Maddy, Dori and a buckling were purchased from a goat dairy 2 years ago. They were not in good shape and the buckling actually passed away in the winter. It has been a struggle keeping Maddy and Dori healthy. The vet said they were likely routinely dewormed incorrectly causing the worms to become superworms that they carried and they became resistant to chemical wormers. We are trying yet another product given in regular doses over a period of 2 months, 4 applications every 14 days. The theory is that the newly hatched worms will be decimated with each application finally leaving the goats worm free. Then they need to be moved out of their pen and not return for a year. 

Richie, the buck, was advertised as a Kalahari Red goat, and I was a little interested in him then but did not pursue his purchase. He was bought by another person and although she tried to sell him, she did not and was moving so gave him to her neighbour. The neighbour gave him to me. As it turns out he is a red factor Boer goat and a very nicely put together buck. 

Matti and Dori were not bred last year because they were not very strong. Over the summer, they thrived in the bush pasture and were fat and sleek in the fall, so I decided to put Richie to use. 

The result, so far, is that Matti has twins, a buckling and doeling, and they are ever so cute. The little boy is very masculine, like his dad, but a light fawn red colour and his sister is very feminine and a redder colour more like her father. I was sort of hoping that one or both would have the moonspots, but they are so cute, it doesn't really matter. Matti has an excellent temperament and is easily handled. Richie was a bottle baby and as such, is friendly but can be pushy, not realizing that what he did to play as a baby is not the same as a 250 pound adult. I am hoping to train the doeling to milk, like her mother. 

You should come over and play with the kids! 

I have had a hard time with the Nubian baby goats. They were wormed with Valbazen, which did not work and then with a triple dose of Ivermectin drench, which only worked marginally. The two wormers are of a different class, one being the 'white' wormers and the other being the 'mectin' class. Neither were effective. So I sent away for Molly's herbal wormer program. The program consists of two parts, a once in two month wormer with wormwood and a maintenance wormer for in-between, once a week. No, this is not an inexpensive alternative to chemical womers, which are very expensive too, but look at the photo. While the chemical wormers barely had any effect on the worms and the anemia resulting from a high worm load caused death, the herbal wormer caused an immediate expulsion of worms visible in the stool. The wormer does not work like a chemical wormer, killing the worms, but rather it causes the host to be inhospitable and the worms expel themselves. Then it is up to the chickens to find the worms in the stool and pick through and eat them up so the cycle does not perpetuate itself. Ideally, after worming the animals should be moved to clean ground, and a new pen entirely, but in my world, there are only so many pens and so many shelters and that is not a reality. The best I can offer is a good barn cleaning, which did happen, and since the temperatures are so mild right now, the barn is closed until needed. The goats do have a three sided shelter filled with clean bedding, so they are not left without a home. 

Along with the herbal wormer, I included a lot of granulated garlic. This also helps to encourage the worms to get out of town. To make the powder palatable and edible, I mixed it with the granulated garlic and sugar beet pulp covered with molasses. The sweet pulp encourage the goats and sheep to eat up all the wormer and I even sprinkled a few oats in the mix, just to encourage the more reluctant ones. Ideallly, each individual animal should be fed a proper dosage and that works well with only a few animals, but there are 50 sheep and 20 goats, so it is not easily done. 

I am extremely pleased with the result of the herbal wormer. The treatment needs to happen for three days and then then the second formula happens once a week for the other 7 weeks. Diligence will be the key factor in eradicating the worms. Molly's herbal wormer is a patented formula, so the ingredients are not available. I think any number of worming herbs ground to a powder and mixed together will produce a similar result. For now, I ordered a ten month supply with the intent of getting rid of the worms in the sheep and goats. The other animals can use this program too, but getting dogs to eat it might not be so easy. I did give some to the chickens, however; they were not interested in it. It is there if they would like it though. I might add it to the oyster shell, which they consume in copious quantities to encourage them to eat it. 

Worm resistance is a growing problem for ruminants and their keepers. Years ago, there were no chemical wormers and the misuse of them, routinely worming twice a year wether the animals required it or not, and under dosing causes the worms to become resistant and then the chemicals no longer work. This is what happened with the Nubians. My own animals have been on a different herbal program which was working for this farm. The Nubians were stressed and the adult does were already anemic when they arrived, so I suspect the problem was brought to the farm. For every problem there is a solution. I strongly encourage farmers to investigate herbs for the eradication of worms. Resistance is not a problem then and the animals are not subjected to chemicals which stay in the meat and milk. 

It is a universal problem. Natural is the only way to make it disappear, but constant diligence is the key. I see it work firsthand and encourage all to give it a try. 

The buck and the rams were put in with the girls on the first of December, making the first due date April 30th. As with humans it is always a little of give or take each way, and the ram cannot get to each girl the first day, although I am sure he tried. The young ewes, or hoggets, were in with a Babydoll Southdown ram until the Blue Faced Leicester trio joined them. Although the Blue Faced Leicester was with the ewe lambs he arrived with, it does not appear that they are bred, or if they are , they would have caught on the last heat making them due in mid June. 

But the ladies are ready. The llamas were transferred over to the sheep pen and the ewe lambs are with them now too to make lambing easier. There is a lambing shack and another area that is private, plus their shelter, but often the ewes just choose a quiet corner and lamb out in the open. The ravens hang around the pen and it is likely they were what cause the loss of four lambs last year who simply disappeared. So, I must be diligent and watchful. 

Sharon goat looks like she will have quads. Lucy Llama is definitely due, though Karin is not showing signs of being bred, which is a good thing, because I already have one too many llamas. I think Helga, the other Icelandic ewe will be the next sheep to give birth, but it really is waiting game as nature will take its course. One thing for sure, is that cuteness overload is about to happen!

The Nigerian Dwarf doe and the French Alpine are dairy goats. Their little doelings are being weaned, and the result is that the udders of these dairy ladies are hard and likely painful. So, I helped them out a little. I would like to milk the goats and have a stantion, but it is winter now, or almost, and I do not think milking in the frozen cold would be much fun.
Sarah, the Alpine, was not wanting to have much to do with milking. She is ultra tame, and does not run away, so it is easy to catch her, but the moment I touched her udder, she kicked at me with her back leg and tried to run. I leaned her into the fence and held her there with my weight and proceeded to milk her out just a little, just enough to take the majority of the pressure from her udder. Once it was not so hard, I let her go, milk covering my shoe. It was likely not much more than an ounce from each teat that I milked, but once I started she relaxed. I do not think it would be difficult to train her to milk. Next kidding, when the weather is warm, I will milk share with her kid.

Daphne, the Nigerian Dwarf, is fairly tame too, and she stood to be milked after a little coaxing. Again, I only relieved the pressure for her. This should prevent mastitis. Ideally, it would be better to gradually wean the babies, that is allow them to drink twice a day, then after a week, once a day, then every two days and so on, but that is a tremendous effort to catch the babies when they do not want to leave the mothers, or vice versa, and the crying starts all over again. All at once weaning is a little harder on the pairs for a few days, then they quickly adjust and go on with their business. After three weeks, or possibly four, the does should be dry and the babies could be returned to the mothers. The mothers will then no longer stand to let the babies nurse, usually. If they are not completely dried up, then there is the possibility that the milk could return, so it is better to ensure that the does are dry, even if it is a month's time.

The Boer/Pygmy goat does not seem to have any difficulty with weaning, neither calling for her baby, or with a hard udder and her baby is adjusting to being on her own quite well. The three little doelings cuddle together in their hoop house and keep one another company.

Sarah, the Alpine is for sale, along with her doeling, and the Boer/Pygmy and her Pygmy with 25% Boer doeling is as well. As much as I like the goats, I cannot keep them all and these two do not quite fit my next idea of breeding Pygora goats for their fiber. It will likely be after kidding that they will find new homes. At least I have had a little practice milking and will have Daphne to milk share with next kidding.

It is time to wean the baby goats. They cry like babies, really they do. If you did not know it was an animal, you would swear a baby was crying. The smaller goats with the higher voices are pathetic to listen to. It makes me want to pick them up and cuddle them, so I do. Raven, the little boy, Weezie's twin, is in with the Flemish Giant buck in a hoop house. They will stay together for the winter. The rabbit will build himself a nicely sculpted winter den, but at the moment, the buckling is tiny enough to fit right in the house. So, those two will be good company.

The little doelings were just weaned the day before yesterday. They busted through the shelter by pushing the chicken wire hard enough to make a hole and then climbing out. A bale of straw has stopped them for the time being. They too have some straw, but they will be returned to the does in three weeks, long enough to have the mothers' milk dry up. The babies and moms will recognize each other for the rest of their lives. It is not uncommon for a doe and her grown doelings to cuddle together years after they are all mature.

The poor little girls are so stressed and so are some of the moms. The Alpine does not seem to mind one way or the other. I milked a little from her to release the pressure. She did not like it one bit so I turned her upside down and milked her on her side, just enough to soften the udder. She is the only one who had a very hard udder which can result in mastitis, though not generally. The other moms seem to be adapted well. This is also a good chance for me to spend some time with the doelings. The only one being kept is the little white one, named Daria, Daphne's baby. Daphne is a beautiful Nigerian Dwarf and her babies, without exception so far, are superior breeding stock, no matter which billy she was bred to. Her last year's doeling will be bred this year, hopefully, to produce an exquisite little one or two, just like her mother. In the meantime, the pathetic cries of babies are heard all around the farm, sigh.

Little goaties are very personable animals. They are curious by nature, robust and full of life and fun, but they are not easy to look after. Goats, more than any domesticated livestock, are unhappy kept in pens. Their nature is that of a browser, not a grazer, and they eat above the grass level usually, given a choice. When forced to eat grass, they pick at the leaves, trample a whole lot and once they stomp on it, they will NOT eat it plus they eat only the leaves off the grass stems, wasting a great deal of hay. Weeds are better to feed them, and twigs and branches. 

The dog houses that the miniature goats prefer are a sunken city now. With the wasted hay and 4 feet of snow, the small igloo dome is barely visible. The hay and snow have frozen the houses to the ground. In the summer, they can easily be taken apart, separating the bottom from the top, and cleaned out, then disinfected and rinsed with the hose. In winter, at least this winter, they are inaccessible. The one facing the opposite of the other two clogs over with hay that is tramped downhill and the door way gets plugged. One day, there were 3 little goaties in  there and they didn't know how to get out. The hay and snow gets dislodged with the claw end of the hammer daily to keep the doorways usable. 

Celia goat was hoping for a treat and hopped up on one of the bigger houses, that do not look so big now, but would easily house a large German Shepherd size dog, when in full view. Two, and sometimes three, Pygmy or Nigerian goats crowd together to keep each other warm. They do not prefer the bigger shelter unless it is full. The sheep helped generate some heat and block the wind as well, but they are going back to their pen at the end of the month. They were visiting the goats, along with their ram, for breeding. Celia has what appears to be cashmere. Any goat can have a soft downy undercoat that can be combed out. Her neck, in particular, is showing that very thick down, so under the guard hairs on the rest of her body, it is likely the same. I will have to put her on the milk stand with a bucket of field peas and comb her when she starts to shed. 

In the meantime, we are thankful spring is around the corner. If winter lasted much longer, goat city would be another Atlantis, lost and gone forever. 

I don't think boar goats are so attractive. The pure bred Boar doeling that used to live on the farm was a baaaaaad goatie. She got out all the time and into the grain, wherever she was able to find it. She was not mean, just hard to handle. Boars have floppy ears and a very distinct fur pattern with the head and neck being caramel brown and the body white. Her mother was bred to a caramel Pygmy buck. The result is this goat. 

She is not too tall, but certainly outweighs the other goats by double. I suspect that if she has male babies, they will be much more meaty, which is what the Boar breed is bred for - meat. She is slightly more docile than a Pygmy as well, which is a good thing with her size and horns. Basically she keeps to herself. She is bred to the Pygmy buck, Bil, so her babies will be 3/4 Pygmy and only 1/4 Boar. Summer will show us what that looks like. She is kind of pretty, don't you think? I think I will name her Brenda.