Goat grow!

The half Boer / half Nubian doelings have grown out nicely. We built a shelter for the four doelings, and we learned a couple of things.

Before:


After:


Goat hoop houses must have frames inside.

Guest Goats

Here at Quirky Goat Farm (South), we have been hosting four visiting goats. A friend needed a quick place to place their livestock because they had to move out of a rental property. Having a goat proof pasture made our place ideal for temporary guests. These four goats moved in while I was in Missouri. Due to the threat of Hurricane Ike, I hadn't had the chance to greet them until today.

First, a wether, half Pygmy/half fainting goat cross breed.


Next, a pair of fainting goats. Also called Myotonic, these goats become rigid and may fall down when startled.


Finally, a Pygmy buckling. His name is Pistol, but Lonnie and I called him Charlie when we cared for him as a bottle baby last winter. He remembered me today and wanted to cuddle! It was hard to get a picture because he wanted to be close to me all the time.

Lots of changes

The bucklings are growing and leaping and hopping and hollering, "MAAAAAAAAA! MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" everytime they hear us go out of the house. They are getting between 12 and 16 ounces of milk four times a day, and they are beginning to munch on leaves, etc.

We're getting them accustomed to being with the other goats for a while several times a day, and hopefully they will make the transition out there during the days this coming week.

Elton has a really odd behavior. When he jumps into Lonnie's lap, he lies down.

When he jumps into MY lap, he stands, climbs, and sits on my shoulder.


We also have another addition to the Quirky Goat Farm. Chica is an aging dwarf/mini horse. She's about 16 years old, and her main purpose is to eat the grass in the goat yard. Goats don't eat grass, and we were having to mow it. Chica has eliminated that problem.

New bucklings

Today we picked up two bucklings from Susie and her daughter, Jessica, at Ages Ago Acres on the other side of Alton, Missouri. We had the challenge of picking two out of about half a dozen ten day old absolutely beautiful bucklings.

Elton is the darker one, and he's colored like a Doberman Pincher. Jon is the lighter buckling, and he's like a line back dun pony, except he has tri-color legs and those amazing cream colored eyebrows.

Thank you Susie!

Baby pictures

Honey Dew and Berry
Three days old

New doelings

Pumpkin was due on Monday, May 26, but she jumped the gun and delivered two Boer/Nubian doelings just after 3:00 PM on Saturday, May 24. I went out to check her, and she had the first just about dried off, and she had just pushed out the second. I got her out of the sack and rubbed her till she started breathing. Then, I ran for the house to tell Lonnie and Kathleen and to get clean towels, etc.

Kathleen brought warm water and the digital camera. Pumpkin drank all the water, and the photos above are the first pictures of Honey Dew and Berry.

Settling in

The goats are very happy to be home in Missouri. They have more natural browse in their large goat yard here, abundant shade, things to climb on, etc.

I thought that Orange's milk production would decline due to the stress of traveling, etc., but it hasn't. Still a strong 1/2 gallon per day. Amazing.