Farm Updates

Awh…. it’s time for a coffee break and to let you know what I’ve been doing in the soap world.

I’ve made over 250 bars and still saponifying  

The following soaps are curing:

Tea Tree

Honey Almond

Lavender and Peppermint

Plain

I especially enjoy winter.   Winter, time to make soap for the upcoming year, the soap has time to cure and the house smells wonderful. 

Winter,  peacefulness without the urgency of goat kidding in the spring, milking the does and tending to the garden in the summer.  Autumn  busy with fall festivals and putting up food.  Why do I even wonder where the time goes. 

We are especially exciting this year because our milk plant is finally starting to shape up.  The barn has been extended.  The concrete floor has been poured.  Now is the time for ‘hubby’ to start the inside work.    We’ll keep you posted on ‘hubbies’ progress with the milk plant.   

We are very pleased to announce that we now have organic products.  When ordering on line you will see that the description is correct.  We will be taking new pictures of our products with the new organic labels.   Thank you.

May 29, 2011

Anna had 8 puppies.  Six adorable females and two charming males!  Mom and pups are doing very well.  Pictures will be posted soon.

Goat kidding continues.  Four does have kidded one more to go.  Again, things have been tougher than we have ever experienced.  We have had one doe  still born,  one breech doe who survived, another doe too weak to live through the birthing.  The most heart wrenching was a little buck who lived only a  1 1/2.   He was weak to begin with but weaken more.  It appeared to us that he didn't develop properly inside.  We did everything imaginable to save his precious life.  We all were comforting him even our English Shepherds who had adopted him as their own.  We currently have 5 bucks and 2 does.  Once things settle down a little I hope to post some pictures.  Time to run,,,, yesterdays buck kid is crying to be fed :)

Anna had her 'puppy' ultra sound done yesterday and we are pleased to tell you that the vet saw at least 7 puppies.  We expect puppies around May 20th.  Anna has that glow in her eyes and very affectionate.  She weighed in at 41.8. 

If Anna is pregnant with pups she will be going into her 5th week.  We are scheduled to have an ultrasound this coming Monday, May 2nd.  My gut feeling is that she is pregnant.  She appears a bit heavier and seems to be moving a bit slower these days and her appetite is increasing. 

April 18,2011 - Monday afternoon I go out to check on my pregnant does.  Celestial is due this Friday.  Much to my surprise Celestial is due now- my guesstimate would be within 12 hours.  She had already received a CD&T shot and Vit E.  The CD&T will protect the new born kids until they are old enough to receive it.  The Vit E is for mom.  I gather the birthing kit which consists of: molasses, goat drench, iodine, scissors, lighting, alcohol,strip cup,  gloves, nose syringe, gloves, towels/flannel sheets.  The dog pens are brought into the house.  Now the anticipation begins. 

April 19, 2011 12:20 a.m. we are awaken by a load scream coming from the birthing pen.  We can see on the barn camera that she is in labor.  We throw on some cloths and rush out with birthing kit in hand.  Celestial gives birth to a healthy buckling.  We allow her to lick the kid to stimulate them.   We remove the kid from her and give her a warm bucket of water and molasses. The buckling is carried to the house  and laid in the pen awaiting him.  My English Shepherds make sure the kid is safe while I go back out to the barn.  I then retrieve some colustrum from Celestial.  We hand bottle feed the colustrum as soon as possible.  We also place the umbilical cord in iodine and if too long we snip it.  

 In the past she has been completely done birthing within an hour.  Tonight is different several hours go by - worry increases.  3:20 I go back out to check on her because I heard her crying.  No signs of a kid.  I go back in to rest.  3:45 I hear the birthing cry again and jump into cloths and run out to the barn.  She is licking another healthy buckling.  I look to her left and see a 'stillborn'.  We are very sadden but mother nature did what she had to do.   We remove the stillborn and allow her to stimulate the buckling.  We then remove the buckling and bring him in to the house with his brother.  

April 19, 2011 Celestial afterbirth is dangling from her.  This can take up to 12 hours, however, if it is retained longer than 12 hours we need to take action.  I called the Vet and we discussed the situation and we decided to have her come out to take a look at Celestial.  The vet examine Celestial inside and out and determined there weren't any other kids inside.  We gave her a goat drench, injection of calcium some glycerine and decided to see if it would drop on its own.  Finally the afterbirth drops.  We are tired but the kid are doing very well.  They are now drinking from a bucket hanging in the pen. 

April 20, 2011 - Tasha is due next.  I think it will happen today!  10:00 PM we hear that familiar birthing cry from barn.  When we got their she was on her side having contractions.  This too was different than last year and I felt we may have to assist her.  I was right the kid was breech. My husband put on a long glove and assisted with the delivery.  A beautiful baby doe kid was born.  Within a hour Tasha delivered another doe kid and a very handsome buckling.  She cleaned them all and we brought them to the house.  I took the colustrum from her and then she got a big bucket of warm water and molasses.  The kids wanted to sleep.  We did get a little goat drench in them and a syringe full of colustrum.  Within 45 min's they wanted the bottle and were sucking from the nipple.  All is good :)

April 21, I tend to 5 kid's while I keep a close eye on Desi.  Desi isn't due until May 11th which means she is 19 days early.  This is way to early and both mom and kids.  I am preparing for the worse. 

March 27, 28 and 29th

We took Anna out to visit Jet during her peak cycle time on Sunday, March 27th, Monday and Tuesday.  Anna and Jet were 'tied' on Sunday.  However, Monday and Tuesday they did not.  I have always heard that 2 successful 'ties' were good but not necessary as long as the bitch is at peak which she was.  We intend to have her checked by a vet in a few weeks and more thank likely we will opt for a cats scan.  The cat scan is the best way to determine if she will have puppies and a pretty good guesstimate on how many.  We'll keep you posted!

 March 20, 2011

We've been anticipating our English Shepherd Anna to go into her spring heat.  I am pleased to say that she did last Sunday on the first day of Spring!  We have plans on breeding her very soon - the rest is up to Anna & Jet.   We'll keep you posted on the courtship!

Another bread baking day.  Tried a new bread receipe which consisted of several organic flours: white, wheat, rye.  Organic bran flakes, wheat germ and pumpkin seeds.  Milk, butter, salt, honey & yeast.  Very heavy dough even Mr. Pierson (my commercial mixer) struggled a bit.   Took about 45 minuites to raise in front of a warm hearth.  Kneaded one more time and rise one more time.  It was difficult to roll out and shape into loaves.  I wasn't overly pleased with the end result but it is great toasted!