The things we do for love...

Today was an interesting day. A long interesting day. Today we took the does to a farm 85 miles away to be bred. They hated every minute of it. However, it's a necessary step in the life cycle of a dairy goat. Doe meets buck, buck impregnates doe, doe has kids, owners get fresh goat milk.

My ingenious father built a cover for his F-150 truck so that we could transport the goats without the need for expensive and slow trailers. They luckily followed me right in since I was carrying a bowl of grain and they're pretty greedy when it comes to grain. After they loaded up and we began to move they started crying. I mean full-blown belting their discontent. I couldn't take it and rolled the windows up.

On our drive we encountered 30 mile per hour winds, rain, a 20 degree temperature change and a double rainbow.  When we arrived they were shivering and frightened. We got them settled into a stall, attempted to introduce Rosie to her mate and left. They cried and cried as we walked out the barn. That is, of course, until they realized they had fresh alfalfa in their pen.

Weights II

The last time I weighed the goats I used a traditional scale and the traditional method. I stepped on it with them then subtracted my weight and got the approximate weight for the goat.  Apparently you don't do this. I soon realized that when I nearly broke my back since they're so heavy. The way you're supposed to weigh goats doesn't use a scale at all.  In fact you measure around their chest and use a chart to determine approximate weight.

Clover clocked in at 30" = 84+ lbs
Rosie clocked in at 29" = 78 lbs

This chart comes from Fias Co Farm and can be found here.

Inches	Pounds		Inches	Pounds
10 3/4	5		26 3/4	66
11 1/4	5.5		27 1/4	69
11 3/4	6		27 3/4	72
12 1/4	6.5		28 1/4	75
12 3/4	7		28 3/4	78
13 1/4	8		29 1/4	81
13 3/4	9		29 3/4	84
14 1/4	10		30 1/4	87
14 3/4	11		30 3/4	90
15 1/4	12		31 1/4	93
15 3/4	13		31 3/4	97
16 1/4	15		32 1/4	101
16 3/4	17		32 3/4	105
17 1/4	19		33 1/4	110
17 3/4	21		33 3/4	115
18 1/4	23		34 1/4	120
18 3/4	25		34 3/4	125
19 1/4	27		35 1/4	130
19 3/4	29		35 3/4	135
20 1/4	31		36 1/4	140
20 3/4	33		36 3/4	145
21 1/4	35		37 1/4	150
21 3/4	37		37 3/4	155
22 1/4	39		38 1/4	160
22 3/4	42		38 3/4	165
23 1/4	45		39 1/4	170
23 3/4	48		39 3/4	175
24 1/4	51		40 1/4	180
24 3/4	54		40 3/4	185
25 1/4	57		41 1/4	190
25 3/4	60		41 3/4	195
26 1/4	63		42 1/4	200

Weights

Finally got a chance to weigh the goats yesterday.  They're supposed to be 80 lbs when we breed them and I hope to do that in the next 6 weeks.
Rosie = 61 lbs
Clover = 71 lbs

Just like everything else. Clover is perfect and Rosie is not. I've got less than two months to get her fattened up and ready to be pimped out. Too bad she doesn't like anything other than hay and dates. Although grain is supposed to be amazing from the goat's perspective, my little girl could care less.

Lesson #4,126 in Goat Husbandry

Goats jump.
They jump high.
They're also pretty curious and determined.
Last night my naughtiest goat, Rosie, thought it was a fantastic idea to jump on top of her house (which is 4' plus high) and then jump over the chain-link fence enclosing the pen. She was eventually captured and brought back home where my father had dutifully moved the goat house to the middle of the pen, thereby removing any temptation to escape again. 

Lesson learned: Never underestimate the jumping capabilities of a dairy goat.

Picky Eaters

You know the age old saying "goats will eat anything, even tin cans." Totally false. I mean completely and utterly false.

The saying has more truth for my wether but still far from correct. Along with hay he'll eat lettuce, carrots, watermelon and most other vegetable scraps. Clover will eat slightly less and Rosie will eat nothing that she didn't peel, rip, pull, or scavenge herself.

With that in mind, imagine how fun it is to try and feed them an herbal mixture mashed with peaches and rolled into balls. Yeah, not fun. Francis ate it right out of my hand, Clover ate it after she was pinned down and it was shoved into her mouth, and Rosie gagged and spit it all over my mother (she also bucked, screamed and bit her handler-who was also my mother).

The herbal mixture is a natural wormer and thus has to be administered. I didn't want to pump them full of chemicals (especially since I got goats purely for my own organic dairy consumption) so I opted for a natural remedy.  However, this natural "stuff" is rather repulsive, foul-smelling and difficult to force down a goat's throat.

Looking forward to the next treatment. Here's hoping they have a better taste for gooey, sticky balls tomorrow.

To the cheesemasters of Humbolt Fog

Thank you.

Your cheese is exceptional. The culinary experience of eating it is nothing short of amazing.  Enjoying this cheese inspires me to create amazing things.

So, again, I thank you.

A Goat House

My goats have been living in an 800 sq ft pen and sleeping in a 10 sq ft box. I know.That's pathetic. But, they were small. They liked the coziness of the close quarters. However, this weekend my father and I built them a more proper shelter.

It's a three sided shed with a sloping roof. 

Materials:
1-relatively skilled handy-person/capenter
1-not-so-skilled helper
3-sheets of 3/4" plywood (4x8)

1-4x4x8
1-2x4x10
5-2x4x8
4-right angle braces
1-skill saw
1-drill
2 million screws