Week One: Ginger's Belly

From top, looking down: Normal belly girth of Ginger.
I don't think that she's even supposed to show until a couple of months before.

My Ginger is Back

On Sunday, I went to retrieve Ginger from her Love Shack in Maryland. And whew! She smells like a buck! However, I have grown to like that smell; I never thought I would, but I do. It just smells like goat - and I love goats. So, it makes sense to me. The first day back, she seemed kinda quiet and confused. I am imagining that she misses her fella, Wind. But, she's back and I'm thrilled that she may be carrying a happy little bundle in her belly.

I envisioned that when Ginger was led into their yard, that the other goats would run up to her and give her goat hugs, and that Ginger would prance around with giddiness at the joy of returning to her family. That didn't happen. At first, they seemed to be blind to each other. Didn't even seem to notice each other's presence. Then after a minute or so, Ginger decided that she needed to reassert her position as Herd Queen, and started to kick some goat butt all over the place. If anyone got near her, she butted them really severely. Not just playing around either. She seemed genuinely pissed. She was downright mean! I felt sorry for Clover, who seemed to get the brunt of the aggression. But Clover stood up for herself and gave Ginger a taste of her own medicine.

Go Clover! Show Ginger that you are not going down without a fight!

Next day, thing were back to normal. No more fighting. Just the normal shoving around of Tulip and Juniper when they get near food that Ginger wants. It's good again.

Estrus Follies

I just lived through another bout of CloverHeat. With Clover, there is no doubt at all that she is in heat. With Ginger, I was never quite sure. This is not the case with Clover! She will continuously bleat her loudest. I usually hear her first thing in the morning, thinking that she has been mortally wounded. She must be dying, yelling like that! She goes into heat about three or four days after Ginger does.

The first day Clover went into heat this last time, she completely lost her mind when I left their yard after evening feeding time. I was walking away from the gate, she was yelling, and the next thing I knew, she ran right past me in the people yard. She just ran through our yard, across the street toward their pasture. When she reached the pasture, she screeched to a halt and looked around, like she was suddenly wondering "What am I doing? Where am I going? What now?" Then she ran furiously back to me and stopped. Then she ran up our yard and jumped on a table. I tell you, that poor girl is having a hard time of it. I felt so bad for her. I grasped her collar and led her back into her yard - she walked with me without a fight. I locked a second lock on the gate, thinking that she must have pushed her way through the bottom of the gate. Two steps away, I decided to look back - and there she was, leaping gracefully over the four foot fence. I had to chase her down, then again, led her back to her yard. Unfortunately, she and Tulip and Juniper had to spend the rest of the day and night closed up inside the barn. The next morning I put up an extender at the part where she jumped over the fence and hoped for the best. She checked it out and even looked like she might try it, but I could see that she had decided it wouldn't work.

She could have easily jumped over other parts of the fence, but she didn't try. I don't know why, but I'm glad of it. By that evening, she had visibly calmed down, and the next day, she was back to normal. I only have fifteen more days until the madness begins again.

And then there were three...

Clover, Juniper, and Tulip don't know what to do with themselves without Ginger. I can't even keep them in their field anymore. The first thing Clover does after I close the gate is to clip-clop over to the fence and jump right over. I think that she's looking for her friend Ginger. One good thing about Ginger's absence...with Ginger gone, I can feed the remaining goats without chaining them up first. I can walk into their yard, bowls of feed in hand, and not be mauled. I love that.

Motel Room No. 1

If the shack's a rockin' - don't come a' knockin!

You can see Ginger through the slats of the fence. She's begging me to come let her out of there. At first she didn't care about the strange goat in the pen with her, but then when he started following her around - rudely and relentlessly sniffing at her, she immediately had a problem with the whole situation.

This is Wind. He is Ginger's chosen buck. She's bigger than him, but Scott, the breeder, assured me that Wind wouldn't let that inhibit him in any way. I will get a call after the deed is done. We are so excited that Ginger will soon be pregnant. We look forward to some new kids and the new milk supply.

Bearded Goat

Ginger has begun to grow herself a beard. She proudly displays her growth for me from two different angles. She's hoping that it'll grow long enough so she can braid it.

 

Picture of my first Chevre

I put them in Weck jelly jars for storage. I added some rosemary to one of the cheeses. They were simply delicious spread on a cracker and on some fresh crusty bread. MMMmmmm! 

and in this corner...

Ginger is off for breeding next week (do I keep saying that?), so I figured that she should have a goat pedicure so she can look good for her buck. Last time I used my goat tape to check her weight she was about 110 lbs. She’s got to weigh more now – or at least it seems that way. I knew it would be a struggle – she’s never enjoyed having her hooves trimmed; but man, she really fought me hard today. I don’t have a milking stand – yet. I guess I could have tried to tether her to the fence, but that has never seemed to help in the least. I figured if she wouldn’t cooperate, then I’d just get her on the ground and lay on her with my body while I trimmed away. Hardy-har-har. Yeah, right! Getting her feet from under her was the fairly easy part. Keeping her down was impossible. Then we’ve got Juniper and Tulip kissing me and nuzzling me while I’m trying to get near a hoof. By the time I’d get laid out on Ginger, the shears were about three feet out of my reach. None of the goats would hand them to me no matter how nicely I pleaded with them. It was scary having these extremely sharp shears open and then having kicking, struggling, and pushing all over the place. I noticed on one of her hooves she had that elf shoe going on; that must be the last hoof that I never make it to because I give up before I get to it. It just gets too dangerous. Someone is going to end up needing stitches. I’ll just have to wait for the old man to get home and we’ll use teamwork to take the girl down and clean her up right once and for all!

First Chevre

My first Chevre! It's so simple to make - you would not believe! Since I don't have my own goat milk supply yet, I went to Perrydell Farm to buy local raw goat milk. That night I put a gallon of the milk into a stainless steel pot and warmed it to 86 degrees. Then I put in a packet of "chevre starter" that I mail-ordered from New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. Stirred that in and let it sit at room temperature overnight (8 - 12 hours). In the morning I ladled it (with the help of my cheesemaking apprentice) into a cheesecloth line colander, then tied the four corners of the cheesecloth and let it hang to drain for 6 - 12 hours - the length of time depends on the degree of creaminess you'd like your chevre to be.



Then I salted it with cheese salt (not regular table salt) and finished off by filling four Weck jelly jars with the chevre. They look beautiful and taste so delicious! It really feels great to make your own delicious cheese!

Beginning Cheesemaking with Ricki Carroll

I was so happy to finally get to take a cheesemaking class with the Cheese Queen herself, Ricki Carroll! It was the perfect 40th birthday gift to myself. This class was one of the final field days of the year offered by PASA - Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture - of which I am a member. John attended with me, and I was pleased that he seemed to have a good time during the course of the day.

Ricki is a smart, funny, and warm woman who seems to genuinely enjoy teaching others the art of cheesemaking, and sharing stories of her experiences with other cheesemakers from around the world. We started the class with a farmhouse cheddar, then a queso blanco, a ricotta, then a mozzarella. During lunch, which was provided by PASA and Ricki, we ate many different cheeses along with other fresh local foods. Lunch was beautiful and delicious!

Here Ricki demonstrates the stretching of the curd in making mozzarella.

The following pictures are showing the steps to making the farmhouse cheddar. This is a hard cheese that requires a cheese press.

After the heating of the cow's milk (provided by Perrydell Farms of Leaders Heights, PA), you add a starter culture; then after a bit you add rennet; then allow the curd to form. Now cut the curd to allow further separation of the whey.

Ladle the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander, tie the four corners and hang to drain. After about an hour you can break up the curds with your fingers, salt it, then pack the curds into the cheesecloth-lined cheese mold and put it in a cheese press.

This is how the cheese looked after it spent about 45 minutes in the press.

This is as far as we could get with the cheddar during the course of our 6-hour class. The first six lucky folks who bought a cheese press ($239) could take home the cheddar that we made in class to finish it off (press for 12 hours, let it air dry for 3-5 days, wax the cheese, then age it for at least two months) at home. If they are lucky - it will be good enough to eat!

Thanks, Ricki!

chicken cannibals

This is what happens to the not-so-perfect eggs! The chickens crack 'em right open and start eating the contents. When one is opened up, they all run for it to get their fair share. This seems like odd behavior, but maybe that's normal with chickens... I wonder why these eggs are so pale and weak. I'm sure there is a reason behind this; I just can't find it in any of my reference books or online. They leave the nice eggs alone. Either it's because they feel they have the right to eat a non-viable egg, or they they can't crack open the nice, strong, healthy egg. Hmmm.

Post Note:

Oooooops! After doing a bit of research, I have learned that I am doing the wrong thing by basically encouraging my chickens to eat the "bad" eggs. That all ends today! When I see one of those weak eggs, I'll just throw it out instead of presenting it to the hens so they can bust it open and dig in. Only one egg was ever eaten without any help by me; so hopefully we can end this problem. Supposedly you should cull any chickens caught eating the eggs to prevent it from becoming a standard reaction by all of them to just eat the eggs.

I still can't find any information on eggs that are pale and covered with cracks and fissures.

Bad Egg, Good Egg

Look at the difference in these two eggs. One disfigured - one beautiful. What makes the one on the left turn out the way it did? I've seen an egg like this before from our auction chickens. Pale, chalky, lopsided, and cracks and fissures all over it. What happened? Is this typical for an older chicken? The more brown egg is typical of our new group of layers. I'm guessing that the auction girls are quite a bit older than the latest hens. 

Leaf Eaters

Ginger, Clover and Tulip finally get their chance to nibble on my potted plants.

Juniper thinks the most delectable leaves are found on the porch.

Autumn brings the gift of an all-you-can-eat buffet of leaves for the Seven Valleys Dairy Goats! When we make the daily trek to the pasture each morning, we linger in our backyard so the goaties can feast on the bountiful harvest of leaves. We have sycamore, maple, ginkgo, and mulberry leaves littering the yard. As an extra special treat, they are now allowed to munch on any of my garden and potted plants that they want to.

Clover does this alot. She stretches her neck back and moves her head from side to side. She'll do this few a few seconds at a time for a minute or two. Then she's done. In these pictures, she's chained to the fence because it's feeding time; but she performs this strange behavior when she's not chained too. I don't know what this means. 

Millie the Barn Cat

Millie isn't doing much hanging out in the barn. She can be found most any time of the day on our porch. Usually chasing leaves or butterflies. Sometimes napping on a comfy cushion. Even though she's spent all of her life in barns, she doesn't understand why she can't follow our boys into the house when they go in. She is a super-snuggler love-kitten extraordinaire. She doesn't seem at all like the aloof and stoic barncat that comes to mind when I think of a typical barnyard mouser. I wouldn't be surprised if she became our indoor family pet. 

Ginger Girl

This is Ginger (technically known as: Wausau). She's my registered Saanen dairy goat. I am thinking that she may be in heat. Estrus. I need to get my husband to put together a pick-up truck pen to transport her to the breeder. She'll stay for 22 days, and then hopefully in the spring... we'll have Saanen kids and milk!! 

Clover Pics

My Toggenburg, Clover. Sweet. Gentle. Love her! 

Bok! Bok!

I came home from Wehrly's Auction today with three Rhode Island Red hens and one bantam Leghorn rooster. Ten Dollars. Total impulse purchase. I've wanted chickens for a long time. We don't have a coop yet, which is why I hadn't purchased them before now. But I told myself that we would close them up at night in the mill until John is able to build a proper coop. I realize that this was probably not the best decision I could have made, but I hope it'll work out.

I love the sounds they make and I think that they are so beautiful. I was told that the hens lay about 3 eggs a day each and the rooster cannot fertilize the eggs, although he believes that he is doing his job around the henhouse - and still goes through all the motions.

Luckily, John has agreed to build a coop this weekend. It feels more like a farm around here. I like that.

Ginger is checking out the bizarre new creatures in her space.

The chickens with their temporary digs and paraphenalia.

Barn Work

John got busy last weekend in the barn. Among many small jobs, he built this free-standing hay feeder. The lid on top is removable to place the bale right in. When the goats approached the feeder the first time, they became obsessed with removing the lid. They couldn't stop messing with it until they worked it off the base. When the lid was finally down, they got back to the business of eating hay. Now we keep it off to avoid injuries to the goats when it falls down. The lid is now used as a toy. The girls love to walk on it. They always knock over the feeder too. John is going to have to add boards to the bottom to keep it from tipping over.

New bulbs couldn't help this fixture. We found that we have to replace the whole thing.

John attached a hinged piece of fencing panel to this side-door to allow us to keep the door open for ventilation without allowing the goats into the feed area of the barn. Again, not beautiful, but it works.