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 our girls are really getting big now, and showing . they will be due late March early April, we r so excited .  we wanted, to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.   will keep u all posted later, bout our girls

Hi everyone! I thought maybe you all might want to see some pictures of my goats. So here they are, I hope you enjoy them...

I'm glad they don't mind the snow, because we're sure getting a lot this year!

Bought the kids July 2015. Bred Mira January, first travel and goat-sitters March, babies June, learned how to milk, sold babies August, started playing with chevre and cheddar, built cheese press, rigged a sort of cheese cave, expanded goat yard, added more play structures for the goats...

...and I keep putting off the eternal question from Willow, "Can I keep another doe next year?" I keep waiting for the proverbial bloom to fall. I waited to see if she'd get tired of the constant mucking, building projects, hoof trimming, and getting up earlier than ever now that she's started public school and still has to do the morning chores. She hasn't neglected her duties and still loves her "kids" very much (although she's terribly grateful when I let her sleep in once a week). The final hurdle will be seeing how it feels to milk through the winter before and after school. This week we'll experience a few single-digit mornings, coinciding with high school finals week. I guess if she can get through the winter with her love of goat ownership intact, there's nothing preventing me from gleefully saying "Yes!"

It was a mercy that Mira had twin boys for her first kidding. If she'd had a doe, we probably would have caved and kept it before the real trial period was over, before waiting to see what kind of milker Mira is, and before rationally thinking about the capacity of the small barn we built for the original pair...before really seeing if we wanted to keep on keeping goats. Instead, I've been able to focus my meager free time on learning to make a few cheeses and improving the habitat the goats occupy, while just envisioning my life once my 15-year-old begins college. If she goes far, do I want to keep on keeping goats...without a fellow parent? (My husband is wonderful and has his talents, but animal care is not one of them.) Ultimately, agreeing to let Willow keep more goats is accepting my future role as the primary caretaker.

These are my musings from the last year and a half. I love the goats so much--and I love Mira's cheese so much--that I'm pretty sure we'll keep on keeping on. I'm really hoping for a doeling out of Mira next year, but mostly because I'm such a sucker for babies. However, I definitely wouldn't complain about someday never having to buy cheese any more, either.

Now I'll just need a bigger cave...

Hi Folks!

I'm announcing my new (still being edited and added to, but published) farm website complete with blog! I wanted to put the blog link here, since it's about my recent (and first) kidding experience. I've gotten a TON of support here over the past few weeks, and I thought I'd share this story with you as a sort of thank you! I hope you enjoy it! Here's the link...

Old Haunt Blog

Cheers,

Charity 

Old Haunt Farm

East Alstead, NH

Hey! I have a question for anyone who'd be kind enough to answer! :) I'm new to goat, we just got 3 NG last week. One 7 year old milking doe, a 15 week old and a 8 week old doeling. When can the babies start going out to pasture? (we have a very safe and "kid" proof pasture) They haven't been in the pasture yet so I'm thinking I have to work them up to it like horses? How would I exactly do that? Also, the doe hasn't been in the pasture for a week but that's fine to put her in it all day right? or does she need to be worked up? (again) Thanks so much!

Let me explain Nellie Olsen my saanan gave birth on May 9 to a boy and girl snowball as my husband calls them. I got everyone all situated together in birthing chalet and go to eat some dinner. Aparently you are not allowed to eat with goats because when I came back in 30 minutes the Mama had squanched the baby girl kid underneath her! (my heartbreaking )I guess i will seperate when im not around here on out. has anyone else had this happen? Like why, did i do something wrong?desperatly seeking experienced advice

Bio-pharmaceutical industry is now in its infancy. We are in urgent need of a great number of researchers with professional knowledge and technical skills in diseases to join the industry and engage in new drug development.

Recently, a new anti-cholesterol medication is allowed to go public, adding a new member to the long list of biological drugs. These super biological drugs not only create amazing profits to pharmaceutical companies, but also create a lot of jobs and opportunities to young researchers who are interested in drug development. However, if these young talents want to get into this industry, the first thing they should do is to temper themselves so as to acquire knowledge and skills necessary for the biopharmaceutical industry. Biopharmaceuticals is a very complex medicine. It is usually produced with organism or extracted from organism, such as fungal cells like E. coli or yeast, proteins expressed by macromolecules or in living cells and other products.

A report submitted by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in 2013 showed that there are 907 kinds of biological drugs in research stage (Medicines in Development: Biologics PhRMA; 2013) in the United States only. Pharmaceutical companies around the world are also working hard to develop their own biopharmaceutical business.

Enter Biopharmaceutical Industry

In order to enter the biopharmaceutical industry, young scientists have to acquire relevant knowledge, such as neurobiology, cardiovascular disease and immunology. Meanwhile, they also need to have a basic understanding of antibody engineering, bioinformatics, next-generation sequencing, genetic manipulation and many other related subjects. Monica Müller, chief scientific officer of Creative Biolabs, said that these young people should also need to have the ability of problems solving, creativity, leadership and teamwork skills.

Although there are many opportunities, competition is fierce in this field. “We recently released a batch of job posting, and received more than 50 resumes for each position in the first week”, said professor Monica. According to Charles, CD Genomics received 100 and 150 resumes for the position of primary and secondary researcher.

So how can these young researchers stand out from a number of candidates? As there is great competitiveness in the field of new drug research and development, how can these young researchers stand out of the great number of candidates?

In addition to master the most basic biological knowledge and laboratory skills, they also need to learn about the important information of biopharmaceutical industry, such as monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins and clinical development of drugs and the experience of large-scale production experience. Young people who are interested in entering well-known companies need to understand what information their targeted companies are concerned, Creative Biolabs, for instance. We are now planning to cooperate with CD Genomics on updating our antibody sequencing service, so as to meet more specific requirements from clients. Therefore, we need talents with professional skills in sequencing.

Soft power—not just laboratory skills

When applying a position in biopharmaceutical industry, soft power is crucial. Communicating skill, however, is the most important part in soft power. The same as other scientific disciplines, researchers engaged in biological research and drug development also have to write papers and give presentations. Meanwhile, they also need to communicate with their superior and colleagues so that they can efficiently convey their research ideas to the targeted audiences. “Most of the time, we are just like a used car salesman. We have to persuade our customers who always have dissident views against you”, explained professor Monica, scientific officer of Creative Biolabs.

Monica proved the importance of good communicating skills with her own experience. The research experience in PhD taught her how to carry out research work (which is the most attractive point for pharmaceutical companies), and how to conduct his work from the perspective of a pharmaceutical company at the same time. Years of experience in giving slide presentation enables her the ability to express her views in a better way, so that she can deliver the exact information to the audience. While working in a pharmaceutical company, Monica believes that what people should focus on are issues like how to save time and improve productivity while saving cost, but not details associated with academic problems, unless these problems are ready to break the bottom line.

Monica thought that it would be better if we could look at the issue from another perspective of view. She asked, “Can you make an ordinary idea an excellent one by creative thinking?” She suggests candidates to add unconventional items they have carried out or nontraditional solutions they have used, so as to show their curiosity and creativity. This is the exact resume that they are looking for.

Be self-motivated, enthusiastic, responsive and kind to others are all highly valued by pharmaceutical companies. You are going to spend a lot of time with your team, and also you will undertake a lot of challenging work. If you can get along well with everyone and all the colleagues are fond of you, you will be able to create a more harmonious working environment.

Willow and I decided on the name Hackberry Woods.

Hackberry is the predominant species of tree in the goat area. We love the funny bark, the precious little berries, and the haphazard look of the foliage.

For nature nerds: Hackberry is native to Indiana and a lot of the Midwestern US; the small berries (or drupes) are edible in autumn; also goes by the names Sugarberry and Nettletree. The name Hackberry is from the Scottish "hagberry," meaning "marsh berry."

These adorable growths called "witches' brooms" can form due to mites and fungi. 

http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1325065

In the spring of 2014, my daughter Willow asked me for the hundred and twenty-third time if we could get dairy goats. Like always, I said something to the effect of "that would be fun. Maybe someday." This time, though, instead of moving on, she followed up with the line we all know and love: "I'll buy them with my own money. I'll do all the work." And just like that, now we have goats.

Now, the actual full story is longer and boringer.

We spent three months just reading books and talking about it before saying yes. We talked about the twice-daily chores that many a 13-year-old would consider drudgery. We discussed the torturous sounding jobs of disbudding, castration, and separating mothers from babies. And we stressed most importantly that we wouldn't be keeping babies--we'd sell the ones we could, as goats, but some of them would inevitably be "harvested" (what a euphemism!) as meat. My husband and I satisfied ourselves that, on an intellectual level anyway, Willow understood and agreed to all the worst parts of goat ownership. (Some people will say whatever they think you wanna hear in order to get what they want).

In the summer we picked a spot for a little goat yard and house. We live on a large wooded lot that is heavily overgrown with honeysuckle and wild rose (good news for our future charges), so Willow and I began cutting down age-0ld shrubs and digging up stumps. To start, we measured out a 12 x 20 area for the two little ones, promising ourselves to expand their fencing as time and money allowed.

In the fall we set posts in the ground and picked up some salvaged chain link to staple on. Then we spent the winter reading, looking at online ads for goats, and getting Willow all the babysitting jobs she could find. She had a goal of raising $1200 for start-up costs and purchase prices, with a little left over for veterinary care. Fortunately for her, her bank account was already padded with old gift money she'd just never spent. After Christmas she sent a deposit check to her chosen breeder, in hopes that she'd have two doelings for sale in the spring of 2015.

As soon as the weather warmed up a bit, we started building the goat house. Willow and I built it from scratch, with no plan, just our own drawings, some salvaged materials that came with our house, and several trips to the local Home Depot and Habitat ReStore. It's a bit of a Frankenhouse, but it's kind of cute, and most importantly, we can stand up inside it. My husband lifted the plywood roofing onto our frame for us and built a beautiful sliding door. The rest was mostly a circus of two skinny girls playing with power tools.

In the meantime, the kids were born, several visits were made, the purchase plan was revised a couple of times, and decisions were finalized.

We spent the whole spring working on the building and fence. We put on the final coat of paint two days before picking up the babies, Luke and Mira, on July 20th.

So now, five months after bringing them home, does Willow do all the work? Well, she does feed them every day. She does sweep the poop off their observation ledge. In the growing season, she foraged for limbs of honeysuckle to stuff into their salad bar twice a day. She's keeping a log of Mira's heats and any other health information she observes about them. And she spends at least an hour a week reading new materials (this forum's archives included) and planning her next moves.

But does she do all the work? Come on, she's 13. Sorry, 14 now. I don't think I could entrust a living creature to a 14 year old without at least doing some observation of my own. I read everything Willow reads, and more; I do the chores about once a week and visit them occasionally so I can watch them myself; I help Willow with ongoing construction, using the drawing phase as math projects during school hours (advantages of homeschooling); and I do have to crack the whip once in a while as well to get her off the iPad and out with the pitchfork. I am seriously considering buying a baby or two from her down the road, now that a lot of the infrastructure is in place.

So no, thankfully, she doesn't do all the work. This is a project that's brought us all together with hard labor, fun, and plans for the future. It may or may not prove to be an investment with cash flow down the road. But no matter what, in the end, it's another example of shared work being the best kind.

These are my favorite from the spring hatch, think they are probably Black Australorps.

I still think they are cute and enjoy their antics just as much as when bottle feeding them, but my wife just made the comment that they are grown up and not as cute as when little. 

Mother Mavis gave birth to twins, 45 min. in labour for the first large one, and then a small brother, who popped out after a few minutes.   The small one has been getting weaker and weaker as the larger keeps pushing him out of the way.

Now I'm milking the mom to feed the babe. How many hours do 2 day old kids sleep?  I keep bringing the kid back to the mom, but he just nestles her and can't seem to latch on to the teat.  I'm hoping, he'll get stronger as the days go by.

My 4h goat has something on her bottom that looks like fungus. At first, we used vetricine product that made it shrink a bit but now it is back. Has anyone else experienced this or knows what it is?

they are 7 weeks old today

Am interested in developing a Permaculture version of raising Nigerian Dwarfs for my own use not a business............ I am on Face Book as Permaculture for Georgia........ I like to call my Effort The Goat Maze Home of the Amazing Goats.My effort is 10 does one billy and babies only once a year........ My Goat Maze is on one acre , the pens are set up with 10 plastic tote houses in the center with browsing sections that look like a orange cut in half with the seeds being the 10 pens and the 10 sections radiating out from them seeded for browsing.......... The complete perimeter of the acre has 15x15 foot pens seeded for browsing with totes in them for housing .......I plant Sun chokes and Cushaw Pumpkins in a few of the pens controlling access to allow for winter food later, and Deer Browse seeds in the rest. My goal this year is to add Mulberry trees to as many of the pens as I can.

what is right age for a buck to start breeding. i have a lamancha x nubian doe 140-150lbs and 15 months old.
i was told i only needed to wait 4 months for a healthy,potent buck. should i wait longer ?
i also read bucks are ready at 7 months . what is right ?
she's in heat so i don't know if i should wait for my buck to be ready ?
i have a buck available, but , i want to make sure she has enough rest time between preg's
any comments or suggestions i would deeply appreciate it.
pic 1 is my lamancha cross
pic 2 is my buck
pic 3 is another cross doe (mini nubi) i'll be breeding, but, she won't be ready yet (she was born mid dec 2014 ) she's about 5 months old (fattie)
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is right age for a buck to start breeding.

i have a lamancha x nubian doe 140-150lbs 15 months old. 

i was told you only needed to wait 4 months for a healthy,potent buck. should i wait longer ?

i also read bucks are ready at 7 months . what is right ?

she's in heat so i don't know if i should wait for my buck  to be ready ?

i have a buck available, but , i want to make sure she has enough rest time between preg's

any comments or suggestions i would deeply appreciate it.

pic 1 is my lamancha x nubian and my other cross doe (mini nubi) i'll be breeding, but, she won't be ready yet (she was born mid dec 2014 ) she's about 5 months old (fattie)

pic 2 is my nigerian buck and sis

After taking the children to school I went to the farm. It is a very peacefull way to start off the work day. As you can see it is on the river bank and floods so for a month or so a year I have to move everyone to another place. That is why I chose to make my chicken coop on a trailer. Lock them up at night and move in the mornings when needed. Now I have some ducklings that I have added. This morning there was a pilliated woodpecker and what I call sapsuckers pecking away while I was feeding. Here are some photos of the chickens and goats I took this morning. I will have to get some of the goats later.

yolanda and some of the chickens

yolanda and patches

Yolanda and goldie

Chickens and water in the woods. the reason i am going to switch to ducks eventually.

It is SOO fun to watch Juniper and Pokey enjoying spring's bounty. After a long winter with no browse other than the occasional pine needles, they are loving all the juicy new green leaves and grass. And they're bigger this year so they've figured out how to get up on the taller shrubs/saplings and make them more accessible. Clever little caprines!

I wish I could decide for sure whether or not Juni is pregnant. Sometimes I think so and sometimes I don't. Her teats are really developing and growing, but I'm not sure if that's from pregnancy or if that would happen anyway now that she's over a year old. She looked like she was showing for awhile, but at the same time she's having a huge growth spurt and her legs and body are getting rapidly longer, making her look slimmer.  Right now, at almost 14 weeks, she really doesn't look pregnant. But then again, she hasn't gone into heat. Argghh!

Oh well, she and Pokey are happy and healthy and are such a joy on a daily basis. I'm so grateful for that, and for having them in my life.