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We hope that you come back often to see what is going on around our ranch!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Momma goat with kid on board!


Today as I was turning the momma and baby goats out to the lower pasture for the first time, I decided to take my camera with me. I couldn't believe what I saw. This mom was actually walking around with her baby "on board". What a good momma!

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Hello everyone! 

It’s been a super busy time at the ranch! It’s amazing how quickly time is flying by! Kidding started exactly 1 month ago on 3/14. Since then, 134 Pygora kids have been born here! We only have 3 more Does left to kid. We have a very colorful herd of bouncing baby goats and all fleece types too! 

This week, I spent writing descriptions for all of the kids for our kids list.   As each kid was handled and critiqued,  I was really impressed with the quality of kids we have this year! 

I have photos of all the kids now and I've been busy cropping them down to a size for easy and quick viewing on the internet. I will be spending a lot of time at the computer over the next several days.
 
My plan is to spend most of my time putting all the pieces together for our kid list.  I can't give an exact date when my list will be available as I have a lot to do out in the barn still but I will give an update when I have it ready for our pre-depositors. 

Thanks everyone for your patience and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I can be reached via e-mail, facebook, text or phone at: 503-539-0295. Please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
  
Take care, Lisa

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Sarah's favorite Pygora doelings


120 kids on the ground so far with 19 more Does still left to kid. 

Busy, busy, busy taking photos for our Pygora kids list.

Kids arriving is just the beginning.  The real busy work continues as we care for the kids and mommas.  I thought I'd give an insight of what we are doing on the farm right now:

Once kids are born, they are brought into the barn with their mom and put in their own private kidding pens.  They are in these pens for 2-3 days so they can bond together and to make sure babies are doing well and mom has enough milk for them.  Also during this time, the kids navels will be dipped in iodine to help prevent infection, moms teats will be stripped to make sure the waxy plug is removed and milk is coming out.  We also give each kid a selenium and vitamin E shot.  We take a photo of each kid at this time and they are given a temporary farm eartag for identification.  All moms are given a wormer and are hoof trimmed.  Once everything is checked off, then the moms and kids are turned out into our nursery area with other moms and kids. 

While in the nursery area, all kids will be tattooed with their own unique identification number, disbudded and band (neuter) boys.  We will also do our "3T's" check.  The "3T's" are; "Teeth", Teats, and Testicles".   We do the "3T's" check to ensure our kids qualify for our breeding stock standards.  We want to make sure the mouth is aligned properly, they have 2 teats, and that the boys have 2 testicles.  The "3T's" is an ongoing process as the kids get older too.

Once everything is checked off, the kids and moms then leave the nursery area and are turned out to pasture and it's play, play, play time for the babies as they investigate their new surroundings.  It's my favorite time of year watching the kids take off leaping, hopping and skipping down our hilly green pastures.

Inbetween everything that is going on, I will be working on putting together my Pygora kids list.  I have been taking photos of each kid before they are turned out to the nursery area.  I still need to take photos and get descriptions for them.   I'm hoping to catch some sleep in there somewhere! 

Feel free to contact me.   I can be reached via e-mail, text (503-539-0295 or facebook or phone.  Please leave a message if you can and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
  
Take care, Lisa