2/27/2020 0 Comments Guernsey Kids!Olive and Delta's kids are growing well and they are learning to navigate the herd with the help of their respective dams. During the day they are in the large loafing area and paddock with all the goats and sheep where there's lots of room to run and play. At night we close up the dams and their kids together in a safe pen. Olive's doeling, Nutmeg, has the cutest floppy ears that somehow developed after her first night (perhaps a super mild case of frosty ears?) and each day they stand up a little more! She is quite the package of spunky, friendly, straight, and well put together Guernsey; plus she's curious and adventurous! The human kids all want to keep her! Her sister, Ginger, is beautifully put together as well but loves to stay near mum and the milk! It has become increasingly difficult to get pictures of these spunky kids as they spend their days running, bopping and bouncing around. So we have to entice them with scratches to hold still! Here's Nutmeg enjoying some rubs while Ginger sleeps. Delta's bucklings enjoy the safety of having a herd queen mother....but it also means no one else can safely play with them without Delta biting ears and tails that come to close to her precious boys! Glen is the heaviest and tallest of the Guernsey kids so far. He has a nice mid gold coat with brown socks and tail. His brother Dale is a bit smaller but with all his nursing and napping, I am sure he'll catch up to his brother in no time. But when it comes to baby goat racing, Dale wins everytime, with Nutmeg close behind! We have another week before more babies are born on the homestead. Iris is due to lamb the first week in March and Debutante is due to kid March 19th! Their baby bellies are looking lovely.
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2/23/2020 0 Comments Delta's DayIt started off calm and ended with quite the bang. After her morning breakfast, Delta took to just standing around and seemingly looking for the right spot to kid in this big new barn. After a few hours I helped her select the freshly cleaned and bedded "kidding suite". Once settled, she promptly began to dig herself some nests. About an hour later, at 11am, she began to push with some regularity. At noon I was bottle feeding our calf, when my kids told me they were starting to see the baby's sac when she pushed. For the next hour she pushed long and hard with very little progress, which is not typical of Delta's past births. When I was able to determine there was no nose or hooves presenting, I popped the sac to reveal a very sideways back and tail. The kid's legs were tucked up under in a twisted breech position. After trying to see if I could gently pull at the legs to get them into position it became apparent that Delta was not going to be able to easily deliver a baby in this position. This was the first time we've had a presentation like this so I had my kids call our neighbor who has a little more goat experience than I for some backup knowledge. But before she could make it, we went ahead with Ben holding Delta steady, I reached in to find both of the kid's legs. I think it was about the 3rd try and coordinating with her push, I was able to pull out baby number one, a good sized, alert, buckling! Delta went right to talking to and cleaning him off. A few minutes later, a hoof appeared....a rear hoof. A quick inspection showed the other foot was hiding. After Delta had 2 good pushes with no progress, I was able to quickly reach in, pull the other leg from under the baby and on her next push I pulled the baby out, another healthy sized buckling, who was already smacking his lips and tongue for the milk! Again, Delta went right to work talking to and cleaning off her second baby while the first was finding his legs and searching for the milk! Meet American Guernsey buckling "Glen".... and American Guernsey buckling "Dale". We now have a little break until the next kids are born and that'll give us lots of time to snuggle the healthy lamb and 4 kids bouncing around the barn!
Check out our facebook page for a little video of these sweet guys and mama Delta, https://www.facebook.com/The-Lower-Homestead-250601325812886/ Contact us if you are interested in one of these bucklings for your herd! 2/22/2020 0 Comments Kidding has begun!Olive kicked off kidding season this morning with two adorable doelings! She began pushing at 9am and had both of them birthed by 9:30. Olive is an excellent mama and we are very pleased with these active, and alert doelings sired by our purebred Guernsey buck, Worth it Farms Joe Cotton. Doeling #1, "Nutmeg", is a dark gold, slightly more petite and quiet, yet vigorous! Doeling #2, "Ginger", is more of a mid-gold, taller, quite the talker, curious and vigorous. Both doelings meet breed standard and will be registered American Guernsey.
Contact us if you are interested in reserving one of these doelings. |
We are the Lowers....a homesteading, homeschooling, family of seven living in central Maine. We aim to be purposeful in what we do each day as we strive to be good stewards of God's gifts. Archives
February 2021
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