in the goat barn

[sunshine]

I'm down to milking one goat, once a day. Brownie, one of the yearlings, is still hanging in there giving me a quart of milk every morning. Now that she is bred, I don't expect that to last too much longer. But I have lots of milk in the freezer.

The other goats should also be bred, except for little Matilda, who I've been holding back. Even my old goat, Keisha, aka Favoritegoat, who hasn't kidded in 3 or 4 years, came into heat last week and bred. Well, we'll see if anything comes of that or not. But it surely would be nice to get kids off her one more time, especially if I could get a polled doe. (Dreaming, I know).

I expect to start getting kids again about the end of February. I haven't actually sat down and figured the dates yet. Twila, in particular, is already getting plump. She's the one that had triplets for the first time last year, and had an awfully hard delivery, with one of the kids presenting front legs out and head turned back. Hardest delivery I've ever assisted. It seemed like a miracle that all three survived, and that she did, too!

I still have three young bucks. I'd thought to sell two, then decided maybe I'd keep two unrelated bucks. They could keep each other company, and trade off on breeding chores for the next couple of years. But I still have all three, just because they, surprisingly, haven't made themselves to be a lot of trouble.

I'm sorry, but I'm already looking forward to spring. I started thinking this morning that next month is January, normally our coldest month, but also normally giving me a few warm days, as well, to start prepping the garden.

Then another month, and maybe we'll start the kidding season. Hence, all this rambling.

[Valerie]

I love this kind of rambling! It's what gets us through winter.

[Cyngbaeld]

I'm counting down the weeks till kidding. 6 weeks and Glennis and Penny will freshen. Penny is starting to waddle a bit. She had twins this past yr as a first freshener. Glennis is my senior doe (LaMancha). She gave me twin doelings last yr and a single doeling this yr. She normally doesn't show much. She is tall, deep and long with lots of room. She is really bulging already! I'm afraid she has three huge bucklings in there. Hope not. I don't keep the bucklings though I will keep one this yr to wether for company to my buck. Lisle is starting to show a bit. She's due 3 wks after the first two. Inger bulges all the time so it is hard to tell on her. She was next to last kid born this yr and already bigger than her mom and is the biggest doeling. She was bred a week after Lisle and at the same time as Daisy (who now lives at her new home in Smithville.) I didn't see Meggie or Marla get bred, but probably about the same or a little after Inger. Neither looks pg.

I got tired of everybody trying to crowd into the milk shed and get on the bench. So today, I put all but Meggie and Lisle in the truck's pen and scattered corn in the grass. That kept them happy while I milked. It was much more pleasant a time.

[sunshine]

I'm lucky, I guess, that mine have pens, and they all know where they belong. Twila goes on the stand to eat, even though I am not milking her. The twin yearlings go in the first coop, Keish and Callie in the next, and Tilda and Lexi in the last coop. They head to the barn and get in their coops when they see me coming. I close them up, feed them, then feed the bucks, the chickens, then the donkeys, then the hay.

By the time I come back around, Twila is done, and I send her to the hay and put Brownie up with a little more feed and milk her. It doesn't take long to get it all done, with just milking the one goat.

How old is your senior doe? Mine was one of my first set of kids, November of 1998.

[Cyngbaeld]

This will be Glennis's fifth freshening. She had twins once and triplets once before I bought her.

I would put up pens and such except I'm really concentrating on getting ready to move. I cannot take this climate any more and really have no reason to stay any longer.

[sunshine]

I don't consider a goat senior until she's at least seven. Five is prime.
Where are you moving?

[Cyngbaeld]

I meant she was senior to all the other goats. 3 of the others are her daughters and 2 are her granddaughters.

Not sure yet exactly where. Possibly the ozarks or Kentucky or TN. Praying about where the Lord wants me to go.