# Livinwright Farm's Journal - Our life with goats



## Livinwright Farm (Jun 11, 2011)

Thanks to Elevan(Emily) for bringing this idea to BYH! 

Our little backyard farm started when we brought home 14 chicks, of various breeds, in May of 2010. As time went on, we felt led to start looking for goats.
In September of 2010, we came across a CL ad for 2 Nigerian Dwarf does & 3 Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy cross kids. A 6 hour round trip later, we had 5 goats to start us off.

We acquired 14 more pullets(BRs & EEs) in mid to late winter.

Long story short, there were accidental breedings, resulting in one of the kids(Cali) going through pregnancy, and then her & her buckling dying due to complications during labor.  Maude(one of the adult does) gave birth, a week ago today, to a chamoisee doeling that weighing exactly 5 lbs.  Due to a lack of heats and feeling movement in her kid area, we believe that Momma(second adult doe) is pregnant and due in roughly a month or so.
One month ago we picked up a caramel Nigerian(or Nigerian/Pygmy.. not 100% sure) buck to expand the gene pool. His name is Falkor.  He has no problems being in the barn, but does seem to have an issue with doors/gates.

About 2-3 weeks ago we acquired 14 more hens from church friends.

Today we made a 3 hour round trip to get 2 beautiful little does.   One of them(Minnie) is a pure caramel Pygmy doe with *WATTLES* who has kidded twice before. Once with twins, and once with triplets. Both times with no issues.
The other(Daisy) is a black & white, frosted/agouti(unsure which to call it??) Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy doe who has never been bred. Pictures of both will be added as soon as they are loaded to the computer. 

We are already planning out who will be bred to who.  Do we breed Falkor & Minnie together and get more caramel goats? Do we breed Pup & Daisy to get more black & whites? Or do we breed Marly to Daisy and Pup to Minnie in an attempt to get flashy(interesting pattern & coloration) kids?  Lots to think about!


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 11, 2011)

*Daisy*






*Minnie*


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## elevan (Jun 11, 2011)

I like Minnie!  I think you should breed her to Falkor


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 12, 2011)

We are currently awaiting reply from a goat farm in Swanzey, NH about one of their bucklings that was born this past week(June 8th, just 4 days after Olivia). He is absolutely beautiful! I love his superimposed beamed eighth notes(♫) !!!

His name will be: *HighNote*


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 12, 2011)

HighNote's lineage:
Dam: Proctor Hill farm TassajaraBlu
DD: Indigo Kids Blue Jasmine
DGD: Raven Hill Bambi
DGD(paternal): Fairlea Clio 2*D 'E' AR(pending)
DGGD: Raven Hill Coco Creme
DGGD(paternal): MCH Fairlea Heidi *D E

Sire:  Rosasharn TL Challenger
SD: Rosasharn HB Anora
SGD: Rosasharn's TL Arwen 8*D E AR1809
SGD(paternal): ARMCH Goodwood Water Lilly 2*D VG AR1599
SGGD: ARMCH Rosasharn's Elfin 7*D VG, 1*M 
SGGD(paternal): It'l Do's Chalktaw *D


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 12, 2011)

We have decided to try and find Falkor a suitable home, if none can be found, he will be sent to freezer camp. :/
Today we set up the redezvous between Falkor & Minnie, as Minnie was showing signs of being in heat(mounting Daisy, blubbering, frequent urination). After about an hour Falkor managed to mount(appeared to be successful) her 4 times. Ever since, he has chosen just to sniff her and rub his head on the back of her rear leg. I think this is his way of saying, "my job here is done"   weirdo. 
I am fairly certain that come early November(around the 9th), she will kid his offspring    I am also fairly certain that she will at least have twins, as her FF was twins(haven't gotten the sexes yet) and her SF was triplets(2 girls, 1boy).    triplets again!!


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## elevan (Jun 13, 2011)

Why does Falkor need to go?  Is it because he took an hour to get some successful mounts?  I'm just curious... sometimes our does make it really difficult for the buck to "get a purchase" on them...Lilly likes to run around in circles


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 14, 2011)

No, not anything having to do with his breeding abilities. LOL 

We rehomed him to a woman who has multiple run-ins and 50 acres of land with hiking trails. 
We actually just got a call from her. She let us know, that she let him out into her fenced area with all the connecting gates open. He roamed around finding which run-in he was gonna call home, and staked his claim on one. She also took our Splash Laced Red Rooster, Sour, and Sour is living with Falkor and happily eating all the bugs he can find.   We are very glad to know that they are both going to be living on this farm freely and happily until they die of old age.

OH! And the woman said that if Minnie doesn't settle from their breeding, that she will bring Falkor over for another try.


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## elevan (Jun 14, 2011)

If I lived closer I would have been interested in him...

What the heck am I saying?!?  I've got to many bucks now!  

I'm glad he went to a great home.  I can't wait to see what his and Minnie's kids look like!


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 15, 2011)

We can't wait to see what their kids look like either, and we have started getting Daisy used to her mate, Pup. We are really hoping that what we read about the breeding of black & whites to black & white agouti is accurate. What we read on a couple pages, is that when these are bred to each other, the black becomes dominant. We would love at least one nice primarily black or solid black Pygerian baby with frosted ears! 

We are hoping for multiple girls from at least the Falkor/Minnie breeding... love the caramel girls! Oh, and Minnie has some grey undermarkings on her face & neck(not sure if this is a form of agouti... or what this would be called in the Pygmy world)... so that might make the colorations VERY interesting.


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## elevan (Jun 15, 2011)

The black and/ or gray face masking is often part of the caramel coloration.

I love the way our kids masked out.  Kingston is my avatar but Diva is absolutely gorgeous in the face imo...she looks like she's wearing makeup


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 17, 2011)

Today was a fun day! We started the day by getting the the animals fed... chickens first outside(so they don't eat the goat's feed) then feed the girls(one's in milk first), then the boys. The girls were released to the back paddock, and the boys were put out with the hens & chicks. The search commenced for the morning's first eggs, and then the chase was on to grab hens and put them in the back paddock with the does.
Then it was time to see if there was anything in Minnies round udder. Once I was able to get her properly positioned so I could access her left teat, the calming and sweet talking began. after a few little flicks of her leg, she finally let me get a few good squeezes... on the third squeeze, out squirted some watery milk. This was a bit of a surprise that anything came out... as she is 10 months post kidding, and to my knowledge, her previous owner/breeder had not been milking her. So, ... ... 

At around 2 pm, it started misting, and then our satellite lost it's signal...
After running outside to scare the animals back into the barn, girls first, so they could get into their stalls and get locked in, and then let the boys and chicks in... JUST in time for the downpour to get here the moment I was locking up the barn. 

Tonight when I went to check for eggs, I decided to milk out Minnie. She allowed me to milk out roughly 8.25 oz.  and then decided she had had enough... I think this was a splendid feat, considering we do not have a stanchion yet... and that I had not milked a goat before... excepting the one time at a local fair when I was 17 yrs old.
When I fed everyone their dinners at 8pm(late, I know), Minnie's udder was easily half the size it was prior to my milking her.. I made sure to give her a milking doe's portion of Noble Goat, and gave her a cup of chopped green beans. Tomorrow morning she will start getting her 1/2 cup BOSS per day while in milk. and Hopefully tomorrow night she will also start getting Calf Manna to help give her that extra boost for milk production.

Now it is off to bed, as we have an early rise tomorrow... we have a lot to do before heading out to meet, pay for, and pick up our new Nigerian baby/babies!


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## elevan (Jun 17, 2011)

Considering it was your first time milking (and without a stanchion) and maybe even Minnie's first time milking - I'd say you both did well


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 17, 2011)

Thanks Emily. Humming seemed to help her stay calm... much like humming to a baby.


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## elevan (Jun 17, 2011)

It's so funny that you should say that.  I like to think that I'm becoming quite an animal linguist   Each species has their sounds that mean specific things and making those sounds at appropriate times can be so helpful.  I've noticed that my mama goats will make a sort of hum sound when they talk to their babies in utero...maybe that is why the hum is comforting to her?  idk...but it's an interesting topic.  My family thinks I'm nuts and even with the new turkeys I'm learning so much...turkeys do not just make a gobble gobble sound...they have a much broader vocabulary


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 17, 2011)

yup! and how chicks have that little trilling that they do, I notice the chorus of chicks at night when I shut the barn light off... like they are making sure everyone is safe, and lulling each other to sleep... it is SO cute!


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## elevan (Jun 18, 2011)

And when the chickens find a worm they go.."bup bup bup" and the others come running.  So, if I spot a worm I say, "bup bup bup" and all the girls come running...although it's usually Miss Flufferbottom that gets it!


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 19, 2011)

We have decided as a family, that it would be much better for Maude, if we rehomed her with someone who doesn't desire to milk her, and will let her raise babies as wild as they want to be.  Hopefully she will be rehomed by the end of the day.  We will miss her, but will be able to visit her. The woman we contacted first(Falkor's new owner), might even be interested in taking Marly & Pup also.

*ETA: * _The woman is buying Maude & Pup! Marly may have a new home also... may not. If anyone wants a nice heavily broken chamoise Nigerian Dwarf/Pygmy buckling(almost a yr old) that throws GORGEOUS chamoisee kids(evidence pictured below) as a buck for breeding to First Freshener standard sized dairy breeds, Please PM me for details. His Mom, as you can see from the pic below, has a decent udder for a second freshening._


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## elevan (Jun 19, 2011)

Sounds like your sort of starting your herd over.


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 19, 2011)

Pretty much... Now that we know what we want our herd to be(milkers & friendly). We are keeping Momma, as she has a beautiful temperment and produces VERY cute & friendly/cuddly kids, plus, there is a very good chance that we will be able to train her for milking.

Maude & Pup are now with Falkor at their new home.  :/ Leaving was hard for all of us(people & goaties alike).  Pup was screaming at us not to leave him... and Maude knows that we are her only way back to Olivia.... needless to say, it was a bit heart wrenching.  Pup was kind enough to leave us with a parting present...his pee on the backseat. 

We finally came up with names for the 2 little black kids that we got along with HighNote yesterday. The girl is named Sheba, and the boy(being wethered ASAP), is named Jack(as in BlackJack).


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 27, 2011)

The pedigree links are up on our website for RMFarm CHAL HighNote(will be registered once we are sent the "missing" paperwork) and RMFarm MBE Sheba(not registered). Check them out! 
RMFarm CHAL HighNote 
RMFarm MBE Sheba (same pedigree for our buckling/her brother RMFarm MBE BlackJack)


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 29, 2011)

Today was a rough day.

Woke up late, had coffee and checked my Facebook, BYH, and our website while the kids' bottles heated up.  Before heading out with the bottles, we let our 3 dogs out of their crate to go outside.
Our chihuahua, Scooter, would normally run out of the crate growling and barking all the way to the back door. This morning however, he stayed in the crate until both the other dogs were well out of the crate and then slowly walked out making no sound. We let them out and he carefully lifted a leg, peed faster than he ever has before, and brought his leg back down and slowly came back inside.  He would also normally jump up on the couch and hop around trying to make you pet him.... today he did not. My mom picked him up and set him on the couch, and he let out a shriek. He just laid on the couch with a look on his face of "what is happening to me?!". We decided that after feeding the kids we would take him to the vet. We called the vet who is going to be our primary care for the goats(potentially the dogs too), but they were double booked and had an emergency to deal with also. So we fed the kids, carefully picked Scooter up, got in the truck and headed for the closest domestic vet. They too were extremely busy, but scheduled us in for 3:50pm. We had lunch, and went back in. The vet asked us what we had observed, watched him walking around, felt Scooter's hips and up his spine, and then mentioned that he would like to take an X-Ray of Scooter's back. The reason, "Dogs don't shriek/scream unless they are in serious pain, that combined with when Scooter had shrieked in conjunction of where/how he was picked up, it was more than likely a back issue".
Well he came back rather quickly with the X-Ray photo... and here it is:






*Diagnosis: Slipped or worn out cartilage between the 1st & 2nd vertebrae just after the ribcage. This problem will never go away on it's own  Technically we have 4 options, but having Scooter live with paralyzation from the ribcage back is really not an option, So...
1) Spinal surgery through the Portland, ME Veterinary Neurologist - $2000+
2) Wait for the day when he becomes paralyzed from the ribcage back and go in for emergency spinal surgery
3) Have him go through Class IV Laser Therapy - 6 sessions for $210(assuming this is in addition to an office visit fee, but who knows)

The vet gave him Cortizone & Tramadol (like morphine, only non-addictive) to reduce swelling & alleviate his pain while we decide which route we want to go for him. *


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## elevan (Jun 29, 2011)

Ah, poor Scooter.


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## ksalvagno (Jun 29, 2011)

Sorry about that. We have a Rat Terrier mix that has neck problems. She is on 3 drugs when her neck acts up. Rimadyl is one, can't remember the other 2 at the moment. So far they are working. Our other option is to take her to a specialist but we are trying this route first. We really can't put tons of money into an older dog.


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 29, 2011)

Oh, the bottle feeding is going better now. Today's bottle feeding totals:
High Note- Morning: 12 ounces / Evening: 2 ounces(  wonder what's wrong with him?  )
Olivia- Morning: 12 ounces / Evening: 11.75 ounces
Sheba- Morning: 8 ounces (  ) / Evening: 8 ounces (     )
Jack- Morning: 8 ounces celebrate ) / Evening: 7.75 ounces celebrate    )


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 2, 2011)

Weighed the kids today. 
HighNote= 9.8lbs @ 3 weeks 4 days old
Olivia= 11.2lbs @ 4 weeks old
Jack= 11.2lbs @ roughly 6 weeks old
Sheba= 9.6lbs @ roughly 6 weeks old


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 5, 2011)

Daisy will be taken to Pup tomorrow morning for another try at being bred by Pup.  Not sure what recessive colors might pop up from these two(Pups dam is Momma(white & brown, unsure what his sire looks like)... but definitely curious to see what colors/patterns they create. 






Also, it appears that the breeding of Minne to Falkor was successful   For those who don't know what this pair looks like:


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 7, 2011)

Well, Jessica with Healthy Herds in NH is coming to draw blood samples for CAE, CL, and Johnes on the 20th... if she can fit us in with all the other farms she is going to visit. 

She is offering a discounted price($32.05/goat to test for CAE, CL,  and Johnes, which includes the blood draw fee) because she gets a discounted price for sending in a mass shipment of samples.  Much cheaper than running tests through the vet!


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 7, 2011)

Going to see a lady about trading Marly + $75 for 3 Pygmy does on Sunday!!      One of the does is 2 yrs old, the other two are her daughters and are 10-11 months old!!  So exciting!!!   We may end up taking all three, picking our favorite 2 and letting the woman who took Falkor and bought Pup & Maude have the 3rd doe... MAYBE!  Sunday can't come soon enough, IMO.


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 13, 2011)

Turns out the 3 does we went to look at, had been dehorned. :/ Bummer.

On Monday we brought Jack to our new primary care vet, and brought HighNote along for a check-up.  The Vet confirmed that Jack had pneumonia  oh joy. She gave him a shot of Vitamin B, and gave us a pouch of "Critical Care" and instructed us to tube feed it to him and continue giving him the PenG Procaine we started on him Sunday night. From the vet, we started looking all over for a feeding tube, or a rubber tube small enough to work as a feeding tube... no luck.  We got not even half way back home, and our beloved little Jack passed away. I know the exact moment he died(forever etched into my mind)... he had been crying intermittently the whole trip... then he started bleating over and over, starting off loud and fading to nothing... at his last soft and barely existent bleat, my heart sank. We pulled into the animal hospital that was on our way home and discovered for sure that he was gone. We removed him from the crate(so HighNote could not lick him) and put him respectfully into the bag provided by said animal hospital.

That night we heard Sheba & Olivia hacking. We weren't sure if it was just cud hack or not, so we let it go the night. Come morning we discovered that they were still coughing, so we called the vet. They put a 2 oz bottle of SMZ-TMP aside for us to go down and pick up to treat the 3 remaining kids for cocci. They got their first dose(obviously doubled up) of it last night.  We picked up some Red Cell today and will give them their first dose tonight.

Momma apparently was faking us out yesterday, her ligs have firmed back up... She has to go into labor within the week though, as her udder is getting full and pink and her back end is swelling.

We gave Minnie & Daisy their doses of Ivomec 1% Ivermectin after bringing them down to the local humane society to get an accurate weight on them. Minnie(pure pygmy) is 62.8 lbs, Daisy(NigerianXPygmy) is 58.6 lbs.


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## elevan (Jul 13, 2011)

Really sorry about Jack.


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 14, 2011)

us too  thanks for the


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## jodief100 (Jul 14, 2011)




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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 14, 2011)

thanks jodief100


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 14, 2011)

It appears that the vet was right, it is cocci in the kids... cause the SMZ-TMP appears to be clearing everything up(including HighNote's scours). 
So as to not create a potential conflict in medications, we removed Purina Noble Goat from their feed ration for the time being. Now they are being fed Dumor Pelleted goat feed and Calf Manna.

Now Minnie doesn't seem right. I wormed her yesterday, she isn't coughing... doesn't appear to be scouring, but she doesn't appear to have an appetite either... going to give her some Red Cell also... hoping she gets back to her happy pushy-towards-Daisy self.  She won't even come running for corn husks & veggie scraps... very odd.


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## elevan (Jul 14, 2011)

The Noble Goat will help you keep the load down and hinder it's return so you might want to add it back after the medicine course is done...

I would give Minnie Red Cell, Vit B and some Probios...I'm guessing you dewormed with Ivomec?  You might get a fecal on her too, just to make sure you're not dealing with tapeworms or any of the other worms that aren't killed by ivermectin.

Glad the kids are feeling better


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 14, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> The Noble Goat will help you keep the load down and hinder it's return so you might want to add it back after the medicine course is done...
> 
> I would give Minnie Red Cell, Vit B and some Probios...I'm guessing you dewormed with Ivomec?  You might get a fecal on her too, just to make sure you're not dealing with tapeworms or any of the other worms that aren't killed by ivermectin.
> 
> Glad the kids are feeling better


We will be adding the Noble Goat back in, but not for another 5 days.  Want to give a couple days between medicines.

We gave Minnie her first dose of Red Cell, don't have the Vit B yet, and Probiotic powder is a once per week for our does   She seems a bit dehydrated, doesn't appear to be anemic(eyelids are nice and deep pink), and went to poop earlier, but nothing came out(little hard to run a fecal without the fecal matter :/ )... Looks like I will be drenching her with some nice warm electrolyte mix! 

Like the title says... fun times


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## elevan (Jul 14, 2011)

You can obtain a fecal sample by putting on a rubber glove and sticking your pinkie in to retrieve what you need  

  but it works.

Yep, fun times


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## Livinwright Farm (Jul 20, 2011)

See our Facebook  page for updates...


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## Livinwright Farm (Aug 3, 2011)

Some of you know already, thanks to your liking of our facebook page and staying updated there, but we are posting here for those of you who are not on Facebook.

Momma gave birth on July 20, 2011 to two bucklings(pictured below)

*Reuben*






*Benjamin*





Pictures of them now:










Here is a picture of our growing little herd sire HighNote:


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## ksalvagno (Aug 3, 2011)

Cute little guys! Congratulations!


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## elevan (Aug 3, 2011)

Cute!

Welcome back


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## Ms. Research (Aug 3, 2011)

So glad to see things turn around for you.  The babies are so cute.  And love the colors on HighNote!


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## kstaven (Sep 17, 2011)

For some reason Benjamin looks like he is just full of himself.


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 29, 2011)

kstaven said:
			
		

> For some reason Benjamin looks like he is just full of himself.


LOL, I SO know what you mean, but really he is just the opposite. He is the lowest on the totem pole. The others don't beat him up, but for a while he was the object of HighNote's.... practice. :/  Poor little guy... why do growing herd sires have to be so gross? 

Well, we recently picked up two girls who are AGS registration pending that will be our real income makers in years to come.

First is *Strawbale Farm's Pearl* - the gray roan smart alec - 






Second is *Strawbale Farm's Onyx* - The black & white Miss "I have to be like by smart alec half sister"


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## elevan (Sep 29, 2011)

They are very cute.  Congratulations.


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## redtailgal (Sep 29, 2011)

That little onyz is awful cute (even if her ears stick up)


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 29, 2011)

redtailgal said:
			
		

> That little onyz is awful cute (even if her ears stick up)


Thanks  ....wait a minute, "even if her ears stick up" ? They are Nigerians, their ears are supposed to stick up


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 29, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> They are very cute.  Congratulations.


Thanks. The little black on has a brown spot on both of her back legs... not sure if they qualify for moonspots yet or not... I need to check her skin to see if there is a difference in color there or not, if so..  , if not.. oh well.


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 29, 2011)

Oh, I will have to get them on leads and take some good "show" pictures, but their lines look really good, their teats are perfect(no spurs/scurs), and their hipbones are looking great(so far) for ease of kidding... but time will tell. I like what I have seen pedigree wise, and their dams' have decent capacious udders with large, reportedly easy to milk, teats.


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 9, 2011)

Well, a lot has been happening at our farm over the last week. We built, stained, roofed(see though), and put up shakes on the new hen house barn expansion, we had our first scheduled homeschooler field trip to our farm, the hens appear to be coming out of molt(4 eggs in the last 3 days), lots of new customers, and have a couple breeding opportunities for our bucks, one with a blue eyed b&w pygmy doe(   for at least 1 blue eyed doeling!!!), and the other is an unknown.


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## elevan (Oct 10, 2011)




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## Ms. Research (Oct 10, 2011)

Livinwright Farm said:
			
		

> Well, a lot has been happening at our farm over the last week. We built, stained, roofed(see though), and put up shakes on the new hen house barn expansion, we had our first scheduled homeschooler field trip to our farm, the hens appear to be coming out of molt(4 eggs in the last 3 days), lots of new customers, and have a couple breeding opportunities for our bucks, one with a blue eyed b&w pygmy doe(   for at least 1 blue eyed doeling!!!), and the other is an unknown.


Love the fact that you open up your farm to the homeschoolers.  You would be amazed.  Every one of those children now have another opened door for success and future advancements.  As a homeschooler mom, people like you help us educate our children.  For a successful future.  You should be commended.


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## 77Herford (Oct 10, 2011)




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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 12, 2011)

Ms. Research said:
			
		

> Livinwright Farm said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Aww, thanks  


We have been going over costs, and trying to think of a reasonable fee that would cover teaching kids how to make riccotta and then sending them home with what they have made. Once we are able to get ahold of some rennet, we would be able to teach them how to make other cheeses, like mozzerella.
We love having kids around(human as well as goatie)


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## PattySh (Oct 12, 2011)

Just to caution you, in VT is is illegal to have raw cheese classes and VT is pro raw milk sales (when animals are tested). It is illegal to have anyone use milk from animals that haven't been health tested. Check your local laws before you make cheese with kids, terrible world we live in that we can't teach people how to eat naturally legally.


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## Ms. Research (Oct 13, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> Just to caution you, in VT is is illegal to have raw cheese classes and VT is pro raw milk sales (when animals are tested). It is illegal to have anyone use milk from animals that haven't been health tested. Check your local laws before you make cheese with kids, terrible world we live in that we can't teach people how to eat naturally legally.


Sad but true.  Shame that's Government at work.  Along with the School System.  See, their intentions are only to make you and me totally reliable on Government.  

Please check the laws Livinwright.  Don't take the chance.  They can make life miserable for you.  For something that you only want to help educate.  Shame.  All this knowledge going to waste.


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 13, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> Just to caution you, in VT is is illegal to have raw cheese classes and VT is pro raw milk sales (when animals are tested). It is illegal to have anyone use milk from animals that haven't been health tested. Check your local laws before you make cheese with kids, terrible world we live in that we can't teach people how to eat naturally legally.


Oh, I know NH's raw milk/cheese laws! I made sure to reseach that when we first had a doe come into milk!  

We are complete okay to do it 
Also we can sell up to 19 quarts of raw milk per day without having to under go ANY inspection or get a permit  NH is awesome! I don't recall reading anything about having to test animals, but we test anyways! July 2011 certified NEGATIVE fo CL, CAE, and Johnes!

Edited To Add: Y'all need to move to NH, and bring a couple goat knowledgable veterinarians with you!


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 15, 2011)

Over the past week, I have been watching a friend's farm... I can't believe I forgot to post this picture here!

How many of you have ever seen this happen? I honestly can't think of HOW it could have happened!
Silly goat!





Very happy that it wasn't the buck! That bucket would have been disgusting


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## 77Herford (Oct 15, 2011)

Truthfully never seen that one before.  I've seen Dogs get in to all kinds of openings not able to get through but your Goat is a first,


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## Ms. Research (Oct 15, 2011)

Too funny!  I've been staring at this picture too trying to figure out how she did this.  

I can say, after seeing this, it's definitely never boring when around animals.  

Thanks for sharing that.


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## MrsDieselEngineer (Oct 15, 2011)

Of course all the interesting happenings are when I'm out of town for a week!  I'm just glad she's okay   And I'd still like to know HOW she got herself into that bucket......


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## 77Herford (Oct 15, 2011)

MrsDieselEngineer said:
			
		

> Of course all the interesting happenings are when I'm out of town for a week!  I'm just glad she's okay   And I'd still like to know HOW she got herself into that bucket......


YOUR ALIVE


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 15, 2011)

77Herford said:
			
		

> MrsDieselEngineer said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


      back on solid ground!!!   Glad you are back, safe and sound


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## redtailgal (Oct 15, 2011)

geesh, lets all pray that my lil snots dont see this picture............


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## daisychick (Oct 15, 2011)

So inquiring minds want to know, how difficult was it to remove the bucket???


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## elevan (Oct 15, 2011)

Now, I could see my calf doing something stupid like that.  He's the one that finds all kinds of trouble  

RTG...your goats don't need ideas, they are weird enough.  

LWF - How did you get that goat outta the bucket?


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 16, 2011)

Well, she wouldn't just let me get it off her, or catch her for that matter... you know how funny a goat wearing a bucket like that trying to run looks? She looked like a funny moving carousel piece 
I grabbed a buckt and put some feed in it, goat shoved her face in the grain, and then I worked on working the handle down her back(pushing down on her back and trying to lift up and back on the handle), then I worked on getting her legs(one at a time) scrunched up as high as they would go and then into the bucket, then getting the handle past her hips was easy! Just a push on her rump and she stepped out.  The hardest/longest part of it was working the bucket, handle and all, down towards her rump.


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## jodief100 (Oct 17, 2011)

I had one get herself in the bucket like that once.  I was amazed at how fast they can run with a bucket wrapped around them.  I wound up cutting off the handle.


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## redtailgal (Oct 17, 2011)

Have you seen this thread?


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 19, 2011)

redtailgal said:
			
		

> Have you seen this thread?
> 
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/2952_5.jpg


? :/ ?


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## redtailgal (Oct 19, 2011)

um yeah, I'm not sure how i did that.  

I was TRYING to get you to go the LOL barnyard critters page 



http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=14295

ok lets see how I did this time.


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 19, 2011)

Well, we have decided that we are going to cycle breedings so that all our kids will be born in the winter months.
Reasons:
(1) Makes for hardier kids
(2) Kids will be old enough when the cocci months come along, that they should be a lot less susceptible.
(3) Less going on around the farm, so being available when the time comes for kidding won't be an issue.
(4) Kids will be weaned by spring, just in time for going to their new homes.

In cycling breedings we will be having does bred once every other year. Giving does ample time to get into prime condition after drying out before breeding again.

We may have to rebreed Daisy next summer. While she hasn't shown signs of heat since going on her rendezvous, or shown the typical creases around her vulva, I haven't felt any kid movement, and if she is pregnant, then she would be kidding between November 28 to December 8... I could have sworn I felt kid movement in both Momma & Maude at 2 months prior to kidding... but I feel nothing but muscle tissue and pocket on Daisy... We may bite the bullet and pay to have her tested, so that if she isn't pregnant, we aren't waiting, biting our fingernails hoping that she is alright, and then bringing her to a vet over an hour away just to find out $300 later that she wasn't pregnant after all. $5-15 to know for sure instead of around $300 just to feel like idiots... sounds like a better deal to me.


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 22, 2011)

Have someone interested in purchasing our 14 month old buck, Marly.  I hope all works out well and he can start giving his wonderful genes to another herd.  His kids are too beautiful and we can't keep them all(though I would  it if we could)!

Speaking of his kids, His daughter Olivia weighed in as the heavy weight(I've nicknamed her "Porker") today!

Here are all the kids weights, in order of age(oldest to youngest), with their breed, when they were born and their litter size.

Sheba (PB Nigerian, 1 of 4, born May 12, 2011)        : 20.4 lbs
 Onyx (PB Nigerian, 1 of 3, born May 16, 2011)         : 26.6 lbs
 Pearl (PB Nigerian, 1 of 3, born May 25, 2011)         : 27.4 lbs
 Olivia (Pygmy X, 1 of 1, born June 4, 2011)              : 30.0 lbs
 HighNote(PB Nigerian, 1 of 2, born June 7, 2011)    : 18.8 lbs


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 23, 2011)

Hey guys, Jaqui here - I found a tiny tick, after feeling it bite, on my left side this evening while making supper... and after looking at images of the different types, it looks like it was a deer tick... 
Praying that I don't find a bullseye around the bite mark tomorrow or the next day... hoping you all will pray with/for me too.


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## daisychick (Oct 23, 2011)

Tick bites are scary.   I found this, I thought it might help.   There are lots of articles out there about it, I am addicted to Google .  

http://www.uptodate.com/contents/pa...-do-after-a-tick-bite-to-prevent-lyme-disease

It seems it is a pretty low chance of anything bad coming from a bite.  Hoping your bite just goes away without any problems.


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 23, 2011)

daisychick said:
			
		

> Tick bites are scary.   I found this, I thought it might help.   There are lots of articles out there about it, I am addicted to Google .
> 
> http://www.uptodate.com/contents/pa...-do-after-a-tick-bite-to-prevent-lyme-disease
> 
> It seems it is a pretty low chance of anything bad coming from a bite.  Hoping your bite just goes away without any problems.


NH is in the high risk of Lyme Disease catagory, along with most on New England.  And I know at least 3 people that have been diagnosed with it, too. Most people in the US don't have to worrty about it, but here, there is great chance of contracting it.
Here is a map of confirmed Lyme Disease cases. Note most of NH(specifically the center of the state/on the Maine border, where I live) is all in blue.


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## elevan (Oct 23, 2011)

If you didn't kill the tick then you can put it into an old pill bottle or empty water bottle or something along those lines and take it to your local health department.  They can send it out for testing to find out if it was carrying Lyme Disease.

If you did kill it then use a black permanent marker and draw a circle around the bite...about an inch in diameter and then keep an eye on it.


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 26, 2011)

Unfortunately I(jaqui) didn't think about sending the tick off for testing, and I flushed it.   So far there is no rash or bullseye... but I have heard that people don't always get one.

We have decided to sell our Nigerian cross buck, Marly & our Nigerian x Pygmy doe Daisy as a starter pair. We are keeping Momma over winter as a warming buddy for the girls. Come spring we will be selling her also though. We are working down the herd to become purebred Nigerian Dwarfs with the exception of Olivia(our first born). Still can't wait for the 2012 summer breeding season and the following winter kidding season.


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## 77Herford (Oct 26, 2011)

Yeah waiting for them to give birth sucks.  I wish they could just plop out a month later.


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## Livinwright Farm (Oct 28, 2011)

We don't mind the waiting when we KNOW they are pregnant... if we don't know 100% for sure, then the waiting just about kills us. 
Daisy had been bred to an unproven buck that only "attacked" her when she wanted nothing to do with him... so it was a 50/50 chance of pregnancy... and it doesn't seem like it has worked out. We will still be keeping an eye on her in December(if we still have her then, if not we will tell the new owner to) just in case she was just overly hormonal and exhibiting false heat signs a couple weeks ago.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 3, 2011)

Yesterday we took a nice drive with a friend to go look at and buy some goats... and here are the 5 we bought!

3 of them are blue eyed(2 doelings, 1 buckling), and they are all from the same litter of triplets! How often does that happen when the dam is brown eyed and the sire is bluue eyed? I'm assuming not often.
The other two are brown eyed bucklings(share the same sire as the triplets).

The cute black & white midget is one of the doelings.











This is the other doeling





HighNote with the new boys





The blue eyed buckling - he is ALL buck too  just like his daddy!


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## elevan (Nov 3, 2011)

Are you leaving all the boys intact?


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## that's*satyrical (Nov 3, 2011)

Cute!!


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 3, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> Are you leaving all the boys intact?


No.  If we did that I would  from having too many bucks next spring/summer! We are, however, questioning whether or not we should wether the blue eyed buckling.  We would like to up our chances of getting blue eyed kids next year... but not sure if we want to find a rent a buck that is blue eyed or just keep the one intact boy with HighNote...


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## elevan (Nov 3, 2011)

Ah, just wondering what your plans were...cause that would be a lot of intact boys


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## that's*satyrical (Nov 3, 2011)

I would keep him buck, just in case. Then if something (lord forbid) ever happened with highnote you would still have a herd sire. Plus, you could mix your genetic pool more without having to worry about renting a buck and watching heats & all that entails...


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 3, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> Ah, just wondering what your plans were...cause that would be a lot of intact boys


Uh, Yeah! An insane amount given that our number of girls will only be six total come breeding season 2012


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 3, 2011)

that's*satyrical said:
			
		

> I would keep him buck, just in case. Then if something (lord forbid) ever happened with highnote you would still have a herd sire. Plus, you could mix your genetic pool more without having to worry about renting a buck and watching heats & all that entails...


Those are some very good points that our family will have to think about...
And thanks, we think they are too, especially the little blue eyed buckling & the tiny blue eyed spotted doeling


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 3, 2011)

Okay, the little spotted girl, the black girl, and the blue eyed boy are around 7 weeks old.... the black girl is 14.2 lbs, pretty much on the money for development... but the pocket sized spotted girl is only 6.6 lbs. The people we got them from said that she barely suckled, because her brother and sister would push her out of the way... when they were done she would be allowed to suckle, but only if the dam was not too sore from the others. IMO, she looks, feels, and in all other ways is as if she was born a week ago, instead of 7 weeks ago.
Wondering if she will ever be full sized, or if she is forever stunted. Anyone here ever had a tiny kid turn out normal sized? if so, what did you do to get them back on track developmentally? Should we just let her suckle off Momma as much as Momma will put up with and give her free choice Goat Grower & Calf Manna?


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## elevan (Nov 3, 2011)

Livinwright Farm said:
			
		

> Okay, the little spotted girl, the black girl, and the blue eyed boy are around 7 weeks old.... the black girl is 14.2 lbs, pretty much on the money for development... but the pocket sized spotted girl is only 6.6 lbs. The people we got them from said that she barely suckled, because her brother and sister would push her out of the way... when they were done she would be allowed to suckle, but only if the dam was not too sore from the others. IMO, she looks, feels, and in all other ways is as if she was born a week ago, instead of 7 weeks ago.
> Wondering if she will ever be full sized, or if she is forever stunted. Anyone here ever had a tiny kid turn out normal sized? if so, what did you do to get them back on track developmentally? Should we just let her suckle off Momma as much as Momma will put up with and give her free choice Goat Grower & Calf Manna?


Run a fecal too in case there's more than meets the eye there.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 3, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> Livinwright Farm said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Already on it, even though there are no other signs of something that would show in the fecal. 
She has had her CD/T(through mommy & the post kidding booster) will she need another booster or is the one after birth considered the only booster for this year?, and she was wormed(previous owners made sure they were all UTD before the sell).

We could use ideas for names... We were thinking Frank or Sinatra for the blue eyed buckling... either that or something VERY macho... since he is already ALL buck.  Just like his daddy!  Tossed up between Precious and Polly(as in Pocket) for the little spotted girl... unless someone gives a better name that we like. Need to find a name for the blue eyed, frosted, black doeling.... and names for the two brown eyed, frosted, black bucklings.
I will be posting a seperate post under 'Everything Goats' to get members' ideas for names.


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## elevan (Nov 4, 2011)

She still needs a second shot 3-4 weeks after the first.  The prekidding shot just allows you to be able to give the first shot a little later.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 6, 2011)

Good to know Emily 

So we settled on names:

*Ol' Blue Eyes (Frankie)*






*Brenna (Brenna means: little drop of water; raven or black-haired*





*Johnny*





*Squire*





*Precious Egidia (Egidia means: small goat)*


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## MrsDieselEngineer (Nov 7, 2011)

Great names!


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## RareBreedFancier (Nov 7, 2011)

Oh my! Precious Egidia is quite possibly the most gorgeous critter on the planet! 

They are all lovely but she is just WOW!!!


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## Queen Mum (Nov 7, 2011)

They are so Tiny!  But so cute!


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## Ms. Research (Nov 8, 2011)

What Sweet New Herd Members!  

Wishing you all the luck with them.  Can't wait to you let us know when they are going to make LITTLE kids.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 8, 2011)

LOL Egidia is adorable  So much so, that even my Dad wants her to become a house goat


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 14, 2011)

Trying to plan out who will be bred to who in 2012... this deserves careful consideration.

Apparently Olivia & Sheba decided to join up and get elective surgeries...  Discovered this morning that Olivia decided to split her teat on her left side, and Sheba decided to have a second teat added to her left side    Oh brother.  Well at least in Sheba's case, it is a completely seperate teat and more than likely will be functional. But Olivia's split teat... grr... why why why why why?!?!?!?!     Not that either of them would be able to produce anything other than grades anyways, but when they were littles they showed no signs of these abnormalities! It is just not fair.

Initial thoughts are:

Onyx + HighNote
Pearl + HighNote
Brenna + HighNote

Sheba + Frankie
Olivia + Frankie(but maybe HighNote for experiment in colors)


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## elevan (Nov 24, 2011)

Happy Thanksgiving LWF


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 24, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> Happy Thanksgiving LWF


Happy Thanksgiving to YOU Emily! Hope it was a great day, and that you have an even better turkey coma over-night!


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 25, 2011)

Been on a kick of making cheese spreads. I(Jaqui) have made four different flavors out of my doe Momma's milk(I get about double the cheese than I'm "supposed to" from her milk).

So far I have made:

Sundried Tomato Basil Spread
Garlic Herb Spread
Lemon Parsley Spread
and
Cinnamon Cranberry Almond Spread

Come Sunday, I am bringing whatever is left of them to church for our friends to try(not going to say that they are made with goat cheese) and tell us what they think of each one.


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## Ms. Research (Nov 26, 2011)

Congratulations on the successful cheese making.  Always nice when you can share.  Especially nicer when you can get feedback on your work.   I wouldn't tell them the cheese was made from goat's milk either.   Better responses and heck you might even turn someone into a cheese making person like yourself after they taste it.  

K


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## elevan (Nov 26, 2011)

Curious...did your recipe call for blending the cheese in the food processor or did you just have a lightbulb moment?  I'll have to try that.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 26, 2011)

The recipe did not call for using a food processor. So, yeah, lighbulb moment.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 27, 2011)

Well, we have decided that we are going to let our Border Terrier (not a border collie) have 1 little of puppies before she is too old(she is currently 8 yrs old so she has 3-4 years left to have a litter).
Friends of ours just got a PB Shih Tzu puppy to pair with their female... today the plans were made for next spring or fall to have Madi & Zeke(a rare *all* black) to have a little rendezvous.  This is what we can expect the puppies to look like: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Our Purebred Border Terrier: Stonefox Madison ( *Madi* )


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 28, 2011)

If you're reading this, please reply.

We want to know if we should just close our BYH journal...


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## marlowmanor (Nov 28, 2011)

I read everyones journals and posts, I just don't comment all the time. Keep up the journal!


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## jodief100 (Nov 28, 2011)

I read most of the journals, I don't reply very often.  

Cute puppys!


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## elevan (Nov 28, 2011)

Livinwright Farm said:
			
		

> If you're reading this, please reply.
> 
> We want to know if we should just close our BYH journal...


Simply looking at the number of views compared to the number of replies will give you a good idea that people are indeed reading your journal...that goes for everyone who journals here.

That said - most people are gleaners (readers) and not participators of the journals.  I liken online journals to the paper variety...I write about life just as I would in a paper journal.  Would I stop writing in a paper journal because no one was reading it?  No, I would probably slap them if I knew that they were reading it!    So, I guess that's the difference.  

The more you write - the more readers you gain - the more likely you'll get interaction.  The stuff you write doesn't have to be exciting it just needs to be true to you.  Do folks find that sort of thing interesting?  I guess they do because they are indeed reading these journals.  Lack of interaction doesn't equal lack of readers.

If you want to close your journal, that is of course your choice (just hit the report button and request it from your first post).

...but it should be based on your personal reasons - not because you feel you don't have readers (_that's my personal opinion...not a staff one_).

Best of luck to you.


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## that's*satyrical (Nov 28, 2011)

Agree with Elevan. I read a lot of the journals but sometimes don't respond. Only if I feel support is needed or I have significant input


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## 77Herford (Nov 28, 2011)

Do look like sweet puppies.


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## daisychick (Nov 28, 2011)

I agree too, I read almost everyone's journals.  It is like my daily book to read while the kids take a nap.  I just hardly ever comment on all of them.  I do enjoy reading them.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 28, 2011)

Guess we're just the kind of people that like people to comment, even if it is with something silly. One sided conversations kind of get boring after a while... 

Glad you all keep reading our journal, we will keep it going... Please don't be skittish to comment. We enjoy reading responses. It not only gives us more of an idea of what you are like, but also, the stuff you like or want to hear about.... maybe we will start a new trend: suggest a topic for the week's journaling   maybe. LOL



Well, yesterday friends of ours, the ones who are going to lend their Shih Tzu male for our Border Terrier, mentioned that they have a LOT of venison, and that they could give some to us.  might we just say, "          "    We LOVE venison!! Love meeting families where all but one of the family of 7 goes hunting!  

Today we brought my Grampa back down to his house... kinda bummed about it. He always does better when he is up here, and when he is at his house he just sits in his recliner(powered to go into standing position or from standing to sitting) sleeping off & on all day long.   Wish he would just agree to move up here permanantly and live out his life happily.

Good news on the cheese spreads! everyone that tried them said they were really good, and it was evenly divided as to which one was someone's favorite!  It was decided too, that the Garlic herb spread would go LOVELY on top of a nice juicy venison steak!  I will be making more for my aunt for Christmas.


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## elevan (Nov 28, 2011)

Livinwright Farm said:
			
		

> Today we brought my Grampa back down to his house... kinda bummed about it. He always does better when he is up here, and when he is at his house he just sits in his recliner(powered to go into standing position or from standing to sitting) sleeping off & on all day long.   Wish he would just agree to move up here permanantly and live out his life happily.


That generation is very independent aren't they?  I feel the same about my Grandma Emily.  I get really upset when my aunts decide that she doesn't have a brain of her own too.





> Good news on the cheese spreads! everyone that tried them said they were really good, and it was evenly divided as to which one was someone's favorite!  It was decided too, that the Garlic herb spread would go LOVELY on top of a nice juicy venison steak!  I will be making more for my aunt for Christmas.


I really am gonna have to try the blending trick.  Maybe I'll make some specifically for my Grandma Emily...gives me an excuse to visit...not that I need one.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 28, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> Livinwright Farm said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My mom is the only one of his kids that really thinks about HIS well being. Her brothers will visit when they want something, or want to take something out of his house without asking. It really bothers me that one of her brothers' women(the one he cheated on his two previous wives with) tell my grampa,  "it is okay if you have a drink every now and then, it won't hurt you" even though she is supposedly a nurse, and knows that he is on heart meds that say in bold letters "DO NOT DRINK ANY ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES WHILE TAKING THIS MEDICATION". It is like she wants him to die.  There are many reasons why I do not like that woman, but that takes the cake IMO.    

Anywho..




			
				elevan said:
			
		

> > Good news on the cheese spreads! everyone that tried them said they were really good, and it was evenly divided as to which one was someone's favorite!  It was decided too, that the Garlic herb spread would go LOVELY on top of a nice juicy venison steak!  I will be making more for my aunt for Christmas.
> 
> 
> I really am gonna have to try the blending trick.  Maybe I'll make some specifically for my Grandma Emily...gives me an excuse to visit...not that I need one.


If you hung your cheese too long and it is on the dry side, you can use a drizzle of olive oil to make the cheese nice and creamy as opposed to that almost powdery/gritty texture. 
If you are using sundried tomatoes that are packed in oil, definitely use a drizzle of that oil, but also remember to taste after adding them, and if necessary, add a pinch of sugar... as sometimes there is a bitter tomatoe in the group.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 29, 2011)

Trying to decide if we should breed both of the doelings that are registerable(still waiting to hear back from the previous owner as to the progress of their registrations), or if we should breed one of them and one of our pet doelings(one of which is 100% pb, but the dam was never registered even though she could be).

We have been able to trace Sheba's wattles as far back as one can go down her sire's side of her pedigree. Hoping this means that we are pretty much guaranteed wattles out of her. Also, blue eyes have been almost a complete dominance from her sire(with her being the exception), so we are pretty excited to find out if pairing her with Frankie will result in blue eyed kids. a few of the dams on her sire's side have produced nothing but blue eyed kids... so  that Sheba will follow in thier footsteps!

Brown moonspots are a possibility when breeding Sheba(2 of her 3 siblings had them) or Onyx(has small ones parallel on her back legs).

Curious to see what colorations and qualities come out from breeding HighNote to either Pearl or Onyx(where they share pedigrees at 3-4 generations and back).

We are wondering if we should continue breeding Momma or not... she is a good brood doe, and gives a decent amount of milk, but unless we bred her to a meat breed, her kids wouldn't be what we want...


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## MrsDieselEngineer (Nov 29, 2011)

Momma is large enough that she shouldn't have any problems being bred to a Boer, it would give you some meat kids.  

 for wattles and blue eyes!


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## Squirrelgirl88 (Nov 30, 2011)

Breeding Question,

I know wattles can be passed on - The babies have them at birth correct? Or can they develop later?

What about "beards"? Are they a genetic trait? When do they develop?

My ND girls are 8 months old (today actually  ) their Dam had a large beard, don't know about the Sire. I was not sure if I could expect them to develop the same.

The buck I am looking at has wattles. My doelings do not. So wattles would be a 50/50 thing, or are they dominant?


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## elevan (Nov 30, 2011)

Wattles are a 50/50 thing even if both parents have them.  Daisy and Speedy both have wattles and of the twins only 1 got wattles.  They are born with them - they do not develop later.

Beards may be genetic...to be honest I've never paid attention to that.  I've seen beards start developing on bucklings as early as 5 months...doelings usually start later.  Hormones start that type of hair growth.


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## Livinwright Farm (Nov 30, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> Wattles are a 50/50 thing even if both parents have them.  Daisy and Speedy both have wattles and of the twins only 1 got wattles.  They are born with them - they do not develop later.
> 
> Beards may be genetic...to be honest I've never paid attention to that.  I've seen beards start developing on bucklings as early as 5 months...doelings usually start later.  Hormones start that type of hair growth.


I've heard that, but after looking down Sheba's pedigree and seeing every last goat down her sire's side having wattles, I feel pretty confident that we can expect to see primarily wattles from her.  Closer to an 80/20 chance. If looking back in a pedigree only shows one or two here and there with them, then you can expect the 50/50 chance, or lower.


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 1, 2011)

Snippety doo dah, snippety yay,  my oh my what a wonderful day... for making wethers! 

By the end of this weekend we will have 2 bucklings started on their way to becoming wethers. I say started on their way, because we opt for banding. We are leaving the blue eyed boy intact along with HighNote.

Giving Momma some baking soda today, along with some probiotic powder. This morning at milking she didn't eat. This got me a little worried, then I noticed her have a pudding poop. I checked her temperature.. it was normal: 103.2.  Her rumen sounds are in good timing. She eats her hay, but doesn't want any grain. We haven't switched her grain, still the same mix. I'm wondering if the up and down in NH's temps have messed with a her a little bit.


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 1, 2011)

Ricky(was Johnny) and Johnny(was Squire)  have been banded!!  

We followed the directions in the Raising Goats For Dummies book, giving 1 adult asprin to each boy and we gave them their second dose of CD&T(book said to give 1 cc of tetnus antitox, but it was time to give them their 2nd CD&T so we just gave them that).

We were unable to get ahold of any epi for the just in case, but thankfully it doesn't appear as any of them are having a bad reaction to the CD&T(we administered to our whole herd). We administered SubQ, does anyone know if it takes longer to see a bad reaction with that method vs the intramuscular(sp?)? I know intramuscular only takes 10-20 minutes to see a bad reaction IF they are going to have one.  I will continue to check in on them over the next couple hours, just to be sure.

Olivia & Onyx apparently have rhino skin  ... Pushed the needle in, felt the... how do you say it... not pop... the change that happens when you get past the other side of their skin, and went to inject like we did with the others, and there was a stream down their sides... pushed the needle a little more and got 1/3 of the dose into Olivia, 1/2 the dose into Onyx.  figures the biggest brats would have thicker skin.. or a layer of fat shielding the back side of their skin. 

Now to see how long until the two boys are fully wethers... just hoping the cat doesn't find their dried up, lost bits, and decides to play with them...   But that would be JUST like a cat.


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 1, 2011)

We have all our doors locked(including the barn's external doors) all our surround lights on, and all the porch lights on!
http://www.wmur.com/news/29900314/detail.html


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## MrsDieselEngineer (Dec 1, 2011)

I don't think YOU have much to worry about, he was headed our way judging from the article.  But our property has a sign posted that reads "Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again"....


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 1, 2011)

Last I heard, logged into the online police raio scanner, they aren't really sure exactly which way he went... which is why every last officer/state trooper in Carroll County, and a few surrounding towns, is in Ossipee tonight looking for him. apparently they have been lookinbg since about 2:30 this afternoon....  I let Mr. Levesque know about it, since he is not that far from the jail...


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 2, 2011)

Latest report says:

Hobson is from Alfred, Maine, and Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said they believe he may be trying to return to Maine. Police said they are following up on leads.

"At this point, we believe he probably made it to a vehicle, or certainly to the road. But it's a heavily wooded section. This complex sits on 1,000 acres, and there's various terrain. There's a lot of marsh and wet areas," Carroll County Sheriff Christopher Conley said.

Read more: http://www.wmur.com/news/29905939/detail.html#ixzz1fOIgdbEG

:/
Why couldn't I have woken up to see that he had been captured...??


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## elevan (Dec 2, 2011)

Wow.  Sorry to see that you have to worry about an escaped convict.  Article says that he was in for burglary.  It seems odd to me that he wanted to escape so bad that he went through razor wire when he was just in for burglary  :/

I hope they find him soon so that you all can relax.  I know I'd be upset and worried too.


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## Stacykins (Dec 2, 2011)

Livinwright Farm said:
			
		

> Latest report says:
> 
> Hobson is from Alfred, Maine, and Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said they believe he may be trying to return to Maine. Police said they are following up on leads.
> 
> ...


Too bad you're in New Hampshire rather than say, Florida, since I am sure if someone tried trudging through marshy wetlands, an alligator would have a nice convict snack before he made it out! Hopefully they nab him soon!


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## redtailgal (Dec 2, 2011)

Send him to me.  I could work out a little of this pent up aggressionl.


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 2, 2011)

There may not be alligators here, but we do have mountain lion, bear, wolf, coyote.... so if he didn't end up meeting up with someone, he has more than likely been found by a predator.

We still have the .22 & bb guns with pellets on stand-by... they may not do much damage, but they will hurt like crazy!   *where's the crazy face smiley when you need one?!*

It seems weird to me that he would run because of that too, but unfortunately there's no fix for stupid. Police did say that he put something over the barbed wire and they now believe that he didn't get cut too bad...   *bummer*


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 2, 2011)

See this post for details on horse: http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=15410


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 3, 2011)

PRAISE GOD!!!! Addie messaged me last nigh,t not long after our combined push to try and help this boy: "Thank you!! He is being pulled by a rescue and will be fostered here until adopted!"


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

Okay, so I have to admit, with all of the kidding threads going now, I'm really bumming that we don't have anyone ready to pop this kidding season, but at least we have the 2012 fall/winter kidding season all planned out... it's just a matter of waiting for the doelings to become yearlings.


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## elevan (Dec 4, 2011)

Livinwright Farm said:
			
		

> it's just a matter of waiting for the doelings to become yearlings.


Did you see in my journal that I've already got Precious' breeding plans set out and she's not even 48 hours old yet!?!?  Crazy about goat babies - that is what this board makes us!


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

Oh, I forgot to mention:

Olivia is officially *6 months old* today!!! 

 

 

I will edit this again in a few to post her weight as of today.... and maybe some video.. maybe. 

Olivia weighed in at 32.6 lbs


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

HighNote weighed in today at 25.8 lbs... he will officially be 6 months old  on Wednesday. He is starting to get that "I'm a buck, I'm a buck that's a TANK !" look and attitude.


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## SmallFarmGirl (Dec 4, 2011)

Livinwright Farm said:
			
		

> HighNote weighed in today at 25.8 lbs... he will officially be 6 months old  on Wednesday. He is starting to get that "I'm a buck, I'm a buck that's a TANK !" look and attitude.


Thats such a funny attitude ...  When I saw the breeder's bucks I know they were all saying "I smell good don't I . Ohh and choose me for a match with your doe !! Look at me walk around I'm soooooo perfect !Would you like to see that again ??"


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

SmallFarmGirl said:
			
		

> Livinwright Farm said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


None of the girls are showing an interest in him right now, so all he is doing is standing/walking as tall as he can(raising the hair along his spine to appear even taller) and showing off how manly & impressive he is..  silly boy... I don't think he realizes that he is as young & small as he is. Today he was challenging our herd queen through the fence.. knowing full well there was a fence she would have to demolish in order to get to him.
Pictures to follow.


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

Olivia






HighNote challenging Momma


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## SmallFarmGirl (Dec 4, 2011)

Ohhh .. Highnote can you come gift wrapped ????


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

SmallFarmGirl said:
			
		

> Ohhh .. Highnote can you come gift wrapped ????


No... he is here for forever, but 2012 fall/winter we will have offspring from him 

he is being paired with Pearl(pictured below)


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## SmallFarmGirl (Dec 4, 2011)

I would love a wether from you but I can't have another goat .. not that much room but enough for 2 !!


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

call me biased.. or crazy(this place will do that to you), but I think there is always room for *1* more


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## that's*satyrical (Dec 4, 2011)

Prettttyyyy Goaties


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## SmallFarmGirl (Dec 4, 2011)

O.k. I thought we could fit in 1 more because they ARE minis and I just GOTA keep one of her kids !!!


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

SmallFarmGirl said:
			
		

> O.k. I thought we could fit in 1 more because they ARE minis and I just GOTA keep one of her kids !!!


Where are you located?


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## SmallFarmGirl (Dec 4, 2011)

I'd love to have one of her kids .. but I think I'm way to far from your location !!!


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 4, 2011)

This is Onyx, who will be bred to HighNote for a 2013 fall/winter kidding





Both Pearl & Onyx are AGS Purebred Nigerian Dwarfs(awaiting delivery of their papers)


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 5, 2011)

SmallFarmGirl said:
			
		

> I'd love to have one of her kids .. but I think I'm way to far from your location !!!


What state are you in?


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 5, 2011)

I entered a contest to win a VOX Guitar for my Dad today...

and....    ....    ....    ....    ....    ....    


I'm 1 of 5 qualifiers!!!      






Now, to see if my mom & sister can enter the next couple of days....   If one of us wins the guitar, then my Dad will have a really cool Christmas present!!!


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## MrsDieselEngineer (Dec 5, 2011)

When does the final end?


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 5, 2011)

I believe the contest winner will be declared on the 10th....  I... Cant... WAIT!!!!  It's torture having to wait that long! ... oh well... time to put patience into practice


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## Livinwright Farm (Dec 8, 2011)

To those of you that continue to read our little journal, this is the only place on BYH where we will be posting, at least for now... 

There are certain members here who have been an incredible wealth of knowledge & support for us, and to those few we say ,"Thank you! From the depths of our hearts, thank you for being there for those who need you"

We, like most of you here, have hit a few bumps and snags in the road on this journey with goats. The first few, again like most of you, were admittedly our own fault for not doing enough research prior to buying our first goats.
There has also been a lot of joy.  From watching that first born kid bounce around the yard like it has springs for legs, to having our goats delightedly come walking into our laps to be cuddled and scritched... and occassionally try to sneak attack a kiss on our noses or a tug on our hair(it _does_ look like hay ya know).

Laughter, like we hadn't had in years... that is what owning goats has given us the most of. 

New friendships, new experiences, new thoughts on life... like: Have you ever realized how much like sheep & goats we humans really are? We NEED other humans in our lives, if we didn't have anyone we would go stark raving mad with boredom and die at a very young age. We NEED the Shepherd to watch over us & keep us safe. We NEED to be kept from things that are harmful to us, because we are ignorant of what it is that will hurt us.

We have seen books and pages talking about how "so n' so" is an expert on goats... honestly, that is completely bogus! No one on this earth is an expert on goats. Some of us may have learned more about certain aspects of them, but no one is an expert on them or on how to deal with them. Every single honest person here will tell you that their goats are constantly throwing surprises at them. Be it behaviors, weird or unexplained health issues, strange deformities, whatever... not even the vets have all the answers.

These funny people-like critters in our backyard have been teaching us so much!
No worries, we will continue to share what we learn, and hope that you will feel free to comment here with the things you learn along the way too 

Goodnight our friends,
Hope to talk with you soon.


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## autumnprairie (Dec 8, 2011)

I will always read your journal, You have a wonderful incite to goats and I agree humans are a lot like sheep or goats as we too need companionship. I hope you continue to read my journal and comment, I enjoy the comments. Night Iwill chat with you tomorrow I hope.


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## 77Herford (Dec 9, 2011)

Ditto


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## Ms. Research (Dec 9, 2011)

Ditto X2


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## autumnprairie (Dec 24, 2011)




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## 77Herford (Dec 25, 2011)

Happy Holiday's


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## daisychick (Dec 25, 2011)




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