How it all started.....

My two oldest daughters asked their dad if they could take meatgoats in 4-H. This is the man who told me soon after we were married that I could bring home all the animals I wanted to the farm as long as I didn't bring home any goats. He loves his dog, cattle, and horses.

Instead of directly saying "no", he told them to figure a breakeven on them, and if they did that he would support them. Let's just say he was surprised to come home and see the girl's "breakeven". They had spent the day hounding the managers at tractor supply and coop to get all their info. He is a man of his word, so two female goats came to live on the James farm.

Now these goats weren't supposed to be bred, but as it happens sometimes, one kidded out just before fair, and she was so cute I just lost my mind and we purchased another 26 does. Of course I justified my purchase as being necessary for me to be a good Kansas Agriculture Extension agent. In Kansas we were getting several questions regarding meatgoats, and I figured if I raised them myself I would become more knowledgable about the process and be of more help to others. I think my husband knew I just liked them though.

We have continued to expand, and we now own 60 does, 3 billies. I am in the process of kidding out 50 of the does now. You would think I would know better than to have them due in January, but unfortunately I didn't pay enough attention to the calendar when I placed the billies in with the does.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Crazy Day - I am so, so tired!

The day started at 2:00 a.m. for Mr. Farmer and myself. We checked the does, and saw what appeared to be a dead baby goat near a doe having another baby. We went to pick it up to get rid of it when we barely heard it make a noise. It was almost gone, but we warmed it up with vigerous rubbing in our heated room, and soaked it in a bucket of very warm water for almost an hour.

While we were doing all that, 2 more does decided to kid. One needed help with triplets, and the other had twins. One of the triplets was stillborn, but the other two kids just needed assistance being born and warmed up. At 7:00 a.m. we had 7 new babies. It was a busy morning trying to help everything stay warm, yet also place them with their moms to encourage the bonding and feeding. It was a challenge to say the least but all are doing good.

Throughout the day, an additional 7 more babies were born. One set of triplets had to be pulled, but the other 4 were born with no difficulty. The toughest part is building enough pens to hold everyone, tagging everything, and then hand feeding and watering all the pens. I am getting too old to be climbing in and out of all these pens. Since I am running out of room, several of the earlier born kids have been turned out into a larger pen with their moms. Mr. Farmer built a "safe zone" for the kids in that pen. It is really just a fenced off corner under the shed that the kids can get to but their moms can't. It prevents them from getting hurt or stepped on. Plus he has hung a heat lamp to shine on them. It is a nice sight to see them all snuggled in and sleeping.

Well that is all for now. Just checked and everything looks good, I just hope it all stays quiet though the night. I will know more at midnight when I wake to look everything over.
Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. JaclynJanuary 27, 2010 at 12:14 PM

    WOW! Sounds like you guys had a fun day yesterday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 27, 2010 at 4:01 PM

    I always knew you and Andy wanted more children, I am guessing this will cure you both!TEEHEE!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JudyJanuary 29, 2010 at 6:13 PM

    That Mr. Farmer sure is a softie! What fun - my kids will be asking for a weekend out soon, I'm sure!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)