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Posts Tagged ‘goat kids’

The Busy Season Has Arrived

Posted in AGH Business News, All In A Day's Time, Goat Care (and General Farm), tagged , , , , on March 17, 2011| 10 Comments »

It is that time again on our farm.

The geese are nesting, the goats are having kids, and spring clean up (along with the mud) begins.

We, the ones that tend to the animals, become a bit sleep deprived. 

We look for calm waters, smooth sailing seas (God bless those that are suffering right now, Japan is on our minds), knowing that we are to enjoy the spring, as kids are not born year round, and spring is so very welcome! Such a blessing it all is!

We are running on a 1-3 day turnaround in fulfilling retail orders, with the premise that everything falls into place, and it does!

Thank you to our recent new wholesale customers, store locations, soon to be posted to our website.  We are happy to have products available this spring in wonderful locations where folks will be out and about, leaving winter’s cabin fever behind!

Please let us know if you need anything…and do not hesitate to email us as anniesgoathill@gmail.com .  We treasure chatting one-on-one with you!

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The Tricky Kid Sisters

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm), tagged , on June 13, 2010| 10 Comments »

With a  lot of  rain and mud, and humidity in between, chores on the farm have been a bit more difficult recently. 

These two tykes add to the fun in an entirely different way. 

Annie’s girls (the doeling on the left, and back left) are busy escapees.  When I hear their voices, which sound like a cross between a yodel and a b-a-a-a (yes, it’s hilarious), I know they are going to be on an escape mission.

Look at their very interested look as I walked out of the feed room door, above photo.  Notice the lifted ear, the inquisitive face.

I continued out of the gate and knew to have my phone in my hand as I returned. 

Sure enough. 

As I rounded the back of the truck one doeling had squeezed through the top rungs of the gate.  What you can barely see is the red sister squeezing through and following right behind.  They are slick!

The girls are normally safe, but I have found them a time or two in the middle of the field, away from the barn and the attached lots.  Which doesn’t thrill me because they are unguarded in that area.  They are determined, much like their mother.

I have also been bottle feeding a kitten.  Momma barn cat had kittens about three weeks ago.  She normally brings them to me and leaves them for short periods of time as I milk the goats.  She did the same this time.  But, she came down very ill, quickly, and passed on.  At the same time I lost one kitten.  The remaining three kittens went to the house for closer observation.  I figured raw goat milk was about as good as it got.  I had tiny bottles on hand.  We battled eye infections, and then pneumonia set in.  I lost two more kittens.  The last kitten is still on the bottle, and still in the house, and is gaining strength, along with fiestiness.  Today she lapped from a bowl.  She thinks she is constantly hungry so I gave the saucer a whirl.  She went right to town on the warm milk.  It was good to see.

Animals, they are a lot of work, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

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My Favorite Kid

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm), tagged on May 1, 2010| 13 Comments »

 

We are having a very dismal rainy day in south central Ohio. 

None the less, as I fed this morning in a dark barn, with rain noisily plummeting the metal roof,  I saw this little doeling hanging out in the wheel barrel and snapped a photo. 

Is she a doll, or what? Seriously, she is a cutie. 

She hangs out with the other kids, but quietly.  She can move about with speed, tagging along with the rest, even though they outsize her. 

When I pick her up I get a lot of baby goat kisses, even though she is not bottle fed.  She nibbles on my hair and my clothes.  She stops by to say hello when the bottle kids are being fed. 

Just precious.

Don’t tell the others, because you know we are not supposed to show any favoritism towards our kids, but she is my favorite.

Have a beautiful day!

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Time to Enjoy the Goat Kids

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm), tagged on April 9, 2010| 14 Comments »

I love the newborn goat kids but when the kids are at the age they are now it really gets much better. 

The youngsters seem to thrive on acrobatics and they develop their own personalities. 

Today, as I bottle fed I decided to pull my cell phone out and snap some photos of the scene as I see it each morning.

First, Maddie T, a future nubian milker:

One of Iris’s doeling’s, alpine cross, no name yet.  She is the queen of barn acrobatics:

Always a cat hanging out with the kids.  You can look in any lot, or in the barn, and see a cat with the goats at most times:

What I really wanted to capture for this blog post was a picture of the kids zooming from lot to lot, running through the middle of the barn, but this morning they were a bit quieter.  Here was a group close to my bottle feeding spot enjoying the morning sun:

We started dismantling the pens in the barn before the first snowstorm hit.  We got the floor scraped, thankfully, before storm #1 hit.  After storm #3 hit we were fully into kidding season.  We still have quite a bit of work to complete.  The old loft is warping badly.  It will re removed.  The loft and horse stalls were put in when the Amish owned our property, many years ago.  The loft and stalls really are solid, but they do not serve a purpose for us.  The barn will be more open once we complete everything.  Always a work in progress…

So, for now, I enjoy the kids.  I am watching a pair run across a fallen tree trunk in the lot as I write this.  I love to see them active.  They are carefree.  Just the way God intended them to be.  We should take note and strive to be that way ourselves more often.

Have a perfect weekend!

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Taking Advantage of Warm Weather (Busy Farm Work)

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm), tagged , , , on February 1, 2010| 12 Comments »

 

How about that heading? Warm weather? It is a LOT warmer than it was!

We are cleaning the barn this week.  A much neglected part of our farm this season. 

I am ignoring the aches and pains, and focusing on how much better it will be once things are back in order and kidding pens are set up. 

The boer girls are rather large.  Their bellies make me think of weighted down slings, heavy with something.  That something would be kids!

The dairy girls seem a bit less pregnant.  Some do not look pregnant.  They are though.

I have no expected due date calendar this year.  I actually had thought of only breeding 1/4 of the herd.  But the buck made his mind up for me.  So I check the ligaments, watch the behavior, and watch their udders. 

I hope to never go without a birthing calendar again.

Never say never? Well, I am definitely going to work on a major separation in boys and girls! Miles apart would be best (but impossible).   Until then, in high hopes that it never happens again.

If I seem missing in action…I might be, but rest assured I will be much happier once I see the much improved set up for the girls!

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