What's up with me?

Not much to report on the farm this month. The grass is green and getting greener. It keeps growing and growing with lots and lots and LOTS of rain! If it ever stops raining, I will get out there and mow the lawn. I do work in the rain, but not in a torrential downpour -- of which there have been a few lately.

All of us goats are doing well. I am producing just shy of 1 gallon of milk a day. I have kept my conditioning thanks to the lovely grass and copious amounts of Chaffhaye that the farmer gives me. I have been tolerating the abuse by the farmer's kid when she tries to milk me. I guess explaining the finer points of goat milking to a three-year old is kind of tough... Ouch!

Look at me standing so nicely for this torture! I should get a medal!

Figaro and Daisy are fat and getting fatter. 'Nough said.

Ruby is looking good and the baby she is nursing has had a name change from "Curry" to "Godzilla" for obvious reasons. Godzilla is 10 lbs heavier than her bottle-fed brother. Now keep in mind that he was a runt from birth and had some serious health setbacks. He's catching up fast but Godzilla is outpacing him by a mile with her constant access to her momma's full udder. I guess that goes to show that if you are looking to raise meat goats that you are going to get much better returns on them if you leave them on mom. This is something the farmer should keep in mind for next year since her entire kid crop is slated for the freezer next fall. Take a vacation and let the moms* do the work! *I won't be bred next year so I am all in favor of letting Daisy and Fiona take the responsibility of feeding their kids. Heehee!

My two kids are getting big. They are 8 weeks old today. The farmer has been diligent about parasite prevention this year so all the kids are growing fast! There's even talk of trying to breed Fiona (AKA Cinderella (another name change)) if she can hit the 80 lb. mark this fall or winter. She'll be bred to Samosa (the Boer buckling) so her kids should be small at birth and easy for a young first freshener to carry and deliver. 

That's the update. Happy Summer!

Blurry Early Morning Pictures

For some reason, the farmer only brings the camera out during her mad-dash to do chores in the morning. There are three problems with this: 1. She's rushed and doesn't have time for her temperamental camera to focus so most of the pictures range from slightly blurry to UFO sighting fuzziness. 2. The sun isn't up yet and the light is terrible so the flash goes off and gives all of us those creepy blue ghost-goat eyes. 3. We aren't up yet so bed-head and grumpy expressions abound.

 She got me with my mouth full! At least Daisy looked ready for the paparazzi this morning.

 Here's my two kids. My how they are growing! (Don't worry, the one in front does have 4 legs, it's just a strange picture).

 Ruby and her monster-sized kid. Curry is the biggest 4 week old kid I have ever seen.

 Curry towers over her runty brother. Well, actually, we all tower over him. Don't worry, he's starting to catch up and look like a "real" goat and not a funny runt.

Talk about bed-head! Figaro is one perpetual bad hair day!

Money Shots!

Cinderella

Prince Charming

Vindaloo - Boer doe

Samosa - Boer buck

Ruby and Curry - both does

I Kid! I Kid!

I finally did it! I kidded on Tuesday. After a looooonnnnggg gestation of 155 days and a looonnnnngggg labor of 6 hours, I had two healthy babies - a buck and a doe. Both are large kids since I like to keep them in me until the last possible moment. This made labor pretty hard and not much fun for me or the farmer. The buck who was out first was the bigger of the two. He was slow to get into the birth canal because one of his front legs was back and the other was tucked into his cheek. This made a pretty hugemungous blob to try to pass out the ol' pooter. Luckily the buck made so much room by the time he finally came out that the doe shot out before I even had a chance to lay down. The farmer is bottle feeding both kids and they are doing great!

 

 The buck "Prince Charming" is on the left. The doe "Cinderella" is on the right. 

Here is a close-up of Cinderella. Notice her lovely white slippers on her front feet.

Getting Ready!

I will be having babies this week. Gestation day 150 is April 10th. I traditionally have had my babies between day 150 and 156. The farmer is hoping Ruby and I will both kid on Saturday (she has all sorts of funny hopes -- silly farmer!). I am already pretty uncomfortable and have started whining to whomever walks by about my swollen ankles and weird food cravings and aching back. I'll keep y'all posted about the baby progress!

Pictures of Baby Bumps!

 Hello! It's me, Lucy.

 My baby bump. Three weeks to go!

 

 Ruby is the other pregnant goat on the farm. It's just me and her this year for kidding.

 Ruby's bump. We don't know when she is due but it could be any time after March 30th.

They're Coming!

What have I been up to, you ask? I have been getting ready to have kids again this year. Ho-hum... This will be my fifth time around so I pretty much know what to expect. I've been pretty grumpy lately and have been taking it out on Ruby. Ruby is a meat goat and she looks like a Nubian (patooey!) with those goofy Boer ears, so I think she deserves a hard time. The farmer doesn't agree but who asked her anyway?! (See what I mean about being grumpy?)

The farmer thinks I am being grumpy because I must be carrying twin bucks. When I carry only male kids, the testosterone makes me grumpy. I have had three sets of twin bucks over the years, so I should know all about testosterone-crazy-crazy. In my four kiddings I have produced seven bucks and one doe. The farmer was starting to think there was something wrong with me until I finally had a doe last spring. Of course, now the farmer has it in her head that since I can produce a doe kid, that I should only produce doe kids this year. She keeps chanting "Please be two does. Please be two does" every time I walk by. I would hate to let her down but something tells me she shouldn't start picking out girls names and pink collars until after the kids are here!