Today is our one year anniversary of moving from here to here. I thought it would be nice to look back at how things have changed. I’ll zip through the changes we’ve made to the place. We’ve added some toys…..oh yeah, I’m supposed to call them tools. We cleaned a really dirty barn. We added […]
Bucks and Does
I find our goats to be amusing. They are fun to watch. It is actually more entertaining than my boys. With the goats I don’t really care why they do the weird things they do. With my boys I sometimes start to worry……”Why on earth would they do that?” One thing that I’ve noticed is […]
Alien Babies
Our two newest additions to our herd went to see the vet on Wednesday. This is what they came home looking like… Randy Jessie Those silver colored circles are evidence that the babies have been disbudded. What on earth is DISBUDDING? It is the removal of their ability to grow horns. Most goats naturally grow […]
Goat Walk
We thought the does would enjoy getting out and experiencing a little freedom. We didn’t tell them that between the creeks that surround the lower acreage and the fencing Michael has installed in the upper pasture it wasn’t complete freedom. Look at the nice gate Michael put in the upper pasture. They really didn’t understand […]
NWODGA 2015 Goat Conference
Having finished our three Sundays of being out of the house early and heading up to Portland for fruit tree pruning classes, we got up even earlier on Saturday and headed up to Portland for the annual goat conference at Clackamas High School. The NW Oregon Dairy Goat Association hosts a large conference every year […]
Weighing the Goats
When Bryn came to visit on Monday she brought her animal scales. We need to weigh the goats to determine the amount of pour-on insecticide to give them. They have…..lice…..shhhh. Actually it is quite normal this time of year. Talking with other goat people in the area the general thought is that it will be […]
A Visit to Diji Farm
Halle Berry was born at Diji Farm. It is a wonderful farm just about 20 minutes from us. Carol is the owner/breeder/Nigerian Dwarf goat aficionado. We arrived smack in the middle of kidding. They have quite a large barn and have kidding stalls for the goats. Probably seven stalls with either a doe and her […]
Jasper has Left the Love Shack
Michael took Jasper back to his home last Saturday. He had been with us Halle since January 10th. Not much went on in the Love Shack. She might have already been pregnant. If only she was more obvious when she went into heat. I’m just grateful that we have room for a Love Shack and that […]
Deep Litter with Goats
Our barn has cement floors. It is really nice for cleaning. The stall floors are covered in straw. In the summer we clean the stalls weekly. All that dirty straw goes into the composts bins and becomes wonderful compost for the garden. As summer came to a close we decided that we would use the […]
Animals, Antics and Analogies
I find it enjoyable to notice things on our farm. As the seasons change so does the landscape, birds and wildlife. During summer the the barn swallows reigned supreme. A doe and her spotted fawns could be seen in the lower acreage in the early morning hours. The bull frogs lulled us to sleep each […]
Our Affectionate Animals
Michael has been taking care of opening the barn in the mornings. It helps me to not have to rush getting everything done before I wake the boys up at 7:30. I miss seeing the animals each morning though. I went out in the afternoon to visit the chicks and the goats. Apparently Brown Sugar […]
Creating Dry Lots for the Goats
The goats live in the barn. Both the girl’s stall and the boy’s stall have doors to outside pens. It allows them to go out and get some sunshine and have a little room to move around. Now that the rain is here we decided to “dry lot” those outside pens. What that means is […]