# Changes



## Sweetened (Sep 10, 2015)

A lot has happened in the past few months, the biggest of which was the birth of our little girl.  As much as I tried to bring myself to get our of goats, I havent been able to; there is something about them. With that said, however, we are regearing.

Much to the surprise of my hubby and those who know me, Gladyd and Flora leave to their new home once Sven breeds them, and then he will be nutted. I am getting into Nigerian Dwarfs, starting with unregistered stock (all from registered lineage). They are bred to a registered 5mo old Pholia and Rosasharn buck, as he escaped to sow his wild oats. It will put some gorgeous milk in these already great producers. They come frpm a dispersal of a local cheesery as she is closing down the business. I will start importing from registered lines next season if I enjoy the breed. Here are the girls we are getting.

'Poplar', twins every year



 

'Lavender', trips and quads -- was told she will reject the one or two biggest, so we are planning for bottles. We also get her doeling from this year, featured beside her in the picture.


 

'Doeling 1' will be a ff, the one with more white on the face. Was a triplet.


 

'Buckling' will be ready to go next year. One on the right.


 


We still have Edith, the only survivor from the triplets. She is stunted, but has started growing well in the past month or so. Will not be brrd this year -- we will see if she survives the winter.


 

Fern is thriving. Bred today to the buck pictured with her; that buck is now headed for either the meat market or a new home. He is Nubian x Alpine.


 

I miss all of you.


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## Hens and Roos (Sep 10, 2015)

Hi nice to hear from you!  Congrats on the birth of your daughter


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## Sweetened (Sep 10, 2015)

Thanks, lovely.


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## BlessedWithGoats (Sep 10, 2015)

Congrats on the birth of your daughter Sweetened! Hope u both are doing well! Cute goats!


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## Goat Whisperer (Sep 10, 2015)

So glad to see you back on BYH!!! 

Congrats on the lil Nigis! They are adorable! What are you going to do when kidding comes around? With your temps you may need to pull all the kids  My ND's are due in January, I'm so excited! 
I'm hoping for does.I really want to keep a few from my best doe "Ruth". She is such a nice doe. I had a list a mile long for does last year......of course she gave me a single buck as a FF  

Hope you and Little one are doing well!


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## Sweetened (Sep 10, 2015)

Thankyou. We are both doing well, she is 7 weeks tomorrow.




 


 

They will be due somewhere between December and February. We will set up a couple warm boxes (totes with an entrance wide enough for babies) with heat lamps for the first few days, and then will remove the lamps. The lady im buying from kids feb/march like i do. Hoping for a couple doelings out of the spill, we will see how it goes!

Good luck to you


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## Goatgirl47 (Sep 10, 2015)

Oh she is so adorable!  How blessed you are to have a little baby. My youngest brother and sister are four now. They are definitely not babies anymore!

Your goats are all beautiful too.


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## norseofcourse (Sep 10, 2015)

Congratulations on your new daughter - so adorable!   

And welcome back, glad to see you!  I wish you all the best with your new plans and new goats.  They sure are cute.


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## OneFineAcre (Sep 10, 2015)

Congrats on the new baby
She's beautiful 
Good luck with the Nigerians


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## Sweetened (Sep 10, 2015)

Thanks everyone.


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## BlessedWithGoats (Sep 10, 2015)

Aww, your daughter's so cute! Glad u are both doing well!


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## BlessedWithGoats (Sep 10, 2015)

Aww, your daughter's so cute! Glad u are both doing well!


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## Latestarter (Sep 11, 2015)

X3  Glad to hear from you and you've been missed. Congrats on a beautiful daughter! Very glad that you didn't throw in the towel after all. Hope to see you here again, though I know your life has/will become even more busy now.


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## babsbag (Sep 11, 2015)

The goats are cute but that baby is much cuter.   No babies around here for 28 years so I just look at yours and dream about grandkids. She is just adorable. So glad that you are doing well.


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## Fullhousefarm (Sep 11, 2015)

Congraulations! How blessed she will be to be able to grow up on a farm with goats.

Suggestion: Get a woven wrap or really nice carrier that you can put on your back. Don't go cheap! Best thing ever for getting anything done outside with a baby.


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## samssimonsays (Sep 11, 2015)

Congratulations on the new baby! She is absolutely adorable. 

Many good wishes for you with the addition of the Nigis.


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## Sweetened (Sep 11, 2015)

Fullhousefarm said:


> Suggestion: Get a woven wrap or really nice carrier that you can put on your back. Don't go cheap! Best thing ever for getting anything done outside with a baby.



I got a moby given to me. I love it but at 7 weeks she wont tolerate it without her feet/legs loose and her head free (not tucked in the newborn hug hold). Otherwise screaming and flailing ensues. She also gets SO hot in it.  Two things she has hated since leaving the hospital: being swaddled, she spent enough time balled up!; and being hot, she was born with us both running a huge temp and did a stint in nicu for it.

 But fall is right around the corner, looking forward to figuring out how to take her for walk on days without much wind at 20 below. Hah.


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## Fullhousefarm (Sep 11, 2015)

The Moby is nice when they are tiny- but once they get heavy it will hurt your back. I didn't swaddle any of my babies regularly, but my last two about lived in the Beco and woven wrap. In Florida it's almost always hot. Nothing like mucking stalls and walking goats with 20#s on your back to work off the baby weight!


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## bonbean01 (Sep 12, 2015)

Congratulations!!!!  Your baby girl is so precious and beautiful!!!  Have thought of you and wondered if you'd had your baby yet!  So happy to see your posts when I signed on this morning


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## ragdollcatlady (Sep 19, 2015)

Congrats on the beautiful baby! 

Welcome to the world of nigerians!!!


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## Moody (Sep 22, 2015)

Congrats on the baby girl!

Have fun with the mini goats!


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## sadieml (Oct 18, 2015)

Congratulations on your little girl.  She's gorgeous.  I really loved "wearing" my babies, but it can be hard on your back.  My premie was 21 1/2 " and 8.55 lbs, so I know how quickly they can wear you out.  Now he's 19, 6'5" and weighs about 220lbs.  Time flies.  I'm sure he was a toddler just a  few days ago...
Enjoy every step of your journey, and enjoy all those little goaties, too.  They are lovely.


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## Sweetened (Oct 18, 2015)

Heres an updated picture. I am missing two of the girld I was given for free, they wouldnt cooperate so i will post them soon.

Duke will remain with us for a breeding season. This rugged boy is known for astounding udders. What is his colour considered? Chocolate with white and some roaning?



 


 

Ingrid, formerly known as Poplar. Shes the onky ones whos made friends with me, but she will NOT let me milk her without a fight. Im told she stands well, so I suspect its because we dont have a relationship. She needs to dry up anyway. She has good handles and is smoothe and easy to milk if shed just stop bouncing around! This is "Sundgau', correct? Shes 2 months pregnant and showing already!!



 


 

Earl. A wether that was given to me for free because he and duke are best buddies. This guy is HUGE, I suspect thats why he was nutted as hes the nicer looking boy. Gold.



 

Lavender. Needs a name change. Rowdy one of the bunch, apperently a kicker but great producer.



 

Lavenders daughter. We named her Pearl. If im correct, she and her mother are buckskin.



 

This is Dot. Cant wait for kids off her! Shes beautifuk and dairy bodied. I love her colouring. Is this considered pinto or broken chamoisee?



 

Our little black buckling, Beauregard. Beau for short. He has one white spot, but i love his look!


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## Sweetened (Oct 18, 2015)

Oh gosh! How can I forget this little bug?


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## goatgurl (Oct 18, 2015)

your daughter is just precious!  congratulations on such a beautiful addition to your 'herd'.
nigies?? what made you decide on them?  must say they are really cute.  can't wait till spring to see babies.


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## Sweetened (Oct 18, 2015)

Awh thankyou!

If you recall, i was very uninterested in Nigerians. Around here they are so crossbred with pygmies that they all have a pudgy, fat, grey look with horns that stick straight up. While i truly loved and now miss Flora and Gladys ( and fern and edith ), I needed a change. The big girls were just too big for me right now woth the baby and whatnot. While they were extremely well behaved, they, like children, act up and a small goat acting up is less to deal with.  Southern showed me that nigies are quite lovely.

A lot of the lines up here are a bit stockier than preferred, but they dont look fat, dont look like rolly pollies. A cheesery here is closing down and the lady was selling her stock. I jumped on the opportunity. Lavender, Daisy (not yet pictured), and Ingrid are bred to an escape artist registered buckling out of Rosasharn and Philomena breeding. Regardless of the unregistered status, these girls are all top producers and are considrred some of the best in western canada. After much discussion, of all the registered breeders in canada, theres only 4 or 5 that have heavy producing girls, the rest are more pet quality. These unregisyered girls all have registered lineage and have proven themselves. The deal was sweetened with the usable bick and doe. I ended up with all 9 for 700. Expecting 8-12 kods in january/february and then another crop later in the year from the doelings

I want to kid first timers out a little later and then breed them back for their second kiddings to happen on my February schedule.

Our herd will be large for a couple years, as we will be keeping back replacements from Lavender, Ingrid and daisy (and granny if she pops out a kid surprisingly). I will also keep a buckling or two back from this breeding because I want those lines. Duke will stay with us to breed next year to the older girls and then be sold. We will keep Beau, another little guy coming to us named Simon and then one or two of the rosasharn/philomenas. Depending on food consumption, we will make cuts from there.

Theres also a huge market for these guys here, for pets and milk, over the bigger girls.


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## Hens and Roos (Oct 19, 2015)

Thanks for sharing the pictures, very cool colors!  Your little one is a cutie!


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## Sweetened (Oct 19, 2015)

Awh thankyou


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## Sweetened (Oct 19, 2015)

Awh thankyou


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## goatgurl (Oct 19, 2015)

good reasoning for the littler goats.  will watch and see how things go for you.  good luck


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## BlessedWithGoats (Oct 19, 2015)

Cute baby and cute goats!!


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## Southern by choice (Oct 19, 2015)

Forgot everything I was reading as soon as I saw the baby!
Oh my goodnessssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                  

She is so wonderful... talk about goats later. 

Isn't being a mom just the most wonderful experience you have ever walked through? What is even greater is it is a continuing experience!
I am so happy for you! Glad you are well and so is baby!

Trying to slowly catch up with everyone but going slowly ... 
Going to try and read some of your other posts I am so lost. 

VEry glad you are liking your Nigies!


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## Baymule (Oct 19, 2015)

Sweetened, I am a 60 year old grandma, but I remember my babies. treasure each moment, the vomit in the middle of the night, dirty diapers, potty training and all that goes with it. She will be grown and gone and you will wonder where time went. Take time for the little things. Let the house cleaning go and take the day for a family trip, picnic or other activity. In later years, nobody will remember the great time they had scrubbing the bathtub, but the trip to the zoo, riding the train at the park, will be a stand out memory to be remembered.


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## babsbag (Oct 20, 2015)

Yes, goats are cute...then the baby picture comes along...

I keep hoping my boys will decide to give me grandkids some day but since one doesn't have a girlfriend and the other one and his girlfriend have fresh college degrees and new jobs and are both looking at grad school I think I am tough out of luck for a long long time.

I will just have to get more goats...


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## Sweetened (Oct 20, 2015)

Ahah. Thanks everyone. 

Shes pretty awesome. There are moments when im frustrated, ripping hair out, screaming HULK SMAAAAASH, but those moments are quickly forgotten when she falls asleep at my breast, or when she beams a smile, chit-chats after nursing, cuddles me at night, has a 'first moment' etc.  Quite an experience.  Shes been such a good baby i could be tricked into one more, despite the 26 hours of labor with 3 minutes between contractions the entire time


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## goatgurl (Oct 20, 2015)

never ceases to amaze me how quickly we mamas forget about all the trials and tribulations of pregnancy and labor and delivery when they look up at us with those smiling eyes.  we melt.  they go from nursing and gazing into your eyes to all grown up in two weeks.  enjoy every minute of it Sweetened.


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## norseofcourse (Oct 21, 2015)

Your little girl is adorable


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## sadieml (Oct 21, 2015)

My 2nd child(and stubborn son) tried to be born at 35 weeks.  #1 son came at 36, but since I always stalled and ended up needing pitocin(sp?) to dilate the doc said if I could tolerate the labor his lungs would mature faster during contractions. After 13d 23hr 55min of 5 min apart contractions(what won't we do for those little ones) he came.  One look at that face and the knowledge that he was breathing well and no NICU and it was all worth it.  He is 17 now, and still a treasure.  They really are worth anything we have to go through and sooo much more.  BTW have I told you lately how beautiful your daughter is?


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## Sweetened (Oct 25, 2015)

Awh thanks everyone


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## bonbean01 (Oct 25, 2015)

Was admiring your goat photos.....and then....what I was totally hoping for....a pic of your beautiful daughter 

I am a 61 year old Gramma and my mind still wants another baby...my body...not so much 

Best years of my life will always be raising my babies...along with the tearing my hair out, trying to figure out why toddler's think they can flush just about anything down the toilet, climbing a tree with a rope to swing over to the next tree and forgetting to tie the knot...and a trip to the ER for xrays, etc, etc, etc....yup...best years of my life!!! Enjoy it all


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