Baby mania!!

Oh my gosh, it's been forever... But I swear I have a good excuse! These past few weeks I've been in D.C. lobbying for Food Aid reforms and an end to Gender Based Violence, and Charlottesville VA visiting family firends, and then at the mountains, all while preparing for babies (which came at 3 in the afternoon on 3/20!)

So today I'm going to talk a bit about kidding (the goat term for having babies). When does go into heat you put them in with the buck and we all know what happens then. Then the does hopefully are pregnant. The pregnancy lasts about 5 months or 145-155 days. The first signs of pregnancy are missing their monthly heat cycles, the next is development of the udder. You will notice the udder becomes more visible and slightly fuller. The third sign isn't really noticeable until a week or so before kidding, this is seeing the actual stomach, it's on your left if your looking at the front of the goat. The other side may look full as well, that's the rumen. Those are the only real outward signs of pregnancy.

You can tell when a doe is close to kidding by looking for a number of signs. The most common of which are pawing/nesting, being especially vocal or especially quiet, withdrawing from the heard, a puffy and more pink looking vagina, and when birth is immanent an amber-ish fluid coming from the vagina. Another sign that your doe is close to kidding is the tendon around her pin bones is squishy, or soft.... This is more something experienced goat breeders look for and I still can't figure this one out.

Okay, back to where we were... After you notice the amber fluid it's a good idea to get her into the kidding pen. In my experience birth happens about 5 hours after the fluid first shows up. The next thing that will most likely happen is your doe will become slightly agitated and paw, make noises etc. until the water sack starts to come out, here's an example of what that looks like.

After that, contractions will begin and the baby should come within 30 minutes. If it's taking longer then 45 minutes, there might be a problem. The baby should come out head-first with it's front legs up. Once the baby is out the momma will pop the membrane and begin to clean her baby. Within minutes the kids should open their eyes and start to try and stand up. They'll be all awkward and wobbly for a while until they get the hang of it all. Once the baby is out you should make sure it nurses. This is essential because the babies must get a sip of the colostrum (the first milk) it's packed with nutrients and antibodies that help the babies. As mom cleans off her baby (or babies, goats can have up to 4, although 2 is the most common) you will notice she will have some small contractions and a gooey purpleish-red chunky thing will start to come out. Don't freak out, it's just the placenta. Most goats will eat it. 

So basically, goats can pretty much do this all on their own, so don't worry if your not there. Some common problems that occur are a breach birth (where the baby is in the wrong position), and trouble latching on. For most breaches the doe will correct it herself by moving around and doing what we refer to as goga (goat yoga) to re-position her baby. If nothing is happening you might have to get in there and fix it yourself, or call the vet. If a baby can't, or the mom won't let it latch on you might have a bottle baby. I haven't had experience with either of these problems so I'm lucky!

Now for pictures of my adorable baby goaties!
This is Bon-Bon, her mom is Licorice Whip

These are Cypress (black with frosted ears) and Aspen (White with black spots) and they are Oak Leaf's babies.

All three of them are girls and born within minutes of each other.

Food, glorious food!

Hey y'all sorry its been so long! I've been crazy busy with school. Today I want to talk about food. Goats are ruminants which means they have four stomachs. This  means that they digest food differently then we do, they don't need as much food and they also need roughage. For the rumen to work correctly goats need things that we would consider inedible, like blackberry vines, pine trees and just trees and bark like things in general. The food needs of your goats entirely depends on the space you have and what you are using the goats for. For instance if you let your goats on a pasture of 25 acres, you probably won't need to supplement feed unless you have pregnant or lactating does, but if you are doing backyard goats additional food is definitely needed. I feed my goats orchard grass (a type of high quality hay) free choice and in the evening I give them a grain mixture so they get the protein and nutrients they need. Since my goats are for fiber, I add flax seeds and black oil sunflower seeds to their grain mixture because it promotes healthy and lustrous fiber. There are two ways to go about grain, you can buy the pre-mixed Purina Healthy Goat Chow (which I use) or you can make your own mixture. If I were farming on a larger scale I would make my own mixture, but since the smallest you can get is 50lbs bags of most grains, economically it doesn't make sense for me, also some of the things are hard to find and need to be special ordered. As far as portions go, there is a formula that has something to do with body weight but since I raise neither meat nor dairy goats its a little more guesswork. I give them about a cup and a half each since they are pregnant, and I will continue to give them that much until the babies are weened. When they are no longer producing I reduce the feed to 1 cup. Basically what I'm saying is that there is many approaches to feeding, and it really depends person to person how they decide to do it.

Fencing and such

Hi y'all today I'm going to talk a little about fencing. Goats are notorious escape artists and enjoy jumping up on everything and anything they can. This means (especially if you are doing backyard goats) that your fencing must be on point, not only to keep the goats in, but the predators out.
There are many things to consider and make sure you know before buying fencing. The first of which is that anything larger then a 4x4 square in a fence is a goat killer. They can get their heads stuck, or a leg stuck. Also the fence must be at least 4ft tall, preferably a bit more if you own a larger breed. All fence posts need to be super securely in the ground. Additionally if you are doing backyard goats, make sure the goats can not end up in the street, the neighbors yard... or under a car!
Specialized goat/sheep or livestock fencing can be frighteningly expensive, and if you are only fencing a small space, there are some less expensive and more DIY options you can do. I used a combination of many types of fencing for my goat enclosure, from chicken wire, to chain link, to metal sheeting. On my property there is a preexisting fence along two-ish sides that we reinforced with new fence posts and covered the bottom foot and a half with chicken wire for extra safety.

You can't really see the chicken wire... but its there. Another portion of our fence will be chain link fence panels and posts, this part isn't 100% done yet, so I don't have any photos. The final area of fence we did was a small area made of metal roofing, this is the part of the fence that faces to the street. We did this because it makes the goats not visible to anyone walking their dogs. This is a consideration you should make if you are doing backyard animals..

  Some people, for additional security run an electric wire across the top of your fencing. I don't think this is needed if your just doing a small space, but its up to you. My next post will be a barn update! t-minus 12 days until goats!

My first post! A little background.

Hi y'all
I just wanted to give a little introduction about me and my goats. I guess this all got started when I was dating this guy, his mom owns Shetland Sheep and him and his brother show them in 4-H. About two weeks into our relationship, he took me to the barn and I got introduced to the sheep. Soon thereafter I was caught up in a whirlwind of sheep things, from breeding, to shearing, to lambing, as well as basic care. Soon it became time to register for the new year in 4-H, him and I had broken up but were still close friends and his mother loved me and thought I was a great help. She encouraged me to sign up, and join her club, Ewetopia. I did. A few months later I met my first Pygoras, Mocha and Latte, we call them the dumplings.

They're two little does (female goats) who live at the Alpenrose barn and are used for storybook lane. The rest of the year they do nothing. I was immediately attracted to these tiny, fluffy, strange goats and I asked if I could use them for my 4-H project. That year I spent every evening at the barn caring for these goats. I trained them to be shown and fell in love with not just them, but the whole world of goats. When Washington county fair came around I showed Mocha and Latte, surprisingly they did fabulously. Latte won reserve grand champion in the open show, and Mocha won champion in the 4-H show. As summer came to a close I decided I was going to test my luck at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, a sanctioned goat show, one of the biggest in the country. The goaties and I braved the horrible freezing rain and showed for the first time up against adults who had been showing and breeding their whole life. Although the girls didn't do to well (3rd and 5th) it was an amazing experience and I got to make a lot of connections with Pygora breeders across Oregon.
After OFFF I decided I wanted to start breeding Pygoras. The real question was how could I do that? I don't live on a farm. I spoke with some people in the farm community, did some research and found that I could have my very own backyard Pygoras! So it began, we are currently in the process of building a barn (I'll do a whole post about that) and I have purchased two beautiful bred (pregnant) does to come live with me. They will be arriving in two weeks!!
Oh and I forgot to add, none of this would have even been remotely possible without the support and knowledge of my amazing boyfriend who also shows goats!