Goats and their babies

Not only have I been able to see God in action with all these new little creatures, I have been given a look at the complete workings of a community without human intervention. It is amazing!!!  I had heard in the past that goats are very social animals but I really didn't understand what they actually meant. 

They have a well established hierarchy.  The buck is in charge of all the others.  He is the ultimate head of his household.  Then there is the queen of the herd.  In our case, we were blessed to get Munchkin, who seems to keep everyone else in line but is very protective of her charges. Everyone falls in line from there.  Some are content with your status in the herd.  Others, not so much.  They work and work (read butt and butt the others) until they move up a notch. 

What I've seen with the birth of the babies, however, takes the hierarchy to another level.  I've watched good mothers and a not such a good mother care for their babies.  Some of the mothers move into action at the slightest of whimpers.  Others, well, the baby has to scream to high heaven to get their attention.  Some will let the babies nurse at will, and another may not want to be bothered, especially when the mother is eating.  But, know this... none of the mothers will let anything harm their babies.  Not another goat or a person.  You can nearly see the love in their eyes when the mom goes to the baby in the slightest amount of distress.

So, long story short, these goats have an amazing amount of human qualities. Or is it that humans have an amazing amount of goat qualities.  After all, God made animals BEFORE He made man.  Maybe He was on to something.

More and more babies!!!

This morning, we have the pleasure of welcoming a set of triplets, all boys, into the world.  The triplets are from Dot. What an incredible mom she is! It is absolutely the greatest thing watching the babies getting to meet their mother and vice versa.  I don't think that will ever get old for me. I love to hear the little baby whimper and watch the momma run to the rescue!  One of the little boys was pawing at the ground this afternoon getting it ready for him to take a nap.  That is incredible since he was only born hours earlier and yet he knows exactly what to do!

The oldest babies have begun eating grain and the mothers are working to get them weaned.  The does are less and less tolerate of being banged on.  They do what is necessary but it seems that they are encouraging the babies to eat the grain.  Sharing isn't as much of an issue as I would have thought.  The mothers allow the babies full choice, once they have had their first few bites, that is. 

Our meat bird chicks are coming along nicely, as well.  They are eating, eating, eating, absolutely packing it away.  They've already lost the feathers twice.  They are currently in a feather regrowth period so they are not at their most attractive. But, in a few short weeks, they will look perfect!

So, in a few short weeks, life will be back to the way it was before all the babies. Well, maybe not. Maybe I'll just have to find some other kind of baby to raise. Another goose, duck, ...........

Awwww.....week three with the baby goats

Well, the baby goats are three weeks old today.  We are half-way there to weaning them and I'm getting sad.  Even though I would love to keep all of them, it is neither prudent nor practical.  So, today will be vaccination day to get them started on their way to new homes.  They have started eating alfalfa and are so cute when they try to eat it.  Little teeth, I think, find it tough to chew through a type of grass, but they are persistent.  They are so much fun to watch, too.  They jump in the air like elaborate free-style dancers.  They are already "sparring" with each other which seems to be more of a test of wills. They look so sweet when they cuddle together and drift off to sleep.

Yesterday afternoon, I had the privilege and pleasure of watching two new ones enter the world.  Of course, like a proud momma, I think they are beautiful.  These are the first babies for this doe. It turns out that she is a very good mother!  One little boy and one little girl to add to the group we already have!  Naturally, that means there are three more weeks for me to have the added bliss of little babies.

Oh, and the prospect of having fresh goat's milk in the next few weeks is so appealing.  No additives, no preservatives, pure wholesome milk! Hubby can't really wrap his brain around goat milk.  I keep telling him that the United States is the only country in the world where per capita more cow's milk is sold than goat's milk.  Having been raised on raw cow's milk, I'm looking forward to a really cold glass of real unaltered milk!

I've already bought a book about making homemade cheese from both cow's or goat's milk but, frankly, as it stands right now, that is a bit of an undertaking.  I need to get some goat milk experience under my belt before I make a commitment to do that. I love goat cheese! Its smooth, mild flavor is something that I really enjoy but, while I really like it, I'm not quite ready to make my own. 

So, at the end of the day, here I am sitting in our front row seat watching the great things that God has to offer us.  Now if He could just provide me with some extra time to expand on His offerings, I'd be in seventh heaven!

Apples, apples, apples

With my new Pampered Chef apple peeler/corer/slicer in hand, Abigail and I went to work. We set it up and set to taking care of 6 pounds of apples. Peels and cores go into the pot to become apple juice and apple jelly. A large portion of the sliced apples go into the crock pot and will become apple butter, when it is all said and done. And then, there is the rest of the sliced apples patiently wait to become apple pie filling. That is my personal favorite, by far. Tomorrow we will be picking up more apples to put into the dehydrator. Once the cores and peels are cooked down, they will become a snack for the chickens. The beauty of all of this is that each and every part of the apple will be used, resulting in absolutely no waste.

The jars are not yet ready but there is still some time. The apple butter will be cooking for about 8 hours and the juice and jelly have about another 2 hours. The smell in the kitchen is fabulous! Abigail has already done her first taste-test and seems to have enjoyed it. By the looks of it, I think I'll need to be watching her closely.

Yummy! Yummy!

Two weeks

The baby goats were born two weeks ago but it doesn't seem that long.  They are very active and are a totally joy to be around! We've made a small nursery for the bottle babies which are now up to three. One little buck was rejected by his momma and was, fortunately, adopted by another doe for a short time.  She has since stopped allowing him to nurse in favor of her two babies.  We've placed him with his brother and our little girl who cannot move her back legs.  They all take the bottle well and we expect great things from them.

Our meat bird chicks are doing well also.  They have lost most of their first feathers.  They look fairly putrid that this point  but we look forward to the wonderful meat they will produce for us.  Once they are out of the brooder stage, we'll use the brooder for getting some new layer chicks.  The layers we have now are well matured so we will have time to introduce new birds slowly and still have a regular supply of eggs.

We're looking in seed catalogs and trying to decide what is best to plant.  Heirloom or hybrid? Summer and fall? Summer only?  Where to put the garden and how big to make it? What is it going to take to make the ground good enough to get a yield great enough to make it worth all the effort?  There are so many decisions to be made. The good news is that we are starting early enough to be able to overcome whatever hiccups we might have along the way.

Tomorrow will be a morning of preparing apples to make apple pie filling, apple butter and just maybe some apple jelly.  Monday will be fruit order day. Yay!!!

Our front row seat to????

Yes! We have a front row seat!! It's a front row seat to see and experience God's creations. How powerful that is! We have been blessed with the ability to move onto a little farm where we are growing chickens, geese, ducks and goats.  We currently have 18 chickens including layers and meat birds, 30 meat bird chicks, 1 goose, 3 ducks, 9 does, 3 bucks, 1 wether and 9 kids. 


We are working at becoming self-sufficient aka homesteading.  We have a steady supply of fresh eggs, will have a steady supply of fresh goat's milk, and, of course, have a supply of meat birds.  There is nothing like fresh!!! We are nearly preservative free with all of our food. We are making our own bread and will be preserving our fruits and vegetables this summer.


What a difference in the taste of food when you are forced to eat out or get a quick bite from, say, the grocery store! My daughter commented yesterday after eating something processed that she could taste the chemicals. She is only 12 so the fact that she could taste the difference is astounding.


Thank you, Lord, for the front row seat! We see and appreciate what YOU have done!!!