|
2003
April 2003 Eric,
our son, Joel and I drove to N.H. today to pick up two
Nubian goat kids. I had spoken with a woman who breeds
them and had arranged to get them young enough so that
we could bottle-feed them. The drive went well; her
house was in a beautiful spot. When we arrived she gave
us a tour and there were so many goats! She must have
had over twenty kids and at least thirty adults. The
two that we ended up getting are adorable. One is black
and white and looks like a cow and the other is your
stereotypical reddish-brown and white Nubian. Eric decided
to call the black and white one 'Nate' and we named
the other one 'Rhubarb' because of his reddish color.
We have two bottles that we will use and will feed them
three times a day for about three months. I really wanted
to hand raise them because I want them to be very friendly
so that they can interact with the kids when they visit
the farm.
June 2003 It has
been fun hand raising the kids. They are soooo attentive.
Every time I go into their stall to give them their
bottles, there is a certain routine that we must go
through. First they each take a bottle and drink it
up very quickly. Once they have figured out that there
is no more milk, they must sit on my lap and proceed
to nibble on my farm jacket's collar, my hair, my jacket's
cuff (or anything else that might look interesting to
them).... all the while they are pushing each other
out of my lap so that they have the ideal tasting spot.
They have begun to eat grain and hay and I have been
weaning them off of the bottles little by little. I
expect that they will be totally weaned soon. They are
darling animals and are growing into lovable and friendly
goats. Goats are awesome!!!
Nov. 2003 Pembrook
went in with the girls today for breeding. If my calculations
are correct, and if all goes well, we should have some
kids sometime this coming April. It will be our first
time breeding Arapawa Island Goats so I am very excited
and also a little nervous. Neither of the girls has
ever been bred before but I would expect that they would
be good mothers.
Dec. 2003 it has
taken many hours research and inquiry but I think that
I have finally found the type of pig that we should
have here at the farm. They are called Ossabaw Island
Hogs and they are quite rare. They live on an island
off the coast of Georgia and there are fewer that 200
on the mainland USA. I like this breed because they
do not get too big, are supposed to be quite smart and
they have an interesting background history. I have
spoken with a place in Virginia that raises them and
I believe that we will be able to obtain some. They
have a pregnant female so we should hear from them when
she delivers. I am so excited!
|
