The ultimate goat playhouse!

Thank you, Eileen Gates of Falls Brook Farm, Blandford, MA for the use of your wonderful photo!

The slow winter days are now here. Breeding season is over and we are now waiting patiently for kidding season to arrive. Right now we are getting ready for delivery of 18+ tons of hay in the next week.

Recently George has gotten into the holiday spirit and decided to put Christmas lights around the house. A lesson was learned to not plug in 10 strings of lights together. Without going into detail, it is now day 2 and the lights still aren't working. George came home this evening with a bag of new lights, bulbs and fuses and assures me he will have have them working tomorrow. If all goes as George expects tomorrow, our mountain top should be glowing brightly for miles away. Oh what a wonderful time of the year!

Now is a great time to get on our pre-deposit list for the best selection of Pygora babies. We are expecting between 125-150 kids to be born on the farm this 2011 spring kidding season. Last year we sold out of doelings before our list when public in June. Get on our pre-deposit list now to pick your kids starting in April!

Lisa

Black Bo is our top fiber producing Pygora herd sire

Our 2010 breeding season is finally over. All the breeding bucks have been returned back to the "boys pasture" while the girls have been returned to the "girls pasture". Life on the farm is quiet once again.

Next week we will be busy preparing for kidding season. Yes, it's that time already as it's only 4 months away! I'm currently in the process of putting together our Pygora kids list with info on each dam and sire leaving room for their babies photo and description to be inserted once the kids arrive. My goal is to get our kids list out to our pre-depositors as soon as possible once the majority of the kids are born.

Now is a great time to get on our pre-deposit list for the best selection of Pygora babies. We are expecting between 125-150 kids to be born on the farm this 2011 spring kidding season. Last year we sold out of doelings before our list when public in June. Get on our pre-deposit list now to pick your kids starting in April!

Lisa

Our herd sire, "Boo Boo" is looking good!

Our breeding groups have now been together for just over 3 weeks. We will be keeping them together for another 10 days.

We are using 11 herd sires this year. 2 of the breeding bucks are bucklings that were born last spring. One is named, "Copper Spats" and is a beautiful brown buckling with frosted ears and nose. He is out of our late herd sire, "Spats" . He definitely knew what to do when he was first put with his group of girls.

Our other buckling, "Hot Dog", was a little slow to figure things out so he missed the first cycle of his group of girls. Fortunately he is now showing interest in his girls as they are starting to come into their 2 cycle. It looks like his girls will be the last to kid. This is not uncommon for bucklings to be slow as I found that they mature at different rates. Sometimes bucklings won't come into maturity until late winter.

It looks like the rest of our 9 herd sires have settled most of their girls. I am ready for breeding season to be over so I can take down the breeding pens and send the boys back out to their pasture away from the girls. I'm looking forward to peace and quiet until the babies start arriving in March!

Lisa

Week 2 of breeding season

Our breeding groups have now been together for over 2 weeks. Things are starting to quiet down. I think most of the Does have been bred as I'm not seeing any signs of them showing any interest in their bucks. Of course the Bucks still check to see if there is any interest but with no luck. Hopefully this means that most of our Pygora babies will be arriving within a 2 week time frame. That would mean during Spring Break! Yeah! It should be a very busy time on the ranch!

This week we had a few sunshiny days between rain storms so we took the opportunity to take some updated photos of our bucks. Check back as we post new photos of our handsome boys!

Lisa

Flying Pygora's!

Pygora kids having a blast at their new home with Dawn and Paul Brown of Tailfeathers Farms in Newport, Arkansas.

Photo by Dawn Brown

Our breeding groups are now together as of October 20th. In about 150 days our baby Pygoras should start arriving. We check our groups twice daily and write down any girls that are showing an interest in their buck. We use this information so we can plan when our busy time will be during kidding season. We aim for spring break when the 2 legged children are out of school and would like to come to the farm to help out.

We just finished shearing and hoof trimming our baby doelings. What cute little bodies they have under all that fleece.

Lisa

Preparing for breeding season

Setting up our breeding pens


All our does were hoof trimmed and de-wormed this week as we prepare them for breeding season. We will be putting our does with their carefully selected buck next week. We are now busy putting up panels around each of our 12 breeding pens as added security. We find that if the bucks can't see each other, they are aggressive on our pens and their interest and energy is spent on their girls.

Once our breeding pens are ready, we will be bringing in our does and sorting them into their individual breeding areas. We will then bring the bucks in and they will get de-wormed (they were hoof trimmed earlier before they went into "rut"). Once this is done, the boys with be put in with their girls. They will be together for 4-6 weeks. Spring kids are just around the corner!

Cross country delivery update as of 10/11/10 evening

A barrel cut on one of our old goats will keep her warm this winter and also give us her prime fleece.

George made his last delivery to Maryland yesterday and is now on his way back home to Oregon.  George wanted me to let everyone know how much he enjoyed meeting each of you and he knows that all the animals are going to great homes.  I look forward to getting updates from all of you on how the kids are doing. 

George is staying in Iowa this evening.  He is hoping to make it back home to Oregon on Thursday.  I'm looking forward to having him home as it's been pretty quiet around here without him.  

Thanks to everyone for your passion for Pygora's!

Lisa

Southern delivery update as of 10/9/10 eve

George has made his 3rd Arkansas delivery and all 3 North Carolina deliveries today! He has been spending an average of 14-18 hours on the road each day. George is a person on a mission to get all animals to their new homes safe and sound and quickly too!

I asked George what were the highlights he saw along the way. He said the fields of cotton in Western Missouri was something he had never seen before. He said it looked like a field of snow. He saw the cotton being harvested into huge bundles. He saw a sign for a cotton festival. If he had more time he would have loved to stop and see the festival.

George is bedded down for the night in Clyde, North Carolina and will be heading to Maryland for his last delivery. Maryland is normally on our Northern delivery route but the new owners were unable to take delivery in September so special arrangements were made with George to delivery to them. George is such an accommodating guy!

I'm looking forward to having George back home on the farm. There is so much to do in preparation for breeding season. It's hard to imagine that in only 5 months, we will have newborn baby Pygora's bouncing around the farm.

Thanks to everyone for your passion for Pygora's!

Lisa

Southern delivery update as of 10/8/10 eve

George called this evening after making his last for the day. He is in Arkansas for the night. He has one more delivery in Arkansas tomorrow then he is off to deliver to North Carolina. He is on schedule. I thought I’d post his phone # for easy reference: 503-703-8875.

I asked George how the day went. He said he went through some very beautiful country that he has never seen before as he has always done the Northern delivery route for the past few years. He also said he had a near accident as there were pallets that were in the middle of the road and the person ahead of him ran over them and blew out her tires. Fortunately George was in the other lane and missed them but he said it got his heart going. You just near know what you are going to run into while on the road.

Next update is tomorrow.

Lisa

Cross country delivery update as of 10/7/10 evening

Hi everyone!

George left New Mexico this morning and is now in Waco, Texas for the night.   I asked him about his highlights for the day. He said he saw a lot of oil wells that are not common in Oregon. He also saw a lot of Cacti.   He didn't have much to report or he was too tired to talk when I called him this evening as he has been putting in long driving days since he left Oregon on Monday.

George reported that all the animals are doing great. They and George are all bedded down for the night. The temperature this evening is around 60 degrees in Waco.

George will be making his 2nd delivery tomorrow morning (Friday) then he is heading off to Oklahoma for his 3rd delivery at noon. He is still on schedule. After that he heads to Arkansas for a delivery on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Next update is tomorrow.

Lisa

Cross country delivery update as of 10/6/10 evening

Cross country delivery update!

Hi everyone!

George made his first delivery to Arizona this afternoon. He is now in western New Mexico for the night. He will be arriving in Waco, Texas tomorrow, Thursday 10/7 at 8 pm. Friday he will be heading to Oklahoma.

George said the trip has gone very well so far. He is pulling some very long travel days so that he can get the animals to their new homes as quick as possible with only a short amount of time spent in the trailer.  Go George!

 All the animals are doing good as George checks on them each time he makes a stop. He refills their water buckets and makes sure everyone is bright eyed and content.
 
I will be giving another update tomorrow.    ~Lisa

Our Pygora goat, Inka, at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival

Last weekend was the 14th year for the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival held in Canby, Oregon. It was a lot of fun and before I knew it, it was over. There still was so much I had not seen and not enough time before it was time to pack up and head home.

Not many people know this but the festival came about as 5 Pygora breeders wanted a place to show their goats after finding out Pygora goat no longer could show at the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon. The BSG had outgrown their space and they decided to get back to their roots as a sheep, angora goat and fiber rabbit show. They did allow Pygora goats to have an exhibit pen but no longer a show.

The 5 Pygora breeders got together and planned out what they envisioned this new show should be like. It was decided that the festival would be inclusive of all fiber animals and natural fiber plants. Next came the question, what do we call it. "Flock and Fiber" was chosen as it was inclusive of all fiber animals. "Flock" for a flock of sheep and "Fiber" that described the fleece on goats, bunnies, llamas, alpacas and so on. "Oregon" was chosen so people would know where this great event was located and "Festival" was chosen as it sounded like a party and a very festive occasion. It was now known as the, "Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival" or "OFFF" for short.

Each of the 5 people took on an area of interest to them. They were: Brandy Chastain Festival Director and show catalog coordinator, Janet Hanus fleece and fiber arts show, Jackie Liner education and youth activities, Darlene Chambers vendor booths, and me, livestock barn and shows coordinator and webmaster.

Next, where was this show going to take place? We visited many different fair grounds and once we saw the Clackamas county fairgrounds, we knew we found the perfect place. It had the old fashioned country setting with a comfortable, cozy, and inviting feel. It was perfect for our venue.

Where do we go from here? Now it was time to figure out how we were going to execute this plan. Brandy and I decided to head out together to visit other shows around the country. We went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, the Michigan Fiber Festival and to the Estes Park Wool Market in Colorado. We got lots of idea's and brought them back to discuss with the others.

All 5 of us would meet once a month for breakfast at the Shari's restaurant in McMinnville and go over what we were doing and what we needed to get done. I always looked forward to these get togethers.

Our show catalog went out and we waited for entries for the animal shows, vendors, and classes to come in. I don't remember how the others felt but I was getting nervous as I had a huge barn to fill and what if no one showed up. Of course I had a plan B if plan A didnt work. My plan was to bring all my animals and put one in each pen if I had too. Fortunately entries started to pour in and we almost filled the barn! Many, many, sleepless nights before the big event.

Today, Brandy is the only one left of the original 5. She is still running the show as the festival director. Some of the original 5 still participate in the OFFF. Some show Pygora goats while others are vendors at the show.

Over the years, new areas were added such as the great lamb cook off. It is fun to reflect back on how this all got started and see how it has evolved into one of the premier fiber animal shows with visitors and volunteers coming from all over the country to participate.

******************************************

Our Southern delivery truck will be leaving Oregon on October 5th and will be making it's way to the east coast. My driver on this trip will be my husband, George.

The kids have all had updated in-fleece photos and fleece samples taken as they are in prime fleece right now. They all have their certificates of veterinary inspection and are ready to meet their new families!

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

Cleaning the barn can be a real challenge with so many helpers

Our Northern delivery trip is complete and we are now busy preparing for our Southern delivery. Our truck and trailer are now full. We will be leaving from Oregon on October 4th to make the cross country trip to the east coast.  My driver on this trip will be my husband, George. 

Yesterday we took the kids in for their health exams and received their certificates of veterinary inspection. All is a go!

Hoof trimming, worming, updated photos and descriptions are just a few of things we have on our list to do today.

Lisa

Northern delivery now complete!

Classic type A buckling ID#:HMR A064
He's still available! Check out those curls!


FREE DELIVERY to the
Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival
Canby, OR Sept. 24-26 2010

Today we made our last delivery on our Northern trip to New Jersey.  I talked to our driver, Doug, this morning and he said the trip went very well.  The weather was cool most of the trip and he enjoyed seeing parts of the country he had never seen before.  All the kids arrived to their new homes bright eyed and healthy.   A big THANKS to Doug for taking great care of our babies as they made the long journey to their new homes! 

Our Southern delivery trip will be leaving from Oregon on October 4th to make the cross country trip to the east coast.  My driver on this trip will be my husband, George. 

As of today, our truck and trailer is now filled up for our Southern delivery.  We have rounded up all the kids and will be taking them in for their health exam on Thursday so they can receive their certificate of veterinary inspections.  This is a requirement for each state. You can see more details of what is required for your state at the usda/aphis website by clicking HERE

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

Our northern cross country trip from the west coast to the east coast leaving soon

Last Sunday we returned from our extended vacation to the Michigan Fiber Festival. It was so much fun meeting new Pygora friends along with rekindling friendships with our long time Pygora friends!

A day after my return back home, I spent spent at the vets getting certificates of veterinary inspection done for our Pygora goats going on our Northern cross country delivery. All passed their health exams and are now ready to leave for their new homes starting this Saturday, 9/4.

Wednesday was spent rounding up all the kids in preparation for our Southern cross country delivery in October. We also took updated photos of wethers still available on our Pygora kids list, shearing one of our guard Llamas, cleaning out pens, and washing buckets. Wednesday evening was spent putting together new owner booklets for the kids leaving on our Northern cross country trip leaving this Saturday. Always something going on at the ranch!

Our Southern delivery trip is planned for October.   We are filling up fast with just a few spaces still available.   Contact us if you might be interested in our affordable delivery.

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

Wild Goat Women at the Michigan Fiber Festival

Our Big WGW Adventure to the Michigan Fiber Festival and back home continues!

We started our journey from Hillsboro, Oregon on Saturday morning. We spent the night in Boise, Idaho, then Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Gothenburg, Nebraska. We drove straight through Iowa, spent the night in Rock Island, Illinois, and drove straight through Indiana. We spent the night in Riverside, Michigan then on to Allegan, Michigan!

What a festival! We had our 1st sanctioned Pygora show here at the Michigan Fiber Festival! Aaron Esterline was the judge. There were 8 exhibitors and about 30 Pygora goats at the show. A fun time was had by all!

There were 2 Pygora fiber spinning classes being taught by Patsy Zawistoski and each class was filled up with a waiting list. There were several vendors offering beautiful Pygora fibers in both natural and dyed colors. Our Lavender Pygora goat's milk soap was a big hit too!

We headed out of Allegan, Michigan Sunday, 8/22. We spent our first night in Ludington, Michigan. The next day we boarded a ferry, the USS Badger, along with our motorhome and headed across Lake Michigan. We thought this was a good way to avoid the Chicago traffic. It was a real adventure. It took about 4 hours to cross the lake into Wisconsin.

We then headed to Hayward, Minnesota and spent the night at a KOA campground in the middle of a corn field. A little scary at dusk if you read the book or saw the movie, "Children of the Corn".

We are now in Rapid City, South Dakota where we will be spending 2 days so we can see Mt. Rushmore, the bad lands, crazy horse and Wall drug. Then it's off to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. More later!

We have been busy preparing for our big Northern delivery trip the first part of September. The trailer is full and the kids are in the barn being prepped for the big day!

Our Southern delivery trip is planned for October. We are filling up fast with just a few spaces still available.

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

WATCH OUT WORLD, WILD GOAT WOMEN ON THE LOOSE!

Our Big WGW Adventure to the Michigan Fiber Festival has begun!  Right now I'm sitting in a 34' motor home typing this update as we are rolling down the road.  We just made it through Chicago, yeah! 

We started our journey from Hillsboro, Oregon on Saturday morning.  We spent the night in Boise, Idaho, then Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Gothenburg, Nebraska.  We drove straight through Iowa, spent the night in Rock Island, Illinois, and drove straight through Indiana.  We will be spending the night in Riverside, Michigan.  Then on to Allegan, Michigan!  Watch out, the Wild Goat Women will be arriving soon!

We are really looking forward to attending the Michigan Fiber Festival.  My friend Julie and I will be helping out at the Pygora goat show while Susan and Terry from Rainbow Yarns NW will have a  Pygora fiber vendor booth in the Delano barn.   They will have beautiful Pygora roving's, cloud's and yarn's available.    Our Lavender Pygora goat's milk soap will be available at their booth too!   Come check them out.

Our long awaited Pygora goat's milk soap is now available!   All the milk in our soap was supplied by our Pygora Does here at Hawks Mtn Ranch.   Each bar of soap was handcrafted by Sarah Carreon, our long time friend and helper on the farm.  

We chose to use Lavender essential oils in our soap for it's calm and relaxing effects after a hard days work on the ranch. 

Click HERE for more information about our soap and how to order.

We have been busy preparing for our big Northern delivery trip the first part of September.  The trailer is full and the kids are in the barn being prepped for the big day!  

Our Southern delivery trip is planned for October.   We are filling up fast with just a few spaces still available.  

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

Goodbye Old Girl

Torrey Pine 1994-2010

Torrey Pine went quietly in her sleep on Sunday, August 15th.  She was 16 1/2 years old.  My Sweet Torrey Pine will always be in my heart.  Goodbye dear friend.

Lavender Pygora goats milk soap coming soon!

Busy time on the farm!  We just got done with our herd health week.  All kids have been given their first wormer.   All momma does also got their wormer.   We will start hoof trimming to whole herd soon!

We still have all the adult bucks and yearling does that didn't kid left to worm and hoof trim.   There is always something to do on the farm!

I have been asked when our Lavender Pygora goats milk soap will be available.  SOON!  We will have 100 bars of soap available.   I am taking pre-orders so contact me if you are interested. 

 George and I will be helping out at the very first Pygora goat show at the Michigan Fiber Festival in August.   We are looking forward to meeting everyone soon! 

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

Pygora kids recieve their 3rd and final CDT booster vaccination and weaning begins!

Watch for our Lavender Pygora goats milk soap available soon!

All the kids received their 3rd and final CDT booster vaccinations today. It was a busy day in 95 degree weather but we got it all done!

I have been busy taking updated photos and getting updated descriptions of the kids. It seems like I just get everyone done and its time to start all over again. The kids are growing and their fleeces are starting to pop out! The transition is happening right before my eyes.

Kids are just starting to be weaned. We separated out the bucklings over the last week. Although they are not quite 4 months old, some are starting to show their "buckiness". The farm has been very noisy during the weaning process.

We are still working our way through our pre-deposit list. We have pre-deposits still coming in so this has delayed out list going to the public. We have one more person to get through then it goes public.

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

Candy Corn goes to the beach

Wednesday, 5/26, all the kids got their 2nd CDT vaccination booster. Their 3rd and final CDT vaccination is due in 4 weeks. At that time we will also give them their first hoof trim. It will be another busy time at the ranch!

In the meanwhile, we will be busy taking updated photos and descriptions of the kids. We are still working our way through our pre-deposit list. Our list should be going public about the 3rd week in June.

George and I went to the Oregon Coast during the Memorial Day holiday. We took 3 Pygora bottle babies, Candy Corn, Boots and A140 along with us to the beach as our farm sitter was only able to come up once a day to feed the animals and the bottle kids needed to be fed twice a day. We put the racks on the back of our truck with a thick bed of straw and off we went. The coast is only a 1.5 hour drive from our ranch and the baby goats traveled just fine. Once at the beach we all enjoyed a walk.

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

Pygora kids receive their first baby booster vaccine!

The kids all received their first of a series of three CD&T vaccinations on May 10th.  Their next CD&T vaccination will be given 2 weeks later. 

Rounding up 140 babies is a little bit like trying to herd butterflies.  I don't know who gets more exercise, me or the mommas as they fret while being separated from their little ones for a few hours.   We found if we move the mommas to a separate pasture full of green grass and away from ear shot of the babies, they calm down quicker as they are distracted. 

We try to efficiently make use of the time while we have the kids rounded up.   After they received their CD&T, I spent the rest of the time taking updated photos of our kids per customer request from our Pre-deposit list. 

Wednesday, 5/12, we decided to round up the kids again so that we could get the rest of the kids photos updated.   It was a very late evening by the time I got into the house that night.

 Now that all the photos had been taken, I've spent countless hours and days getting the photos sized down, loaded into our Pygora kids list by sire, and also by kids ID numbers then uploaded to the internet.  

Hopefully by the end of this weekend, the majority of the kids (minus a couple of sneeky babies that got away before they could get their photos taken) I will have all kid photos up-to-date.  In a couple of weeks it will all start over again!

We are making our way through the pre-deposit list.  We are on the 7th person right now.  The 8th person has been given the list a couple of days ago to start previewing.  I will be contacting the 9th person shortly to give them the list to start previewing so they can get a head start when it comes to their turn to pick kids.    Hopefully we will make our way through the list soon.   Once everyone that has placed a pre-deposit has chosen their kids, the list will be going public at our website at:  www.hmrpygoras.com

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa

Happy Mothers day!

Happy Mothers Day to all of you with 2 and 4 legged kids! Yesterday I had a bouquet of beautiful Oregon grown flowers given to me for being the mom of 140 baby goats! It was so thoughtful and it really brightened my day. Thank you very much, Wanda and Rick!

Our Pygora kids list is making it's way down the pre-deposit list. It started out very slow but I'm hoping to pick up speed soon.

If you are on the pre-deposit list, feel free to contact me with an estimate of when we will get to you. Once everyone on our list has previewed and selected their kids, the list will go public on our website. Check back as we give updates.

This coming week we will be giving the kids their first CDT vaccination. They will get a series of 3 boosters over the next few weeks and then after that, they will receive a yearly vaccination.

Pygora babies everywhere!

Baby Count:
140

Spring is here and baby Pygora goats are everywhere! We are enjoying watch them frolic about the pastures as they venture down the hill with their fretful mothers following closely behind.

We just finished up our long awaited Pygora kids list and it will be going to the first person on our pre-deposit list today. Yeah!

This week we will start another round of taking updated photos and the kids will be getting their first CDT booster vaccination.

Looking forward to warm and dry spring days ahead!

Kidding season is coming to a close!

Baby Count:
136

Busy, busy, busy! That is the best way to describe the farm right now. Today was spent taking kid photos, tattooing ears and disbudding. By the end of the day, I have just 17 babies left to do.

When not in the barn, I have been spending my evenings cut and cropping kid photos and have barely started on putting together our kid sales list. My goal is to have it ready for the first person on our list to view within the next two weeks.

As of today, we have 3 more Does to kid. I have 1 full-time bottle baby and I'm supplimenting a set of twins from an old Doe and the Quads are needing a little extra milk as they are growing like weeds.

Today is a warm sunny day and I'm hoping to get the video camera out soon. Stay tuned.....

Mud Puddle has quads!

Baby Count as of today: 105

Wow! Last night Mud Puddle surprised us with a set of quads! All are doing well. Quads are very rare at our farm. We have only had one other doe have quads in all the years we have been raising Pygora. It happened to be Mud Puddles Dam, Mud Pie. Mud Pie has had 2 sets of quads in her kidding career. As of today, Mud Pie hasn't kidded yet and is as big as a house! Stay tuned!

We have about 20 does left to kid. It has been a whirlwind season! We have been busy taking baby photos, disbudding, tattooing, and playing with the babies!

The Golden Fleece 4H Club came up yesterday for a visit. It was a great time! More info about the visit coming soon!

We have 69 baby Pygora's on the ground!

After kids coming so quickly over the last week, today was a much appreciated, slow day. Only 3 babies came today.

The day was spent cleaning out pens and taking baby photos of each kid. It's 10:30pm and I think I will turn in for the evening. I will be up again at 2am checking the barn for new arrivals.

Thanks Erika, Crystal, Ari and Julie for all your help during spring break!

More later!

Kids coming fast and furious!

Babies are coming fast and furious! Much earlier than first anticipated!
We are up to 39 babies on the ground right now. Boy, do we have some real head turners!

I've been working non stop in the barn the last few days and I'm just now taking a breather to give this update.

Over all, kidding has gone very smoothly. Most of the babies have already been born by the time I make my rounds checking on the Does.

I will be making my next update soon!

Our 1st 2010 Pygora babies have arrived!

Our doe, Fudge, and sire, White Mahogany, came through for us this 2010 Kidding season! Fudge delivered adorable twin doelings late in the evening on March 19th. It was a 150 day gestation.

The rest of the herd is expected to start kidding any time after March 26th. We have been very busy preparing for many babies!

Kidding season is just a few days away!

HAPPY ST. PATTIES DAY!

In 2 days, our Doe, Fudge, will be at 150 days gestation. That means she could start kidding any day now! We can hardly wait to see what our permanent grand champion Doe produces this year!

The rest of the herd is expected to start kidding a week later so we are busy preparing for many babies to start arriving any time after March 25th!

Once the babies begin arriving, my plan is to give frequent updates as often as possible. At times it may be just a brief update depending on how busy the day/night went. Pygora goats are usually very easy kidders but I like to be there to make sure momma and babies are doing fine.

The date for the Golden Fleece 4H Club visit has been moved up from April 17th to April 3rd. This should give them an opportunity to experience what it is like to be here in the heat of kidding season.

The 4H'ers will have the opportunity to take care of newborn kids and their moms. For the brave, they might even catch a doe giving birth.

I'm really looking forward having the Golden Fleece 4H Club visit the ranch! ~Lisa

Torrey Pine turns Sweet 16!

HAPPY SWEET 16 BIRTHDAY, TORREY PINE!

Torrey Pine is now officially the oldest goat on our farm. A birthday party is planned today to celebrate this milestone.

Torrey Pine now surpasses her mom, Pandora, as the oldest goat on the farm. Pandora was 1 week shy of her 16th birthday when she passed away.

We look forward to seeing Torrey Pine through to her 17th.

Happy birthday, Old Girl!

Kidding season is just around the corner!

Kidding season is just 6 weeks away! 

In the following weeks, we will be vaccinating all of our pregnant Does with CDT and de-worming them.  

Some Does will also be "crutched" in preparation for kidding.  This is a process where we shear the back ends and udder areas to provide easy access for the baby to find the mothers udders and also for a cleaner birthing area.  We don't "crutch" all of the Does as some don't have as much fleece in that area to be a problem.

February 17th will be our annual voluntary scrapie-free flock inspection done by Federal Veterinarian, Dr. Silberman.  We have been a VSFCP Certified flock since 2006. 

Last year we joined the export monitoring program and we are now able to ship to Canada.   Contact us if you would like more info about shipping to Canada. 

April 17th the Golden Fleece 4H Club will be coming up for a "hands-on" kidding day where they will be involved in the day to day activities that go on during kidding season.  They will be taking care of new born kids and their moms and hopefully be able to see babies being born too!  It's a fun learning experience! 

Preparing for kidding season!

UPDATE FROM THE FARM

Kidding season is just 8 weeks away! We can hardly wait!

Over the last several weeks we have been cleaning out pen and paddock areas, fixing panels and feeders and making sure we have all of our kidding supplies for this 2010 kidding season.

George hauled over 400 bales of hay this week so our barns are full, that is such a good feeling!

Last week we hoof trimmed and de-wormed all of our bucks. They also received their annual CDT vaccination. They are now done so we can now focus our attention on the girls.

This week we have started hoof trimming our Does. We will wrap up the hoof trimming over the next week.

February 17th will be our annual voluntary scrapie-free flock inspection done by Federal Veterinarian, Dr. Silberman. We have been a VSFCP Certified flock since 2006.

Last year we joined the export monitoring program and we are now able to ship to Canada. Contact us if you would like more info about shipping to Canada.

Since we will have all of our animals rounded up Feb. 17th, we will use this time to CDT vaccinate and de-worm our Does. This will be the perfect time as they will be at the 4-6 week time frame before kidding starts.

April 17th the Golden Fleece 4H Club will be coming up for a "hands-on" kidding day where they will be involved in the day to day activities that go on during kidding season.  They will be taking care of new born kids and their moms and hopefully be able to see babies being born too!  It's a fun learning experience! 

Update from the farm January 6th, 2010

Happy New Year!  This time of year is our slow time as we wait patiently for kidding season to arrive.   This year we decided to take a few days off and head to New York to visit with family.  We had a wonderful time playing with our 11 month old grand daughter! 

While in New York, George and I  spent New Years Eve in Time Square.  What an exciting once in a life time event!

We are now home and busy preparing for kidding season.  It's hard to believe that it is only 10 weeks away.  George has been busy moving over 24 truck loads of compost and we can now see ground! 

April 17th the Golden Fleece 4H Club will be coming up for a "hands-on" kidding day where they will be involved in the day to day activities that go on during kidding season.  They will be taking care of new born kids and their moms and hopefully be able to see babies being born too!  It's a fun learning experience!