Devonviolet's - Kidding 2017

[Devonviolet]

We finally have names!
Meet Angelica

And here's Linden!

Up until this morning, when I went out to see the kids, they were curled together sleeping. So, I couldn't get much for photos. This morning, they were up and moving, so I was finally able to take some pics. Here are some of the better ones:

Angelica

And Linden

 

[Southern by choice]

 

[Baymule]

Love the names! They sure are cuties! Well done Ruby!!

 

[Devonviolet]

Well my kids are growing up! The twins are a month old, and looking ever so cute. When they were born, I thought they were black. @goatgurl asked me if they weren't actually very dark, chocolate brown. Now that they are growing and I have been able to see them more in the sunlight, I can see hat they are, indeed, a nice rich dark, chocolate brown.

I gave up milking Ruby, for a while, because the twins were such skinny little things, I wanted them to get as much milk as possible. And besides' I went from 6 cups, on day one, to about a cup of milk a day. It didn't seem like it was worth all the work involved, to justify that amount of work.

Woody, is turning into a nice, big goat. When I weighed him last week, he was 25 lbs. I haven't weighed them yet this week.

Here is a nice calendar shot of Woody.

I haven't been milking Falina, either, because I didn't have a way to separate the two of them during the night. When I tried milking her in the morning, I was getting less than a cup, of milk. Again, hardly worth the work, to justify the little amount of milk I was getting.

As I mentioned in my other thread, I put Falina & Woody in our empty chicken run, so Woody wouldn't play too hard with the twins & hurt them, when they were so small. The chicken run next to Falina & Woody still had the five remaining roosters. We butchered them last Sunday, so we could clean out their run and put the 3 kids in there at night, to separate them from Falina and Ruby (in the adjacent run) at night, so I can get a decent amount of milk in the morning.

We had cleaned out both chicken runs, and put clean straw in them, earlier this week. Then, we had a series of thunder storms, with an inch of rain, that turned the runs mucky again. So, we decided to put off putting the goats back together again.

Last night I was finally able to separate Falina & Woody overnight. This morning, Falina's udder was nice & firm. I'm happy to report, I got more milk, from her, than i have gotten so far - just shy of 1-1/2 quarts!

Today, DH had cleaned them out and put nice clean straw in them. When I am finished with this post, I am going out to move Ruby and the twins into the two runs with Falina & Woody.

So tomorrow, I'm looking forward to getting my first 1/2 gallon plus, of milk from the girls.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Woohoo!

 

[Southern by choice]

Kids look great and are growing so well!
I may have missed this so forgive me if I am just all messed up for asking... why not keep the two does together in one stall and the babies in the other overnight? Kids love to be with other kids and want to play and run and jump and "fly". This way you can see how production starts shaping up and the kids can be with each other.

Great weights btw! Our two little girls had really low birth weight - we have no idea why... geesh she could have had 4 in there from their scrawny weights... they are growing and doing great especially from the BW... our other lamancha kids are chunky monkeys! Like your guys. Millie's kid get her mom anywhere from 8-12 hours a day and she is a chunk... she would be a beast if she was on 24/7. LOL

LOVE the chocolate! The red/blonde is gorgeous too!

 

[Devonviolet]

why not keep the two does together in one stall and the babies in the other overnight? Kids love to be with other kids and want to play and run and jump and "fly". This way you can see how production starts shaping up and the kid

That's the plan. The nice thing about putting the five of them in the two chicken runs (each being 8x16'), is that the only thing between them is a 2x4" welded wire wall. That way the kids and does can see each other during the night, and yet, moms can fill their udders for me to milk in the morning.

 

[Devonviolet]

WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!! Separating the kids overnight WORKED!!! But then y'all knew it would!!! Right??? (Hey @Southern by choice and @goatgurl, @Baymule, @animalmom. Look how much milk we got!!!)

This morning, both girls were raring to go, and bee lined it to the milk stand, to eat.

Falina was full & tight, and equally full. No more lopsided udder!

The milking machine started pulling milk right away, after I did a cleansing squirt on each side. This morning I got 5 cups. But then. I left some for Woody too.

Ruby has evened out nicely, since I taped one side. In the beginning both twins ate from the fuller side. So, I taped her for a couple days, and now they each take a side.

This morning Ruby's udder was so full, she looked like she was walking bow-legged. The battery operated, vacuum pump milking machine ran out of juice after I got about a quart, so I hand milked the rest out. At first her right side was so full I had a hard time getting a good grip. So, I put my left hand on the back side of the udder & pushed, as I squeezed the teat. Amazingly the milk came out a lot easier, that way. I ended up getting a full half gallon plus a cup.

Here are the two doe's milk combined, in a gallon jar.

I ended up with just under a gallon - well, 13 cups of milk, with one milking of 2 goats!

 

[NH homesteader]

 

[TAH]

Must have been a good morning?!