3 Months later…

The goats are healthy, their fiber is growing and everyone is getting along just fine!  It’s been a full 3 months now since I brought the goats home.  I’ve learned so much in that time, from how to care for them, to how to motivate them, but most especially I’ve learned to be grateful and thankful every day.

Nola, looking for love....

There truly are no sweeter creatures around.  This little flock has such great personality and heart, it is truly mind boggling.  They are friendly, inquisitive, and playful.  

Varitek always greets me at the gate like this

While our winter has been pretty uneventful, we’ve been getting to know each other better, and I have some plans for things to differently in the barn next winter.   Like, change which way the gate opens for starters.  I thought I was being so smart, making it so that it opens in to the stall instead of out.  My thought was that the goats couldn’t push it open by jumping on it etc, if it opened in, which is true and makes sense.  What I hadn’t thought of was that the hay/straw bedding piles up in the stall, and they like to sleep by the gate, so it gets compacted right up to the gate, and then it’s not so easy to open the gate.  Now I understand why it is recommended to have a gate that can open either way   and I will change that come spring. 

So, while I don’t have alot to report on the goats, they are all doing great.  You can see in the photos how much fluffier they are these days.   We’ve been having a pretty warm spell lately too, so I’m not as nervous about them in the cold as I had been.  Overall, I’m feeling much more like an actual shepherd/goatherd than I thought I would at this point.   And spring, getting the shed up and out in the pasture, and watching the goats run and play out there is what I’m getting excited about.  And of course, I’m really looking forward to shearing time.  I’m trying to decide if I have it in me to learn to shear them myself.   A neighbor who has been shearing sheep, llamas and goats for years has offered to teach me how, by working side by side with him when he shears the rest of his sheep come April.  I guess I’ll try my hand at that and see how it goes, then decide.  I’ll keep y’all posted

I tried…

The goats don’t really like the snow so much.  They’ve been huddling in the barn since it started falling a few weeks back.  Occasionally, when we have a warmer day, and it’s not wild weather, I will set up some fencing and try to get the goats outside.  They seem to get bored hanging around inside, jumping at the gate etc, so I really think they’ll want to hang outside for a while.  This weekend, for the beginning of the New Year I tried again.

Hmm...what's this?

I'm not sure about this white stuff...the dogs seem to like it though.

She's got treats!

Gobble, gobble!

No more treats? See ya!

Pedey still likes a good snuggle.

And, this New Year’s Day, we welcomed Flanagan to our happy little family.  He’s a 6 year old, German Shepherd mix, and such a good boy.  He gets along with Youkilis and the goats and is starting to feel more at home every day. 

Flanagan

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful new year. 

I am eternally grateful to Susie Gibbs of Juniper Moon Farm for the gift of the angora goats.  They bring me so much joy, I can’t begin to describe it.  They are growing and thriving, even in this cold, cold weather.  I’m amazed at how well they cope, but I guess if I was growing a mohair suit, I’d be warmer too.  I’m so looking forward to working with their fiber, it’s looking and feeling very fine indeed.  I enjoy their antics everyday, they have such great personalities and I wish everyone could come and meet them personally, consider yourselves invited.   Here are just a couple of photos I took at 6:30 this morning, wanted to let you see how cute and curly they’re looking.

You can see here how much curlier and warmer the goats are these days.   Sorry for the red eyes, flash photo early in the morning is not so kind, even to goats.

Yay for heated water buckets!

Nola is having a nice drink of warm water with molasses, thanks again to the mystery donor of the heated water buckets!  It’s been very cold here the last few days, below zero temps, and the water has stayed liquid, quite a little miracle.   That’s Tallulah holding court on the overturned grain bucket, she’s still the boss.

Pedey and Seymour

Surprisingly, Pedey’s coat seems to be the fullest and curliest of all the kids, even though he’s still the littlest goat.   That helps keep him warm I guess.  I so wish I could get a pic of them all snuggled up sleeping together, but they always hear me opening the barn door and jump right up, so you’ll have to take my word that it is the cutest thing you have ever seen.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tallulah's hungry

It’s a nice white Christmas here at the home of the Gilead Goats, and we are wishing everyone a happy and peaceful holiday. 

Little Pedey

 The wee goats don’t love the snow so much…they’ve been mostly hanging out in the barn, so I haven’t had great photo opps of late.  I hope to get some better pics this weekend, I plan to take the kids out for a little Christmas stroll to see if they’ll get used to the snow in their toes a bit and will post some pics of that next week.  The good news is that they are growing back hair/fleece at an amazing rate, and are looking quite fluffy and curly these days. 

Does anyone know of any particularly good goat treats for Christmas?

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Snow, snow and more snow is here at last! 

View of a lonely duck in the snow, from my sister's Christmas party

 While I was at my sister and Mom’s Christmas party yesterday, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor lonely duck sitting on top of her bbq on the deck.  His friends have gone missing and he’s all alone, braving the blowing snow.  I hope they’ll get him some companions soon, or at least move him out to the chicken coop.

Another highlight of their party was my Mom’s concoction….cranberry infused vodka, with whole cranberries and lime…

Mom's crantini

Delicious and festive!  I only got to drink about a third of one of these, I had to drive home in the snow, boo hiss! 

On the home front, the goats are doing well, but they aren’t big fans of the snow.  Every time I try to lead them out to pasture and spend some time outdoors, they get about halfway across the yard, kicking their feet around trying to figure out what this white stuff is that is getting between their toes (hoofs), then they turn right around and head back for the barn.  No amount of shaking of the grain bucket, and luring them on, can turn them back around.  They always start out excited about the prospect, they come barrelling out of the barn at top speed, (I’m sure they’re a lot bored hanging out in the barn all the time) but stop pretty much dead in their tracks about 20 paces from the barn.  It’s kind of funny to watch, they make a lot of bleating, grunting noises as they try to turn themselves around and get back inside.  I don’t fight them on this, if they want to stay in the barn where it’s warmer and dryer, I let them.  I just wonder if they are suffering from some Vitamin D deficiency or something.  I’m going to start giving them some herbal tonic made my Dynamite as a supplement, just in case.  Sorry no goat pics today…it’s awfully dark in the barn, and I haven’t had any extra hands around for our forays into the snow, just know that they continue to be cute as all get out, they are growing nice new coats, and everyone is healthy.   I’ll try to get some new photos soon.

Busy Holiday weekend…

Sorry for the delay in posting…I had a lot going on over the holiday weekend, which is also my anniversary weekend.  Yay!   It was fun, and we ate a lot! 

We also had a nice visit from Flanagan, a 6 year old, German Shepherd mix, who is being fostered by a friend of our neighbor’s.  We are considering adopting him, so he spent the day with us on Saturday, playing with Youkilis, hiking in the woods, and just hanging out.  He’s such a sweet, chill dog, I really hope we can adopt him.   Youkilis loved having him around, and I can tell that he really misses having a playmate on call, though it may be a bit of an adjustment for Flanagan

Brad and Flanagan

 

Youk loves him!

 

Also, big thanks are due to my friend Laura, who came down to help me trim hooves on Sunday morning.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm (again, it’s so weird) so I had the goats out on pasture, and we decided we’d just do it in the pasture so they could continue to enjoy the sunshine. 

Seymour

All was going well, we were able to lure them with grain, catch them, turn them onto their rumps, and trim away.  Now, this was my first experience with trimming the hooves, and I was very nervous about cutting too much and having blood everywhere, so I was very slow and careful about it.  They really needed the trimming, their hooves were long and starting to curl under, with lots of dirt stuck in there.   After the first couple were done I started to feel more confident, and was getting a bit quicker with it, and the kids certainly appreciated that. 

But, then it was Tallulah’s turn, and, big surprise, she was not cooperative at all.  She managed to escape out of  the fencing, and we spent a good half an hour trying to get her back in.  When she was finally ready to go back inside the fence, we were not ready with the gate and she ran right into the electric fence, snagging her horns and getting caught!  I ran to unplug the fencer so she would stop getting zapped as quick as I could.  By the time I got back to her, her horns and feet were all tangled up in the fence.  We managed to free her pretty quickly and she was fine, if a little spooked.  And you can just imagine how much trouble she gave us when it was her turn for the hoof trimming…another half hour of running around in circles trying to catch her.  We did finally manage to and got her hooves trimmed right up, quickly too.   Now everyone has happy feet, and I have overcome another bit of goatherd fear. 

The weather is finally starting to get cold, we had a dusting of snow the other night for the first time in over a month.  I’m just beginning to worry about the water freezing up on the goats at night.  I’ve been shopping for heated water buckets for a while, but they are expensive, and I’m broke so I haven’t purchased them yet.  Maybe someone out there can help me figure out this mystery…the day before Thanksgiving a big box arrived at my house from horses.com.  In it, were 2 not 1 but 2 5 gallon heated buckets!   There was no invoice or packing slip in the box, just a catalog, so I was trying to figure out where it came from since I know I hadn’t ordered them.  My first thought was my sister or mom, so I called them, and nope, not them.  Then Brad suggested my friend Eileen, but again, called her and nope, she wished she had thought of it, but it wasn’t her either.  I proceeded to ask everyone that I spoke to all weekend, and no one has taken credit for this fine and generous gift.  It’s especially bizarre, because I had just been shopping around online for heated buckets, since I looked at them at my local hardware store and they were $56 each, and only 3 gallon!  So, I’m dying to know who read my mind, and was generous enough to get 2 of these beauties sent off to me.   If you know anything about this, please let me know!  In the meantime, a big thank you from me and the goats to whoever you are!

We continue to have lovely weekend weather thru late November here in central VT.  It’s been fantastic, giving lots of time for those pesky getting ready for winter chores, like splitting and stacking firewood, putting the gardens to bed, fixing the roof etc.   The goats have loved being able to be outside, and the grass is still nice and green for them.   My mom came up to visit and meet the new kids this weekend.  We had a great time and she was quite bowled over by how adorable and personable they are.

Mom meets the kids

She was relieved to see that they are indeed getting a nice new coat before the real cold sets in. 

Enjoying the sunshine and green grass

Gratuitous cuteness

I decided to take extra advantage this weekend and clean out the goats winter stall, freshening it up for them.   Then I gave them their second round of dewormer and started on the hoof trimming.  They were happy for the fresh bedding, and all promptly curled up and went to sleep.  Nothing is better to quiet the mind than a barn full of contented goats.

How goofy can I look?

Pretty darn goofy! 

Excited much?

Here’s a long awaited photo, taken by my dear friend Adrianne Shtop (of www.wakingthebones.com) of me carrying my littlest kid out to the truck on the day I picked up the goats.   I was a wee bit excited.  Keep an eye on her blog folks, there promises to be more on the scene action from that fateful day in the not too distant future.

One month mark…

Well, the goats have been home for a full month now.  I’m pleased with the progress that we’ve made.  I’ve managed to keep the goats alive, healthy and happy so far.   There’s still alot to learn, but I’m feeling more and more confident every day. 

We have been spoiled this year with our weather in November, rather than grey and cold and dreary, we’ve had lovely sunny, warm days and cool nights.  This has been great for the goats while they are growing their hair back.   But, this morning there was a layer of ice on the water buckets, so I think our mild weather will soon be ending.  I’m investigating heated water buckets this weekend   Also trying to work out the shed building schedule, hopefully we can get that done before the snow flies.

Last weekend I lent a hand to my neighbor in shearing his 7 Icelandic sheep.  Basically, I just caught them, and picked up the fleeces while he sheared.  Shearing is so fascinating.  Turns out he shears for quite a lot of people, sheep, llamas, and goats.  He has kindly offered to teach me in the spring.   We don’t have a local shearer, and it gets expensive to have someone travel for just a few sheep or goats, so it makes sense for me to learn to do it myself.  I’m very lucky to have John just up the road, an experienced shepherd who enjoys sharing his knowledge is just  invaluable.

Here’s a nice shot of his 2 Icelandic rams, a little sheepy ying yan for you.

John's Icelandic Rams

 

Freshly shorn ewe

Of course, I couldn’t resist taking a fleece home

 

Update on the shed…

Sand Creek Post and Beam has generously supplied a custom built run in shed for the wee goatlings.  It arrived about a week and a half ago.  

 

Shed in waiting

But, the arrival was not quite as smooth as I had hoped.  They called to tell me that it would be arriving on a Friday afternoon, which was perfect since Brad is home on Fridays.  When they tried to get to the house, the truck was too big for the windy dirt road.  So, they called me at work to see what they should do.  It was decided that they would transfer the shed to a smaller truck and redeliver on Monday afternoon, when we would unload the 2 ton package by hand.  When I spoke to my boss to explain that I would need to leave work early to go and help unload this shed he looked a little shocked.  “Unload a 2 ton parcel by hand?  Are you crazy?” was what he actually said.  “Why don’t you just have them deliver here to the shop, where we can unload it with a backhoe, then we can transfer it to our hydraulic flatbed (which we use to pickup and deliver tractors) and bring it up to your house that way.  We can unload it whereever you like, and no one has to break their back”.  This made complete and total sense (and I may have hugged him for thinking it) so I called the freight company back and they were happy to bring it up to the shop instead.  So, here it sits, while I organize the building of the skids which will be it’s base, so that we can move it around the pastures that have no access to the barn.  My very helpful neighbor has provided me with 12′ 6×6 hemlock beams for the base of the skids.  I’m organizing my carpenter friends and attempting to find a weekend to put it up before the snow flies.  If that doesn’t get arranged before the snow flies, than I will store the shed at work until spring, where it can be under cover and safe from the elements.

I’m hopeful that we can get it constructed before Thanksgiving, fingers and toes crossed.  I know it doesnt’ look like much right now…

Big pile of lumber or shed?