Introducing Spring Mtn Farm

Nothing like procrastination to get me going. I hadn't worked on the logo for our herd name and here was the Caledonia County Fair, our debut. I had already delivered the goats to the fair, took a couple of pictures of them just before loading so I could put little signs above their pens. I realized that I would want to put up a sign that told about who we were too and 30 minutes later I had my logo. I figure it will need tweaking and will go through several renditions but it's a start. I work well under pressure and cornered like a rat!

Rocky

Mustang Sally and Rocky Top Romeo both got shown and placed well. There were a lot of goats in each class so Michelle Pike had her work cut out for her. My daughter, Elissa showed them both and they were very good for her. Sally took first place for the JR Doe class and Rocky took second in the JR Buck class. I can't wait to see what they look like next year!

Sally

I am so pleased with the blood lines I have from Sweet Spring Farms. Mustang Sally is nice and deep for a five month old doe and Rocky is growing up to be quite a handsome fellow.

Goat Fencing

A problem I've had in the past is how to keep my goats where they are supposed to be. They are great at finding holes in the fencing and fencing is expensive. With my woven wire, they would stick their heads through until the wires broke over time or stand on the fence and pull it down until it broke. You need five strands of electric to keep goats in. With cattle panels I would get broken legs because they would do a combination jump/climb and get a leg caught and then their body would flip over the panel. That happened twice to me.

I've been luck enough to get some net fencing recently and it is everything I hoped it would be. It's been recommended by several friends who have goats but it's cost and wondering whether or not it would work kept me from buying it. It is electrified with a tiny pet fencer that I bought at Ace Hardware for $27 and the combination is a great one.

When I first got the fence, I hooked it up to my regular charger and put the goats out so they could learn not to touch the fence. They kept forgetting and would touch the fence, get shocked so badly they would jump forward and end up tangled in the net. It happened over and over again. After a bit, I took the fencer off and hoped they would just stay away from the fence but the minute the fencer was removed they were right through the fence. I needed a new fencer fast so I would be able to have the goats where I wanted them without running long wires from the existing fence. I bought this fencer because it was cheap but I love it because it works without making the goats jump into the netting. It's enough of a charge that they don't like touching it but not enough to frighten them.

Nutri Vet for Goats

My baby goats at weaning were looking a little frail. My feed is a "Lamb and Kid" starter pellet, browse every day and hay in their keyhole feeder. I put a mineral block in the pen to provide added copper but after two weeks there was no sign they had actually taken even a lick of it (how un-goat like). So I found this supplement at Agway and thought I'd give it a try. It cost around $20 but the dosage is one tiny scoop per 1000 lbs of goats!!! Which means my four 45 - 55 lb goats get 1/10th of a scoop morning and night....so it goes a long way.

After days on the supplement I saw increased appetite, energy and just a lot more life in these goats. After two weeks I'm seeing glossy coats and goats looking a lot more like I'd like them to look...perky and ready for fun. So I highly recommend this product and hope you have the same great results!

Keyhole Feeder

It's always frustrating to try to feed hay to goats. If they can (and they are so agile) they will step on, drag out, lay in and otherwise ruin perfectly good hay. I know I was feeding a bale every other day to these small goats when they were still on milk but most of it I would have to drag out of the stall ruined at the next feeding time because they kept dragging it out and getting into the feeder and soiling the hay.

We found a wonderful cheap solution on You-tube (hay feeder here). A key-hole feeder made from an industrial food barrel. There are a lot of barrels here from the maple industry so it was no problem to find a source. The keyhole is supposed to be 7 inches round with a four inch slot but since my goats are young we used a six inch keyhole with a three inch slot knowing we could make it bigger later. I used a desert plate as a guide when drawing the hole. Then we used a jigsaw to cut the holes. You have to drill a hole big enough to allow the jigsaw blade to get started. But it's a very simple design to make.

We thought we could just set it into the stall but they promptly knocked it over and we also thought we wouldn't need a lid but Julius jumped inside it so it needs to be fastened to the wall (we used screws through a piece of wood so the barrel plastic wouldn't tear). The lid is just the barrel piece we cut off turned upside down. It fits perfectly.

The results? No more hay waste! I add about a slice a day to the top and mix it all around every day and they go through only what they can eat. There is virtually no hay on the ground! When they go to pull out they have to think about it a little and raise and turn their heads to not hit their ears so they don't just drag it out and let half of it fall to the ground. Truly an ingenious idea.

Scouring Kid

I've had a bit of a bumpy time with Julius. He has always been the biggest eater...gobbling up everything he's given, which right now includes milk replacer, lamb starter, hay and grain. He kept getting scours. Worrying green, foul smelling scours. He would seem to get better and be fine but a day or two later would have another bout. This last bout was the worst. He's on deconquinate for coccidia so I thought I'd better look for other reasons. One thing I found over and over was worms being behind some scours so the first thing I did was worm him and the others with Ivermectin. It was time to worm anyway at eight weeks old.

Next I went to seek advice from a feed store owner who has boer goats. She recommended Sulmet (Sulfamethazine sodiam 12.5% and I read that yogurt is good for helping keep a good balance of healthy bacteria so I added yogurt and the Sulmet to the milk in the afternoon (a small feeding). True to form, Julius hogged all the milk and got a good dose of Sulmet. By evening feeding he had cow patty droppings instead of scours and by the next day he was normal. I gave everyone Sulmet in their milk the next day in the morning and yogurt at night. Now I've been adding yogurt for two days without any more Sulmet and things are going great.

The kids are eating plenty of lamb finisher which I'm feeding free choice, greens and hay. They seem much more playful and happy.

Spring Mtn Nubians

We got our herd name registered with the ADGA today: "Spring Mtn Nubians" We live on a mountain side that has springs all over it (which has been a problem lately!) The ground is finally drying up but the springs will be running for a while. They don't normally cause a problem but with the little stream beds full the water has no place to go and the low lying pasture is full of standing water...just lovely for bugs! When we set posts inside the shed we would dig down six inches and hit water and I had to use four bales of wood shavings in the babies stall to keep them high and dry. I am told we are expecting rain. Great.

Oh well, I guess I will stay inside and work on a logo for our new herd name.

Settling in

The babies are settling in to their new home. This is Orange Julius (out front), Rocky's twin. He will be company for Rocky when the boys move into their own space.

Most of the goats are still pretty shy...it's only been three days. This is our herd sire "Rocky Top Romeo". He is very curious and sweet and not at all afraid to come over and get pets.

"Hey, what's in your pocket?"
The girls...Pims (black) and Mustang Sally. They are still a little shy.
Pims will be a lovely doe...don't you love the heart on her side?


Julius, up close and personal...he likes to cut hair. If he can get your hair in his mouth he will give it a trim. He's a little devil! But very sweet. One of the reasons I chose Rocky over Julius as herd sire is personality. This is the most forward little goat ever. I thought testosterone added to that personality would not be good!

Rocky eating his breakfast.
One thing that I love about having the goats is that the kids want to get up at 5:30 am so they don't miss feeding the babies.

Goats are home!!

We picked up our starter herd from Sweet Spring Farm in Argyle, New York yesterday and I couldn't be more tickled. It rained hard for the entire trip but for the time we spent on the farm the rain took a break until the moment we left! I'm taking it as a good omen.




Jeff runs a model goat dairy with a large loafing area in one barn where all the girls hang out. Udders were mostly empty so I took some head shots, but all the does are long, deep and look lovely. All the does were standing in the doorway because of the rain so we got to meet everyone.







The bucks live in modern luxury in a beautiful stable a little way down the drive where the kids stay as well. I was in for a surprise when I saw my babies

I underestimated the size of the babies I was coming to get (by a lot!). The rule of thumb I found said that average birth weights for goats is 8-10 pounds and that by eight weeks they should be triple that weight. Since my babies are six weeks old I subtracted a few pounds and decided they would be between 20 - 25 pounds each. I brought a crate that could carry a great dane thinking it would be all the space in the world.

Jeff estimated that they were more like 30 pounds each and brought a weigh tape so we could see. We measured the smallest doe -- 33 pounds! I was flabber-gasted. The two bucks and the older doe are at least two or three pounds more. A grand total of 40 pounds more goats than I expected! They did fit in the crate and they still go into the crate freely now that they are home and slept in it last night but WOW!

Jeff has a unique set up for feeding that I've never seen before. It's free choice milk from a little machine that sits outside the stall. I think the kids are so big because they can have as much as they like -- which happened to my single babies if left to nurse. They would always be much larger than the others who had to compete with siblings.

Below is Samba (one year old) from Kastdemure in California. I can't wait to see what he's going to ad to the Cossayuna herd genetics.



It was a long drive home and they were pretty stressed out and at first, just stood in the corner in a scared little knot. I thought feeding them would help them relax but the first feeding didn't go too well. I mixed up the milk replacer in the lamb bar and brought it out. The boldest little buck who we call Julius came over and practically jumped in my lap but they had forgotten how to get milk out of the lamb bar and just nibbled my hair and coat. The rest of the goats wanted nothing to do with me.

I went to plan "b" and put the milk into bottles with lamb nipples. No deal. Even a squirt of milk into the mouth had no effect...it was like giving medicine to a baby. We brought hay in and when we left they nibbled the hay. I went back inside and moved the milk replacer back into the lamb bar and went and sat with the goats for about half an hour. The boldest buck and the boldest doe (Julius and Sally) started poking around me to see if I had anything better than hay. Julius found a nipple and started sucking and Sally heard the noise and shoved him off and got onto the nipple. There are six nipples but for fifteen minutes Sally and Julius took turns knocking each other off of the lamb bar for that one coveted nipple. Finally our future herd sire (Rocky) who seemed to be protecting the shyest of the babies (Pims) came over and took a swig or two himself. I could not get Pims to try it at all so I just held her for a while. They drank half the milk, crawled into the crate and went to sleep. It was 10pm and they were done and Pims hadn't had a bit of it.

In the morning when I tried again I had four hungry goats that knew exactly what to do to get their breakfast. Pims didn't eat much but she had enough that I'm not too worried. She is still the shyest but she ate as much as she would and when they wouldn't eat anymore there was still about a pint left in the bottom.

I've got hay, lamb and kid starter pellets, dandelion greens and milk replacer on the menu today and I'm pleased with how things are going.

Barn Ready!

The barn is finally ready. I will post pics soon with before and after shots. Nothing is ever as easy as you think. We are ready for goats now with the sliding door all fixed and the pens closed in. I will be using large plastic dog crates for the kids to snuggle into in case we get a cold snap and have a heat lamp - that I don't (hopefully) think I will need to use if the weather gets really bad. I've used the crates to keep newborns warm in negative 12 degree weather and it works wonders. It allows the kids to harden off by playing out in the cold barn when they feel like it but still have a warm spot for a nap. They catch on to seeking warmth in the crate instinctively.

Making a home

Today, Easter (Happy Easter!) we finally have a day without rain and snow (it snowed yesterday). So the big shed is going to be cleaned out by the end of the day and Val will know what he needs to do to make it a safe place for little goats to live. The shed is a simple three sided run in facing south that I modified to house my goats two years ago. I built a wall between the open side and the closed side. It has a sliding door that you sometimes find on old barns (really good because it opens even when there is snow on one side and high bedding on the other). The shed is younger than ten years so the door probably came from a much older barn. The goats will live in the closed in area which measures 16 by 8 feet. I need to close the area around the sliding door somehow to prevent little kids from slipping out--there is a space of a few inches which the babies used to escape in the past. I may have to make the shed slightly smaller and put a gate inside that keeps them away from the door.

They can't be out in the pen at night or when I'm gone while they are small because I had two babies get out and one was killed by a neighbor's dog while I was away before. I don't want a repeat of that episode. My solution was to use the smaller shed for the babies after that with it's little covered pen, but it's too rotten to save. So, today (the first day without rain this whole vacation) we will work on the shed. Which has been used to store junk for the past two years! Val told me that I can pick up the goats this Saturday. The pen will be woven wire and one strand of electric.

Getting Ready

We've been getting ready for the babies to come home here on the farm...now that the snow has finally gone. Goats need a shelter that is draft free and that protects them from the rain so I thought I would get the 8 x 10 kidding shed that I used two years ago. It would keep them safe from any predators (it has real doors unlike the other shed which has a hanging door that slides into place--leaving gaps big enough for little kids or worse, coyotes).

I knew that some of the tin had been blown up during a big storm and that the roof would need work one way or the other but what I didn't know is that the wooden floor had rotted and when we pulled it up we found that the braces under the floor were rotten too! The walls are flapping with no sill. This brought the question "do we repair the roof or start over?" It's disappointing beyond words but we decided that we need to start over and build a new kid shed.

Now I will need to make the second shed (20 x 16) ready to house goats. It works well for big goats but it's no good for kids. I've created a plan to make it secure and snug but I still have to leave a large part for the two horses (Belgian draft and welsh pony). At least the floor is dirt. I need to separate the does from the buck and wether...the kid shed had two stalls while the other shed is open to the elements on one side. The horse side.

I am very impatient to have the goats come home. The breeder is putting them on milk replacer this week, so why not? We will figure something out, fix the fence and get a shelter up, even if it's just temporary. The buck won't be able to breed until he's at least two months old so a temporary fix should be safe for now. I will post what we come up with soon!

My first Goats

This guy is Cossayun Starlight Prince, sire of the two does.


The goats for my new herd were born this week at Sweet Spring Farm in New York. I want to toss everything and drive 3 and a half hours to Argyle New York and hold them while they are tiny babies but that probably won't happen. I still have a lot to do to get my barn ready for the goats and the weather is not cooperating. My fence is in need of re-stretching but it's frozen in ice and can't be moved until it thaws. Temperatures have been below freezing and more snow is on the way so I will have to wait. The kids aren't due to be picked up until they are three months old anyway but I am really eager because I've waited almost a year already.

A year ago I found Capri-suds maker of goat-milk soap, on the inter-net. Dot is raising beautiful, purebred Nubians less than three hours away. I contacted Dottie and asked if she had anything left in the way of kids and she didn't. I waited until February to contact her again and she didn't have any kids that weren't spoken for but she told me about Sweet Spring Farm...which isn't much further. Sweet Spring is continuing to breed beautiful Nubian goats from Dottie's bloodlines. Jeff at Sweet Spring sent me a breeding chart and I chose my kids based on milking stars (since he doesn't have pictures of them).

The kids I reserved are a doe from Capri-Dot's SYM Lily-of-Song and Cossayuna CG Starlight Prince. They threw a single doe who is brown with white spots born around the 20th of March. Next came a pair of bucks from Cossayuna Claire-de-Luanne and *B Capri-Dot's Cherished Infinity (Finn), which I get to choose from. I'm excited about this buck because both sides of the breeding have grand-dams's that earned stars.

Here are the two bucks, one standing and the one laying down who looks just like his dad.




Here is Finn as a baby: as you can see, the apple didn't fall far from the tree!



Here is Finn at about a year?? What a good looking buck!


Finally, yesterday another doe was born from Cossayuna PP Kalamata Olivia--who is expected to earn her star (third generation star). Her doe is a beautiful little thing, black with white ears and a mark on her head that looks like the yin-yang symbol. Here she is with her brother (he's the one with all the spots).


So, as you can imagine, I am itching to have these babies come home but I know the start they get with Jeff at Sweet Springs Farm will be invaluable to their future.

History

Here I am at the very start of my new dairy goat herd. Dairy goats aren't new for me...I've had four stabs at it in the past. The first time I ever saw a Nubian goat, I had gone over to my neighbors for some reason and she was standing in the yard with these adorable, frisky, floppy-eared....things. I had no clue what they were...not sheep, not like the goats I was familiar with. I had to ask "This may be a dumb question, but, what are those?" I was instantly hooked. I had my very own pregnant doe and wether within a month. I had a very knowledgeable mentor who took me through goat health basics, milking, CAE prevention, hoof trimming and all those questions new animals bring. This was 1996 so, even though the inter-net existed it was bulletin boards. Most of what I learned I found in books which told me how to make cheese and soap.

Since then, I've had La Manchas, Nubians, Alpine and Oberhasli...all wonderful goats, but each one different. I decided this past fall that I wanted to have Nubian goats again and started looking around. I want to have registered goats so I know what they are (I've had an "I think it's a Nubian" before). I contacted several breeders but they all sold their kids un-weaned and without a milking doe that would be unwise. Dorothy at Capri Suds told me to contact Sweet Spring Farm in Argyle, New York and they told me that they sell their kids after weaning and even have enough genetic diversity to sell a starter herd to me.

So, now I'm waiting for kids to be born on this farm I've never seen, three and a half hours away by car. I am certain it will be worth the trouble and anticipation to do it right this time. With my mistakes, I have the right set of experiences to draw from.

What you will find here : My experiences as a goat keeper, Soap and Cheese Recipes or just good things to do when you are drowning in milk. I don't know the laws governing the sale of cheese and milk so I will be finding that out and posting it here. Please come by when you get a chance and comment if you have input or questions.