A Little "Naughty"...a little "Nice" - Introducing "RIZZO" (photos taken by Bear Park Bluff)4/23/2018 Introducing "Rizzo." I bought this sweet little girl from Robyn at Bear Park Bluffs farm. I can tell you from experience that she is more NICE than NAUGHTY. Rizzo just loves to be snuggled and gives great kisses. She is a 2017 doe from Bear Park Bluff's farm (thanks again, Robyn)! I am so excited to see how well she develops. She is such a sweet little girl! I plan to pair her with "Indiana" from Fairland Farms this winter for a April/May 2019 kidding. Indiana is the dark brown goat..."Little Buddy" is the lighter one. They are loving their 65 degree outing tonight...I tried to get them on video running and launching through the air but they just wouldn't cooperate...believe me...it was adorable. "Sparks" (shown in the picture above...my nephew's cat), would have LOVED the outing!!! The cat didn't know what to do with itself!
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"Little Buddy" has refused to take a bottle...until today. I have been syringe feeding him, teaspoon by teaspoon, four times per day, for two weeks now. Today I said ENOUGH!!!! I only prepared a bottle and I was ONLY going to let him eat if he drank the bottle (not really...I'm such a sucker that I would have caved in a minute if he gave me the "I'm so sad" eyes)...but he didn't play the "I'm so sad" eyes...and...he drank from the bottle...THANK GOD HE DRANK FROM THE BOTTLE... I can't tell you how absolutely HAPPY I'm am that he drank from the bottle. No more 2 tsp at a time feedings....we are now talking 8-10 oz at a time...with much less stress.
So this whole milking thing "just got real." Real in that...it's not as easy as it looks. First, I have a mom goat that is really unhappy that cold hands are touching her in unmentionable places. Second, I have no idea what I'm doing. Third, the cat she REALLY hates keeps walking by gloating that the feline is free to roam while Ms. Nonnie is...well, NOT. (The cat actually stands in front of the milking stand, looks up, and "grins." Then walks on...tail held high. Women (of all types) can be oh so nasty at times.) Anyway...no, milking is not going great. I have figured out what to do, but Nonnie does not appreciate my cold hands, or my slowness in "getting the job done." She sits patiently while I do my thing, grinding her teeth. At least she has some grain to keep her busy while I try to figure out what I'm doing (I completely understand why she needs the sweet feed to keep her busy...I'm a stress eater as well). I'll tell you all now, if I keep doing this, and have more than one goat to milk at a time, I'm investing in a milking machine. Hand milking really just SUCKS!!!!! (And yes, Dennis did say, "I told you so," and I even think he grinned when he said it...(it reminded me of the cat...) I'm sure I didn't imagine the grin...but I wouldn't know because I'm delirious from getting up at 5:00 a.m. every morning now to MILK THE GOAT." I recite to myself each morning: "time to make the donuts...I mean, Milk the goat." Anyway...good night, all.
I've made my first mistake (actually, Dennis would argue that I've made my second mistake...the first was getting goats in the first place...yet he still helps me...why, I have NO idea...)! I knew I had my little buck from Indiana coming, and also knew that I had my own babies coming. What I didn't anticipate is the timing of it all. Nonnie had her little boy on Wednesday, and then I got Indiana on Thursday. I kept Indiana in the house with me for a few days until I had my new pen ready for the little guys. I then put Indiana and his little buddy from Nonnie in the same pen. Indiana was already a bottle fed baby, but little buddy was not. I worked with little buddy for the first day and he never got bottle feeding. I then tried to put him back with Nonnie, and while Nonnie knew him by sound, he smelled like Indiana and rejected him. So now I have a little buddy that I need to bottle feed, but he HATES to be bottle fed. He won't take any type of artificial nipple. He will take a syringe however, so I syringe feed him about 3 ounces each morning, 6 ounces at noon, another 6 ounces at 5 p.m. and again another 6 ounces at around 9 p.m. I'm exhausted! Ben (my 15 year old son, and Dennis have been wonderful trying to help me through this challenge in raising goats). Note to self: ALWAYS determine ahead of time if you are dam raising or bottle feeding. NEVER switch between the two. I smell like sour milk and all of my clothes are stained with milk stains...I feel like I'm reliving my first 4 weeks with Ben (he was born VERY EARLY and had feeding problems as well...I just didn't think at 45 that I would have to do worry about sour milk again). To be totally honest though...my little buddy is so amazing...he just keeps on trying...I can't give up on him because he certainly is not going to give up on me...God I love goats...!!! Good night, all!
Last night, while I was at an appointment, Dennis decided he had some extra energy and built me a milking stand. And of course my milking stand has a hardwood floor...because don't all milking stands have a hardwood floor??? Anyway...thank you, Dennis, for building me a milking stand. It is truly AMAZING!!!!!! Tomorrow I will let you know how milking went.
This post is over due - I've had several people ask about the status of my babies. Sorry - it's been a busy past few days. On Wednesday of last week, my pregnant doe, Nonnie, delivered this beautiful, blue-eyed baby boy. The delivery was difficult - baby was not in the right position. Baby number 2 was still born. Not sure if the difficulties delivering the first baby caused problems for the second baby or not. We are sad about the loss, but very happy to have this little guy and Nonnie doing well.
On Thursday, our little guy from Fairland Farms in Indiana arrived (he is going to be my first buck for breeding), and he is doing great. I never thought I would do this, but he is currently living in my mud room (in a kennel) until I get set up to put Nonnie's little blue-eyed guy and the little guy from Indiana together in the same pen. I need a milking stand so that I can milk Nonnie and feed her milk to the babies. This will be my first experience with milking. I tried it the other night and it went well except Nonnie was not contained so we had to keep moving around the stall. I think she will cooperate with me when she is in the milking stand. The little guys' pen will be right next to Nonnie's so little blue-eyes will be right next to his mom- they will still be able to interact and touch noses. Below is a picture of my little guy from Indiana. He is a bottle fed baby and currently is fed bottles twice a day. His little tail doesn't stop wagging from start to finish while he is eating...I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Both babies need names. I'm still thinking through the options. I came home over my lunch hour - still no babies. I'm starting to second guess myself...maybe she's not pregnant. I checked with the person I bought Nonnie from to confirm when her due date should be...still waiting for a response. (I'm fairly certain she is pregnant - the blood test came back positive). Can you tell I'm NOT a patient person??? More later...
Apparently the content of my last entry didn't save, so I'm trying again. My nephew, Simon, came to visit me this weekend. He has a You Tube channel and wanted to record a video of him and the goats and chickens. Here is a link to his video. https://youtu.be/c_TtQ4-YL2c . You may need to copy it and paste it into your browser to view it. I'm still working on figuring out this technology thing.
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AuthorHi, I'm Emily, and I am excited to share with you my adventures in raising Nigerian Dwarf goats. I'm a little nervous about this new adventure, but very excited at the same time, to see how it turns out. ArchivesCategories |