New Doe Kids out of Ruth X Malachi

Meet the newest additions to Flumgummerie Farm! Ruth gave us two beautiful doe kids yesterday. Of course it was 4 am and 28 degrees but these sweeties make it all worthwhile...that and all the delicious sweet goat milk we'll be getting!

Look at those legs!

It's at times like this that I really love my job! My daughter loves it too!

Goat love! How sweet that she has a little heart marking! My son giving her a little sugar!

I love this flashy black tri-color doe! 

Now we need to come up with some names. Does anyone have any suggestions!

Blessings,
Michelle

Here We Grow Again!

We have a girl! Shiloh kidded yesterday and gave us a beautiful little doe. Unlike Ruth, she took almost no time at all and I actually had to catch her baby because she decided that she preferred to stand up during the big event. Now we have to decide on a name for this little one and the exciting part is we get to give her our farm name!  She has a unique marking on her side that kinda looks like a dragon. What do you think?

The doe with the dragon tattoo?

She's a very strong and active 1 day old and she weighs just at 10 pounds! She may be pushing the boys around soon (just like her momma).  We are looking forward to watching how she develops and may take her to a show in June. She'd be a little young but it will be good experience for our first show.

Now the real fun begins! :)

Blessings,

Michelle

Here We Grow!

Well, things have been very busy since my last post! We have been crazy busy getting things ready for our newest arrivals.  We built a new pen for our heritage hogs, a maternity ward for our Nubians and a milking room for me! During that time our Katahdin ewe had a little ram lamb and he has since been castrated. I'm not sure who it was more traumatic for, Bill or the lamb. 

Ruth kidded last Wednesday with twin bucklings.  It was really amazing to watch since this was the first time any of us witnessed a live birth.  There were a few "Eeewww, that's disgusting" comments from the kids, but they really were fascinated by the whole process.  It was completely amazing to see the kids up and walking just moments after they were born. Everything went without a hitch and Ruth turned out to be any excellent mother. 

The kids are strong and healthy and they will make excellent herd sires as they come from some wonderful milking lines. Malachi, our herd sire comes from some great bloodlines. His dam and grandam have both been listed as having superior genetics and are  2*M and 1*M milkers and champions in the show ring to boot.  They come from Sunrise Farm and they are just beautiful white Nubian does!  Ruth carries the Kastdemur bloodline as well as Keeverlands Thorn-Crop Gertie and The Thorne-Crop Gus.

Shiloh is due to deliver this week and we are hoping for does out of her. Not only will the kids have those wonderful Sunrising and Hoanbu genetics but she has a pretty impressive pedigree as well. Her sire is Champion Royal Blue Nevada Joe *B out of  Kastdemur's Nevada City *B and Grand Champion Sweet-Spring PBC Berimargarita 1*M . Shiloh's dam is Frog Flat Ava Two out of Saada Wicked Wine Radar *B and Frog Flat Farm Cheri Cheezcake . 

These little boys will be disbudded, vaccinated and placed on a natural worming program from Molly's Herbals and they will be ready to go to their new homes soon. We are taking deposits for them now, please contact me for any more information or questions. I'll post more pictures and hopefully a video soon.

We're Expecting!

It is an exciting time here at Flumgummerie as we gear up for our first kidding season. Our Nubian does, Ruth and Shiloh, are both due in the first couple weeks of April. Talk about jitters, I haven't been this nervous since my own pregnancies!

There is so much to learn and so much to do that I am having a hard time deciding what to do first. Since this is our first time around we are starting from the beginning and that can be daunting to any new breeder. What should you have on hand? What equipment is absolutely essential to have on hand? What, when and how much should you feed? The list goes on and on! I have to sit back, take a breath and remind myself that most of the time these events happen without our help and without incident.

I decided that I should be prepared for any emergencies but I wasn't going to stress myself out worrying about it. I have put together a "kidding kit" of sorts with the basics and a few items that have been deemed as important in an emergency and best to have on hand. Nothing over the top or expensive, although one could certainly go that route. I did't think it was necessary to have navel clamps on hand when dental floss would work just as well, nor did I opt to purchase a navel dipper when I could repurpose the cap from one of my makeup bottles to serve the same purpose. I am still in the process of completing my kit and I will list everything together as soon as I am done with the hope that this will help someone else new to dairy goats and kidding.

I must admit my job has been made slightly more difficult because I am also trying to prepare for milking and cheese making, of which I am also a beginner starting with nothing! This means that my mind is in overdrive trying to decide on a myriad of choices and possibilities. I have spent countless hours reading books and searching the internet for ideas and resources to help in this process but I still find it difficult to make a final decision. To be fair, making decisions has always been hard for me. I can never just "make a choice"! I have to think and rethink on everything...a kind of paralysis by analysis. Although some choices are easier than others, for instance, building a milk stand vs. buying one was simple. The savings was so great to build one that there really wasn't any choice there for me to make. Build it and they will come! The same factor helped me decide on whether I should purchase a $500 pasteurizer or just use a stainless steel pot and a thermometer. I opted for the $17 thermometer method (after I decided whether or not I should or should not pasteurize the milk of course)!

I don't have it all planned out. I am not a type A personality by any stretch of the imagination and I am prone to changing my mind, but I do believe that a little planning and a lot of knowledge never hurt anyone. I will prepare the best that I know how and trust that the world will keep turning if I make a mistake.

Now, should I start with making soft or hard cheese or both? Hmmmm, decisions, decisions.