Bucks, what's the difference?

I got asked today if a buck was suspicious as to breed because he was so much different from the does the owner had.  The short answer is "no".  Nubian bucks are so different from their female counterparts...larger, coarser, thicker, stinkier and hairier.  They are Nubian goats on steroids...literally. 

The little guy is a six month old and you can see as he stands next to a two year old doe, that he is much hairier...the second picture is Rocky and again even though the grass is still green, he's much hairier with almost a mane of hair towards his withers.

Goat Coats

I went out to my barn yesterday morning and found very un-happy goats lying in a knot.  They weren't eating from the feeder and they didn't get up to greet me.  It was -18 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is a sign that they've gotten too cold and the next step is hypo-thermia and after that, death.

I leave my goats to the cold as much as I can because it stimulates hair growth and makes them hardier.  If you coat them too early or keep them in a heated place there's no way to make them warmer when the real cold hits. It's a progression of measures to deal with the cold.

First we begin giving hot water in the morning and evening.  Next we moved them to a smaller, more air tight barn (the kidding barn), next we put in a heat lamp near the hay feeder but even with all these measures they are critically cold.  It's time for more.

I brought them inside the house so they could get warm and stop shivering.  My rhododendron has put an ad in craigslist that reads "Free to GOOD GOAT FREE home, Beautiful house plant"  While the goats explored, I pulled out the goat coat from last year-- a red coat that had become too grungy to wear with the arms cut off.  I went in search of suitable other garments and found an old hoodie and a sweater.  They all were warmed on the stove and the two new goat coats had their arms cut off.  Over the head and onto the goats they all went.  They may not be fancy, but they do the trick.  I added another heat lamp to the barn for good measure.

This morning, after hitting -20, the goats are all up and eating.  My littlest one has put her back feet through the arm holes and is wearing her sweater on her butt...it's an easy fix.  They aren't happy with the cold but I'm not afraid for their lives!  If it gets any colder I will hit the Goodwill in search of down or thinsulate vests which work even better.  Come on Spring!

Here are the new goat coats.  I figured winter is not done with us yet and went to the thrift store to get wonderful vests for the goats:

Since  vests are out of style you

can find them at any thrift store.

These cost me a whopping $5 each

For warm goat's it's a steal

2014 Breeding

We brought in a new buck this year.  Woodland Gardens Foghorn pictured here with Mirabelle.  He has some of what we are missing in our goats--big bones, level top-line.  On the down-side I think only one of my does settled.  We will see what he added to our bloodlines in early February.

Spring Mtn Nubians

Two years after starting Spring Mtn Nubians here in East Burke, it's time to see where we are...literally.  Here is our herd in pictures:

First, our herd sire, Rocky Top Romeo.  He's out of *B Capri-Dot's Cherished Infinity and he's quite a boy with a lovely personality and  he's never missed...if you know what I mean.  He gets the job done, as you can see.  His babies are pretty consistent: deep bodied, wide with nice high escutcheons.

Next we have Sally...my personal favourite of all times.  She is a sweetie and sooo productive.  I am excited to have a doe out of her that we are keeping.

 

Sally has what I like in a milker.  She maintains her body condition while producing 10 lbs at 2 years old.  She has a quiet, sweet disposition that is just the icing on the cake.  Her daughter looks to be a chip off the old block and her son "Roger Houston" will, hopefully pass those great features on to his young.

Last, but not least, Pims.  Pims has produced twins as a yearling and again this season...twin does this time.  The loud markings on Mocha are exactly like Pims litter mate brother (so we know who is producing the color).

 

Pims kidded in February, surprising me with twin does!

Soon to come...our new herd sire:  Trevins Glory Rusty.

Cheese Making : 30 Minutes Mozarella

Sally and Pims are in full swing production now that there is plenty of green grass in their diets.  With 2 gallons plus of milk per day my fridge runneth over!  I've been experimenting with Cheese making to help use up the milk.  I bought a cheese making kit from New England Cheese Making Supplies

(http://www.cheesemaking.com/)

I could not be happier with the kit.  It includes a recipe book, but I also have the book written by New England Cheese Making Supply Companies founder, Rikki Carroll, "Home cheese Making".  So far I have a farm house cheddar, a gouda and a parmesan aging and I've made Chevre (culture not included in the kit I bought), queso blanco (made with simple ingredients you probably already have) and the 30 minute mozarella from the book. 

I was very sceptical about the 30 minute mozarella.  I thought it would be something that wouldn't be like a "real" mozarella but it's better than real!  It melts to a lovely, stringy pizza topping that my kids gobbled up.  It shreds beautifully into clean, thin, shreds that don't stick together, making topping a pizza very easy.  The flavor is mild and lovely and the goats milk works perfectly for this cheese.  If you have milk, you must try the 30 minute mozzarella recipe..but beware, it may ruin you for store bought forever!

Mustang Sally makes herself over

Mustang Sally is my favorite goat of all times.  She is so good and sweet and never gives me any trouble.  On top of her wonderful personality, she produces lots of milk and has great conformation...she's the whole package. So, I was very disappointed when she aborted in December.  I didn't think she could be bred back before she stopped cycling for the season.  Evidently she had other thoughts.  By March it was obvious that she was, indeed, bred again but I had no clue when to expect babies. 

On May 18 at 8 am when we went out to the barn there was a buck and a doe lying in the straw.  They were still quite goopy and the little doe looked to be minutes old (covered in goop and not yet sitting up).  We took care of business as usual...dipping cords, getting some colostrum and giving mom her bucket of warm molasses water. 

The babies are called Roger Houston and Sharona.  Sharona is the spitting image of her mom so I am thrilled and Houston is the spitting image of his dad with just a little lighter coat.  They are both gorgeous babies and mom is producing like a champ.  After having so many problems with Pims, it is a joy to have Sally make life easy for us.

Lessons in Coccidiosis

My sick doe has recovered and been sick again.  We have decided that she has had two bouts with Coccidia.  Coccidia are a protozoa that can live in the soil and inside your goat's digestive tract.  They are most commonly a problem in baby goats but my farm had no coccidia on it, so my adult goats had never been exposed -- kind of like an adult who gets chicken pox because they never had it as a kid.  The stress of kidding and the increase in feed brought on the first episode and when I moved her to her summer quarters it brought on her second episode.

How did we get it into our herd?  I sent a doe off to be bred and she came back with it.  How do I know this?  Because my doe kidded on the day the bred doe came home and it takes about ten days for the disease to develop.  The bad news is that, now that we have coccidia on our property it will always be here.  The good news is that my doe has made a complete recovery.  Sometimes they don't and can never put on weight or produce well.  She is currently increasing in production and putting on weight!

The treatment I used: sulmet, two tsp in water as a drench for each goat with signs of scours.  Then I used 5 tablespoons to 10 gallons of Sulmet in their drinking water for five days.  My vet says it's important to do the drench right off in case they are so sick that they don't drink the water and to do the five days to catch the protazoa in it's active state...in it's cyst state it is impervious to treatment. Sulmet is very inexpensive and works wonders so I'm keeping it on hand from now on.

Given the prevalence of coccidia...it is everywhere...I am probably lucky to have it on my property because my babies will be exposed to it and won't get sick when they go to their new home...which is likely to have coccidia in the soil.  Who carries the organism?  Dogs, cats, chicken, sheep and even people.  Luckily it only makes animals sick when they are stressed so you know when to look for it.  And have no fear, you can't catch it from your goat because it is species specific which means the kind of coccidia you can get will only be carried by other people.