Our Darling Spencer

Here is a beautiful video of our darling Spencer who is growing up on us so fast! It just goes through pictures of his first days with us in the house, to finally graduating outside. Hope you enjoy it! :)

A Tribute To Stardust

This post is a tribute to our dear Stardust who was born to us three years ago today.  She was sadly killed by a dog attack two years ago to our great despair along with two others. It was definitely a night I will never forget and I will always regret. But today would be her third birthday if she stayed with us longer.

In memory of Stardust...

One reason our Stardust was so special to us was because she was the very first baby goat EVER born on our farm. It was a new experience and I would have to say one of the best experiences with baby goats we have ever had. She was so much like her mother - only sweeter. The night she was born was one of joy and excitement. She came out as a beautiful black and white baby girl with ears that looked as if they were dusted...with stardust. She also had the stardust around her eyes and her tail. Thus her name became Stardust.

 Stardust was a spunky little girl with so much energy, but she also had this calm, peaceful side to her as well. She loved the hugs I'd give her and loved all the caressing she recieved. She was also one of the two only goats who would jump in our arms. It was such a delight! Stardust was a jumper!
She also became a wonderful mother to two twin boys born to us on January 28, 2008. She loved them dearly and did a wonderful job raising them for the last three months she was with us.
Then on April 19, 2008, dogs came...and Stardust was no more. It was a horrific experience I never want to repeat again if the Lord wills it. It took a very long time afterwards to accept the fact that Stardust was no longer in existence. That sweet face I would see no longer. I still want her back and wish that somehow I could go back to that night, be prepared, and save all three of the does we lost, including Stardust. However, I know that is not possible.
I loved her and still love her to this day. Happy birthday Stardust my darling. You will NEVER be forgotten.

Happy Birthday Day Arthur Sweetheart:)

Today is a very special day. It is our sweet Arthur's first birthday! How time flies!

Arthur I would have to say is one of my favorite goats we have ever had the privilige to know and own. He's always been so sweet, loving, and adorable with me and my family!

The day we found him was one I will always remember. He is the son of Cassidy. At this time we had been waiting for her to have her baby for about two months before he actually popped out! Just like Cassidy. So I think we had almost given up on her and decided to just let him come when he comes. So we did. One lovely February morning I was simply going outside to open the goats gate and take care of them. I remember Cassidy bleating a lot when I got down there. But I didn't seem to think much about it. She had given us so many false alarms already. So I took my time. When I finally went into their pen I got a closer look at Cass...it looked as if she had blood on her leg. So I opened the door of the goat house and peeped inside to see if there was any baby. From my view, there was not. Until right before I was going to close the door my gaze went down to right in front of me...and there he was. Laying right in front of my boots, all wet and dirty! My heart skipped and eventually we had him all clean and dry. Our dear Arthur had been born. Since then he has always been one of the most loving creatures I've ever met. He loved it when we pet him on the face and coddled him in our arms. The moment he was placed in our arms he would literally go limp! He also liked to mount his two front legs on you as he gazed at you with these adorable pleading eyes to be held!

He became very good friends with Charlotte as they were only 11 days a part. They were play mates. From being on top of the dog houses together to laying down with each other at night...sometimes one of them wouldn't even be laying down with it's mother! Those two were little sweeties!

As Arthur has grown, he has also matured quite a bit. He still looks at you with those eyes, and still mounts on top of us...but he has become a "man", so to speak. He's a wether of course, but you can tell he still has that manliness about him. I've referred to him as my other boy friend (the other one is Comet - hopefully he doesn't think I'm a two-timer!)...it's our little joke because we love each other so much! So when someone askes me if I have a boyfriend, I can say.."Yes, I have two. They're both goats!".

I LOVE Arthur so much and am so honored to own such a wonderful creature the Lord has made! Happy Birthday sweetheart! :)

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Arthur! Happy birthday to you! (And SO MANY MORE!)"

Expecting Mothers And Due Dates :)

If you remember, back in October I predicted some breedings from Annaliese, Katrina, Essie, Gennavieve, and Charlotte. Here they were: Essie - March 1st, Katrina, Annaliese, and Charlotte - March 7, Gennavieve - March 9. So far it looks my predictions were correct. Essie had her babies prematurely, about two weeks before they were due. Annaliese and Katrina look almost exactly the same in signs of kidding. Their udders seem to be the same size, and their ligaments are about the same as well. So it looks like they're due date IS March 7...I wonder if I will be right. Charlotte doesn't look like she's pregnant - if she is...she's not showing any signs. So we'll just see with her, but I really don't think she'll kid on March 7... who knows though! Gennavieve looks like (if she is pregnant) just right behind Annaliese and Katrina with signs. And that's perfect because if my calculations were correct, her due date is March 9 - two days after Anna and Katty.

So I feel really good about my predictions...and if I am right - we're going to have some new additions to our herd in just a week or so! :)

Annaliese Showing Signs

 Annaliese's stomach looks like it has dropped significantly since yesterday...we could have a baby from her any day now. Praying that this one will be healthy and strong. 

Essie's Premature Twins

I know I already posted something today on this blog, but something very sad has happened that I should not wait to post until tomorrow. Essie had her twins prematurely this evening. I had absolutely no clue that she was going to kid. Her udder was not full, her ligaments did not seem to feel very loose. There was nothing. My estimations were around the beginning of March. But like I said she had them prematurely, because the babies did not look fully devoloped at all. So I found them both lieing on the ground when I went down to feed Spencer. As I was walking down, Essie was bleating very loudly in an abnormal tone that I had really never heard before. So when I got down there, you can only guess the shock wave that went over me. There they both were - one dead and the other just barely alive. I thought he might have a chance, but he died just a few minutes later.
I found out she became a mother of a baby girl and a baby boy. The boy looked almost exactly like her, while the girl had a little lighter color of the head. They were two beautiful babies that would have been probably healthy and strong had they been born on their due date. Essie was very distraught and confused. She acted a lot like Cassidy did when she lost her babies last month. It was so, so sad. I never want it to happen again in my life if the Lord wills it.
So that's six babies that have died in 2010 and that one special baby, Spencer who lived during this hard, cold winter.

A Midnight Snack For Mr. Hogi Bun

Last night my sister and I went down to the goats around 11pm to give Spencer his last feeding of the day. As I opened the gate and started feeding him, Hosea without a second thought walked right out of the pen very lazily and headed for the hay bale. I watched him walk slowly over there, just taking his time. In my head I'm thinking, "What is he thinking? It's almost midnight!". But he didn't seem to care a bit. He just decided he was still hungry and walked right out thinking nothing of it. So after I was done with Spencer, I closed the gate and went to get Hosea. I found him, picked him up, and took him to the goat house pen. He didn't seem to mind me holding him or putting him back in the pen for that matter. Like I said, he looked very lazy and innocent as ever. I guess he just wanted a midnight snack.

My House Baby, Now OFFICIALLY An Outside Baby

Well, Mr. Spencer is back outside once again! I know you must be thinking..."And in a few days, the 'rebel' is going to return to your house again, right?". Wrong. This is permanent, unless teen to negative weather comes in again. Otherwise he's officially an OUTSIDE BABY. And I really think he likes it out there ten times better than in here. There's more room to run, and I think he realizes that it's where he belongs...with other goats - no matter how mean they are to him! Although I think they are all beginning to warm up to the idea of having him be a part of the herd...forever. One way I can prove that to you is last night COMET of all goats was laying next to him outside of their goat house! AMAZING CHARACTER COMET! I think he's finally beginning to see that life is not all about HIM. Who knows. I just thought it was very sweet.  :)

"Gee, thanks."

Udderly Fantastic :)

Great news! We have another line-up of mothers who are going to kid within the next month or so! Annaliese, Katrina, Essie, and possibly Gennavieve are all starting to show their udders, which means they could have a baby(s) within 30 days. Annaliese and Gennavieve however will be first-timers, of which normally start showing their udders sometimes 1-2 months before the actual day of birth. But Essie FOR SURE will be having babies in March. And I'm saying babies because this is her second kidding and also because she's just plain huge...there's probably twins in there! I'm so excited right now! The possible amount of babies we could have from all of them together is around 8 babies (that's if Essie has four...which is highly unlikely, and if Katty has two...which is not unlikely). The lowest amount of babies would be four. And that is perfectly fine with me as having four babies at a time is already a handful! But it's worth it. :)

I'm still very unsure about Charlotte and Gracie. They are not showing udders. However I still think they have to be pregnant, because we've had them both for about a year now...they're bound to have a baby(s) in there somewhere. If not that's fine too. But I'm not going to fully discard them as not being eligible to kid in March. They could just be really slow on showing us their udders! :)

A Faithful Darling

Today was the first time our Spencer has gotten "out" since Monday...so he was very excited about going outside with me to feed the goats hay. :) The moment the door opened he was out of the house and onto our porch, the cutie! We had a pleasant time outside. He hung around me as I fed the others and got butted a few times by some of them, but he butted them right back, as usual! GO SPENCER!

I also raced him a little while out in the snow (he likes to run with you). Eventually I got tired of that and took him down farther in the field where I walked to the pond while he played on the big cement rocks in our small ditch. He's a sucker for anything to climb on, especially big rocks or blocks...other wise I think he would have followed me the whole way down to the pond. :) But that was fine, he was still close.

When I began walking back up to the goats, he saw me and ran straight ahead with his REALLY quick feet. He didn't even turn back until he got to the pen while I'm still trudging in 6-7 inches of snow! Then he started running back to me -slowly but surely.

After a while we walked back up side by side. He's a faithful darling! :) :)...

Hurray, It's Charlotte's Birthday :)

Today is our dear special Charly's (sh-ar-lie) 1st birthday! We've had her for exactly a year today! To be honest it seems like we've had her longer than that, but as time would have it...I guess not! But anyway, Charlotte is very special to the herd because she was the FIRST BOER BABY ever born on this farm. She  started the boer baby trend...and since then, we've had ten boer babies born! :)
The day she was born is a story I could never forget. And the reason I can't forget it, is because we weren't there for the birth! In fact, we didn't find her until 3-4 hours after she was born! And we really barely even knew that Valorie was that close...we thought for sure that Cassidy (once again!) was going to kid before her. But no, Charlotte was first.
Here's the story:
For some reason I didn't go out to close the goats with Becca that day so I was in for a big shock! I remember as I was in my room hearing her scream out there. And of course, my heart stops, I pick up my feet and run to the door, and onto the porch! I ask her what's wrong...and she says..."There's a baby!". And that's how she was discovered. I went down there to see and there was our sweet little Charlotte, all dry, walking around with her mother Valorie. We figured out that she was probably born around 3-4 pm that day. I do remember at first she was a little scared of us...she had a right to be. We didn't meet her until way after her birth. But pretty soon she warmed up and we started referring to her as a "doll" or "dolly" because of her quick feet and simply because she was just a plain sweet, energetic baby! Thus baby doll.
Now she's a year old, and I bet if I showed her baby picture and her recent picture without telling you it was the same goat...you would think they were two different does! But they're not. It's our Charly. I'm very proud to call her mine. :)


"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Charlotte! Happy birthday to you!" (AND MANY MORE!) :) :) :) :) :)...

THE RETURN OF THE REBEL

Well as I am sure you can tell by the title of this post...Spencer is back inside. I'm sitting here in this room with the big guy moving around in his cage. It's kind of nice. :) I'm sure you're wondering, "Why is he back in the house?". Well I have two words for you...MORE SNOW. We have a lot of snow that has come and is coming within the next day or so, the temperatures are going to be in the teens, and all the goats are ignoring him and pushing him out of the house...we couldn't help but bring the poor thing back inside as it's warmer and he needs some love from us - he's had it really tough since he's moved out there. All the goats just despise him - except Gracie. That dear sweet heart has almost taken him in as her own baby...and she's not even a mother yet! Gracie I have to say is truly one of the sweetest goats I have ever had the privilege to know. And I'm not just saying that because I am biased. She rarely pushes anybody around, she's very content, barely ever makes a peep, loves us dearly...what more could you ask for? I'm very proud of her reaction to the "newcomer" of the herd. She's handled him better than any of the other goats ever could. They're just all too into themselves and have way too much pride and selfishness inside to even think about a poor baby goat out there with them that has no mother and no one to take care of him except us. It's the sad truth. But that's just animals and in particular - goats. ESPECIALLY PYGMIES. Sure they can be very sweet, but sometimes they can get a little too haughty. Now I'm not talking about all 15 of them out there. Arthur and Essie aren't too bad to him, but they're still nothing like Gracie. Cookie, Pete, Hosea, Annie, Charlotte and Gennie are the main goats I am talking to. But that's just the way they are...sometimes it can be a little entertainging but in this case, it's not - it's just down right mean. So that's my lecture to "my babies" - be nice to the poor kid...and be more like Gracie! Too bad they can't understand English! :)

PUSHING AND SHOVING AND PULLING

My older sister is sick, so tonight I went down to feed the baby and bring hay down to the goats - by myself. Now, really...it's not that hard. But when you're talking 17 goats, things can get a little on the messy side.
So first of all, I grabbed the hay bale, put it in the wagon, and headed down to the field where they were all staying. Once I was about half way there, the goats heard me. That can almost explain itself. So here those "precious" goats come running to the gate - which I had to get through. Somehow I made it in to the penned field without any bruises or scrapes. But the moment the wagon was pulled in there...goats started raiding it! Some on top, some trying to get on top, others leaning with their front legs all the way around it. But that was alright with me as I needed to feed the baby anyway. So I fed my sweet Spencer and then the real excitement began. Comet was on top of the hay bale at this moment, while all the other goats were pigging out from all four sides of the wagon as I was trying to pull it....I think I only made it a couple inches each pull! I picked one goat up and moved it, picked another goat up and shoved it away...still, they didn't seem to give up. I couldn't help but laugh as I trudged in the snow...thinking of all the goats around that wagon raiding the hay was funny enough...but Comet nonchalantly eating on top of the wagon was even more hilarious! FINALLY, after pushing and shoving and pulling...I made it to the goat house pen - with Comet still on top! :) After a couple minutes of taking a breath, I picked up the hay bale...all the goats following me of course, plopped it on to the floor of the goat house, undid the string, and wa-lah! Finished. Tired. But thankful I got it done!!!!

My House Baby, Now An Outside Baby

Well our "house baby" has finally left the roost finally. I do miss Spencer being in here with me as I post something on my blogs...it always made life so much nicer. But today we couldn't stand the smell and decided to take him outside - permanently. So he's been out there ALL DAY, hasn't had too much trouble, other than it's cold, there's more snow on the ground, and the goats are ignoring him and being mean to him...but other than that...HE'S JUST DANDY! I knew this day was coming, and I knew it was going to be hard not only for him but for me. My heart just aches when I hear him cry out there for us...we're all of him mommies. He has no one else and probably never will. That's another reason why we are not selling him. He's here to stay either as a pet or a buck to breed our does. Either way, he's not going anywhere...he's stuck with us, which I'm sure he's very happy about. :) I am praying that during the night he won't be pushed out of the goat house and made to sleep in the snow...that would be aweful and I would feel like a really bad mother. So I'm just hoping that everything will work out and Spencer will be accepted...and get the hang of eating solid foods. :) :) :)...

Little Miss Charly :)

Well our dear little miss Charly (sh-ar-lie) is becoming a true young, beautiful doe as her birthday is in 8 days. She's turning one as hard as it is to believe. I still remember the day we found her. It had to have been hours after her birth. Surprise! She was almost all dry, happily walking around with her mother as cute as can be! I'll save the rest of her "life story" for the actual bday. But that's just a little sneek peek into her very first few  days with us. I love her and am very proud to have her as one of our does. She truly is no longer "little"  anymore. Quite the contrary. She has become a "lady" which is expected when all of our baby does turn 1. They just grow up too fast. Soon we will all be saying, "Happy 1st Birthday Charlotte!" (and many more!). :) :) :)...