Arrival of Triplets!

Saturday morning as my husband was finishing chores he heard a strange sound from the barn.  He, thankfully, went to investigate and found one baby goat kid on the ground.  He rushed in to tell me and the kids and we all rushed out to see.  Momma was cleaning baby off and a few minutes later she laid down for another!  

This momma had twins last summer and she has proved to be a very good mother.  We waited and watched as it is very cold here and we don't have a heated area for them.  Momma gave birth to baby #3 roughtly 45 minutes after baby #1.  We set up the heat lamp for them and helped momma get them dried off.  They were all doing well.  She had 2 girls and a boy.

We came in to warm up a bit, ourselves.  An hour later we went to check on them and thankfully.  They had moved away from the heat lamp and were freezing, literally.  Two of them had frozen ears and one of the little girls I was sure would die. All of their mouths were freezing cold inside, which is a very good sign they are just way too cold. We felt terrible for this wonderful momma, but we were going to have to bring them in the house to warm up.

We bundled them up in an old towel and hurried them inside.  We ran a shallow bath of warm water and soaked them for about 20 minutes.  The smallest little girl was doing the worst.  She couldn't even hold her head up.  After their bath came the blow dryer and towel drying.  After we dried them we attempted to get them to drink.  After a few minutes, they all did drink a little bit.  At this point they were doing better, but I was not convinced we were out of the woods yet.  We left them in the bathroom (small room that doesn't take long to warm up) with a space heater for a little while.  

Eventually they were all running around the bathroom and drank a good amount of the colostrum we had on hand for this kind of situation.  As of now, 4 days later, they are doing great!  We have them in a pen in the house with wood shavings for bedding.  Four times per day we let them run around the kitchen to play while feeding.  My kids and I love to watch these kids run around and play.  They are adorable as ever!  As soon as the weather warms up, they will go to the barn, but for now they are entertaining us in the house.  After a couple days old, goats are pretty hardy animals in cold weather.

One lesson I have learned is that if you keep animals on your farm, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to save them.  Some of our "non-farm" friends think we are crazy to keep animals in the house if needed in winter, but anyone that ever grew up on a farm without a heated barn has either done this or know people that did.

I am so happy we caught them in time.  Love my goat kids!!

Boer Goat Kids in December!

Just in time for Christmas this year we have had our first set of Boer twins!  Actually due on Dec. 27th, but with the big winter storm on our doorstep, it's not a surprise she would have them now.  The twins were found in the kidding stall in the barn having just been born this morning.  The little girl is solid red and the little boy is a bit smaller and traditional colored with a few paint spots.  

We moved her to the kidding stall only a few days ago and so glad we did!  She is doing well with them, cleaning them right away and now at least the solid one is nursing.  The little boy was a little colder, so we set up the heat lamp on him, hoping that would get him goin.  We just came in from checking him and he was still lying in the same spot.  We got him up again and fed him a little colostrum (go-go juice as my husband calls it) which did get him standing at least and wagging his tail!  He hopefully just needed that little "pick-me-up" and will be off and running in no time.  Usually, they don't drink much the first time, but he drank over 1/2 cup.  

We will keep a watchful eye for the next few hours to see if he drinks from her or if he is destined to be bottle fed.  We are hoping to keep him on her as they always do so much better with health and growth that way.  

These little ones are the highlight of the dreaded winter so far and they are just adorable!  Goat kids are truely the meaning of cuteness and just so sweet.  Soon, we will be thinking of names for them so any good ideas would be welcome!!

I cannot resist including a few more photos of them:

Feeding Meat Goats



We decided to start raising some boer goats last year and have had a great time doing it.  There has been a ton of learning that has gone into it and thank heavens for internet for research.  There is, however, an abundance of information out there and depending on what type of goats you are raising some may or may not apply.

We had decided to keep pasture fed goats as our cows are because we believe this is the healthier way to go for us.  Since getting our first three goats last year and many more this year all have done well on pasture with supplemental corn based feed.  We also keep a mineral block with them that they eat on as needed. 

We did get a bit of a shock when taking our goats to the county fair this year (our first time).  All the goats there were bigger and more muscular than ours.  In talking with everyone there it seems that no one pasture feeds -they all grain their goats from birth to sale and mostly with show feed.  Since returning from fair we have changed our feeding program a little.  They are still out on pasture, but they also get a daily ration of goat feed.  This supplements them in protein and nutrients.  

After doing my own research on the different feeds on the market and available locally, we decided to go with Kent goat feeds.  We have been using the 18% kid developer since the fair and wow!  What a difference it has made in only 6 weeks.  I highly recommend their feeds.  It is costing a little more than pasture with the corn based feed, but well worth it!  The goats look more muscular, have more energy and just act healthier overall.  Next year a couple months before the fair the goats that will be shown will switch to Kent Show Goat feed.  

We don't raise "show" goats and have every intention of someday having enough goats to sell goat meat.  We firmly believe in having happy, healthy goats no matter what their purpose.  We believe the Kent goat feed is assisting us in our endeavor to produce quality goats whether showing or butchering them. 

    Each day is what you make it out to be. . .Have a great one!!

Parmak Solar Fencer



We have now had our Parmak Solar Pak 6 fencer installed for a few weeks and what a SUPER BUY!  We couldn't be happier with it.  Every day I check it and it's so easy to check with the charge gauge on the front.  All I have to do is look at it to know if there is a problem!

The installation was super easy too.  It took minutes to do it.  We did already have a ground rod in, but it would have only taken a few more minutes to put in a straight copper 6-8 foot ground rod with the fence pounder.  All we had to do was mount it and hook in the wires and turn it on.  Immediately the charge gauge went up to the green and a little beyond.  We even ran the fence about twice as far as we had planned due to the cows kept getting on another part of the fence in the pen they were in to eat lucious grass on the other side.  We figured this way any animal in there would stay off it.

The cows have been out pasture grazing once again (saving my hay for when its really needed) and staying away from that terrible south fence.  We used the electric tape with the fencer and that works great.  It is easily visible so the kids, or I, don't forget it's there.   Kudos to Parmak for making a fencer that works tremendously well, is easy to see if there is a problem and is pretty affordable!  Thank you also to jefferslivestock.com for selling it at a great price and shipping in a reasonable amount of time.  (I did see today that horse.com has it on sale right now for $157.)

Snowflake -A New Calf Story

I love having cows and calves!

I always watch craigslist for any good deals to increase our herd.  Last week I found my deal, but it was over two hours away.  The big question was whether it would be worth paying for her and all that gas?  I have always wanted a charolais cow to contrast all of our black cows.  I love their color and build and wanted one badly and have looked for one for quite a while.  It didn't take long for me to make up my mind that yes she was worth it.  It couldn't have been a worse week for it to happen as we had had a death in the family.  I did, however, have my mind made up that I would have her.  My wonderful husband and son took off one evening with trailer in tow to go pick her up. 

After a round about trip due to his GPS following instead of my directions, they dealt with a very nice gentleman who purchases calves to resell.  He had not had her long and she was doing well.  She wouldn't drink off his nurse cow and did eat some grain he told us.  She was also just over 6 weeks old.

They arrived home at 1:30am that night with her.  We unloaded her into the barn and she was so frightened.  She ran when we got close at all.  I gave her some hay, grain and water.  We quarantine new calves for 10-14 days when we get them just in case something is wrong with them.  Through the last week we have put a halter on her -which she hated tremendously.  She has nibbled on hay and grain, but not eaten a bunch by any means.  We did find out about day 2 that she would eat grass pretty well so we give her some each day.  She had loose stools, but not watery, when she came to us, which I watched closely so I would know if that worsened or if it was just due to stress and change in feed.  I made calls to the feed store and the vet to get their opinions on her and if they thought she still needed to be bottle fed.  Their concensus was not if she is eating enough otherwise.  Usually we get bottle calves a little younger that do need bottle fed and they don't usually eat grain very well at first.  They also don't usually eat grass at first either.

 

One week later, she is starting to tame down.  We left the halter on her and she is getting more used to that.  Her bm's have thickened up a bit and look like normal now.  In the afternoons we walk her and let her eat grass outside which she does very well.  She has been eating more hay and a little more grain.  She even let my husband and I pet her in the pen last night for quite a while before she decided she didn't want that anymore.  We also, well my husband, thought of a good name for her too --Snowflake.  I love it!  This morning I was very excited when I walked in to give her her daily ration of grain -expecting to dump the old uneaten grain and put in the new-  and for the first time her grain tub was empty!  She also let me pet her some while she ate some grass.  I finally feel like now she will be just fine.

I am always such a nervous ninny when it comes to the calves.  I am a worrier until I know they are ok and doing well.  It's almost like I was with our children when they were born!  I love having calves and raising them up to be great mommas.  The kids love them, too, and love to show them at the county fair.  Each cow we have is special to me.  I am looking forward to the calves next year, already!