Today was hoof trimming day for the baby goats. First on the milk stand was Faith, the white goat in the picture above. Since the baby goats are not tall enough yet to reach their heads into the feed dish, convincing them they really did want on the stand was difficult. It took both of us to get them strapped in. I held each baby while Jerry pulled their head through and fastened the bar in place.

Faith gave a bit of a struggle, kicking her feet, moving around and naying for her momma Darla. All in all, however, it was not as difficult to get her hooves trimmed as it has been at times with the larger goats.

When Faith’s hooves were trimmed and she was released, she ran back to the stall door. We promptly let her back in with the other goats and brought her sister Victoria out.

Victoria was a bit fussier than Faith. She kicked and hollared. She refused to take even a bite of grain, but we were able to get her hooves trimmed. She, too, ran for the stall door as soon as she was released.

Next on the stand on Rembrandt, our cashgora baby. Rembrandtis very shy. He runs from people, like his mother Tulip our cashmere goat. When you corner him, he will let you pick him up and does not struggle unlike the other baby goats.

I was able to get him on the stand and strapped in by myself. He hollared the loudest and Tulip stood on her hind feet looking out of the stall hollaring back. He did not like hoof trimming at all, however, I do believe once he is used to it he will be fine.

We let him eat a bite out of the feed dish on top of the milk stand after he was done. I never feed the boys grain unless is is shearing or hoof trimming time. The does on the other hand get grain twice a day. I have found with Leonardo, my buck, if he gets grain, he will stand pretty as you please.

From what I saw today, Rembrandt will need a good brushing this spring before he is sheared. It is odd that the other fiber goats and the sheep do not get a lot of vegetable matter on them. I am thinking he has so much, in part, because he is still a kid. Maybe as he gets older, he will learn to stay cleaner!

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Tomorrow is the day I have been dreading since the birth of the first baby goat. It is the day that four of the baby goats will be taken to their new home. It will be a sad day for both of us, I am sure.

Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Raphael and Cyrus are the four that will be loaded into the pick-up truck and taken away. I am sure their mommies, Sugar and Spice, will cry for their babies. I know the baby goats will cry for their mothers as we diaper them and load them up. They have never been in a vehicle before so I am sure they will be sacred.

I will miss their soft fur and the way they come up to me, anxious to see me when I go into the barn or out into the pasture. I will miss their warm noses muzzling me and their wet tongues licking my hands. I will miss their dirty little paws jumping on my clean clothing covering it in mud. I will miss looking into their innocent little eyes and seeing them suckle milk from their mothers.

I wish we had enough land to keep them here, but alas, we do not. I wish they had been does so I could have justified keeping them through the winter.

I know they will be happy in their new home. There was lots of tall grass for them to eat and the pasture is certainly bigger than it is here.

Tomorrow will be a hard day, for both of us. However, it is a day that I know will come around once a year as long as we continue to breed goats. It is a day, that I hope, with each passing year will get easier.

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.

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

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.