Sometimes goats give you a lot of warning that they are going to be kidding soon. And sometimes they don’t! We were all hanging out at the barn waiting for the Vet to arrive to check on Red Bird. I had the children all out front. I was standing in the sunshine outside of Red […]
I want to start this post by thanking everyone who prayed for Red Bird during and after her delivery of Rampart and Reluctant (Lucky). Red Bird is the first doe we’ve ever had to put down and your prayers really meant a lot to us. If you didn’t read about Red’s delivery, let me […]
Ivy is one of Colter’s favorite goats. He has been wanting a doeling out of her since we got her. The first year we had her – a single buck. The second year – a single buck. Last year, she had a buckling and a doeling that didn’t survive kidding. This year… twin doelings!! […]
I was having my first bowl of cereal for the year (we finally had enough milk to bring some to the house!) when Greyden burst through the door. “Zaphire’s kidding!” he yelled before bolting back out. I ate the last bite and dropped my spoon, racing for my locker to grab my coveralls and boots. […]
Emery and I were working in the barn and keeping an eye on the goats. Emery told me, “Red Bird looks… different.” So I told him to bring her into the kidding stall. When he called for help moving her, I thought she was just being stubborn. But she wasn’t, she was actually having trouble […]
Hewitt came into the soaproom on Friday and announced, “Payton has goo!” That of course are the magic words which sends everyone scurrying to the barn to check on Payton. By the time I got there, there were two hooves already out. Emery had checked and said there was a nose. We waited. And waited. […]
When baby goats are first born, it is very important that they get their colostrum. The colostrum is the first part of their mother’s milk that is rich in antibodies. If they do not get enough (or any) colostrum, most baby goats will either die or never thrive. We weigh each baby goat shortly […]
It’s that time of year already! After months of caring for the pregnant goats, Kidding Season will be here before we know it. And once again, we’ll be buried in baby goats, paperwork, and lots of milk. I’m in charge of the goat paperwork. It’s one of the jobs I do at Goat Milk Stuff, […]
Each of our goats has their own name and their own personality. They are registered, so having a name to put on their papers is important. But their names are more than just the title for their paperwork. They are a reflection of who they are. We wait to name the goats until they’re born and we […]
Emery has become an amazing barn manager. In this short video, he talks about how he cares for the goats between breeding and kidding seasons. Because each goat is an individual, he has to watch them carefully to make sure that one goat isn’t “stealing” all the food and getting too fat, while another goat […]
Many people think that breeding goats is super easy – let the buck live with the does and five months later you will have baby goats! While that is the most important piece, actually managing breeding season when you have 32 does and 7 bucks (3 of which are young and you aren’t using), […]
Ever wonder how we go from baby goats to goat milk soap? First, you start with a female baby goat. Then you feed that baby goat (and her friends) lots of milk. And lots of hay. And lots of trees. When the baby goat is about 7 months old, you breed her to […]
We normally milk our goats twice a day, but around breeding season, we often drop them down to once a day milking. We usually don’t need the extra milk and since the holiday season is the busiest time of the year for Goat Milk Stuff, it makes my boys (who do the milking) very happy. But it […]
We work very hard to be present at the birth of all of our goats. Sometimes we miss, but that is very rare. People often think we’re over-vigilant and worry needlessly. I’ve been told before, “They’re goats, birth is a natural process, they’ll be fine.” To which I respond, “Yes, many goats (like people) can […]
At Goat Milk Stuff, we are so thankful for the many blessings we’ve been given. We get to work hard as a family to assist people in keeping their skin healthy. Because there is so much work for us to do within the family and the business, it would be easy for our focus […]