Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front
A Nation of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil
Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage and PreservationJessie finally kidded early Monday morning, giving us a solid ten baby goats, five does and five bucks. And on Thursday while celebrating one of my best friends' birthdays, we set them almost all out on parade (we ran out of kids to hold them before we ran out of kids to be held):
(From left to right, Isaiah and Poppy, Simon and Hemp, Josiah and Marshmallow, Asher and Heliotrope, Gideon and Stachys, and Rachel and Licorice.)
Missing from the lineup are Calendula (seen here in a not-terribly flattering picture of me - Calendula is the top doe, Licorice is hanging out on the bottom)
And here are the other three - Goldenrod, who we'll be keeping as a junior buck to eventually replace his father:
Basil, who really doesn't have any significant inferiority to Goldenrod (but we can only keep one of them)
, and who I could sell as a buck if anyone is interested (his father is David Funk's Ringbearer, and his mother Bast is our best first freshener, with an udder to die for, granddaughter of Mina the Milk Truck and tied to Funk's lines through her Dad, Gil-Galad as well).
And finally Meadowsweet who arrived early, and is two weeks older than the other goats, and already out following the herd and exploring the world of pasture:
So that's the baby goat roundup for this year - stay tuned for more unbearable cuteness of being come May. If you are looking for Nigerian Dwarf goats for sale, we have two wethers (or as I said, Basil could be sold as a buck - he's awesome!), and there will be does come springtime!
Sharon
Comments
How excellent, Sharon :)
I only have the three just now - taken on to keep at least some of the herbage down in my huge garden. I will look forward to the arrival of kids - hopefully in about March (barring accidents!) - and then after that I will have another whole new learning experience. Milking, dairy, cheese making...
I already have a order from the village for two does, and there are three other does in the village that I reckon will come a-courting to see my buck.
Posted by: Steve in Hungary | August 29, 2010 4:04 PM
Look how cute those baby goats are!! adorable =)
Posted by: Ho Chi Minh | August 30, 2010 12:12 AM
Darn, I wish I was closer and Basil could be mine!
I've realized a so-so buck on okay-ish does does not make for good next generation milkers. Sigh....reality bites.
Posted by: rheather | August 30, 2010 9:36 AM
Please accept my apologies for the following inevitable reaction:
BAAAAAABYYYYYY GOOOOOOAAAATTTTTSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: clamboy | August 30, 2010 1:06 PM
My parents live in south-west Wales and every couple of years we (the children, my wife and I) cross the Atlantic to visit them.
One of the essential things to do each visit is a trip to Folly Farm. Whilst there are plenty of animals to see and other activities the real purpose of the trip is the 2pm goat kid feeding. Everyone gets a large (quart size?) bottle of milk and the staff bring out a kid for each bottle.
To have any more fun you'd have to take your clothes off. These kids can drain the bottle in something like 15s flat.
Posted by: NoAstronomer | August 30, 2010 1:34 PM
Rheather, where are you?
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon Astyk | August 30, 2010 1:46 PM
Gil-Galad was an Elven king
of him the (harpers?) sadly sing
the last whose land was fair and free
between the mountains and the sea
Not bad for not having read those books for... 20 years?
Your baby goats are the cutest things ever. Except maybe for baby rabbits. (how'd Rosemary do?)
Posted by: Michelle | August 30, 2010 7:52 PM
Sharon! You are the beautiful!
I gotta tell ya though, I don't think I'm much of a goat girl. ;D I had friends that used to let their goats hang out inside their house whenever the goats chose. I was used to looking out for goat poop INSIDE, iykwim.
I did find a local goat farm where I'm now getting Parker's goat milk to make his Kefir from.
Tammy and Parker
www.prayingforparker.com
www.5minutesforspecialneeds.com
www.hsbapost.com
Posted by: Tammy and Parker | August 30, 2010 8:54 PM
@Michelle - the Gil-Galad whom Sharon references is our boy and his name came from my daughters who were obsessed with the BBC Radio production of the Lord of the Rings at the time he came to the farm. David Funk let us name him with no strings attached and so our thoughts turned to "what grand name to give him?"
Since we were listening to the LoR over and over and over again, we spouted whole dialogous. And the section on episode 3 or 4 where Sam sings this is so well done that the "Song of the Month" on the farm was those 3 stanzas.
A great name is born of a 6 yr old's obsession.
Posted by: jamey | August 30, 2010 10:22 PM
Here is the song - just found it on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BquuEMC0ei8
Posted by: jamey | August 30, 2010 10:25 PM
Gil-galad makes awesome babies - and so does Frodo/Ring Bearer. Together, I expect the awesomeness to exceed all expectations - it will be a perfect storm of Tolkeinish genetics!
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon Astyk | August 31, 2010 8:36 AM
I'm all the way down in central Texas, Sharon.
That's why I sigh....
Posted by: rheather | August 31, 2010 9:43 AM
i find lil calendula to have the cutest face. damn, baby animals are often cuter than infant human animals (i think ours take a least a month to begin their decent into cuteness). thanks for sharing!
Posted by: luna1580 | August 31, 2010 10:27 AM
My goats paid for my university education, at least through the BS. Goats are good!
Posted by: Jim Thomerson | August 31, 2010 5:36 PM