Happy Birthday Gracie Dear!

Yesterday was our sweet Gracie's first birthday! What a wonderful addition she has been to our herd of 18 goats! Gracie is more of a quiet kind of doe...doesn't ask for anything (at least in goat language I mean!)...I think that's mainly because her momma, Essie, does all the speaking for her. :)
On March 28 Gracie came into the world on our farm. She was a darling! Then about a week later she came down with a really bad eye infection...making us think she was either blind or going to be blind. Taking her to the vet, we found out that by using this medicine she had a 50/50 chance of seeing to it's fullest again. We used it with hopes of success, and a couple weeks later her eyes began clearing up and then finally she could see! What a relief that was to me! Her eye sight was a story of a miracle and I'm very thankful to God that he healed her eyes! Since then she has grown in grace and poise. Sometimes her and her mother give us laughs by there ignorance of their surroundings...but I think it's just because they are both content and not in any hurry, which I suppose is a good thing. I love Gracie so much and am so thankful that she's a part of our herd! Happy birthday sweetie!

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Gracie! Happy birthday to you! (and many more!!)   :) 

GOAT NEWS

Now the goats have figured out ANOTHER way to get into our North Field. Apparently the fence that we humans are supposed to go through to that field needs to be fixed a little too. Just the other day I was watching them slide right through at the bottom, and a lot of them were even climbing the fence making it lean in, and then they'd jump right over! And of course most of our really small goats were getting right through the holes of the other fences. As you can tell, these fences were not made to keep goats in! We're going to fix that problem soon however.
Charlotte is still getting soft on her ligaments and has an udder that's growing slowly but surely. Something tells me she's going to wait until the very beginning of April to kid...that's just my gut feeling. But sometimes I'm wrong. So I'm just going to sit back and watch the show not knowing what to expect!
Spencer is also doing wonderful! Our little boy (more like very BIG boy now) is growing and becoming a handsome buck. Apparently he's figured out how to eat grain to our great delight! He's also eating a lot of grass as we're only giving him a bottle and a half of his milk in the morning. The thing that has put us in a little bit of a "fix" is that Spencer has not learned to drink water from the trough. So yes, we bring him that too. You'd think by now he would have learned after watching the other goats drink it, but he has not - which is kind of worrying me. Because in my opinion...I don't want to have to bring water in a bottle to that cute boy for the rest of his life! It's time for him to grow up and do things on his own. And he has done very well - the water is the only problem we have at this moment. I think we're planning on castrating him pretty soon, but we are still debating it. I'll post when something's official.
So that's all the goat news...all 18 goats (including little Starlene!) are doing fabulous!

Fixing Holes And Waiting On Charlotte

Boy! Over the course of  three days my sister and I have been fixing holes and fences that the goats keep getting through to the North Field. So far we've done a pretty fabulous job - I think. Take note that I only "think" we did, because well...you just never know what those goats are going to do next. We could have missed something, I PRAY that we didn't - but there is always a possibility. So that's what we've been up to lately...fixing holes so that our goats won't get into the wrong fields. Lovely. But the fresh air has been nice, so it hasn't been that bad. :)
Charlotte's udder has gotten even bigger...we may have a late March baby(s) instead of an April baby(s) like I thought. If she's anything like her mother...we just won't know until it happens. So I'm sitting here waiting with a little bit of hesitance and little bit of excitement. I really want this one to be healthy.

When Will They Ever Learn?

Okay, so today we finally let our goats into our Orchard field...and guess what? THEY GOT OUT. Yes, those little naughty goats figured out how to slip into the North Field and then into our neighbor's field...when will they ever learn? The only naughty culprits I know of at this moment are Essie, Gracie, Valorie, Charlotte, and Arthur...there could be more...however they might have gone back to where they were supposed to be BEFORE I went out to move them. If they did, they are quite the clever ones. And what I find even funnier, Gracie and Essie were the first two to leave the neighbor's field...on their own will. I guess they're not as dumn as I thought.:) :) :)...

After I got them all out of the wrong fields I went to see Starlene and her mommy, and wouldn't you know it! Starlene was STANDING on top of her mother as she was laying down in the grass! Starly is so little and practically weightless that it didn't seem to bother Annaliese one bit...you just never know what those goats will come up with next! :)

Charlotte Showing Signs

Charlotte's udder is finally forming! Looks like we'll probably have an April baby(s) from her...I hope this one lives. I just try not to think about how many babies we've lost...it's just too heartbreaking. I'm praying that we will have NO more deaths, and that all the other babies we have this year of 2010 will be healthy and strong.

Gennavieve's Kidding :(

Sadly yesterday Gennavieve had her baby - March 9...EXACTLY what I predicted! I'm sure you're wondering why I said sadly. Well it's because it was another unhealthy baby girl. She could barely keep herself up...she died. I just don't understand why we've had a lot of babies just too weak or unhealthy to survive. It doesn't make sense. But it's obviously the Lord's will and I'm accepting it. It sure would have been nice to have two baby girl cousins running around playing together though! :(

Starly And Momma Annaliese

Well Starlene is doing just fabulous! She's walking around ALL the time, loves to explore by the way - but doesn't like to be too far away from her momma. If she is, then she gives off this loud alarm for her mom to come! She's nursing almost constantly...it seem like it's every five minutes! She'll suck on one teat for three seconds and then move to the other teat for three seconds and then repeat...baby goats can be so entertaining! She has not learned the little goat dance yet, but I'm hoping she will soon - it's always fun to see! And Miss Annaliese is doing a beautiful job raising her sweet doeling. I can tell she feels a little left out as she's not with the other 16 goats...but she will  be in a couple days. Other than that, she seems to be perfectly happy with her new little companion. She's a good mommy, just like her mother, Velvet.
Normally with each baby goat born on this farm we give them a nick-name. So Starlene's nick-name is Starly. Isn't that cute? Here's her baby information:
 Starlene: March 4, 2010  - About 11pm - Dad: Pete - Mom: Annaliese   Female

A New Hope, A New Beginning

Annie became a mother yesterday night around 11pm! Most of my family had been in our living room watching TV while my younger siblings were asleep. All of a sudden my younger sister came in and said she thought Annaliese was having her baby out there because she was bleating really loudly in pain. So up I went off the couch, grabbed my coat and boots - also a flashlight...and finally headed down with running feet. Yes, it was Annaliese. Her bleat is very unmistakable. I walked into the goat house and there she was laying down with the baby's head just peeking out. I had come just in time. Immediately I went to her, patted her head and began helping her by pulling the baby when she pushed. It was very big, so there's almost no way she could have been able to birth it without assistance. Within maybe five long minutes she gave one last huge push and out slid the baby's head, neck, stomach, and then legs - all in one piece of course! I'm sure Anna was breathing relief as she just sat there for a couple seconds. At first the baby didn't seem to move very much, so I thought it could possibly be a stillborn. I moved her around a little, trying to get all the sack goop off of her face - and she moved! SHE WAS ALIVE. What a relief that was to me I'm sure you'd know if you have read previous posts of mine. So I started cleaning her off with some paper towels, but at the same time leaving some stuff for mommy to get herself so she knows it's her baby. I showed Annaliese her beautiful baby she had just birthed. The poor mother didn't seem extremely interested for the first few minutes, probably because she was still in shock from all the pain she had just gone through. But after a little while I made her get up and start being a mommy - by licking off her first baby GIRL. Yes, it was another little doeling...I always get really excited when they are girls. :)
She is a beautiful creamy, white patched, and black striped baby girl whom I almost immediately named Starlene. Thankfully the others agreed on it, because I was pretty set on it! :) Starlene possesses VERY long legs and a VERY loud, consistent bleat. The legs are fine, and I guess the bleat will have to do as well! :)
So that's how it all began, but the other hour we spent down there was not so much fun. For some reason we COULD NOT get Starlene to get the teat. She was surely looking for it - quite a bit actually. And sometimes she might have been just an inch away from it, but no. NO TEAT. I would work with her and my sister would work with her...but nothing. After a long while, me and my sister finally gave up and hoped for better results in the morning - after all it wasn't that far off anyway! :)
With the beautiful sunlight shining in the window this morning promising a good day I slipped out of bed, got ready to go outside and began heading to the goats. When I got to the goat house pen I was only praying and hoping that Starlene would still be alright - after loosing seven babies, this goatmother has a right to be a little panicky! I walked in and there the little darling was - laying down very comfortably in the hay with Annaliese looking up at me with sweet eyes. She was okay!! But the real test was...could she get to the teat yet? So I watched in anticipation. Not long I saw Starlene getting ready to go find her food and just a minute later I heard the smacking of the lips against the teat...SHE WAS EATING!! HALLELUJAH!! That's when all my worries about her vanished. She is a healthy, strong, beautiful doeling who knows how to eat. That's all I've ever wanted this year with each baby we've had. But it just wasn't meant to be. Winter is over, Spring with all it's glorious promises has come! Starlene has arrived! She's brought HOPE AND A NEW BEGINNING FOR US ALL.

Katrina's Evangeline

Well I've got some more really sad news. Katrina had a baby girl on March 1, 2010. She was a beautiful  white doeling, however she was so tiny and I believe slightly premature. I have been so sick lately that I couldn't do much for her. She was having trouble walking and I wasn't sure if she'd be able to reach the teat. But my mom told me I needed to go inside, I wasn't feeling very well. So the next day she was still there, but weaker. We finally brought her in because it was cold and she hadn't eaten anything yet. So we wrapped her up and fed her a little milk. But we DID NOT want to totally take her away from her mom because we DID NOT want to bottle feed another baby in the house. So once we thought she was strong enough, we moved her back with her mom until her next feeding time. Sadly though, that night my younger sister and mom went down to check on her only to find that she was dieing. She died just a couple minutes later. While she was still alive I had named her Evangeline. I thought it fit her pretty well. But as nature would have it - for the seventh time this year - she died.
Evangeline was a very weak doeling to begin with. It's nobody's fault...this is just what happens sometimes. Although this year it seems to be happening ALL the time. But I'm trying not to complain. These seven babies we have lost within two months just were not meant to live. It was just God's will, of which I accept.
So I'm thanking the Lord all the more for our BIG Spencer!! He sure has been a blessing and I will never forget how he was the only one out of the first eight babies we've had born this year, to live!