Goats on the homestead

Brad picked up our goats yesterday. I've been really sick so his mom went with him to help out. You may remember when I first mentioned our goats back in this post. Once their kids were weaned, they were ready to go. We ended up cutting down the kids' tree house that they never really went into anymore (I have no idea why other than the mention of a copperhead snake or something to that matter. Frankly, I think their imaginations are just quite active.) 

Upon arriving home, it was obvious that they were ready to be milked. I'm still thanking God that my sister and her family were at my parents visiting for the evening. My brother-in-law, Matt, apparently used to milk goats in his teen years which came in quite handy yesterday. Let me just tell you, it doesn't matter how many YouTube videos you watch of someone else milking goats, there's nothing like having someone physically present, walking you through it.

My attempts to milk them were a total failure. Matt came up, and had those udders empty within ten minutes. I was impressed at this unknown, secret talent of his! Of course, he showed me how to do it, walked me through the hand motion and all that.

So this morning was the test. I was alone (besides the kids.) I walked outside and Candy saw me and immediately started bawling at me. It was like she was yelling at me to hurry up because she was about to burst. Surprisingly and, unlike yesterday, I tied her up and she stood still and let me milk her. At first, I couldn't get any milk to come down, but then it came. Whew. 

It took me about twenty minute to milk the two of them. And, of course, Candy had to step into the bowl of milk. Yeah, well, I'm just happy I relieved them of their swollen udders. The chickens and dog were happy too since they got to drink the milk. 

I'm learning, and my goal is to be able to actually drink/use their milk by next week. I need to pick up a proper milking pail and practice a bit more before I get all worried about saving their milk for us. They seem to be producing quite a bit. Jolene (the woman we got them from) said that she was getting about 1/2 - 3/4 gallon of milk per day from them combined. That's a lot of milk! 

On another note, oh please say a prayer for me. Our Bible school is this week, and I am still so sick with this head cold thing which I think may have now turned into a sinus infection. Not only do I direct Bible school, but I'm also the crazy gal who stands up front for forty-minutes acting all goofy and silly. That takes a lot of energy, and normally I have tons of fun doing it. But this week, oh boy. I feel like I'm really going to have to rely on God's strength and power to get it done!

But, hey, His power is made perfect in my weakness, right!?

goats

Well, it's official. We're getting goats. Two mini Nubian does.

Lily has been saving her money in a little jar. I may have contributed once or twice (wink.) Daddy told her a while back that if she could raise the money, we would get her goats. Little did I know, at that time, how expensive dairy goats are. After contacting several farms I had pretty much put the idea of being a goat owner out of my mind.

Then my friend, Rachel, contacted me weeks later. Rachel and her mom own Rainbow Mountain Alpacas (where we purchased two of our alpacas) and they have a lot of connections in the farm world. Rachel's friend was downsizing her farm and was re-homing her mini Nubian goats. And she happened to have two lactating does available. And the best part? She was asking an amount that was very reasonable. An amount that wasn't too far off from what Lily had already saved.

The kids and I had a little visit with our future goats yesterday. Since they are both still nursing their kids, they won't be available until the kids are totally weaned, which will be the beginning of June. This is perfect as we need to get their shelter set up. This also means that we'll be able to start milking as soon as we get them. The plan is to milk Candy (the white, younger goat) and let Licorice (the older, dark gray goat) dry up and rest for a year. Licorice is worn out from four consecutive breeding seasons so she's going to spend a year resting and recharging before we breed her again.

Three of the kids were still with their mamas so we got to enjoy playing with them yesterday. Lily was in love. She didn't want to leave. As is customary with goat kids, they jumped, climbed, chewed, and nuzzled with us the whole time. Lily and I both left with goat-slobbered hair (apparently they enjoy chewing on long hair.) And we left with a whole lot of excitement for the time when we can pick up our new goats.