Phoebe and Ursula

This is little Phoebe. See how she holds her left leg backwards? Well, yesterday, she's walking on it and today it's a lot better. Someone said it could be because her bigger sister might have been laying on her in the womb. She is just the sweetest little girl ever. And has the cutest baby cry. Her sister is quiet. But not this one!











And this is the bigger doeling. I decided to name her Ursula, after the show Friends. Phoebe and her twin sister Ursula. I think the names fit perfectly. This girl is about half the size of Phoebe. And looks all Boer. She's a doll. And very good.

Penelope is doing great. I had her on the stand last night and this morning and milked out a quart each time. Her udder is AMAZING! And so east to milk. Her teats are a bit too big when she's full so it helps to milk her out some so the kids can nurse easier. But she's going to be a dream to milk. The 2 year wait is well worth it.

Overwhelmed

Do you ever just want to throw your hands up in the air and run as far away as you possibly can? Sometimes I do. I just want to give up. Sell all my animals and everything else. Go start a new life on an island out in the middle of nowhere.

One time not too long ago, I almost did this. I was very frustrated with my whole life. I called a friend and asked her if she wanted my animals or knew someone who would buy them all. She got on the phone and called people and she had every one of my animals sold in a just a few hours. Well, by then, I was so over it. I just cried and cried. There's NO way I could sell any of my sheep or goats. Everything else, yeah. Like chickens or cats. Well, I'd give cats away. I'd have to take Bubba and Stella anywhere I went. And the sheep and goats too.

So I learned my lesson that time. And even my friend told me to wait a good 12 hours when this happens again. Because a lot can happen in 12 hours.

But right now, I am just about sick of sick goats. I have 3 does who have just had kids. All 3 are having problems. Trudy, the newest doe, who I bought already bred, has got the hardest udder ever. She has good milk apparently because I have only had to bottle feed the kids once or twice. And I have been giving her shots and drenches and this and that. Her udder was feeling a little softer yesterday. Then this morning, hard as a rock again. And I got her for a milk goat. HA!

Then yesterday, both Abby and Penelope had their kids at the same time in the same stall. First time for that. SO Abby, who will be 11 in a few days, has been eating like a pig and bloating. I have been drenching her, giving her shots, doing all I can for her. Then she kidded and now she's looking depressed. My friend I call for help said it sounds like ketosis. Good grief! Her kids are doing great and she has tons of milk. She's a great mother. So back to giving her stuff all day.

Then Penelope. Again, good grief! She won't eat now. I brought her to the milk room and milked her out because her teats were rather big and it was hard for her kids to get their mouths around them. I got a quart. SO easy to milk too for a first freshener. But she too looks depressed. I guess maybe a little stunned? I did put her in another stall.

So, when it rains, it pours. Always something around here. Just need to vent I guess. Seems like it's all happening at once right now. My car's transmission is acting up. The wood heater gets all clogged with creosote. Can't use it now. We're broke as usual. And it's so COLD. And MUDDY. and just plain ole nasty outside. And I can't seem to fix my electric fence. Spent half the day yesterday out there doing repairs on the whole fence and looked out there and all the goats were back out in the field. Darn goats.

I'll be fine. I know I am not the only one who's felt like this. Just one of those days.

Maybe a broken leg?

This little one might have a broken leg. It's the back left leg. You can't see it too good here, but it's bent all the way backwards. Not at all like this leg looks, with the pointed part going up. Would that be the ankle? I'm not good at goat parts. I will keep an eye on her and if she's still standing with the leg bent back, I may have to take her to a vet. I'm going tomorrow to get a few things from the co-op, like some Bose and some Vit. E, just in case it might just be a little Selenium deficiency.

Anyone have any ideas what it could be? When I went out this morning and found them, all the kids were all together and Abby was all over. She could have stepped on her leg. It was a little crazy out there.

My bad

I was out in the barn lovin' on the new babies and happened to get a good rear end look at this little one. The one I thought was a buck. I thought it looked a little like some girl parts. Then felt underneath again. And it's NOT a buck but a doe! So Penelope had 2 does! Isn't she the cutest little thing ever?

Abby's kids

And these are Abby's 2 little bucklings. They both look just like her but the one nursing is a little clone. Same coloring and everything. The little one laying down has a more reddish-tan colored stripes and belly like John Henry/ Both are adorable. And for sale. If anyone needs a great herd sire, these would be wonderful. Abby is registered and I am supposed to be getting papers on John to get him registered too. Let me know if you need a good herd sire.

Penelope and her new kids

She finally had her kids this morning, about 7:30. So did Abby. In the same stall at about the same time. All 4 kids were still wet. Abby was trying to steal Penelope's kids. So I had to put Trudy and her kids out of their stall and put Penelope in there with her kids.

The one on the lfet is a buckling. Looks just like Arlo Guthrie. Even has the ears.

The one on the right is the doeling. She has elf ears like her momma. They are both SO cute!

And the little doeling will be for sale as soon as anyone would like to have her. Just let me know. She is about half Boer and some Lamancha and Nubian and Alpine mix. Penelope has an amazing udder and was really easy to milk already.  

Some snow

We got a little snow today. It was SO cold. The snow came and went a few times. There is still a little in the shady areas. I am so ready for summer. Just skip spring and get right into summer please! I am freezing. And our wood heater flue pipes are full of creosote buildup so we had to take all the wood out and take the pipes out. So no wood heat. Back to the darned ole heat pump. And it's cold! I was so liking the wood heat. I guess one day we can get someone out here to properly fix it to where it doesn't do this again. I am not sure why it gets the creosote built up in the pipes. This has happened before. And those pipes aren't cheap.

So I think I am ready for some warm weather. And I sure hope and pray my goats and sheep wait til Spring to have babies. I really will never breed them again so early. Never again. It's just too cold for babies to be born right now. I can hear the wind howling out there.