Quads!

Doris had quads! 2 bucklings and 2 doelings. I have been busy and not able to post till now, but she had them Saturday morning (May 23rd). They are all beautiful babies and Doris is doing great.

There were a few small, minimal complications with the birth, but nothing big. The first kid (buckling, he's black with a white spot) was born with no sack, and only his head was coming out with no front feet. So that made things a little harder, plus he was "sticky" since he had no sack on him, and that made him a lot harder to get out - since he didn't have any "lube" on him. I had to give him a bath just so the stuff would come off of him.

Then a little doeling came out (black & white swirl), a few minutes later a buckling (black & white swirl), then a small little girl came out butt first (black & brown). I didn't know that she was tail/butt first until she was pretty much out. Thankfully she is small, so it wasn't a problem ;).

Doris gave us a gallon of colostrum within the first 12 hours, and is milking like a pro now. The colorful buckling is already spoken for, so is the black and brown doeling. Here are a few photos of them, in order of birth ;).

Buckling #1 (we call him "Sticky" right now, since he was so sticky at birth)

Doeling #1,

Buckling #2, we are calling him Shotgun,

Doeling #2,

Recent Photos

I thought I would post a few recent pictures of the goats. The weather has been great the past few days, and everyone has been grazing a lot and coming back with *full* bellies! Doris is still as wide as a train. All is going pretty well.

We also still have Vanilla's little doeling available for sale. Email or call me for more info and a price on her (sf@goodgoats.net - 918-594-4004).

Verona,

Rosie,

Hug,

Some of the herd going out to pasture,

Buttermilk (Boer/Nubian dry doe),

The Workshop - Sheds, Picnic Tables, Stools, Custom-built items and more!

I thought I would share a couple of links. A friend of ours and my brother have been building various items and selling them. Anything from sheds to picnic tables and stools. You can see what they have available below, but if you don't see something that you would like, feel free to email or call kim@goodgoats.net or 918-598-4004.

http://www.goodgoats.net/sheds.html

http://www.goodgoats.net/picnictables.html

http://www.goodgoats.net/stools.html

Thanks for looking!

Suriyah

P.S. - Doris is still super wide and has not popped yet :)!

Vanilla had twins

Just thought I would give a quick update that Vanilla (Nubian doe, Good Goats Vanilla Cream) kidded to a beautiful buckling and doeling early Sunday (the 10th) morning. The buckling is a very handsome dark red with white ears and a little black trim. The doeling is a pretty black with white roaning, brown trip and white ears. Their ears have actually come *down* since they were born. They are both very small and petite, especially compared to all of the big kids! I hope to get some pics of them up here soon. Oh also, their sire is PawPawNin Quiet Wyatt. They are 1st gen, 75% Nubian 25% Nigerian kids.

Doris is now in the kidding stalls, on day 140 today, and is *HUGE*. I am expecting quads :).

Update, pictures, and hail storm

Well it's been a while since I posted last. No new babies born yet - we have had Vanilla in one of the kidding stalls for the past few nights. She is due the 13th. Everything is going pretty good. All of the kids are growing a lot.

We lost one of our yearlings from last year, Lotsa Dots, almost a week ago. We've been trying to keep her going for a few months now, but she just got thinner and thinner for no reason. The vet didn't find anything wrong with her. No worms, plenty of feed. I think the move might have taken a toll on her, but am not sure. She was a very sweet little doe and is missed :(!!

On another note, we had big storm late last week and some of this week. I've posted a picture of the hail we had below. No tornado though! I have not been in one yet and hope to not ever be ;). Today was a very nice, warm day and I think all of the animals enjoyed being able to finally go out to pasture.

This is one of the many streams, small and big, created by all the heavy rain,

Just thought this was a cool picture,
another "cool" picture ;),
Here is a pic of the hail that we had last Friday morning. . . it was very loud here in the metal barn!
Some of the does going out to pasture,
Big, wide Doris eating leaves that were knocked off the trees from the hail,

I think that is all for now. Have a good night!

Time for an update

It's been awhile since I posted last. Not too much has gone on. On Wednesday the 15th, Reata, one of our Boer/Nubian does kidded to a cute little doeling. Her sire was one of the MiniNubian bucks since Reata just needed to be bred. You would never think that this doeling has any Boer in her. . . just a good example why no NOA Minis should be registered. Anyway, we've already found a home for the little doeling. Thanks to Shanda for giving her and Willa's buckling a great home! Here is a picture of Reata's Boer/Nubian/MiniNubian doeling.

All of the kids are doing great. Verona's buckling's legs are all straight and perfect now! We ended up taping them, one with popsicle sticks, just so they would straighten out faster. It worked and he is walking like a normal kid now!

Other than that, all the does are still milking great and everything is going good. I think Spring might finally be getting here. . . the trees are starting to get leaves and there is grass growing... YAY! It has been brown for months! Here's a flower pic ;). Time to go, busy day today.

Some recent pictures!

How to treat Bloat in a goat

I thought I would post a few small articles that have helped people in the past. This one is on how to treat bloat.

How to Treat Bloat

                We have experienced goats getting bloat, and have treated them all successfully. This information is just from our experience - we are not vets or professionals. It is what has saved a few goats' lives.

When a goat is bloated, the left side will be hard, and the right side will feel "airy." The goat will be much wider/bigger looking than normal and will usually not want to walk or move around very much. Thus, bloated. Bloat is usually caused by goats either eating too much grain (that they are not used to) or getting out on new lush green pasture. Bloat is a very serious condition and needs to be treated immediately.

For treatment, there are a few ways to go.

- my first line of bloat treatment is to go to the Therabloat bottle or the like. There are many brands of bloat treatment for goats and cattle. The dosage is normally on the bottle.

- if I do not have the above, give about 1/2 cup of Oil (mineral, corn, etc), add a couple of big spoonfuls of Baking Soda to the Oil, and drench it down the goat's throat with a syringe (withOUT a needle). Do this slowly and carefully so you do not get it down the goat's windpipe.

- I always give C&D ANTITOXIN. This will not hurt the goat. It is a water soluble, and this if it is not needed in the gut, the goat will pee it out. This helps balance the rumen and calms things down. A lot of the time, after a goat has bloat, a few days later they will come down with Enterotoximia, and that is a very fast, life threatening situation also. If it is an adult goat, I give about 10 cc of C&D ANTITOXIN, sub-Q, a couple times until they recover. With a kid, I would give about 3-5 cc.

- along with bloat, some goats will also get diarrhea. You can let it run it's course, just make sure the goat is staying hydrated and offer then electrolytes a few times a day.

- if you know how to tube a goat, you can tube them and let the air out. Only do that if you know how to tube a goat, safely!

I hope this helps. Again, this is just our experience. We are not veterinarians or professionals.

Website update, and things going on at the ranch

I got some of the website updated today. I updated the Kids page so there are pictures of all of the kids and the new kids are up now. I also updated the Standard Nubian does' page with all of the new does (Maggie, Rosie, Doloris and Almond Joy). I still have to put Willa up on the MiniNubian doe page, and her buckling Sapphire on the bucks' page. Other than that, I think we are pretty much up to date though. If there is anything that you see that needs to be fixed, let me know! I would appreciate it.

I thought I would give an update on other things going on at the ranch, besides goats. We put all of the 6 yearlings (Quarter Horses, you can see them at www.diamondmlivestock.com) out on the 40 acres and they are finding a lot to eat out there already. They were not very interested in their hay the other day! I was also given one of the yearling geldings for my birthday. His barn name is Tank, registered name is Royal Gypolena.

Other than that, I don't think there is too much going on :).

More babies, and more new does!

We have had more babies born and bought a few more Nubian does. Here's the updates. I am going to try and work on the website in within a few days and get new pictures and info up on everyone.

Last Friday we picked up our two new Nubian does, Maggie and Rosie (mother/daughter). They are beautiful girls, and they produce like pros with great udders! They are both a pretty brown with white ears, and their udders are very nice with very easy to milk teats. Pics will be up on the website soon, Lord willing. Thank you Linda Denmark!!

As for babies born, Northwest Goats Lil' Prissy kidded to a beautiful doeling on the 25th. Her sire is Junior Mint and she is a F1. She is just adorable though! Her ears are super long, her type is very nice, plus she is extremely colorful and is a sweety. Her dam is a wonderful milker with a very nice udder and her sire comes from great milking lines also. We are keeping her and her name is Starlight Mint ("Starlight").
Then yesterday, the 30th, PawPawNin Verona kidded to beautiful buck/doe twins. They are both very colorful and have nice ears. Verona is milking very good also! The only problem is that the buckling's front feet are a little deformed - when he stands or walks, he is walking ontop of his foot. Hopefully that will straighten out with time. He got a BoSe shot also. We are thinking about keeping the doeling. She doesn't have a name yet though!

Time to go. Have a great day!