Getting Ready for Baby Goats. . . 09.19.2017

It's been a long time coming,  but we are anticipating the birth of baby goats within a month's time.  This road to breeding goats and successful kidding has been a struggle and it's not exactly the struggle I want to share as a blogger and homesteader, but maybe my experience will help another goat newbie.  I feel like it's worth sharing.

Two years ago I bought our Nubian, Luna, who was already in milk.  She was a two year old freshner, meaning that she had just given birth.  All went well that first year with milking and her health. But last year came and we spent the entire breeding season running her back and forth to the breeders home (thankfully, they were only 5 minutes down the road) trying to catch her cycle so that his buck would breed with her.  It was a very frustrating time. 

First, breeding animals is not as easy as just putting them into a pen together.  The doe needs to begin cycling, which for Nubians happens around August and lasts until January.  This doesn't give much of a window of time.  Each time we thought we had a successful breed, the next month she would show signs of heat again and the final time I actually administered a blood test thinking we had won victory, only to get a negative pregnancy test.  Second, I found out goats need to be up on their minerals to actually go into a full cycle.  I was at my wits end and didn't know where to turn.  

I needed answers and quickly.  So, I began researching websites of goat owners that had been raising goats longer than I.  Two sites kept coming up with lots of information; Fiasco Farms and Land of Havilah.  Plus, an excellent book to read is Pat Colby's Natural Goat Care.  The overall consensus of information I read lead me to realize that my goats were not only copper deficient but selenium deficient.

The only way to boost copper is to copper bolus - which is where you stick a gigantic pill down the goat's throat for them to swallow.  I bit the bullet, bought the bolus gun and tried the pill.  YouTube is a great resource for information, but even after watching the videos over and over again, I still didn't get the pill all the way past the back of the throat where goats have some serious molars.  Each of the goats had a nice tasty chomping of a copper capsule.  Uggh!  

Right after this first blousing, I also began administering 1 teaspoon of selenium powder every night.   I was in shock; within weeks this is what I saw.  Mocha went from a dull, dreary rust color to a vibrant chocolate brown, her coat was once coarse and fried feeling was beginning to have a smooth and shiny character to it and she went into a raging heat within two months (I knew this because Doug was going nuts trying to get into the pen with her).

Deborah Niemann of the Thrifty Homesteader top dresses her copper.  Most sites recommend copper blousing every 6 months, but I did find several recommendations that if the goats are in an area where there is much sulfur in the water to copper bolus every 3 months because sulfur inhibits copper intake.  This led me to try three months later top dressing the copper.  This worked well, but some of the copper remained at the bottom of the feed pan.  I think that I will continue to top dress the copper only because it was less stress on this owner and all goats participating.

Fast forward to August and I actually witnessed Luna go into her first heat.  It was a very quick one of only several hours, but it was a start.  I can now see that the health of my animals is on the right track.  Here's hoping she'll be pregnant by the end of the year.

Mocha was actually bred in May to our little Nigerian buck, Doug.  I was worried that she wouldn't be in top health for her pregnancy so I did a few things to help her put as much energy into growing healthy babies as she could.

• I dried her up from milking as soon as we got the pregnancy results.  Goats can actually be milked up to two months before kidding, according to Fiasco Farms, but like I said, I wanted her putting energy into growing healthy babies, not making milk for me.
• I began administering an herbal supplement that included nettle, spirulina, alfalfa, dandelion and marshmallow leaves.
• I began giving her Diamond V Yeast Culture - It improves digestion, muscle weight gain, litter weights, milk production, conditioning, and even survivability in all the various animals it's been tried on.

My girl, Mocha, is getting bigger everyday.  My birthing kit is almost ready.  All that's left is to clean out her stall about a week before her due date.

I've seen slight movements on her right side which I'm hoping is those precious babies getting closer to coming out to meet us.  The farm kids are so excited to hold some baby goats.

I realize this post went rather long, but if it's helped please let me know by leaving a comment.  I would also appreciate hearing any comments on anything else that I need to do to prepare for goat babies.

Burdock Oil

 

 

Science in our home this year has consisted of studying herbs; their medicinal properties, identification, harvesting and preparation for use through a monthly study called Herb Fairies.  This curriculum is put out by Learning Herbs.

 

I am just beginning on my journey of immersing my children in the benefits of herbs. Plants have been the basis for medical treatments through much of human history, and such traditional medicine is still widely practiced today.

 

 

Our study this month was on Burdock:  Arctium is a genus of biennial plants commonly known as burdock.  The plants have dark green leaves that can grow up to 28" long. They are generally large, coarse and ovate, with the lower ones being heart-shaped. They are woolly underneath. The leafstalks are generally hollow. The plant generally flowers from July through to October.  The prickly heads of these plants (burrs) are noted for easily catching on to fur and clothing, thus being the inspiration for Velcro.

 

Burdock has many medicinal uses, one of which uses the roots to make an infusion in oil.  Burdock oil is used mainly on hair to lessen thinning hair, improve growth, strength and luster and to also give relief from dandruff and itchy, irritated scalp.

 

This is the recipe that we used from our Herb Fairy book on Burdock.

 

 

First, we needed to make an infusion in oil.  We took our herb which I purchased in root form from Mountain Rose Herbs.  We put about 1/4 cup of the ground up root into the top of our double broiler pan and covered it with olive oil.  We let that simmer for about 2 hours on the stove.

 

 

Next, we strained all the herbs out and placed the remaining oil into a pint size mason jar.  It needed to sit for two days in the sun to separate any water from the oil.  Here is what our finished oil looked like when it turned out.  Since we used dried root instead of fresh, there was no water separation.  The oil is now good to use.

 

 

 

Here is our final guinnea pig, I mean herbalist trying out the new oil.  To use, place a small amount, massage into hair and then rinse out.  Dry hair as usual and enjoy that soft, silky feeling.

 

I also found this very informative video from Herb Mentor.

 

 

 

Disclosure:I am not a medical professional and do not have any "professional" education in regards to medicine. Please use common sense when using any recipe found on the internet. Any advise given on this blog is simply a sharing of our family's experiences. Not everything works for everyone. If you have more questions, please contact your medical provider. (Or preferably an herbalist or alternative medicine provider.)

 

 

Spring time

If I had to pick a season to call my favorite, I just couldn't do it.  I love so many of the different aspects of each season that I couldn't choose just one.  Spring is new growth, fresh air and the start of longer days.  Summer is gardening, end of the school year joy, swimming and our big birthday bash.  Fall is full on harvesting, canning, preserving and Winter is snuggly fires, hot chocolate or warm apple cider and lots and lots of quilting projects.  Here we are in spring and these are just a few of the things going on at our homestead.

Spring:

* New flowers blooming, buds on some and little plants emerging from the ground (which I seriously thought I killed last fall)

 * Really green grass from much of the rain we've seen here on the coast.

* Overwintered cauliflower (who would have thought that could happen to me?)

* Some quilting projects from the winter season.

 

This one is from Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts.  These are the first two blocks in 12 total blocks-of-the-month for 2014.  The fabric I chose is called Homestead Gatherings from Moda.  I absolutely love the primitiveness (is that actually a word?) of the fabric and think it will work well in any of the rooms in my house.

 

Another quilt for a special little granddaughter of a friend.

 

This quilt is for Lindsay.  It still needs two borders.  The fabric is in the mail (Somehow, my children thinnk I receive too much fabric in the mail, so I have been currently banned from ordering anymore fabric) and since the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing I just knew I needed to snap a picture.  The fabric I used for this quilt is called Floral Gatherings by Moda.

 

* Plant starts growing in the green house, chive blossoms (perfect for chive infused vinegar for my homemade salad dressing - YUM! and some direct seeded spinach in the hot house.

* A new swing set for the farm kids built by their grandfather, stained by their grandmother and installed by their father - if this swing set looks massive to you, it's because it is!

*  Pregnant momma goat due June 10th - we are very anxious and thrilled to begin this new adventure in homestead living.  Raising animals has not been an easy road for us.  But, with each experience we've learned something valuable.  Our kids will thank us one day for teaching them responsibility, accountability and compassion for animals.  We have many conversations about how these animals depend on us for their survival.  It is good training for when they all have children of their own one day.

 

So how is your spring time going?

End of Summer

 

I have been absent for far too long. . .  and here we are at the end of summer.  This summer was so unexpected for us.. . . we had many days upwards of 70 degrees with our top hottest days last week coming in at 84 degrees.   This weather turned our garden into a massive producing machine.  I've been harvesting and canning green beans since early August.  I must have put away 45 quarts of green beans and 15 quart size bags of shelled peas with an enormous bag of dried peas for next year's crop.  Every day there are carrots, onions, broccoli or cauliflower to harvest.    Our greenhouse even became too hot and the doors to it have been open for the last month.  Too much heat caused most of my tomato and pepper plants to die prematurely and not fully produce, couple that with root bound plants in pots makes for a poor tomato/pepper crop.  So, we rolled with the punches and got six 20 pound boxes of organic tomatoes from a local grower and spent several days canning them. 

 

Our Nubian goats are growing larger every day.  Right now, I am currently watching them closely to see when they begin their monthly cycles so that Anne and I can take them to the breeder.  The General Manager is definitely wanting some return on investment from them in the form of MILK!  

 

School has resumed for the kids as of last week.  The first week back to the books went rather smoothly here at One Blessed Acre.  My favorite subject this year has to be our herb study, The Herb Fairy Book Club from Herb Mentor.  Each month we receive a new book, plus activity guide for a particular herb.  This month we are studying violets, so while we can't enjoy any of the violet recipes right now, we are still learning a lot, information that we'll be able to use in the spring!

 

I also finished barn #10 in our Quilty Barn Along with Lori.  This block is called the "Summer Star."  I'm a little concerned that the red in the barn might be too overpowering compared to the rest of my barns, but at this point, I'm just really excited to finish up the blocks and get it off to the quilter.  Two more blocks to go!

 

Have a great week!

 

 

Mint Tea

When my mint is not being consumed by the slugs in my front yard, it grows quite prolifically.  Amazingly, it is also continuing to grow through our mild winter months!  So, with that in mind I decided to try my hand at mint tea like the West Ladies teach on their "The Art of Herbs" DVD.

Since the mint is right outside my front door - quite handy if I say so myself - I gathered a rather large bunch of mint stalks (really just enough to cover the bottom of a medium sized bowl), pulling all the leaves off and putting them into a bowl.  I didn't take the time to measure the water in the bowl, nor do the West Ladies, so if I had to guess, it was probably 4 - 6 cups of cold water that was added to the bowl.

Here's the fun part, take your hands and squish the leaves down into the water.  There is not an exact "squishing" time to follow, so I quit when the water turned bright, minty green.

Get your pitcher ready . . . you'll need a piece of cheesecloth, larger than the top of your pitcher.  Strain the juice into the pitcher, catching all the leaves.  The best part of this, if that didn't make enough tea, you can go back to adding more water to the bowl and squishing the same leaves all over again.  Don't forget to compost the mint leaves once you are done with them.

Now I added about 2/3 cups honey and stirred really well.

The first taste was "WOW!"  I thought I had just swallowed a pack of mint gum.  It was very strong and not so appealing.  The frugal girl inside of me decided to let the tea sit in the refrigerator for awhile (before throwing in the towel by throwing the tea to my plants) and see if the mint and honey merged to make a more mellow "mint" taste. 

The next day turned out to be much better.  When I poured another glass, instead of "WOW" it was "OOOOH" that's really good and fresh tasting.  What a great way to use mint! 

Now, it's your turn - How have you used mint?