In today's news...

Lot's of goatie goings on here... Patty had her kids. A tiny black buckling and a doeling that was almost identical to Patty's doeling from last year. The family that purchased them came to visit almost every other day until tragedy struck. For the first time here, we lost a kid to a predator. The babies were about two weeks old when during the night, the doeling disappeared. I'd gone out at 5:30 in the morning to check on Holly who had reached her due date, when I discovered we had one missing. Despite prolonged searching over a period of several days, we found no signs of what happened to her or what got her.

I was so worried that something would happen to the remaining buckling, that I asked the family to go ahead and bring him home along with Patty to keep them safe. I didn't want him living without a buddy, so I've asked them to keep Patty. They were very understanding and aren't holding me to giving Patty to them, but I think it's best. Patty is a Pygmy and I'm headed a different direction with the goats anyway. She'll be very happy with them and their grandchildren.

The following Sunday, April fools day... Holly had HER kids. Two beautiful spotted babies. They look like little dalmations and are male and female, so we named them Pongo and Perdita. Pongo has already been claimed by a family in Knob Noster who have their first little goats this year. Perdita will be staying here.

That's Perdita in the foreground. She came first and wasn't positioned quite right, so mamma needed a little help getting her situated. I'm not sure who was more unhappy about my 'helping out' me, or Holly! Pongo was breach and came about 15 minutes after his sister. Even though he was much larger, he practically fell out! LOL! Both kids were up and nursing in a matter of minutes and have been non stop jumping beans ever since.

They're three weeks old today and have integrated into the herd beautifully. These are my buck's first kids and he's SO gentle with them. He's been giving Pongo sparring lessons and the kids follow him around more than they do their mother.

Mom in the background

Pongo looking for a lesson

Aidan is very careful with him

The kids are coming!

I spent the weekend preparing the maternity ward for my mamas-to-be. Patty is only about a week and a half from her due date and Holly should be right behind her in line. Besides cleaning, I had repairs to make. Before they went to their new home, my pygmy billies tore the shed up pretty good while they were occupying those stalls. The exterior wall of the two stalls became their target when only one of the two felt like sparring. Sigh... good thing I had some extra lap siding in the barn to replace the damaged wall. The goat shed was built (as a garden shed) by the previous owner and thankfully he was a "waste not, want not" minded person like myself. The extra siding has been in the barn since I moved here ten years ago. I'm SOOO glad I held on to it!

I had a visitor stop by to meet Patty goat the other day. He'd heard through a mutual friend that I had goats and he happens to be looking for a pair of kids to purchase for his grandchildren. He liked Patty and how tiny she is, and put his claim tag on her babies (or baby) before it's even arrived. It's a good feeling to know they have a home waiting for them that's as excited as I am about their arrival.

Patty goat

Do you think Holly wonders if she has to kid with this company?

Llama learning

I stumbled upon a fun website last night while surfing for llama grooming information. It's called 'Llama Journal' and it's a social networking site for Llama and Alpaca enthusiasts. It looks like it might be a lot of fun if other folks are using it regularly!


Visit Llamas And Alpacas

 My llama Fluffy, is extremely soft and well... fluffy. But whoever had him before me didn't take care of his lovely locks. He's a matted MESS and I've been aching to groom him. I've heard that llamas despise being groomed however, and I want to have a little education before I dive into the project. I'm afraid I'll end up having to shear most of his fiber off, but it would be nice if I could save it. It's soooo long. There was no history available when I bought Fluffy and llamas are something new for me, but I believe he's a Suri Llama. He's an intact male who's age has yet to be ascertained. He is mature though and is very well behaved. I believe he must have been someone's show animal at some point because he's very well trained and seems quite used to being handled.

I'll take photos as I go along and eventually I'll share a step by step account of taming Fluffy's hairdo! Whether it be picking and brushing, blowing, washing or shearing!

Just another day...

I got a text from Makarov's new family yesterday. They said he's settling in and they're all getting along. They put a saddle on him and he did really good. I was glad to hear it. It's been a long time since anyone played with him, he's probably loving the attention!

As for my remaining ponies/horses... they're having a slumber party tonight! My neighbor called this evening and said she was down the hill at one of our other neighbor's farms. One of their ponies was out on the road, a pony that they got from me. Naughty boy! Neither of us had current phone numbers for the folks who own the farm and no one was down there. The fence was damaged but we couldn't get the pony to go back in where he belonged... so I brought him up the hill with me and put him in one of my stalls. He's hanging out with my own little escape artist who's currently jailed in the neighboring stall.

I did finally get a hold of the owners and they'll be back tomorrow to fix the fence and bring their boy back home. Fun stuff... just another day.

Changes

One less pony.
Today was bittersweet. A pony I bred and raised who's lived here for ten years, went to a new home this morning. It's always sad to see one go even if it's to a good home. Makarov is the sweetest little horse and is off to a new life as a little girl's companion. I hope she has as much fun and as many memories with him as I had with my first horse. I do hope his new family will let me know how he's fitting in and how he's doing.

Mak (left) with his buddies Toby, Mesa and Melina.

Goat addiction begets goat additions!
 I love our new buck Aidan and am trying to find just the right ladies for him. I'm very excited about the prospect of adding some Kiko/Boer cross goats to my little herd and have been put on a waiting list for some new kids this spring. Kikos are supposed to be good mothers with excellent parasite resistance and the Boer blood adds bulk. Should be fun to see what we get!

Industrial Goat Herding

Heather's girls from last Spring turned out to be pretty little things. Mette is jet black and Titan is black but marked like an Alpine. We found a home for them last year but it fell through... and I'm SO glad. I just love these two girls. They're very sweet and both will be big enough to breed to the new buck, Aidan.

Industrial goat herding?

Back to blogging!

I haven't blogged in nearly a YEAR but am determined to get started again. Real life pulled me away from the farm and sent me to work full time. I enjoy my job, but the hours are long and the work is physical. When I get home I do chores and little else. I WILL get back to my projects!!

Once again, we're expecting kids in the next couple months. This time, the pregnancies were planned. I found new homes for my Pygmy bucks and Holly's twins from last year, then bought a young Boar cross buck to use. Holly is carrying his first babies which are due in a couple months. Patty is also expecting but her babies are Pygmy kids. Last Spring, Heather had twin girls we named Mette and Titan. I'm planning to breed them to the new buck as well. I need to get pictures of them to post here. All black and mostly black, they're very pretty.

We also brought home a new critter recently... our first llama! He's a lovely creme colored boy with orange polka dots like a leopard Appaloosa. We were only kidding when we said we'd name a llama 'Fluffy' if we ever got one, but the idea had already stuck by the time we found him and got him home. So Fluffy it is. He's very good natured and quite tame. Most llamas won't endure being fondled, but he tolerates our petting and cooing. We believe he must have been someone's show animal because he's so tolerant and well trained. We don't pester him too much though, since we know he's truly only tolerating us... he doesn't enjoy the attention.

That's it for now but I'll be back soon with pictures and more droning. Like it or not. LOL