Goat Babies

Clover delivered her twin baby goats on Earth Day (April 22) after a gestation period of 149 days. She was left unattended for 1 hour 15 minutes and that's when she decided to go for it. My father walked out to the pen after having a sandwich in the house and realized that the ranch goat population had doubled.

Daisy and Basil are healthy and happy and just starting to frolic and play.  Welcome to the world you two!

The Countdown Begins...

April 18th is day 145 on the gestational calendar for Clover. Since goats usually give birth between 145-155 days after conception, we could have baby kids as early as tomorrow. Clover looks terribly uncomfortable and I'm hoping for an early birth. God knows I'm ready.

In the last three weeks we've:
Created a milk parlor,
Constructed a milking stand,
Built a kidding pen/nursery,
Picked up 4 bales of fresh hay,
Finished preparing a kidding kit, and
Had a pre-natal ranch visit from the vet.

Now we're just waiting for baby Nubians.

Pre-natal check-up

The vet visited the girls this week to draw blood for CAE and CL testing. She also showed me how to administer CD&T vaccinations.  The girls performed beautifully and were hardly bothered at all by the poking and prodding. Apparently, they can withstand anything if they're nibbling on dates.

Dr. P says that both girls look big enough to be carrying twins! (Unfortunately, my mother loved Dr. P until she said the dreaded T word. Mom is definitely looking forward to kid goats but was hoping to enjoy far less of them...say 1 per goat.)

Clover is due April 23--16 days to go.

Birthday Girls

Today the girls are 1 year old and my mother made them this lovely birthday spread.

Now they are old enough to be mothers which they will shortly become around Easter this year.

A hoof accident and Blu-Kote

Sunday was supposed to be a great goat day. The girls had two walks, their pen was cleaned, they grazed for 3 hours and took a nap beside me in the shade. Then we had fresh hay delivered and that's when the goodness ended.  Immediately after we unloaded the bale, Clover sliced the top of her hoof open on a piece of metal. We couldn't stop the bleeding and she vehemently objected to having her hoof wrapped and held with consistent pressure. I looked at my mom and said, "tell me what to do, because I have no idea." She responded with, "go get the Blu-Kote."

My mother's been around animal emergencies. She was raised on a horse ranch and has worked over the years for vets, so when she asked me to get a product I'd never heard of I didn't hesitate.  I raced to the house, rummaged through the regular medicine cabinet and then raced back to the goat. She promptly shook the can, sprayed the hoof and herself then released the goat. Although anything and everything that is sprayed turns immediately bright purple, this stuff is a miracle.  The bleeding stopped. The next day the hoof was neither swollen nor infected.

It's been 3 days and the hoof and goat are still doing well.

Lessons learned: 1) trust your mother. 2) always keep Blu-Kote in your animal supply kit.

Very Vanilla Gelato

Sometimes vanilla is sufficient. Sometimes you just want a pure flavor that's uncomplicated.


Very Vanilla Gelato

3 cups goat milk
1/2 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 whole vanilla bean.

Slice the vanilla down the middle and scrape the insides into a a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the milk, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and the rest of the vanilla bean. Bring the milk just to a boil. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the sugar until the mixture  is a pale yellow color. Slowly pour the milk into the eggs while whisking constantly. Return the egg-milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. DO NOT BOIL. When the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, remove pan from heat and strain into a bowl.

Place the bowl in an ice-bath and let stand until chilled.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Pistachio Gelato

Continuing with my ice cream/gelato creations here's the newest recipe:

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons roasted, unsalted shelled pistachios
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups goat milk
1 tsp almond extract
6 large egg yolks

Finely grind the pistachios and 1/4 cup of sugar in a food processor.

In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the milk, pistachio mixture and almond extract. Bring the mixture just to a boil. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the rest of the sugar until the mixture  is a pale yellow color. Slowly pour the milk into the eggs while whisking constantly. Return the egg-milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. DO NOT BOIL. When the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, remove pan from heat and strain into a bowl.

Place the bowl in an ice-bath and let stand until chilled.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.