O Happy Day

On Friday, March 17th Asa and I drove to Cranbury Brook Farm in New Jersey and picked up nearly one-month old Toggenburg doeling who we named Clover. The barn was ready for her arrival; John had just finished the fencing inside the barn to separate the goats from a doorway leading to the mazes of the mill and keeping them out of where we store the hay and feed. We had a pallet down to use as a bed and straw strewn on the floor. Love that straw smell! John made a "crate" for the back of the van to protect it from being chewed up and messed on during the 3-hour drive home. Once home, she settled in nicely and seemed really happy to be with us. She loves to run with the boys and be petted non-stop.

The next day I drove to Caprikorn Farms in Burkittsville, MD to pick up "#602", who we renamed Ginger. Ginger is 2.5 months old, much larger than Clover, and not as used to being around people as Clover is. She was nervous around us. She was just weened from the bottle a couple of days before I picked her up, so I chose to offer her a bottle again so she could connect with us and become more friendly and see me as her mom. She didn't really like being petted or brushed, and would scurry away when someone tried to get close to her.

After four days with us and on two bottle feedings each day, she has really warmed up to us and is much more comfortable with being petted, and now loves to be brushed, and stands absolutely still for it. Both goats follow us around wherever we go and love to run across the lawn, climb on any lawn furniture, spontaneously jump with joy, and eat the ivy off of our house.

We are really happy with our goating lives so far, and look forward to breed them this late fall and them having babies in the early spring, then finally being able to milk them.

We will be getting two more goats in a couple of weeks - these ones will be really little girls; they were due to be born yesterday. These ones are Nubians; the ones with the really long floppy ears.

Stay tuned for the upcoming stories from life on the Seven Valleys Dairy Goat farm!

I just spoke on the phone with a dairy goat farmer and artisan cheesemaker based in Westchester, PA. I am trying to purchase some of his Nubian doelings. If anyone has a good milking doe, it's him! He has his own cheesemaking business and taught himself how to make cheeses. He is now one of the most well-known artisan cheesemakers in the Philadelphia area, selling to many restaurants and markets. I am on his list to receive two of his dairy goats, which are due around the 21st of February. Excited!

A Few More Things

John and I have managed to clear out a great amount of lumber from the goat barn. Only a small bit left to move. What's left before we can have the goats? Well, John will need to build the feeding stanchion - shouldn't take more than a day; we need to put up a single gated fence to separate our yard and the goat's yard; I need to lime and straw the earthen barn floor, stock up on hay and feed; establish an emergency kit, stock up on basic supplies (hoof trimmers, brushes, water buckets). Then, we can finally go pick up our kids and bring them home!!!

Expecting

Everyday I think to myself: somewhere out there, is my goat kid; still in it's mamma's belly. Growing closer to being ready to be born. End of March should be the time. It's so close, yet so far away. I feel so lucky for what is about to happen.

The Countdown Is On

Waiting is so hard to do. I have found an instate dairy goat farm who sells goat kids for a relatively reasonable price. It's not too far away from us; I don't relish the idea of making a couple kids ride in the back of a van for five or six hours. There is a place here in town that has a sign up in their yard advertising that they sell goats and kids; however the condition of their property and the animals that I spied is keeping me from being able to use them as a source for my herd. It would be more convenient to buy very local, but in the long run, I will likely be sorry about that choice. I have been in contact with a woman from Hillside Farm in Glen Mills, PA. She is going to contact me after January when the kids are born to let me know what she has available. Her herd includes Alpine, La Mancha, Toggenburg, Saanen and Recorded Grade dairy goats, so I may not even have the option of my choice breeds: Saanens and Nubians. I definitely don't want a LaMancha, although that is Asa's favorite breed. It's definitely harder than I thought it would be to obtain the goats.

Boer Goats in my Future?

I am considering raising meat goats in addition to dairy goats. I am mulling over: Can I raise goats myself from kids fully knowing that they will be led to slaughter one day and then be able to just hand them over? I am really on the fence about that. I'd like to be able to have an income from this goat venture, and that could be one way to do it.

This is a picture of a Boer goat. They are raised for meat. As you may be able to tell, they are much chunkier than a dairy goat.

Only thinking about it right now.

Brushing Up

I am really getting excited, because I know that it won't be much longer before my first goaties will be here.



I've been taking the time to sit and read through some of my goat books again. I've read all of them over and over many times. But each time I read them, I seem to learn something new. As things are beginning to change over from abstract concepts, many points actually mean something to me, and I am able to get some really great information that I can use.

I have gone from thinking that I absolutely had to have a pasture for the goats to being okay with feeding them hay and grain rations. I still will work to have a decent pasture - but I am going to stop stressing out over getting the pasture up and running immediately. I look at it as being a nice addition to the hay and grain rations. For now, I can work to improve my skills at pasture management and use our tiny pasture (a bit over an acre) as we are able.

This is one of the books that I am reading right now. It is a very informative and interesting book. I really recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about dairy goats.

Pasture Grass

Apparently there's more to a pasture than simply a fenced-in open parcel of land. I went to the Small Farm Expo this summer in the Poconos. There, I sat in on a lecture about maintaining a pasture. What I learned blew my mind. I just simply did not realize the extent to which folks go to have a quality pasture for their animals to feed from. I know that I have been naive - but I didn't know just how much so. I am ashamed! But, better find this out now than after I have goats to feed. I walked into the lecture with a hundred questions, and I walked out with ten thousand questions. Now I am trying to learn more about growing quality grasses, the best time to grow, and how to best maintain the pasture.
I don't have to pasture them, but I would like to if I am able. True, I only have about an acre and a half on which to put them - so it would be limited. But, better some than none, I think. I think that it would be quite an accomplishment for me to grow a nice pasture that I can use to sustain my goats on - if only in part.