A family farm

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Baby Goats? ...........

No baby goats yet! It gets frustrating to enter the barn day after day expecting to see something new in the girls' pen! I at least expect to see Lucy's udder expand and her be ready to deliver! I think my sister may be correct and Naomi had a falst pregnancy ... She is just not pregnant. It's not like you can have her pee on a stick either and find out the same way you can with people. Lily is still growing ... poor, fat little doe!

On another note ... the onions I froze from our garden just ran out this past Sunday. I had my sister over with her family and put a couple of venison roasts in the crock pot with onions and carrots and other herbs and spices. That was the end of the onions. I'm looking forward to this summer! I will have onions in the garden again! And carrots ... and purple beans ... and tomatoes ... and peppers ... jalapenos ... poblanos ... sweet bell ... cabbages ... squash ... oh, the squash!!!!!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Baby Goats?

Went in the barn and did chores this morning. Naomi and Lucy were hanging together, but something didn't look right with Naomi. She had lost her big belly! I looked all over their small pen for signs of a baby, but didn't see one. She has a small bloody discharge, but her udder hasn't expanded yet. Her tail is definitely UP! The baby seems to have moved into position. I watched them eat for a couple of minutes this morning. Naomi is looking rather unpregnant, if not ready to give birth ... while Lucy is looking like her baby was going to explode out of her side! Talk about kicking! Lillie is coming along nicely, as well, with her prenancy. I'm not ready to move her yet with 2 goats already in the birthing pen.

Hopefully Chris can pick up some straw after work this afternoon. I'd love to, but I didn't bring any rope.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Baby Goats a'Comin'!

I've got Lucy and Naomi together in the indoor-only pen in the barn now. Originally it was just Lucy because one of her scurs had broken and she was having a heck of a time allowing that to heal with all the head-butting she felt she had to do. Her broken horn seems to be healing up just fine now. If left unattended, broken scurs can cause a goat to bleed to death. I have a feeling she wasn't feeling well at all - perhaps had quite a headache which put her in more of a head-butting mood for a couple of days. It's kind of hard to stop the bleeding if you are constantly using it. She rather hates me right now because I spent an hour applying pressure and ice to get the doggone thing to quit bleeding. All that helped, but ultimately, it was her not being able to head-butt the others which really did the trick. Now, if she was pregnant before we bought her, she should be kidding by the end of this month. I do believe I'll just keep her in confinement until then.

As for Naomi, this morning when I went out there, Freddie was chasing the poor girl around something fierce this morning - in and out of the barn. Finally, I just let him chase her right into the pen with Lucy. The 2 of them get along quite well considering they are both queen bees. Both are very pregnant, tho I don't see the kids moving around inside them as much as I'd like to. I have to get some straw this weekend for that pen and for the chicken coop. Lucy turned over her manger and used the hay for a bed last night, and snow is creeping in from outdoors. Neither Naomi's or Lucy's udders have expanded yet, so we're still just waiting.

Looking forward to baby goats, tho it is January. Too bad they couldn't have gotten pregnant in late October ...