than a dozen experienced does expecting kids this year and five first fresheners. Those worry me. Not panic, but the uncertainty of milk coming in properly, kids positioned normally and sized appropriately, among other things, weigh heavily on my heart and mind.

Julia on her way to Belfast Veterinarian
Hospital

I guess the best idea is to try to arrange events chronologically. So, starting on Wednesday, that would bring us to Julia's kidding. Julia began labor around 10 am on Wednesday morning. Things progressed normally for several hours with mucus and contractions beginning. In the early afternoon, things started to go pear shaped. Contractions stopped being regular and slowed to almost a stop. We called our Veterinarian's office and decided to bring her in. If the kid were still alive, we hoped for them to be able to help her deliver it or if not, we expected to pay for a c-section. Upon our arrival 25 minutes later, their exam revealed that Julia's kid was dead. They helped her to deliver and we brought her home to heal and rest. A sad ending, but we took comfort that Julia is alive and expected to fully recover. 

Elizabeth with newborn son

Thursday was spent caring for Julia, watching Moms with their kids, and our normal routine. Because several does were due any time, we started checking does every 2 hours through the daytime and every 3 hours overnight. It makes for restless sleep, but it is necessary when the weather is in the single digits. 

Assisting Elizabeth

Elizabeth went into labor on Thursday evening and delivered a large, single boy around 8:45 pm. It was a challenging birth for her first time. The kid presented with one hoof forward and it's head. The second hoof lay straight back, along his back. Sonja helped deliver this kid after 20 minutes of pushing hard with no forward progress. Firm, outside pressure on the base of the kid's head, which was through Elizabeth's pelvis, helped bring him forward enough to then provide traction in a downward motion to help him be born. We helped Elizabeth to get him clean and dry. First time Mom, Elizabeth was immediately attentive and her son was up, walking and eating within hours. They continue to do well. 

Look at those Baby Bumps! 

At the 6 am barn check on Friday morning, Sean discovered Eve had a mucus discharge. We got her settled in her private kidding stall with water, hay and grain to await delivery. By mid-morning, chores were finished, tails were checked, and since no one seemed imminent, we went inside to warm up and eat something. Sonja cooked breakfast. Sean took out a warm water bucket to Elizabeth and have one last look around. The table was set when Sean returned with the news that in the 45 minutes we had been inside, Rachel- who showed no signs of kidding had delivered a son, who was clean, dry, standing and eating. Breakfast needed to wait. We thought we could move Eve out of her private stall to allow Rachel and her kid to have a safe space, inhale our breakfast quickly, then set up another stall for Eve- who was still only having occasional contractions.

Rachel and newborn son

Nope. No sooner had we escorted Eve out of her stall, that she started actively pushing. That meant delivery would be sometime within the next 30 minutes, if all went normally. Breakfast would wait. Sean set up a stall, moved Rachel and her son- who was bouncing along on his feet as if he were days old, into it and returned Eve to her original kidding stall.  

Eve's labor continued normally and around 1:30 pm, she delivered twins; first a daughter and then a son. Eve needed no assistance with the delivery of her first kid- perfect presentation and delivery. We helped Eve dry her daughter while we awaited her second kid. The second kid presented one hoof and head (again!). Twins are normally smaller and this one was being delivered just fine without our assistance until it's shoulder emerged. Then, the kid went stiff, then limp and its eyes rolled back into its head. It was clearly in distress. Sonja pulled the kid and began stimulating it by rubbing him firmly with a towel and suctioning his nostrils and throat. It seemed so much longer while it was happening, but in reality within 45 seconds or so, the kid was breathing and crying on his own. We helped Eve to clean and get him dried. Both kids were up and nursing in short order and Eve is a very attentive mom. They continue to thrive.

On Friday afternoon Sean left a message with Dr. Caputo to update her on Julia's recovery and in light of two more first fresheners getting ready to deliver, possibly over the weekend, discussed options for treatment if things went south. The receptionist confirmed that we could simply call and Dr. Caputo would meet us at the office. Armed with that knowledge, we felt as reassured as possible. Things would probably go just fine, but in case they didn't we had a plan.

Abby and her twins

Kid watch continued as Tierzah, Abigail, and Hannah were all due at any time. On Saturday morning, Abby delivered first with no complications. Within half an hour, she had given birth to a daughter and a son. Small twins, their legs were bent in strange angles and not strong enough to support them in standing properly. This is common; colostrum and time sort things without assistance most of the time. Abby was attentive to her twins, but we didn't have time to watch the new family closely because it was Tierzah's turn. 

Tierzah went into active labor around 10 am. With our new barn cameras installed, we messaged our friend, Shea from Knotty Goat Soapery, to see if she wanted to tune in and watch the delivery. When 20 minutes of steady pushing passed with no progress, Sean called Dr, Caputo's answering service and we asked Shea to come out to give her opinion. Things might have still been okay, but we were getting prepared in case they weren't. 

They weren't. First, Dr. Caputo's answering service informed Sean that she was out of town for the weekend. Our safety net was gone! Through mixed wires, we thought we were covered and discovered we could have a problem! We quickly messaged our local goat peer group asking if someone might have time to call into local large animal practices to see if we could be seen if necessary. We are so grateful for their willingness to help take that off our shoulders so we could focus on Tierzah. They were fantastic and within minutes we had leads on several potential experts should it come to that. 

It came to that- Tierzah had a large, singleton who was presenting head first, no hooves. While waiting for Shea, Sonja gloved up, squirted on lots of lubrication, and did a careful internal exam. She could feel the kid's head ready to be delivered, but no hooves present. Knowing we would need to push the kid's head back inside in order to find the hooves and that smaller, more experienced hands than ours were 10 minutes away, we decided to wait. 

Shea helping stimulate kid

When Shea arrived she did the same exam and reached the same conclusion: the kid's entire head was in the vaginal vault (past the pelvic canal) but her folded front legs were holding her back. Shea tried to push the kid's head back inside to try to grab hooves, but couldn't get her hand inside far enough. We paused and discussed alternatives. The BEST option was to have a veterinarian assist. They have the good medicines to manage pain and the ability to perform c-sections, episiotomy, and control complications. The closest veterinarian who could take us in an emergency was hours away- a ride which would almost certainly mean that we had given up on a live kid birth and would be trying to save Tierzah's life.

We decided that Sonja would try again. She pushed the kid's head back inside the pelvic cavity and was able to get her entire hand inside this time. She could just feel the smooth surface of a hoof, but couldn't manage to grip it hard enough to pull it forward. When she removed her hand, the head followed back into the vaginal canal. Sonja asked Shea, "Do you want to try again before we give this up?" Once the kid begins taking breaths, they can't be pushed back inside; they have to be delivered or die. Time was running out. Shea agreed. 

Tierzah and daughter

On her second attempt, Shea was able to insert her entire hand. She could just feel a hoof with her pinky finger. Closing her pinky and ring fingers together, she pinched the hoof and pulled it forward. As she withdrew her hand holding the hoof, the kid's head stayed in the forward facing position and followed. One hurdle passed. Tierzah's cervix was dilated properly, but as a first freshener, the kid's huge head had a hard time pushing through the vaginal opening. In the end, it took Shea applying pressure to the base of the kid's head, externally, from the base of Tierzah's tail with one hand and carefully easing the kid's head through with the other. Sean had the kid's leg and it's head pulling it downward and out. Sonja was holding Eve's head to prevent her horns from injuring Shea accidently with one hand and easing the other side of the kid's head through with Shea. Tierzah had the hardest task- she pushed and strained with all she had. And, it worked. Somehow, it worked. The kid was born, but our relief was cut short when it stiffened in distress instead of coughing or crying. 

Shea and Sonja stimulated the kid by rubbing it with towels and used a syringe to remove fluids from nostrils and mouth. It took longer than seemed comfortable, but in minutes, the kid began coughing. Tierzah was initially not convinced this wet, crying ball of goo was worth her time or the efforts to deliver her. It didn't take long for her to change her mind. For all the trauma of birth, the kid- a girl- was active and nursing in short order. The pair are doing great.

Shea left around noon. With everyone stable, fed and watered, Sean and Sonja grabbed a quick breakfast/lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We called the back-up veterinarians who offered to take Tierzah to thank them for their time and confirm that we had one more mother due sometime within the next 24 hours. We were hoping Hannah would hold out until Monday, but in case she didn't we wanted to be set up. Most of the time, goats will kid without needing to call out a veterinarian, but when you need one, you NEED one. We don't dare be without a plan. 

Abigail's daughter

During the rest of the afternoon, we saw that Abigail's twins were having a hard time maintaining their temperature and they didn't have a rooting or suck response. We brought them inside to warm up on a heating pad. When they were warmer and began to be active, Sean milked Abigail and we offered the kids a bottle. The little girl drank 4 oz without hesitation. The boy would not suck. Not the nipple, not my finger, not anything. We took him outside to try to get him to drink from Abigail, but he wouldn't even try. He was clearly not doing well and needed colostrum. 

With no other alternative, we tube fed him 3 oz of his mother's colostrum. Warm and full, we returned the twins to their anxious Mother while we continued to monitor their progress. In the early evening, we attempted to get them to nurse again from Abigail, but they were weak and unwilling to try. It is not usual, but sometimes it takes a little bit to get sorted. We offered a second supplemental bottle of their mother's colostrum and this time both kids drank without a problem. We returned them to Abigail's care. 

I realize at this point, that this is an extremely long post, Dear Reader. However, we didn't get a break all weekend, and neither shall you.

At 5 pm, Hannah went into labor. She had contractions here and there, but nothing regular. First timers can take a longer time in stage one, so we were aware, but not overly concerned. By 8 pm, a large bubble appeared and popped in a whoosh of brownish liquid. A second bubble appeared immediately after. A little strange, but not uncommon. Some does have two or three bubbles appear before the real one shows. Worth noting, but no need to panic. The lack of visible contractions and pushing WAS more concerning, as was the lack of vaginal stretching in preparation for birth. Sonja asked Sean to call the Dover Foxcroft Veterinarian Hospital answering service to have a veterinarian call us back and she messaged asking Shea to come out again and give a second opinion. Shea arrived in about 10 minutes and the veterinarian called back at the same time. Shea agreed that the delivery wasn't looking normal. We decided to drive the hour+ to get to the veterinarian. Normally we would do an internal exam first, but we didn't want to rupture the bubble or have a half delivered kid, stuck and us having to drive for help. Under the circumstances, we loaded Hannah and went. 

Hannah and her son

We arrived at 9:50 pm and met the wonderful Dr. Kat. Her initial exam showed a perfectly positioned kid. What should have been an easy delivery turned into an hour long event. The kid was through the cervix, but stuck within the vaginal cavity. We all thought this must be a huge, singleton kid. Dr. Kat prepared and began pulling the kid with both it's legs; it's nose perfectly ready to come through. Sean held Hannah to provide counter pressure. Sonja waited out of the way. After a few attempts went nowhere, Dr. Kat tried to pull the kid using chains. It was unsuccessful. Sean and Dr. Kat switched places to see if Sean could apply enough pressure to pull the kid. Though the vaginal walls thinned and turned nearly inside out, the kid would not budge.  During this attempt, to everyone's surprise, the kid who had been limp up until now gave a twitch of it's tongue and leg. We had all assumed with the problematic delivery that we were dealing with a kid that had died en utero and we were just trying to save Hannah. This made everything more urgent and complicated. Sonja asked if she could glove up and help. We took a breath, gave Hannah a quick rest, and discussed trying once more before performing an episiotomy. Dr. Kat pulled legs, Sean held Hannah in place and Sonja pushed the base of the kid's head from outside, near the base of Hannah's tail.

All at once, with a swoosh the kid was born. Not huge at all. 5 pounds would be generous. Sonja got to work trying to stimulate the kid who had been in distress for a while by the look of the copious amounts of meconium staining and dark fluid. It was gasping for breath in slow spurts. Dr. Kat was busy with Hannah, checking her internally, injecting calcium, oxytocin, pain medication, antibiotics and drawing two steroids and an antibiotic for the kid- who we were all surprised to find alive. His nasal passages were clear, but the kid was shocky and not willing to breathe normally. While waiting for the steroids to be injected, Sonja gave him a couple mouth to nose breaths, which seemed to help him get oxygen. The towel was soaked with amniotic fluid and blood. With nothing else to hand, Sonja took off her undershirt and used it to continue to stimulate the kid to wake up. He started to cough and make weak crying noises. The steroids were injected and he began to perk up more and more. 

Understandably, Hannah wanted NOTHING to do with this troublesome thing. The shock of the traumatic delivery paired with the loss of blood and sedative effect of the pain medicines combined to make Hannah a sleepy mother. She slept next to her kid all the way home. We stopped several times to check on them, but they were exhausted. We considered Sonja carrying the kid during the ride home, but feared removing him would add to the possibility of rejection. 

Hannah and Jake Day 2

We settled the family in our laundry room for the night on a stall mat covered with absorbent pine shavings. The kids legs were swollen and he couldn't stand on them. Hannah was dazed and bleeding slowly. There was no way to get him up to nurse, but he needed colostrum. Plus, the act of nursing would help stem the flow of blood and the release of oxytocin would help with bonding. Sean milked Hannah gently and we bottle fed the kid, who ate thirstily and without any trouble. Hannah only had a little over an ounce, but it was a start. 

A few hours later, Sean milked her again and only came up with about half an ounce from both sides. Her udder didn't fill at all. She just wasn't producing milk yet. We weren't ready to give up. It can take a day or two sometimes. To help stimulate milk production, we kept milking her every few hours. When she didn't produce enough, we added some of Abigail's colostrum to fill the 3 oz we needed per serving. 

Hannah and Jake in barn

Through Sunday, the pair remained in the laundry room, where it was warmer than the barn stalls. Hannah lost so much blood and the kid was still unable to stand after 24 hours, though he could move his legs and was active. We bottle fed the boy, who Sean named Jake, every three hours around the clock. We gave Hannah pain medication and more antibiotics. The biggest concern is that though Hannah is not hurting the kid, she is also not cleaning him or coming to his calls. He may end up being bottle raised for nutrition, but if he can be raised beside his mother within the herd, that will be the best for him in the long run. 

Another issue arose on Sunday, Abigail's twins were having difficulty maintaining their temperature on their own and they still were not latching on vigorously, nor moving as actively as they should be. We supplemented with bottles again. The boy drank normally, but the girl (who had been doing so) absolutely refused. She would not latch onto Abigail either. We warmed her and put her back with her mother to try to get her to drink normally, but she refused to try. After 5 hours of nothing to eat and refusing to suck, we tube fed her 3 oz of her mother's milk and returned her to Abigail's care. When Sean checked her later that night, both kids were finally on their feet steady and rooting under their mother. That's a relief! We will continue to watch the family, but it looks like things have turned the corner there. 

As I write this Monday night, all of the families are doing great or improving their conditions. For those keeping track: 
1. Jemimah: 2 girls named Tamar and Ezri
2. Iscah: 1 girl named Ja'el
3. Becca: 1 boy named Riker
4. Tabitha: 1 boy named Quark
5. Keziah: 1 boy named Isaac/1 girl named Damaris
6. Julia, one stillborn kid
7. Elizabeth: 1 boy, unnamed yet
8. Rachel: 1 boy, unnamed yet
9. Eve: 1 boy/1 girl, unnamed yet
10. Tierzah: 1 girl, unnamed yet
11. Abigail: 1 boy/1 girl, unnamed yet
12. Hannah: 1 boy named Jake

Elizabeth and son

12 healthy mothers, 8 hearty sons and 7 thriving daughters so far this season. 
We have 8 mothers left to kid. This year's naming theme is Star Trek: TNG & DS9 for kids who will eventually be adoptable and as always, we use Bible theme names for those who will stay here forever. Do you have any suggestions for names? Comment them below! 

Thanks for visiting with us, Friends. We are happy you are here.
Sean & Sonja

Happy Goat Kids, Playing

As promised for those who did not want to see the graphic realities of difficult births and still-born goat kids (I don't blame you one bit!) I am reposting the video of Rachel's twins and Bailey's boys. Four minutes of happiness for your enjoyment. It was balm to my heart to sit and watch their silly bouncing while Sean cleaned out the kidding stall. I hope your heart feels that happiness, too

Thanks for visiting with us today. Sean & Sonja

Additional Spools for the Goat Pasture...

Enrichment equipment is the technical term, but around here, we call it plain old fun. Our goats main pasture already had three wooden spools of various sizes for the goats to jump on or lounge under. But, if three are good, more must be better. And, it is! We now have seven spools of various sizes for the does and their kids to play on, under, and around. I confess I am uncertain who has the most enjoyment from the new toys; the goats who pounce around on them or me watching them from my studio window.

In the coming days, between the demands of preparing garden beds, adding moulding to finish the new kitchen window Sean installed, fencing in the kitchen herb garden, planting our orchard, clearing the mudroom, and cleaning out the chicken coop and barn stalls, we will spend some time making the new play equipment even better. Our plan is to increase the distance between the shorter spools and secure walkways between them. We'll turn the shortest spool on its side and create a teeter-totter from it. We hope these changes will make the play equipment even more fun for the kids and yearlings to explore.

One upgrade we want to make this season is adding grooming station areas. Our thought is to recycle old, worn out wooden push broom heads. I can buy inexpensive brooms online for less than $10, but we try to breathe new life into things that would otherwise be discarded. So, while I will purchase some if necessary, I would much prefer to put out my plea and give y'all an opportunity to put your unused, worn out push broom heads to good use. :) We need wooden heads with natural bristles, like the ones pictured here. It honestly doesn't matter how tattered they are, so long as the wood is sound to screw through. Our plan is to screw through the bristles and wooden head into the wood of the spools. Some affixed from overhead, some along the sides. These will give the goats places that will feel good to scratch itchy growing horns and shedding undercoats on. If we can collect enough, we'll add scratching stations inside the barn, too. As a bonus, we'll offer a trade: we'll gift you with a bar of our fantastic goat's milk soap for each usable broom head you donate to our cause. 

If you would like to donate your used wooden push broom head to our goats, feel free to call or text Sean at 207-323-0520.

Today is apple tree planting day. We may try out a live remote while we put them in the ground and spend some time in the field with the goats. If you have "liked" us on Facebook, you'll get a notification when/if we do.

Thanks for visiting with us today, friends.
Sean and Sonja ♥

The Best Laid Plans...

There is never enough time in the day to get done all that I plan. Today was a shining example of that. Sean and I intended to drive to a friend's house in Abbot, Maine to pick up seven, 1 year-old hens and then stop in Bangor on our way home to pick up heavy hinges for Asher's new stall and our son, Brian for a lunch visit. At home, I planned to help Sean install the hinges, take pictures and video of the new stall manger arrangement- which we LOVE, and update you all on those sweet goat kids. I had six batches of soap to package and some earrings to finish while Sean cleared spider webs *shudder* from the barn ceiling. Easy day.

Anna and her son, 3/4 lamancha 1/4 nigerian dwarf 

Instead, the day began with Sean bringing in a dripping wet, freshly delivered goat kid. Number 9 for the season. The PERFECT combination of color and ears that I am trying to breed here, except it is a buck. *Sigh* I am thrilled that Anna kidded so easily and that her buck seems healthy, especially since we hadn't intended on breeding her until next year. Sean has especially worried over her well being. She showed us. She wasn't showing signs of labor at 3 am when Sean last checked out things in the barn and her kid greeted him a couple hours later. She had already passed the placenta and was busily eating hay from the newest manger, oblivious to her kid curled up on the floor, snoozing next to Lily. While I finished cleaning off this latest addition, Sean moved Anna, Naomi and the kid to our vacant 4th kidding stall. A little late, but the stall will afford Momma and kid some privacy and time to get to know each other without being trampled by the rest of the herd. We let Naomi join Anna since she has strong mothering instincts and was interested in helping to clean off her grand-kid. Besides this, Naomi is due to kid out herself in the next couple weeks and we are running out of empty stalls! :) We waited until the newest kid had latched on for necessary colostrum and was resting before we left for Mission Chicken Relocation.

This surprise addition put us an hour and a half behind when we wanted to leave for Abbot, which is an hour and a half drive north. We messaged Sarah to let her know we were on our way and Brian to let him know we would be later than originally planned and set off on our adventure. Thankfully our GPS sent us all the way around the barn to get there so it took us nearly two hours!?!?!?! Despite the added time, it was a nice drive. Mission Chicken Relocation went off without trouble and before too long, seven lovely ladies were settled inside a large dog kennel in the back of the van.

On the way to Bangor to pick up those heavy hinges, merging onto I 95, we got into a fender bender. Sean very nearly avoided the crash with quick thinking and reflexes, but the car behind us pushed a third car into our passenger side door. Thankfully, no people or chickens were injured, but I felt bad for the other two cars that were towed away. We had to reschedule our lunch with Brian, too.

By the time the police came and got everyone settled and we drove from the scene, ran our errands and got back home, it was 4:30 pm instead of 1 pm. Sean and I set quickly to afternoon chores, checked on those sweet kids, and finally got into the house around 6 pm. While I worked on a short video for you all and packaged soaps, Sean made us grilled cheese sandwiches and warmed the tomato soup I made yesterday for our dinner. After dinner we finished the soap packaging and I am stealing a couple minutes to write this for you.


Tomorrow is another day. I think we'll stay around here for the day- the 3-5 inches of snow we're supposed to get overnight will make that an extra appealing proposal. I hope to get those earrings finished and perhaps get another post written for you. There is so much happening that we want to share with you. For now, I leave you with this short video of goat kid cuteness.

Thanks for visiting with us tonight, friends. We're glad you are here.
Sonja ♥

Week-Old Goat Kids

I spent most of today catching up on some things that have gone neglected in my studio. I made fresh cinnamon buns for our family's breakfast and made a batch of Feta cheese. I had plans to do as much as I could and finish what I could not, tomorrow, but around 3:30 pm. my body declared it had other plans. The reasons for joy within a large congregation are innumerable, especially during assembly days, like last Saturday. The only down-side is that with the abundance of loving hugs from our friends, the sharing of germs sometimes leaves me under the weather with a touch of something. It will pass I am sure, but the long list of things still needing to be done is going to take a bit longer than I hoped. It is 6:30 pm and I am in bed for the night. The girls are eating dinner with their Dad tonight. Sean will fend for himself. As soon as I finish typing these words, this girl is going to close her eyes and succumb to sleep in the hopes that by tomorrow instead of feeling sick, I will be awesome instead.

This video montage is made up of some snippets I captured of these darling goat kids of ours. I shared an unedited video this morning to our FACEBOOK PAGE. This video is slightly longer and it focuses on Baby Ruthie, Jacob and Benjamin catching a snooze, and Chloe's progress.

The clip of Lilly nursing Chloe shows how diligently they have both tried to make this work. I wish with all my heart there was something we could do to make that a reality for them. Little Chloe is suckling for all she is worth and her little cries of frustration are heart-wrenching. I've written before how Lilly patiently stands for nursing. In this video, she lifts her leg to allow more access. Sweet Momma. On a positive note, Lilly is making progress each day. Eventually, she will not be in milk any more and so long as infection does not set in, this will be just a memory before long. Yesterday was the final day of her twice daily course of Penicillin injections. I know that feels better. We'll continue watching for signs of infection. Our main job now is to help her to gain back the weight she's lost. We have every reason to believe that she will make a full recovery and live a long, happy life.
Chloe turned a week old about 45 minutes ago. Can it be only a week? It feels like I have been worrying over her for so much longer than that. ♥ She is such a sweet girl. Despite doing everything we can to encourage her to be a normal goat kid, she is very attached to the people. And, why not? We bring the food. A few times this week, I have been asked this question, "Why not just bring Chloe into the house?" In case some of you are wondering, too... It is very important to me that Chloe be raised with her herd, like a normal goat kid. Watch the video and see the difference between Ruthie and Chloe. Ruthie is into EVERYTHING. Her feet springs have engaged. She nibbles on anything she comes across. She likes the people, but she is engaged in being a goat kid. Contrast that to Chloe's behavior~ who is only one day younger. Chloe climbs the tables and looks at the grain bowl and nudges the hay, she sees the chickens or ducks passing by, but her main focus is on me. She stands facing me much of the time and as soon as she climbs down, she runs to stand with me between my feet. She is not off exploring as she should be. And, her springers have not engaged yet. While Ruthie runs with the other kids (see facebook video), Chloe is content to just stand and watch. Some of that might be her personality. They each have their own. But, it is my job to help Chloe to be a goat kid- full of mischief and bouncing feet. She'll learn that from being with her herd. Bringing her inside would add to that which I am trying to avoid. My only wish for Chloe is that she grow to be a healthy goat within a healthy herd. ♥

Thanks for visiting with us today, friends.
~Sean & Sonja ♥

Snow Goats

Benjamin

Jacob

These sweet faces were waiting for us this morning bright and early. After I let the other kids out to play, I spent a little time snapping pictures of them. It is always so surprising how quickly their personalities begin to emerge. Yesterday, Benjie could not work his feet. Today, he is feigning head butting and pouncing in delight. Jacob is full of energy. It is hard to capture a good picture of him because in a flash, his feet explode and he is bounding off.

Benjie is such a snuggle bug. I love goat kids that are quiet tempered and like to cuddle with me. And I am partial to the ones that are into everything all the time. Basically, I like them to have Personality with a capitol P. I know Sean agrees, though it often means extra work for him.

Case in point, Sean had to add two additional rails to the kid's sleeping stall last night. Both Boaz and Phoebe looked at the original height of 3 1/2 feet and laughed in our direction. They had no trouble jumping over to help themselves to the milk before us in the morning. The added rails brought the wall to at least four feet tall. Should be sufficient, right? Wrong. Mistress Phoebe Rubber Hooves met us in Jane's stall this morning. Full of milk and smiling smugly. And while that is annoying on the one hand, it is so terrible that it blurs the line into cute. ♥

After milking, Sean and I traipsed out into the pastures to see how deep the snow is there. While there are small, barren patches under the pine trees, Sean reckons the snow to be about 6 inches deep in most places. We are anticipating rain and sleet over the next couple days. I won't mind so long as Sean's prediction of it melting the last of the snow by the weekend comes true.

Ellie, Jem,, Cassie and Judah munch on evergreen needles Sean broke off for them-
a "reward" for following us to the back fields. Okay, it was a bribe.
They ate it all the same. 

Judah

Ellie, Jemima, and Cassie are all sweet tempered girls. They prefer to be with their people and stay close by us when we are in the field. Judah is a huge cry-baby. He is a loud buck that calls non-stop- even when he is eating! Silly boy! This group are some of my favorite goats. ♥

Leah, Rachel, Keziah, and Eli came running to see what we had offered the other goats, but were quick to decide snow was not to their liking and they returned to the hay cushioned comfort of their stall to chew their cud and await the afternoon's offering of hay and grain.

Once reminded evergreens are indeed edible, Cassie, Ellie, and Judah were happy to browse on them for a bit.

Any place not covered in snow was fair game for exploration, including a temporary shelter from last year. Cassie found it to be a perfect resting spot before trudging through the snow to return to the barn.

The sleet and rain affects my outlook and makes it hard for me to be productive, especially when it lingers. I am more than willing to put up with it if Sean is indeed right and it does the job of clearing the snow away once and for all. The plan for the rest of this week is to finish planting some early seedlings, make feta and chevre tomorrow, mail out some special orders and paint some new jewelry pieces. Sean is focusing on thoroughly cleaning out Jasmine's stall and the main chicken coop. We'll need to find a minute to check on the dozen eggs I set under a couple of broody hens this morning. We won't disturb the nests, but we need to make sure the hens are willing to set on the eggs we placed in them. It should be fine. If all goes well, we'll have our first hatch of a dozen Easter Eggers chicks the first of May then a week later, we should welcome a nest of a dozen Mallard ducklings.

Thanks for stopping in for a visit today, friends. We appreciate your company. :)
~Sean and Sonja ♥

Adoption Day... Jesse, Keren, and Piper's New Home

Piper March 2015

We knew this day was coming last fall when Jessica and her family visited us at the homestead. After listening to the family, learning their goals and needs in respects to having goats, we offered to sell them Keren Happuch and Jesse. In addition, we offered to breed Keren to one of our unrelated bucks, either Ethan or Eli, with the hopes of producing at least one additional doe to start their herd. Deposits were taken and a deal was struck. Since their barn had not been built and the woods that their goats would roam were yet unfenced, we agreed to keep Keren and Jesse with us until Keren kidded in the spring.

Jesse 2014

Over the fall months, we enjoyed several visits with the family and grew more and more pleased with the arrangements. My biggest concern was hoping that 18 month old Keren would cooperate and get pregnant. My hope was for a single doe to be born. Twins are nice, but just starting out, I thought three goats testing fencing, needing hoof trimming and regular care were probably sufficient. It had been for us. The reason for my hope of Keren kidding a doe is obvious. While whethered bucks are every bit as cute and make great pets, this family wanted milk for cheese, yogurt, and soap making- a doeling would be a better result.

Keren kidded on March 16th. One large and lusty doe. Weighing in at nearly 7 pounds and feisty from the start, this little girl was all I could have asked for. Keren kidded beautifully. Her maternal instincts kicked in immediately. Text book. Jessica arrived just minutes after the kidding and took a hand in caring for her doe and new doeling. We discussed what was best for her family and decided to wait a week (for Piper to get established with nursing and past any potential immediate medical concerns) and 5 days more (so Keren could get introduced to milking).

As it turned out, Piper needed nothing from us. She took to milking immediately and is a healthy, thriving kid. Keren's first go at milking was every bit as difficult as we anticipated. She kicked up her back legs, stepped in the bucket, stepped on us, and generally made her displeasure known. We collected a good amount of milk that first day despite Keren's best efforts to thwart us- none of it usable. Day two was markedly better. Keren attempted to kick at the very beginning, but within minutes settled into eating her grain. We did not let our guard down, but I had every hope that in a few days, she would settle down.

I was relieved to learn from Jessica that she did. It took her a couple days to settle in and eat as much as she should. Grain + Hay + Demand = Milk Supply. Keren chose to not finish her grain. Jessica tried to tempt her interest with some cracked corn. A couple mouth fulls and Keren was bored with that, too. We suggested mixing in some healthy greens, like carrots, spinach, and peas with her grain. The salad worked. (Or, Keren just settled in from the shock of moving to her new home, realized she was treated like a queen and decided eating would resume.) Either way, her milk production has began to increase. It is still much less in quantity than I hoped for, but with time and patience, I am
eager to see how well she performs.

And, the family? They are over the moon...

Their chariot awaits... 

Jesse and Keren settled in for their ride to their new home

I will explore after I am convinced there is food in this new place... 

The Walk of Triumph... Goats are in the Hooooouse... *ahem* Garage... 

Jesse noticed some places that needed shoring up first thing. Very helpful of him. ;) 

Lally Broch Farm Goat Adoption Kit 

Our Adoption Kit: 

* Basic Goat Guide and Workbook with your goat's medical history and parentage, custom breeding charts, recipes, medical, worming and milking worksheets, resources and space to write your own observations.

* Collars
* Goat Sweaters
* Iodine
* Vetrap
* Pepto Bismol
* Organic Udder Balm

* Goat's Milk Soap
* Sterile 12 cc Syringes

* Sterile 18 g Needle
* Sterile Scalpel

Piper thinks her grain manger is a perfect daybed.

* Carrying Tote

We have written it before, but it bears repeating... Our goal is not to simply breed goats.  We do things differently than many larger operations (Steps on Soap Box....) For us, it is not about pedigree or show titles, but rather about breeding responsibly in order to produce the healthiest kids possible. Our desire is to build the best milk producing lines, as organically and naturally as we can. Though many of our goats could be ADGA registered, we do not pursue that. Thus, our goat kids are not tatooed. Since we have no interest in showing goats at fairs, (where it is a requirement to do so) we do not disbud our kids. We believe that goats should have their horns intact. I started writing about our philosophy of care and went off on a HUGE tangent. Erased from this post, I expect it will come up in one very soon.

Jessica says, "Life is good, drinking coffee with your goat."

Back to the point of this post, we want our kids to have the best start in their new home. To that end, we are available to help answer questions if the need arises. We provide an adoption kit with every kid. We will not sell single kids. And, we will take the time to listen to you about your needs before we talk about your purchasing kids from our herd for yours. This was our first experience with selling goats from our herd. I am thrilled it was so positive for all of us.

We will have a limited number of goat kids available for adoption this year. Stay tuned for that post in the coming months. :)

Thanks for visiting with us today, friends. We're sure glad you are here.

~Sean and Sonja 

GRAPHIC VIDEO: Goat Kidding, Piper is Born

The sweet scent of fresh hay and newly-born goat kids lingers on my clothes and I am in need of another shower. I couldn't be happier. Sean was right. Keren kidded quickly in less than an hour just after noon time. Keren's new human, Jessica, wanted to try to be present for her kidding. We'd been texting through the morning with updates, hoping to be able to give enough notice for her to be there without spending all day waiting around in the barn. But, when it was time to come, that kid was on no one's schedule but her own!


We were able to catch a video of her, making her grand entrance:

Jessica arrived about 20 minutes after Piper entered the world. Other than the necessary task of helping to dry her off, we left everything else for Jessica to see and/or participate in as far as she was comfortable with.

Keren did great kidding and possesses good maternal instincts. As soon as Piper was born, Keren immediately helped clean her off, calling softly as she licked her new kid dry, learning each other's scents and voices.

I love the look on Piper's face as Sean checks
to see her gender.

Our most pressing hope was for a healthy kid. Second to this, we really wanted a doe for Jessica's family. We bred Keren specifically so that her kid would not be related to Jesse. A doeling would give her a nice start for her family herd, since both Keren and her kid would be able to be bred with Jesse. As if we had anything to do with matters, Sean and I shared an enthusiastic "high-five" automatically when we discovered that the newest kid was a doe.

Piper tipped the scale at nearly 7 pounds, a healthy respectable weight for a first kid. Piper is 1/2 Lamancha, 1/4 Oberhausli and 1/4 Boer. She should grow to be a good sized doe with hybrid vigor and a decent milk supply. Piper inherited her Daddy's Lamancha elf ears. A quick inspection of Keren showed a nicely-developed udder; large in size, evenly filled, and attached well. I couldn't be happier about Jessica's prospects for her new herd.

Jessica's goats will remain here for about a week. This will give Keren time to settle into motherhood and to make sure Piper is growing as she should. It is bitter sweet to see our first goats leave the farm to begin a new family. Keren is two years old now and a mother in her own right. Jesse was born last year and is ready to sire kids. Sean and I are extremely selective about who we sell our kids to; a wealth of knowledge and experience are not necessary, good hearts and a love of goats is a MUST. It is not about selling goat kids quickly to make a few bucks. It is about finding the right homes for our kids.

Our farm is not the least expensive place to purchase goat kids, but our kids are healthy, friendly, and come from a good line of milkers. We spend time talking with perspective buyers answering their questions and asking our own. We have to feel good about where our goats are going to live. We only sell goat kids in pairs. Our kids come with documents detailing their parentage, medical history, and pictures of their births- if we have them. We also supply a basic goat first aid kit and are on call to answer questions for folks for as long as they need us. As I said, Sean and I are thrilled with the new family these goats will have. I know they are going to be well-loved. ♥

For those keeping track, we now have seven healthy goat kids born this season. Four kiddings completed with excellent results, two (maybe three) more to go before we are done for the year. We'll have updates with images and video to share with you.

Thanks for visiting with us today, friends.
We're sure glad you came.

~Sean & Sonja 

Goat's Kidding, Boaz and Anna are Born

Sean left about an hour ago to bring Miss Caitlin to work. Usually, I take this extra 40 minutes to deeply study the insides of my eyelids, especially if Molly goes with him for the ride and the house is quiet and dark. This morning I awoke to Sean snoring up a storm. (It is ironic that Sean's relentless snoring, when I am trying to drift into sleep, is often annoying. Yet, that same sound in the middle of the night or in the early morning hours usually makes me smile to myself. It is proof that I am never alone. He is here. ♥) Once awakened, nature called and needed attending to. And, as soon as my feet hit the floor, my brain roused itself to begin the day. I tried to convince it that we could rest for a bit longer, but after a few minutes of laying awake thinking about the day ahead, I knew sleep was no longer an option. That did not mean that I had to actually leave the warm cocoon of my bed. If that is not what laptops were created for, it should've been.

I promised you all pictures and a post about the arrival of Naomi and Asher's first kids. No better time to write it for you than now...

To be completely candid, there is not so much to tell. We missed it.

It snowed about 6 inches over night and the snow was still coming down heavily Sunday morning. While I prepared a warm breakfast of fresh, homemade cinnamon buns and sausage links, Sean offered to milk Jane and Abby solo. I agreed. So, Sean milked the two does, gave them their Ivomec booster, and returned them to their kids. Then, he checked pregnant does for signs of kidding before coming inside for breakfast. I strained the milk and recorded the amounts in between working on breakfast and tending the wood stove. Over breakfast Sean commented that he thought Naomi would be kidding in the next couple days and that Keren was not far behind.

After breakfast, Sean and I made three batches of goat's milk soap, feta cheese, ricotta cheese, and a loaf of fresh Italian bread. I finished some new jewelry pieces while Sean cared for feeding and watering our animals. Afternoon chores were finished by 4:00. It felt good to have a lazy day at home. We enjoyed dinner together. The girls cleared the table for us and we gathered in the family room to watch a TV program and enjoy a slice of chocolate cake. Sean brought in Phoebe and Zeke to romp and snuggle with us.

The program ended and the kids needed to be returned outside to sleep. Sean checked the barn once more only to discover two black lumps that he could not account for in the expectant doe stall. He rushed to turn on the light so he could see better all the while worried that he was too late...

And, he was.

Anna

Naomi had kidded twins and cleaned up all on her own. Sean was greeted by two alert and completely dry, furry baby goat kids and one happy Momma looking for treats. Sean ran to the family room window and rapped to get my attention. He rattled off, "Naomi has kids!" and he was gone again. Not knowing what to expect, I grabbed my barn sweater, threw on Sean's boots, slipped my camera into the vet bag and headed outside. Since we had not yet moved Naomi into a private kidding stall, getting to her and the kids meant climbing over stall rails and dodging a couple other pregnant does. Easily enough done, but not convenient.

Proud Daddy, Asher was very
interested in his kids.

Haddie, Salome (Me-me), and Keren share the stall with Naomi. Haddie and Me-me are not due for another month with Bailey and Lilly, so we moved those two out to give Naomi some more room and less company. We'll continue to let Keren stay with Naomi for a couple reasons. First, they are buddies. Also, Keren is due any day now, too. Naomi has a strong mothering instinct. She was the doe who cleaned off Samson when Abigail rejected him last year. Since this is Keren's first kidding, it might be good to have a seasoned doe in the stall. Sean just chimed in with, "And, we'll be plum out of room if we can't double up some of the does." He has a point. Our building motto has been, plan ahead for the size we want our herd to be and then, double that. Goat math can be as tricky as chicken math. We framed out and built a 20x30 two story barn over the past two years and we're already planning a 10' x 20' addition to it for this year. We need the room.

Naomi and Boaz

Since kidding had already happened, all we had to do was check over the new kids and Mom, weigh the kids, and discover their genders. Another buck/doe combination! We named the little buck, Boaz. He is pure black and has long, floppy ears like his Momma. Bo weighed in at 6 pounds. His sister is named Anna. She is an oreo-colored doeling; black in front and back with a white band around the middle. Baby Anna has one black front leg and one white front leg and her Daddy's Lamancha elf ears! She weighed in at 5 pounds. These kids are Nigerian Dwarf/Lamancha cross. We expect them to grow to be good, medium sized goats between 80-100 pounds. This will be our first year milking Naomi, so we do not have any idea of how much milk she'll produce nor how her milk will taste. But, if she performs well, we may keep Miss Anna to add to our line. Asher's mother and sister are both excellent milk producers. His offspring may be as well.

So that is three kiddings complete; three healthy sets of twins and three proud Mommas. Three bucks and three does born. We have at least three more ahead of us this season and potentially four more. I will have some video of these new kids as the days pass, but I do not have any of their birth. Instead, please enjoy some cute images of our newest kids.

Boaz

Boaz and Anna

Keren is getting close! :) 

Last night, Keren was showing signs of impending kidding. Her udder grew considerably larger through the day and her kid(s) had dropped into the right position. As of 10:30 this morning, Keren is showing signs of pre-labor; she is up and down trying to find a spot that is comfortable- mostly unsuccessfully. We suspect she has only one kid, but we aren't certain of that.

We cancelled this morning's plans to go out to "Preach the Word" choosing instead to stay home. The kid(s) could come tomorrow or even the next day, but we are fairly sure it will be today. This is Keren's first birth. We have observed how wonderfully well the instincts created within our animals work, but from time to time, a little help is needed- especially the first time. So, we'll be here. To help if she needs it; to cheer her on, if she doesn't. And, we'll keep you posted with any new developments.

Thanks for visiting with us this morning, friends.
We are sure glad for your company. :)

~Sean and Sonja ♥

PS. Originally, we planned to name Anna, "Ruth", but we changed our minds overnight. She just didn't look like a Ruth. So, Anna it is. :)