Long Overdue...

Well, today was a long needed goat maintenance day. We bought some Kiko cross does once from a guy who had ads that read "no hoof trimming." Well, just because they need trimming less frequently does not mean you don't ever have to trim (especially when your goats live in the woods on soft soil), so the couple that needed it got it today. They were thrilled.

It was also time to give a couple of the kids some CD&T boosters, and since "Superchunk" looks like a body builder, we decided to weigh him in. We don't creep feed, so all the kids get pellet-wise is what the momma does let them have (which ain't much), but his momma really seems to produce the milk. He and his brother are tough little nuts.

The next big events we have coming up are weaning the buck kids, and watching carefully a young Caesar PB doe who is due to kid next month for the first time. The young NZ Iron Horse doe isn't due until May. We are looking forward to having kids born in good weather! Thankfully we have had no issues, although the weather has been really, truly horrible all winter. Our vet kept telling us we would need heat lamps for these January babies, but the Kikos proved as good as their breed's reputation and had those babies up and nursing quick. And the babies were getting around as well as week old Boer babies at a day old. Now, the weather made it tough on ME! so we probably won't be having January babies next year!

With Chuck working and me having to take over so much of the goat maintenance, we will be reducing our herd to only a handful of Purebred and NZ does. We'll be taking our NZ Wild Bill (Terminator II son - we're looking for that parasite resistance and super toughness!) kids and their momma from the house where they have been "resting" after their trip home from Oklahoma up to the country to get settled in and eat kudzu and sticker bushes for us. We are looking at a couple more from Goat Hill to round out the herd. They've been good to us, and we like their goats. If I can buy a doeling out of their goat Purdy I will be a happy goatkeeper, for the time being, at least. And maybe one of the LAB Nikita daughters. Well, I do have an anniversary and a birthday coming up. More frame, more toughness, better goats, more enjoyment and less stress!

I also must apologize for the photos we have taken recently. Our goats really aren't pink. My mother has been a tremendous help to us with all of Chuck's travel, and her nickname is "Old Dutch Cleanser." To make a long story short, she didn't feel our camera in one of Chuck's pockets and it got laundered. I left it in a bag of rice for weeks, and it worked for a while, but suddenly all our goats looked like dyed Easter chicks in the pictures we took with it. So, now I am using a cheapo camera and the pictures aren't so great, and they all look a bit overexposed. We will get a better camera soon.

Welcome to Generation Farm!

Kidding season 2010 is well under way. Each birth has brought added knowledge, and is showing us what our young buck, Nick's X232 (Boomer) is going to throw. Boomer is a son of Nick's Best (Sunboy Stanton x Tay W27) and a doe by Sports Kat and out of Catrina's Best, a doe with excellent maternal qualities. So far we are delighted with his kids. In the top photo are two of three Purebred triplets born to an 8 year old doe, at a few days old. The lower picture is of a 50% doe and her 75% kids, again a few days old. The kids are strong, fast growing, and have Boomer's meaty build. They are also rather colorful, which means little in the grand scheme of things, but makes for a nice scene in the pasture. Our focus is primarily on raising goats suited for our area - the Piedmont of North Carolina. To this end, we focus on parasite resistance, strong mothering skills, and the ability to stay healthy without being coddled. That being said, after listening to a seminar at a goat conference and learning that a doe's reproductive future is determined when she is herself still in utero, we ensure our pregnant does get balanced nutrition and plenty of the minerals and vitamins they need. We want all the replacement does we produce to be a great value and have a long productive future, whether they belong to us or to you!

We are learning first hand the importance of a great mama goat. We had 75% Kiko kids born in the freezing rain on Christmas Day, and their 50% Kiko mama had them dry and they had their first meal of precious colostrum within an hour. We've learned the value of a high, tight, productive udder, and of an attentive mother who keeps her kids close by. Compared to the Boer goats we have had who would run over their own kids for a feed bucket, the precentage Kiko does are like night and day. They clobber our Jack Russell when he gets too close (to his dismay) and keep their kids safe. Since we are moving towards 100% New Zealand and Purebred Kikos and choose to keep a small herd, some of these good mamas will be available for sale as soon as their kids are weaned, or sooner, as a package deal with their kids.

This is only our second kidding season, and we decided to have our goats kid early in the season to avoid heat stress and parasite problems like we had with our Boer does last summer. Although it has worked out so far, the miserable weather this winter has made us rethink that, so unless the goats move to a second farm next winter, we think we may have them kid later into the spring - for our sake, as much as for theirs...