My Partner is Delight

My Partner is Delight
Heading into the great unknown
Showing posts with label Goats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goats. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2009

Mia Moo Update!

Mia is doing so well! She has grown attached to me and me to her. I have to be careful when I go outside because if she hears my voice she cries until I go and pet her. Most of the time I am happy to oblige.

I brought Merri home to be her pal, but right now she still prefers me and pushes her away. I have high hopes that they will become sisters in time. Merri has every sign of being a sweet loving goat. I can't wait to have two "mooing" for me!


Mia gives a gallon of milk a day. She gets all of the Show Chow she can eat along with a handful of grain at each milking. She also gets free choice grass hay and alfalfa. She loves to be brushed and her coat is now very shiny as a result.



Her feet are slowly coming around. I have her almost upright on one of her back feet, but the worst one still has a ways to go. Here and here is what they looked like when we got her. I trim a little off of them once a week.




I have only had her for 3 months and she has improved so much. I can't wait to see what the next 3 bring!



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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Merri Moo

Meet my new dairy goat Merri! She is a one year old grade Nubian. She is 1/8 La Mancha, but I will try not to hold it against her. I do love long Nubian ears!



I got her to be a companion for Mia. I sold Java last month to a family with little children. I don't have time for a goat without a job, so I got another doe. This Fall I will breed her as well as Mia. I suppose then I will have to decide who I am going to milk. Milking two sounds overwhelming right now!



Mia is doing very well. I tried to get some updated pictures the other day but they didn't turn out. I plan to post some very soon. Her coat is nice and shiny, and her feet are slowly getting better. She has become a very sweet goat.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Java in Motion

So, yeah I know this is a horse blog... but I have to share a couple of cute vids of my baby goat!

Enjoy!







Mia is doing well too... hopefully this week I will be able to give her a bath and then I will put some pictures up of her too. She is putting on some nice weight and she has had her feet trimmed twice already. I'll give her her own blog post. I am enjoying her so much!

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Friday, April 3, 2009

1 Week Old Java

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Java is really growing strong. I am so pleased as I was worried that he wouldn't even survive the condition that his mama was in when we got her.

He still loves his tote even though he is outgrowing it. Hopefully, no not hopefully... we WILL have his outdoors pen finished this weekend and he will go out and live next to his mama like a real goat should!

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I have been house bound with near pneumonia and he has been an entertaining diversion during my convalescence, but it is time for him to go outside! He is sleeping less and less and demanding more attention.

Believe it or not he is house broken... ha ha I would never have thought it was possible to housebreak a goat. We have been diligent to take him outside when he wakes and when he eats and he knows what he is supposed to "do". It is so funny. If he hadn't come so quickly after we got his mama and I hadn't gotten sick and unable to build his pen outside, we would never have learned this little known goaty secret!

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Maybe someone needs a pack goat they they would like to keep in their tent without worries about accidents? I can dream right?

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Saturday, March 28, 2009

It's a boy!

Mama Mia freshened on Thursday! She gave me a buckling. He is skinny, but otherwise healthy.

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The (human) kids have decided to name him "Java" because he is the color of frothy coffee.

Basically he eats:

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Sleeps:

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And PLAYS!

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Welcome little Java!

Mama Mia is doing well. She has shown us that she is a veteran milker, jumping up onto the stand and bawling for her grain. She has gotten her shots and has been dewormed and has had her first foot trim. We weighed her and found her to be 25-30 lbs underwieght. So far no signs of any illnesses she might have picked up from the feed lot!

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Mama Goat

Okay, I did it again... I have rescued a another needy creature.

Not a horse this time though... she is a goat!

I thought maybe I would like to try my hand at a milk goat so I looked around and found an ad on Craigslist that said "6-7 thin goats". I called on it and it turned out to be a goat (meat) dealer. He told me he had only one Nubian. She was a former 4H project and was ready to freshen in the next couple of weeks.

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He warned me that she was thin and that she needed her feet done badly.

I went yesterday to look at her. It was already dark by the time I was there, but I could tell even by the light of the flashlight that she was 1)very sweet and 2)in need of some serious TLC.

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I am so very, ummm dissapointed in the people who let her get into this condition, let alone in a feedlot waiting to be slaughtered - especially if they were a 4H family. I am pretty passionate about this subject, but I'll save that rant for another day. I want this to be Mama goat's big debut.

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I walked her around the yard today and found that she leads very well. I was happy to learn that, as goats can be very stubborn. I hope she also has milking experience.

She doesn't seem sick at all, just in need of some groceries. I put her on a medicated feed today and and tonite I'll give her a CD and T shot to help stave off whatever she was exposed to at the feedlot.

Except for her bag it is even hard to tell Mama goat is pregnant. I really hope her kid survives. It is alive an moving inside her, but it is pretty small.

I will have someone over as soon as possible to help me with her feet. I don't think I have the knowledge to do them on my own.

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I'll be trying to get some baby oil on her legs to soften the mud and treat the scalds on her legs as well.

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She is really making up her bag. I hope she will hold off a while on having her kid. I want to get some more calories and those vaccines on board.

Welcome home goaty!

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