I was sure surprised when I got home from work yesterday! Husker Haven has never had anything with spots before. But there he was! Sure wish he would have been a she but that part is out of my hands. The two doe kids born weeks ago were a bit on the small side but all the rest of the nubian kids have been nice sized kids.

Even though this one is a buck, it at least tells me that two of my does have the potential to produce some spotted kids. I have at least one more nubian to freshen yet...This kidding season is not even over yet and I am already looking forward to next year.

Twin girls born this morning
They really are still alive, they only "LOOK" dead They are only about 10 mins old. I brought them in the house because I had to go to work and didn't want them to freeze (being a little too damp still). Gave them colostrum and left them in the tub with the dogs sleeping bag. They are both fairly good sized kids.

The count : 10 buck kids 5 doe kids

I believe I still have 3 does yet to kid.

Meet the newest addition at Husker Haven. Six month old "Zeke" Don't ask me about the name, I allowed my brother to name him. I might have to think about the ramifications next time I allow someone to name anything here. He is a little unsure of the LGD's in the pasture and is really not overly excited about "Lucy" llama either. He actually kicked her twice this while on his meet and greet session this past weekend. Leads me to believe he'll be OK with Lucy, but I really am not sure about the knee surgery's he has planned for the LGD's in the near future. I am think a lot more Meet and Greet sessions are in order. Kids are boucing everywhere you look here as well. The good thing is, I have a 70% to 30% buck to doe ratio goign this year. With only four more does due (I hope no more surprises), I'm hoping to keep the same ratio going. I haven't gotten any really good pics of the kids, as it is hard to catch them as they dart to and fro.

And So it Starts..........the 2009 Kidding season

The season is a little later for most I guess but I wanted to have kids that weren't frozen when I got home form work so I bred them for a little later kidding dates. Kids were on the ground when I arrived home Tuesday evening, twin bucks. Out of all my Nubian does that were bred this year, I was hoping that she would have a doe. Had I wanted a buck out of her it would have taken me YEARS to get one. I guess bucks are OK, should be able to sell them both as a breeding animals. I might have some more kids when I get home from work today.



Sorry, the pic is not the greatest, my camera isn't doing real well these days. I'll get more pics when I can.

I picked up the new milk stand the weekend before last, but with the poor weather, I couldn't do anything with it. But this past weekend I got the old indoor/outdoor carpet torn off and the stand part power washed. The weather turned bad again and I couldn't get it bleached to clean it up, so it has been sitting out in the rain for a week now. I also have to get a new stanchion made, just to make sure it is clean and ready to go.



I picked up the new milking machine Saturday night, so that is taken care of. Being able to milk 6 goats at a time will cut chore time down. Hope the goats will hold off on kidding until I get everything ready to go. I suppose I can hope but I know that isn't going to happen!!! Kids should start arriving around the 10th...oh wait...THAT'S TODAY!!!!!! I don't even have the big boxes in the barn to keep them warm!!!! Guess I'll be doing that in rain when I get home from work today. With the downpour we are getting now, I see a lot of mud in my near future...................

Great Expectations..??..

I did some driving last weekend and have some more to do this weekend! I acquired a 6 goat milk stand. I have to clean it up a bit and replace the stanchion part of it to adapt to my feed pans. Hopefully I will get that done early in the day Saturday. The temps are supposed to be in the 60's (today they are in the teens)!! I then have to make a run to get my milking machine back.. You see, I traded my milking machine for Lucy Llama a couple years ago. That was a bad move on my part. I should have BOUGHT the Llama and had both. Anyway, I have to pick it up this weekend and get that paid for at some point. I have another milking machine that I have to pick up yet as well, from the same place I got the stand. After loading the behemoth of a milk stand in the truck I had no more room for the machine so another trip is warranted.

Kids should start arriving next week. The getting up earlier and staying up later will follow closely as I think all my does should be done kidding by early April with the first round of fresheners (10) due from 3/10 to 3/20. If my chart and chicken scratchings are correct I should end up with 30 +/- kids this season. Just taking into account that goats normally have twins. At this point I wouldn't mind if they were all buck kids, that would make all my later decisions easy.

Someone tell me again WHY it is I do this???



Oh yeah....................