Last night we brought our six month old Angora buck home. The girls, even Tulip, are being a bit pushy. The buck is rather timid and has not started showing them who is the new boss yet. He did ok in the pen overnight and is eating, but not with the girls yet. Jerry keeps reminding me this is the way it goes everytime we bring a new goat in.
He does not have a name yet. I think we should name him Loverboy! He is such a sweet little guy and after all he will have all those does to himself!
He came with health papers and is CL free. Woo Hoo! I cannot wait until spring to see what the babies he creates look like. The lady we got him from said his father was huge. She had got rid of him in favor of a white buck. His mother was a pretty good sized doe and just loaded with fiber. His fiber is so soft. Of course the first cutting is always the prime mohair.
Sheri
Filed under Fiber Goats, Goats by on Oct 30th, 2009. 3 Comments. 
The afternoon of June 25, 2009 I went out to the barn to check on the goats and found Sugar had given birth. She had two gorgous white kids with her. They were both boys.
I am happy to announce that everyone is doing well. The goat kids are so cute the way they jump around. Sugar is such a good mother to them. I can’t wait until the other does give birth!
The birth went well, there were no complications. In fact, Sugar did everything. That was a relief. I was prepared in case something went wrong. I hope the remainder of the births go as smooth.
Here are photos of the babies a few hours after they were born.
Sugar's baby boy - June 25, 2009.
This is Sugar's baby boy, born June 25, 2009.
We do have these two for sale. We are asking $150.00 for the top baby and $200.00 for the bottom baby who is showing signs of curly fiber. Both seem like they will have long hair.
Filed under Dairy Goats, Fiber Goats, Goats by on Oct 30th, 2009. Comment.
Last night I went out to pick up an older Peahen and a Royal Palm Turkey. I had tried to raise both from babies and did not have success. I put them both in the chicken coop with the chickens, ducks and guineas. So far, so good. They seem to like being in the coop more than being out of the coop which really suprises me given it is hotter inside than out and also darker.
Later today, once it begins to cool down, I will head out to the garden to check on the new plants I added. I planted more butterfly bushes, the rainbow knock out rose and a few assorted perennials. I was hoping to get more weeding done before winter but I am not going to hold my breath on that. The weather is either hot and dry or cool and rainy this year and neither of those conditions make good weeding weather.
Sheri
Filed under Peacock, Poultry, Turkeys by on Oct 30th, 2009. 3 Comments.
Darla brought her babies into the world around 3am July 3, 2009. They are both does. Just adorable. Here are pictures of the babies!
Darla's Baby Girl 2
Darla and Baby Girl 1
Filed under Dairy Goats, Fiber Goats, Goats by on Oct 30th, 2009. Comment.
Our first goat kidding season has been a good one. Everyone has had healthy babies and they have all been good mothers. The first set of kids will be weaned in August meaning they are almost ready to go to new homes. We will be weathering soon unless someone contacts us wanting a buck.
Here is who we have:
Sugar gave birth first to two adorable baby boys. She kidded on June 25, 2009. Here are photos of her babies. They are angora/dairy goat crosses.
The next set of babies came from Darla, the first dairy goat that came to live here at the farm. She had two girls. One looks just like her and one looks like Sugar’s babies. At first I thought we might have trouble telling the three white ones apart but it has not been difficult at all and the goat kids know who mommy is.
Here are pictures of Darla’s kids who were born on July 3, 2009.
Darla was followed by Tulip our cashmere goat. She has the most adorable baby called a cashgora because the daddy is an angora. It has shiny black fur that is quite curly. This was our only single birth.
Tulip’s baby, which has the same markings she does, was born on July 11, 2009. She is a more protective mommy than the other goats and her baby sticks closer to her. Here is the photo. It is a bit fuzzy but it was the harder photo to get. Tulip kept standing in front of her. I had to wait until she came out and snap the photo quickly.
Our last goat to kid was Spice. She had one that looks just like her and one that is a lighter brown color. She kidded yesterday, July 14, 2009. Here are photos of her kids just after they were born.
Filed under Dairy Goats, Fiber Goats, Goats by on Oct 30th, 2009. 3 Comments.
What a long day it has been here at the farm. The day begins quite early with milking, processing the milk, feeding Beauty the horse, the rabbits, chickens, guineas, turkeys and ducks.
Today I acquired a new female rabbit. She is not an angora but should keep Prince happier than he was since he had no other rabbits for companions previously.
Our two turkeys, Hobbles and Goobles, seem to be adjusting well. Friday I should be getting some more turkeys. I am hoping to get around 20 this year.
Beauty let me brush her quite a while today. I was able to brush the area where her saddle would go. This was the first time I was able to brush there for an extended amount of time. She seems to be adjusting quite well to her stall.
Darla is producing a lot more milk and we are planning to get some more female goats by June.
My garden is blooming dandelions! Seriously! They have already got way ahead of me this year. I did some weeding and fed the weeds to the chickens who had a hey day with them.
This coming Saturday is the native plant auction in Indianapolis. I am considering going but have not made a definate decision yet.
Filed under Chickens, Dairy Goats, Goats, Horse, Poultry, Rabbits, Turkeys by on May 9th, 2007. Comment.
Jerry, Sarah and I went out yesterday to see Beauty. Sarah decided not to change her name back to Dolly and quite frankly I was glad because Beauty suits her much better.
Sarah and I spent the day cleaning the barn and the yard so Jerry can start working on her stall and a small fenced area that she can come and go from at will.
We will have a larger pasture but I do not want any of the animals in it when it is wet.
This morning we went out to see Beauty and I was able to clean her front hooves. I didn’t get them real good because I could tell she was getting upset and she was trying to kick a bit but at least we did make progress. In time she will let me clean them right.
Sarah and I are going to work on cleaning the yard and barn again today. There is not much left to do. Hopefully tomorrow and Tuesday he can get a stall built and fence up.
Filed under Horse by on Apr 29th, 2007. Comment.
It has been another rainy day here. I went out to see Beauty this morning and found out her name was Dolly. The previous owner stopped by and told Marie that yesterday. I am going to leave it up to Sarah what we will call her from here on out.
In addition to the Cardinal family living here I now have a Blue Jay family too. I haven’t found their nest yet but have seen the male and female frequently.
Darla and Mr. Buck have been fussier than usual due to being cooped up inside because of all this rain. They have decided they do not like the grass hay so I filled their hay feeder with the alfalfa hay. Animals can be really picky sometimes! When they first came the grass hay was fine!
A few of the chickens ventured out today and of course, Sunshine the duck who loves rain. Kim said she expected the turkeys and ducks to be ready sometime Sunday. I can’t wait! She is hatching some Polish Chicks for me as well. She found a trio of Showgirls for me too! I can’t wait to get those.
Filed under Chickens, Dairy Goats, Ducks, Goats, Horse, Poultry by on Apr 27th, 2007. Comment.
What a week! Beauty came into our life and we have all been working to train her. Sarah, my daughter, just loves horses and this was a real surprise for her. Right now she is being boarded until we get her stall built and the electric fence up. I am hoping she will get along with our two goats, Darla and Mr. Buck.
We are thinking of getting another dairy goat come June because we need more milk!
I am done hatching chicks for this season and have done pretty good so far. All of the chicks are healthy and growing. This weekend I will pick up some turkeys and ducks from Kim who is hatching them. She is also going to be hatching some frizzles and polish chickens for me.
This afternoon I heard a strange noise in my office back by the wood burner and thought it was a wild animal. It turned out to be Bibbs the cat and her newborn baby kittens. Looks like I will have barn cats after all!
Lowe’s had a 75% off sale today on their trees and shrubs that had been bitten by frost. I bought several new ones and we planted them tonight. I bought a Semi-Dwarf Orient Pear, Viburnum bracteatum ‘Emerald Luster,’ Sweet Bay Magnolia, Princeton Sentry Ginkgo, Pink Dogwood, Yoshino Flowering Cherry, Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice,’ White Princess Peach and a Sugar Princess Peach.
Finally we are thinking of putting some instructional gardening videos up on the website. To do this we need to have more space. This decision needs to be made by the 20th of this month. I would like to encourage anyone who can to please use the donation button and donate what you can. You will have a choice if you would like to be listed as a donor.
Thank you in advance.
Filed under Chickens, Dairy Goats, Goats, Horse, Poultry by on Apr 24th, 2007. Comment.
Darla is such a ham! She seems to know what a camera is and does the funniest poses when I go out with one!
I am making a honey wheat bread tonight to go with supper and more butter. We are really enjoying the ice cream and hot fudge sauce I made the other day.
Darla is such a character. When it is milking time she jumps right up on the stand but as soon as her grain is gone she begins stomping her foot and refusing to stand still until I get her some alfalfa hay to eat. Mr. Buck is settling in and sure knows when to run for the stall!
Friday was a nice day and they were able to go out into the yard for a bit in the afternoon. Would you believe Darla stood out and cried for the longest time instead of being happy she was out?
I have five chick eggs that are showing signs of starting to hatch today. The 21st day is actually not until tomorrow so it looks like I might get a few early arrivals.
It is snowing here today so I have been inside most of the day. I worked on painting a wood house that had a shelf on it that will have some nails put in it to hold corn for the squirrels to eat. We will put it on a tree outside the living room window once it is finished. I really like seeing the squirrels and birds in the garden.
I think the dogs and cats like watching them out the window as well.
All of the ducks and all but seven of the chicks, the last ones hatched, are in the chicken coop now. We had to move them out to make room for the new arrivals. In addition to the chicken eggs that are in the incubator I have a few guinea eggs too.
Saturday I will be at the North Park Mall from 2 to 4 with Lisa talking about the National Wildlife Federation for Earth Day. I will also be talking about the Plant-A-Row For The Hungry Program and encouraging people to participate! If anyone is in the area please stop in and say hi!
Finally we are thinking of putting some instructional gardening videos up on the website. To do this we need to have more space. This decision needs to be made by the 20th of this month. I would like to encourage anyone who can to please use the donation button and donate what you can. You will have a choice if you would like to be listed as a donor.
Thank you in advance.
Filed under Chickens, Dairy Goats, Ducks, Goats, Guinea, Poultry by on Apr 14th, 2007. Comment.
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