March

3/27/22 Most of my herd has found new and loving homes! I was going to keep my favorite does, but I have entrusted them to people who I know will Love them as much as I do, so I’m very happy about that.

3/21/22 After much thought and consideration, I have decided to do a major dispersal of my Beautiful Herd.

The rest of my herd will find loving homes and give their new owners much Milk, love and many Kids. Raising goats has been a joy for me, but it’s taking its toll on my health, so I need to scale down to what is best for me and my health. I will have a few kids available in the late spring, the Quality will be high.

3/16/22 Kidding season has always been the most exciting time on the farm for me. My favorite pastime is watching the kids bouncing around the kidding stall and later racing each other across the pasture.

This year has been different and difficult. Bella’s Kidding with a single buckling was a text book delivery. Skye was second up and I had to assist on kid #3 but the rest was text book kidding. Pip was next, another perfect kidding a beautiful little Doeling for her first freshening.

Pip kidded March 7th. “Pink”, Pip’s Dam started pushing around 3:00 on Wednesday March 9th. I watch my girls very closely, I can detect the smallest changes in their behavior, I know when they are close.

“Pink” started pushing, a bubble appeared, “Showtime”! I’m gloved up, have the puppy pads ready, and another bubble pops out. That’s Not Right! Things just went from exciting to crap in a heartbeat.

Now….. I have to go in and feel what is going on in there. Mind you I’m home alone, no help, everyone is at work. I have “gone in” many times during kidding seasons to make sure the kids are presenting normally, this is nothing new to me, but the second bubble is.

So, I had two kids trying to come out together. I put fresh gloves on, lubed up and started exploring to see what the situation was. Lots of legs, I could feel a head, teeth and an ear. I pushed back the second bubble into the birth canal and worked on guiding the other baby that was presenting properly, out into the world with “Pink’s “ contractions.

The next baby was a problem, he was presenting with his head back and front legs forward. At first I thought he was breech but I couldn’t find a tail, or his head. I was working on getting him out for about 30 minutes and not getting anywhere, when Sarah got home from work.

Sarah immediately gloved up and took over for me, my back was killing me. While she was feeling around inside of Pink, I got on the phone with Julie House from Running River Dairy Goats. It didn’t take long for her to head my way coaching Sarah all the way on her 25 minute drive to my farm.

Just as Julie was pulling up to the barn, Sarah managed to wrestle a Beautiful, Big Buckling from Pink’s body. And there was another…

Pink had a third kid yet to emerge. Sarah went in again and could feel legs but no head or tail. Finally she could feel the head, but it kept slipping away from her hand. Julie brought her Kelly Kid snare and they tried to snare the kids head. Finally Julie was able to catch the kids head and managed to bring the kid out.

Sadly the kid had passed. This is the hardest part of raising animals on the farm. It was another gorgeous Buckling. We tried our best to bring all three into the world, we saved two. We could have lost Pink and all 3 kids had I not been vigilant in knowing the smallest details in my Does actions. This isn’t just a herd of goats, they are a huge part of my life. I’m their caretaker, it’s my job to give them shelter, food, fresh water and be able to see when something is not quite right.

Six days later…. Everyone was doing well, bouncing around the barn while nighttime chores were being done and all were tucked in their stalls, with their heat lamps on, everything was as it should be.

The next morning, the smallest of Pinks Buckling’s was shaking and was not coherent. Meaning he was awake but totally out of it. I gathered him up and took him in my heated Milk room and took his temperature. 105.5 too high! I gave him Vitamin B Complex SQ and called my Veterinarian, she said Pneumonia, and told me what to give him and Pray. I did exactly what she said to do and I Prayed, an hour later he passed.

So far it’s been a hard kidding season. On the bright side, I have six healthy mama’s and 8 healthy Kids. It will be alright.

3/2 My adult children, who live on my farm have been after me to downsize my Dairy Goat Herd. While I Love all of them, my children are right! I’m not getting any younger and I keep my goat pens clean every day with fresh food and water, only the best for them. I will be keeping 4 Does and 2 Bucks for now, the rest of my herd will be looking for new homes. A few can be sold prior to kidding, I have them posted as being available before Kidding or after kidding. All have been Ultrasounded by Julie House at Running River Ranch in Albany Oregon.

All have been confirmed pregnant with kids. I hand picked all of these yearlings as Kids. Many were transported in from Texas, Goat Trails and Acton, California Peeps ponderosa, Fantastic Old Bloodlines! And Soaring Hearts Farm in Snohomish, Washington. All by paid transport, their prices reflect each individual transportation costs. But some great Bloodlines!

If interested, you can message/email or call me and we can put together a Purchase Agreement and a $100.00 deposit will hold your chosen Doe. The deposit goes towards the purchase price.

While I’m writing this post, I’m sitting in a kidding stall with my special girl “Skye”, awaiting her kids.