3/28/2019 0 Comments Slush-Mud-Ice-Snow SeasonWe have officially entered mud season. The kids continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Taking pictures is becoming increasingly difficult as they are always on the move or trying to get into my lap! These doelings are too beautiful, I am so pleased with them! And Debutante continues to grow, east to west. She has about another week before she'll be due to kid. Lots of naps, apple bark and scratches fill her days. I am not sure if it is just her pregnancy personality change or that she is adapting to us, but she seeks us out for attention in her sweet Guernsey way; quite the contrast to the sassy goat I brought home last summer! We'll see how she is after having her kids! Deb is typically very tolerant of all the doelings scampering around...except for when she's reminding them of herd rules! Our little Ruth is finally showing that baby bump, and developing quite the first freshener udder. She has another month to go before kidding. All the doelings love Ruthie and hang out with her when their mamas are on the milk stand. It's a rainy one today so we're really in for some mud. It's a good day to relax and chew your hay inside.
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3/22/2019 0 Comments PipitMeet Pipit, the cutiest, smoochy faced doeling on the homestead! Pipit (we call her "Pipi") joins the one week old crew today. She has a tender little soul, and cautious instinct with all the beautiful bounciness a baby goat should have! It's a good thing she's going to a fantastic home with Gold Finch, or I'd be super tempted to keep her for our own herd. I have been really pleased with the conformation of all our doelings born this spring and Pipi is no exception. Her correct chest, hips, legs and level topline are really exciting to see and she is growing like a champ with Olive's awesome milk supply. She gained close to one pound her first 48 hours and is now 8.25lbs. Her smaller stature and super soft coat make her absolutely irresistible. As a first freshener, Olive was a bit of a distracted caretaker and would wander off without her babies, even jumping fences into the other pastures. I guess it was okay since Grandma Delta stepped right in to watch the babies and even nursing them! But this year, Olive has really taken to her doeling and is quite the dutiful, patient mama. Phew, it's exhausting being the cutiest doeling on the homestead!
3/21/2019 0 Comments GoldFinchTwo weeks old today! This little lady has such a great personality! She is social with people and the other goats and has such a sweet, curious spirit. She is the first to say hello and loves to sit in your lap. Finchy takes her job seriously to teach the younger doelings all about kid life. Finch and her Mama Ivy have a sweet, and fun, bond. They nuzzle each other and play together often! Despite our best efforts of many hair dryer sessions, vaseline, and balm applications, the tips of GoldFinch's ears succumbed to frostbite. We found that her diligent mama kept cleaning the balms off the ears and often dribbled water on her doeling's head and ears after taking a drink! N0w we apply healing balm to the tips 2x a day, Ivy doesn't lick it off and Finchy has a sweet little floppy eared look while they heal. I've been told the ears will most likely stand up again when they are healed! The good news is that it doesn't slow her down one bit! She is growing great, weighing in at 14lbs. It's all of Mama Ivy's delicious milk!
3/21/2019 0 Comments Delta's Doelings UpdateA week old already, they grow so fast! The snow is receding and the sun is feeling brighter and warmer each day. The doelings spend most of their days outside learning the ropes of the herd, sniffing each other out, napping in the sun and climbing the snow-ice mountains. These girls have already hit 9 and 10lbs, gaining about 3lbs in a week! Delta is a pretty protective mom and doesn't typically let her kids play with the other kids and mamas. I think the only exception is when we are giving her a nice shoulder massage she'll tolerate her kids' mingling! Then, and when she's on the milk stand her doelings love bouncing around with all the other doelings and following Ruth around. Ivy is the Mama most interested in knowing all the littles. She takes every chance she can to get to know them! They certainly get all the perks of being daughters of the herd queen, choice, sunny napping spots are all theirs! The doelings' future people came to visit them today and I am pretty sure the doelings loved them as much as their folks loved them! There was lots of cuddling, picture taking, sun napping and showing off their bouncy moves.
Phew, it's tiring being this cute! 3/15/2019 0 Comments She's a Feisty One!Well, that didn't take long! As I walked into the goat house to give the ladies breakfast, there was Olive cleaning off this sweet little 6lb doeling! In a matter of moments she was up and looking for the milk! Great little legs and a voice on this one, I love a vigorous kid! We were a little surprised Olive only kidded one as she had twins last year as a first freshener, but health is always first and she loves her little one. This doeling has been reserved and will travel to her new home in May with Ivy's doeling, GoldFinch!
We'll have a few weeks break with the kidding and lambing. We have 2 does and 1 ewe left to birth. So far all ewe lambs and doelings! 3/14/2019 0 Comments Delta Kids 2 Doelings!Today has brought a few more bundles of joy to the homestead. At chore time Delta had to pause to jump on the milk stand for her breakfast and we noticed that her milk had come in something serious. After her breakfast her routine is to push all the other does outside so she can assess the day's hay selection, but instead she casually walked around, went outside and then back into the barn with her backside facing the corner. We went in for breakfast, came back out to check on her and she had one doeling birthed and was dutifully cleaning and talking to her. The next kid came along shortly but had one front leg back so once Delta had up to the shoulders cleared I gave a little pull and baby came sliding right out. Both were born feisty and ready to find the milk. Doeling #2 was so ready to eat she didn't wait for her back legs to cooperate! Delta is a diligent and patient mama. These doelings were good sized at 6.75 and 7.5 lbs. Today both are hopping around, nursing vigorously and snuggling with Mama. Delta's doelings have been reserved and will travel to their new home together in May. We have 3 more does left to kid. Olive doesn't look too far off and tomorrow will be day 153....
3/10/2019 0 Comments Buttercup's LambsSaturday morning Buttercup lambed with 2 ewes! She labored for about an hour, I went inside to fetch my mug of tea and she had the white one half-way out! Shortly after, the twin presented herself back legs first. That didn't slow Buttercup down as she cleaned and talked to her first baby. I gave a little downward pressure on one of her pushes which seemed to help straighten out the legs, Buttercup laid down and out came number two. Number one was already scooting around! The two weighed in at 8.25 and 10.25lbs respectively. The white one is a little uncoordinated in the back legs but pushes with them with good strength so we're giving her some extra vitamins and this morning she was bouncing around quite well. That milk is here somewhere, I can smell it! All cleaned up, full bellies and ready to nap. Working on their lamb-y hops before bed. I wasn't planning to keep a ewe out of Buttercup this year. She was supposed to give us rams so I didn't have any temptation....but oh, my, these 2 are beauties and it'll be tough to decide!
Well, that's all for new lambs until April when Violet is due. But now we're watching our does closely as Delta and Olive are due to kid this coming week. 3/7/2019 0 Comments Ivy and her Doeling!I had Ivy in the jug all night just in case she kidded. When I checked on her throughout the night....no kids. 6am check, no kids, no laboring, so I let her in to be with everyone else; her and Ruth definitely missed each other! 7am chore time, baby goat and Ivy calling to each other! Ah, I missed the birth, again! Ivy took right to cleaning her baby, and talking to it. After only 30min she was standing nicely for her doeling to nurse. Not bad for a first timer. It was about 8 degrees this morning so we brought them in to the basement after they had some good bonding time so we could blow-dry the doeling and her ears to help prevent frost-bite. I fashioned up a quick little fleece coat for her, too, in Ivy's presence. We also took the opportunity and weighed her: 8.5 lbs! Full belly and all snuggled in and ready for a nap! More on this sweet girl soon!
3/5/2019 0 Comments Maternity Update...If you're not interested in goat bellies and backsides, feel free to look at something cuter, like lambs! One last warning..... Okay, we are expecting 3 does to kid within the next 2 weeks. I think Ivy is going to go first so I am watching her ligaments, udder and behavior closely. Since she is a first timer and younger, I want to make sure she is safely in a jug where the older goats cannot push her around but she can still see her buddy Ruth. Not sure if she's growing one or two, but the suspense is ridiculous! Ivy is always affectionate but she has been especially so this past month, making picture taking an event of distract, dodge, click...sneak, sneak, sneak, click! But I did manage to get a decent one of her udder. Her dam won *Best Udder* in the Guernsey Goat Breeders of America Virtual Show last year. Those looking for a buckling or doeling out of Ivy will be getting some EXCELLENT udder genetics! After Ivy will come Olive and Delta probably within a day of each other next weekend. Both Delta and Olive have excellent, round capacities and grow more deep than out while expecting. Delta.... It's tough getting good pregnancy pictures of Olive cause she's so fluffy! But has the deep body like her Mama Delta, and a beautiful udder! At the end of March or perhaps first week in April, Deb is set to kid. She is such a hardy goat with good strong legs, feet and a thick, healthy coat! I don't typically catch Deb unaware, but boy, I wish you could have heard her pregnant snore while she took an afternoon nap! See that bump up top, babies! And lastly, Ruthie is due at the end of April. Not much to be seen on the outside yet, except a beginning udder and lots of naps! Ruth has excellent conformation and comes from great milk lines, really eager to see what she throws this year and how her udder develops. Even though this post is about the does, here's a picture of Buttercup, due this week, I hope! Check back for updates and lots of pictures as kids (and lambs) arrive!
3/3/2019 0 Comments Sunday Naps and Walk-AboutsThe animals are taking advantage of the calm before tonight's storm. Lots of resting, napping, and little walk-abouts in the sunshine.
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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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