In our grand division of homestead labor, goat care has fallen squarely on the shoulders of my husband in the past year or two. I still spend time with the goats, and really look forward to the day when I can resume my share of their care, but for now I’m focusing my energy on other homestead chores. So it took me by surprise to help put the goats away last night and look over to see Sable’s stall empty. Even though we had all gone as a family to bring Sable to her new home (a lovely homestead where two of her half-sisters already live), somehow the sight of the empty stall was so viscerally real and final. These weeks are full of goodbyes – teary goodbyes to friends that we won’t see … [Read more...]
Goatpacking
We spent a lovely Labor Day weekend in the wilderness with good friends and goats, complete with great weather, a pristine alpine lake all to ourselves, and lovely views. We were in the Diamond Peak Wilderness, in Oregon, and only a few miles away from the spot where we backpacked with goats for the very first time. It was 2006, just a few weeks after our wedding, and we decided it was time to take our goats into the backcountry. Inspired by the book The Pack Goat, by John Mionczynski, we had been training our goats to follow us on hikes around the property. Being herd animals, our dairy goats followed us quite readily, and we found it was quite fun and easy to go on walks with them in … [Read more...]
Hay Day
This Saturday was Hay Day - the day we make the trek over to our favorite hay grower's property to load the pickup with a few months' worth of hay. I bet it was a real nail-biter of a haying season for the growers, as intermittent rain storms made difficult to time the cutting with a few day stretch of sunshine to dry the hay before baling. The hay grower's property is just idyllic; to get there, you drive a few miles outside of town, pass a crystal clear creek, drive over a covered bridge, and around a bend. Their ranch is nestled at the foot of a beautiful hill, with rolling pastures, stately oaks, big barns, and beautiful gardens. Brian loaded up his trusty pickup (a 31 year old … [Read more...]
May day
Ella and Snow Angel had been building quite the special relationship. Even though the chicks had grown large enough to be moved into the main chicken run, she still insisted on daily visits to "her chicks" to hold them, coddle them, and feed them. And Snow Angel seemed particularly open to her affection, letting Ella hold her and coo at her to her heart's content. Sadly, last night a raccoon got into the chicken run before we had closed the coop door, and Snow Angel and Tiny didn't make it. Brian found the carcasses when he went up to close the door. My heart was so heavy - how was Ella going to take it? When we gently broached the topic this morning, she did need a few moments under … [Read more...]
Scenes from the goat barn
Life is slowly returning to normal on the homestead. Gilly's birth was wonderful. She had a quick and remarkably easy birth, and immediately set to the task of mothering her two doe kids. They are strong and vigorous; within 5 minutes they were standing and looking to begin suckling. Gilly needed a bit of a rest, but they kept bumping her with their sweet little heads, as if to say, "Come on mom! Nurse us!" As long as we are caring for them, Ella has decided to call them Star and Spotlace - sweet and fitting names for these almost identical girls. She truly loves to hold these little goats, and they very patiently oblige. That is until they wriggle to the ground and tear across the … [Read more...]
Just a teaser…
Hurray for baby goats! I am eager to share the details of this amazing birth, but I have a bad case of mastitis and need to be in bed resting. More later this weekend! … [Read more...]
Preparing for Goat Kidding Season
(A week-old Gilly runs wild! (She's the white one.) April, 2009) This is the week that our sweet Gilly goat is due to give birth. I'm all a-tizzy with excitement. Babysitters are lined up, towels have been prepared, and I'm re-familiarizing myself with my goat-midwifery resources, just in case. Admittedly, Gilly will probably not need our help at all; with her first kidding, last year, we completely missed the birth! We were inside having lunch, went back out to the barn to check on her, and found two completely cleaned off kids! Even though I was disappointed to have missed the birth, it was a great sign of her ability to mother. So exciting to think about the frolicking goat … [Read more...]
Tour of the Homestead, Part III
It's been a glorious week of sun here on the homestead. Almost makes me think that spring is truly on its way. Almost. But the days have been warm and sunny, my seeds in the greenhouse are sprouting, perennials are flowering, bees are buzzing, and grass is growing. Yes, the green grass is growing. And that makes our goats so very happy. Our sweet goats. Currently, we have a herd of six American Alpine dairy goats. They represent three generations of does. Nimbrethil is the alpha doe. She is 6 years old. She is spirited and strong. Much like my sweet little girl in the background there. Her sister is Calypso. Calypso and Nimbrethil came to us as 3 month old kids, when we had … [Read more...]