We bottle raise our baby goats. When they are first born, they’re all fed with an individual bottle. Once the babies are drinking well from their bottle (after 2-3 days), we switch them over to a lambar. A lambar is just a communal milk jug with many nipples sticking out of it. The kids get really […]
We bottle raise our babies because it keeps all the goats healthier and the babies friendlier. When they are first born, they get 4 bottles a day. As they grow, the number of bottles decreases until they’re weaned. That’s a lot of bottles, so everybody pitches in, even Jade: It takes a little while for […]
When we first got goats, we lived on three acres. There were a total of 3 pine trees on that entire property for the goats to eat because the property was an old hay field. The goats had plenty of space, but the property was not ideal for them because goats are browsers, not grazers. […]
Myna Bird was the first of our does to kid this year. Last year she had three bucks, so we were really hoping to get some doelings out of her this year. She didn’t disappoint us and again gave birth to triplets. But this time, she had one buckling and two doelings! Here are […]
When we first got goats 7 years ago, we were completely new to farm animals. I read a lot of books and did a lot of online research, and thought I was prepared and knew exactly what to expect. Hah! I soon discovered that despite all my “preparation” I didn’t have a clue what I […]
The goats are all pregnant (well, the female goats) and they are getting closer to their due dates. We’ve wanted to get them moved to the new barn and settled in before they’re too heavily pregnant. So we loaded them in groups of 6 into the Hulk and began transporting them to their new home. […]
We normally try to have our goats freshen (have their babies) during the end of February and the beginning of March. Because Indigo’s birthday is February 23rd, for the past 2 years she has had baby goats born on her birthday. If you ask Indigo who her favorite goat is, she’ll tell you, “Valley is […]
After what has been a brutally hot summer, the past few days have felt like heaven. It’s been sunny, but cooler, with no humidity. We always spend a lot of our time outside, but much of this summer was just too brutally hot, and so the children spent more time than normal inside with […]
We really enjoy the holidays, but to us, the “most wonderful time of the year” is kidding season! Especially on nice sunny days when we can run around and play with the kids outside. So far we have 9 kids out of 4 does with 14 does left to kid. We’re going to be really outnumbered! […]
This year we filmed ZuZu’s labor and delivery and edited the video for you to watch. Fletcher did a wonderful job doing the filming, but the camera isn’t always steady. Pretty amazing, huh? Have YOU ever seen an animal born?
There are many different ways to raise goats. When we first had goats we let them dam raise. It’s a lot less work to do it that way, but you’ve got to be careful that all the babies are getting enough nutrition, which isn’t easy if there are triplets. Then we did some research on […]
When the baby goats are born, we separate and bottle raise them because for us it produces the healthiest and friendliest goats. But once the babies are big enough, all the female goats live together. Here is a photo of Victoria, Veanna, and Valley. Victoria (in the back) is the “Grandma”, Veanna (on the left) […]
Being a frugal family of ten, we try to never waste anything useful. So when it was time to dispose of our Christmas tree, we found a way to put it to good use! It was a feeding frenzy! LOL
I was headed out to the soap room today, but when I spotted Jade, I had to run back inside and grab my camera. Apparently she was concerned about the goats being thirsty. They have an automatic waterer, but we keep this bucket for when it is extra hot. Jade filled it up with fresh, […]
We have lived in our current home for seven years. That’s the longest I’ve ever lived in one place, and it’s half my life time. I really like Indiana and all of the stuff we’ve been able to do out here. In seven years we have built a lot of stuff here: 1. Built friendships […]