Friday, April 12, 2013

Friday Musings and a Reveal

Here is why Keith is working on the little barn: 


They're darling, aren't they?  They have just found their legs and started springing around, and oh, how I wish I could show you the short video.  There are two bucklings and a doeling there, the doeling has white ears. 

They were born Monday. 

Here is another shot, but I could not get anyone to stand still: 


That's their owner talking to them. 


And their mama, who was crying for them the whole time I was there. 

I understood that this lady was keeping Kinder goats, and I thought they were a smaller goat... however, the Kinder, a cross between a pygmy and a Nubian, is actually pretty large.  She is expecting a kidding next week of purebred Kinders, but the mama is pretty big.  

My concern is that I don't think I can handle a full grown big goat by myself in an emergency, and I don't think I could trim one alone, either, though these were the gentlest and friendliest of goats. 

And of course, the babies were beautiful.  She would disbud and wether the bucklings for us, and they would be ready to go next week. 

However.... for once in my life... I managed to walk out of there without a commitment, and come home to think about it. 

I think they are too big for us  me.  I think they could stomp all over the little grands, and butt them aside if they did not want to be petted, and that concerns me, as that is part of the reason we want them for pets. 
So... I'm still thinking.  

I see the Nigerians at Boone Docks Wilcox, and think they are more likely to fit in here at our little place.  I know there is a Nigerian dairy in this area, and I have the phone number in my little black book, so tomorrow, I'll give that lady a call. 
I feel so sorry for the mamas and babies in dairy herds though, as those babies did not even get to suckle off their mama, but were fed colostrum by their owner.  Same with cows/calves... it's just sad and against the nature of things, but I guess that's how it is.  It's one reason I don't want to milk, I don't want to have to produce a baby yearly, and have it go away. 

I'm a sap, I know. 

These goats seen today were wonderfully taken care of, in clean surroundings and well-fed, so that was a delight to see.  I hope if little goats come here, we can do as good a job for them. 


I've shown you this before... it's the Stanwood Friends Meeting House, still in use today.  There were many Quakers in this area... my Grandma Peterson was one of them, and we believe she may have attended this meeting.   
I had not been out "behind" this meeting before, and that's where the goats were.. it was beautiful land, rolling and lovely.. . with old, old farms, and some new, bigger houses.  Harder to get to than our place, but very beautiful. 

I'll take Keith back over there in a few weeks and take some pictures, he would enjoy seeing it. 

But you know, we love our home and our little place, and we have put so many hours into it, that we would not want to leave it. 


By the time I got home, it had cleared up very well, though more rain is in the forecast for the next week.  It is 55 right now, going down to 30 tonight.  I wish Mother Nature would get it together!  Keith checked our propane today, and we have about 43% in the tank, so should be good to go.  He didn't realize it, but I was watching him out the window, and saw him very carefully push the feathers and straw of a huge starling nest aside so he could read the gauge, and then very carefully lower the top down over the nest again.  What a good heart he has! 


One of the henspa hens has taken to "burying" her egg after she lays it, so I have to feel around in all the boxes to make sure I've found everything.  Tonight, in this box, I found an egg buried on the right... I could not tell if it was laid today, so I am not going to donate it this week.  Anything like that goes to the pasture. 


Do you see the green coming up in this planter?  It's a hosta I planted four years ago.  Unfortunately, there is a tree seedling in there, too, that is still alive, and I have not been able to get it out.  I'm going to dump the planter this week, replant the hosta, and the tree is going out.  
In fact, I hope to get a bunch of planters ready for plants for our deck, and I'll show you how I'm going to do it this week on the blog. 

That's it for today from Calamity Acres! 





13 comments:

  1. Those are the most adorable little goats!! But they are a commitment. For pet or for milking? Will be interesting to see what you do!!

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  2. Oh my gosh, they are adorable! But I'm a goat fanatic, that's totally true. Have you had goats before? There is a lot to know, nutrition-wise, but it's not impossible.

    I keep full size dairy goats. The girls are almost full grown and are about 120 pounds now--I expect them to put on another 15 before they are done. Yes, they are big. And yes, when they jump up, they knock the wind out of me. It is definitely a consideration, I agree, and I'm very glad you are thinking it over. I'm not sure how big a Kinder gets, but if they are too big, then they are too big. I know you will make the right decision!

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  3. Those are adorable but they do grow up.

    We've had one goat here. Princess was rotten and always into something.

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  4. For a minute, I thought I was going to have to beg you to let me come play with your little goatlings. But I guess you're off the hook for a little while longer. They are so darn cute!

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  5. I agree; Nigerian Dwarves would be smaller and more manageable – and probably less noisy! I would think the nearby goat dairy would have an abundance of little boys to choose from, any of whom would love to have a forever home with you. I would love to have a milk goat, but Rick would never go for being that tied down. You don't have to breed every year, though; a lot of family milkers (cows and goats) are only bred every other year. Most will continue to produce sufficient milk for a family's needs, just not enough to satisfy a commercial operation.

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  6. They are adorable! You are wise to think it over carefully.

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  7. Those goat kids are adorable! They wrap themselves around your heart strings pretty fast, don't they?!

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  8. The goats are adorable. But like you said you want to feel comfortable having some around so best to wait til you find the kind you can handle. I did see one of my hosta plants was starting to come up here this week It's continues to be cold and wet here too. Tree seedings are pests. Here we have a row of Rose of Sharon bushes in the back yard and the little seedlings from them are all over the place. Have to pull them like weeds. Hope you have a super Saturday!

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  9. Very cute!
    Some goats are really mild mannered. Our Oberhaslis are really easy to handle. I would look at temperment as well as size.Some of those smaller breeds can be a handful too :)
    We raise dairy but keep the babies with mom. After about two weeks we take them away at night and milk in the morning. The go back with mom after we are done. I couldn't have dairy if we had to milk twice a day. It also helps when something comes up we don't have to worry about milking. Doesn't work for everyone but a system we can live with.
    Good Luck :)

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  10. Oh baby goats are the most fun! We have had many different kinds/sizes of goats. Personality and "pleasantness" are often individual in the goat. All our dairy breeds were sweet, Nubians, Saanens, and the little Nigerians Dwarfs. We had 3 Boers, 2 of which were pretty scary-both does, the wether was a pet. The Pygmys, of which we had many, were frisky and playful, but we had one doe that was rotten bad! We didn't have small children at the time, so we just enjoyed her cantankerous self for 13 years. By far the sweetest, most kind gentle goat was our Pygmy buck, but oh the smell! In general, bottle raised, dairy breed wethers are your best bet, in all sizes. We found the full sized to be harder on fences though. Sandra's way of milking is a great way to go for milk and the kid's lives too. I like to take the babies away in the morning, and milk at night, then put them back, then I won't hear the kids hollering at night.

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  11. I love Nubians but they are hyper. I've had them and it's one reason I keep Alpines, Saanens and Pygmy goats. Actually my Saanens are probably the easiest to handle - even easier than the Pygmy goats. Although almost every one has been hand raised by me, so that might help :) I find a bottle raised big goat will be easy for you to handle grown, but I can understand you feeling smaller goats are better for you, certainly they will be easier for you to handle. Sandra has a good system,(from her comment above) you don't always have to pull the kids, sometimes the mamas do it for you (like with my dairy goat who tries to kill all kids). But that's not what you are looking for anyway, just a couple pets, so find what suits you guys best! I'm excited in the future you will be getting some goaties.

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  12. Goats are cute, but I haven't fallen for that cuteness yet!

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