I have had computer problems so was offline for a couple of weeks, it felt like forever and its taking me all night to get caught up on all these threads but its good to be back.
It wasn't to bad because I had something to keep me busy while the computer was down.
I bought some goats last month and am having a ball with them!
I am soooo excited I seriously cannot stand it!
I have been considering goats for a long while and talked to the town about getting the permit for them, had the inspector come out and look at the yard and see if I have the room and all that.
My yard is totally fenced in and we had housing for them so we got the okay.
I also talked to a livestock vet about it and she graciously stopped by my house to check out my yard and give me advice on housing requirements,feed and care so I felt good about our decision.
I lurked on some goat forums, read some books, talked to other goat owners and decided to take the plunge.
We decided to build a goat house and add a fenced in pen around that so that they can hang out in there if I want them to or I can open the gate and let them out into the yard.
Anyway, I got a pregnant Nigerian Dwarf and a Pygmy goat.
I wanted a pregnant goat so that I can get my hands on the babies right away and make them as friendly as possible and to also have the milk to make yogurt, kefir, cheese, soap etc.
So my wish came true, while I was at the farm picking up my girls
She is a hair sheep and does not need to be sheared, she is orange and black with catlike eyes.
So I had Lilly the Pygmy goat, Annabelle the Sheep and Tess the pregnant Nigerian.
I brought them home and they have been a barrel of fun every minute and I love getting that millk.
Who ever thought I would be milking a goat someday?
The people I bought them from are hardcore organic and do not vaccinate or medicate their animals so just to be on the safe side I had the vet come by and give everyone a check up and have them tested.
She thought they looked great and took some blood to test for CAE/ CL and Johnes disease.
It was really important for me to know if they had anything like that.
All of the tests came back negatvie and she has declared them the picture of health.
So last week my Tess kidded and gifted me with gorgeous twins, a buckling who I will have whethered and a doeling who is so sweet I can't stand it.
They look completely different from eachother which is really cool and makes my little herd even more diverse.
The boy has the exact color and markings of their mother, black, tan and white with brown eyes and the girl looks just like her dad and is the blackest black with white frosted ears and nose and blue eyes.
Their personalities are as different as their looks.
She is quiet and cuddly and he is a loudmouth momma's boy who screams like you are killing him if you pick him up when he is hanging out with mama. He is a handful and cracks me up.
He will cuddle but it has to be when he feels like it, such as in when he is not trying to perfect his leap onto his mother's back.
We named them Roxie and Ratchet (which my 7 year old son got from a video game and insisted was a great name for a goat) it meant so much to him so I figured what the heck.
I happened to be home for the birth and she had an extremely easy time of it but she has done it before.
I swear if I blinked I would have missed it.
The vet has came out after and inspected everyone and dubbed them very healthy so I guess I am good to go.
I also had some new chicks hatch the same day the goats were born so there are alot of babies around this house.
I linked my photobucket album to this post if you want to see pictures of the new additions.
The first goats we got are on the first page and the new babies are on the second.
http://s679.photobucket.com/albums/vv153/natalierosepeterson/?start=0