4 Times a Day

Look at these lovely wee goats.goats-105

I will be bottle feeding four times a day. They have holders that the bottles slide into so I can feed four kids at a time. Goats are so much more polite than lambs, so it is not too much of a hardship.  And only for another three weeks.  The La Mancha kids are all about three weeks old so I will not be bottle feeding for terribly long. goats-072

(Being prey animals their eyes are all set up to see in a panoramic view.  Amazing really. Clever .)

Yesterday the whole barn went into a pause to watch the new comers. goats-093

Ton went and sat with Sheila but Boo was transfixed. The peacocks saw the goats come in and immediately decamped to the Peacock Penthouse and watched them through the netting from above. The Peacock Penthouse is their safe place.  Later they came down and set up in different spots so they could observe quietly.

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Peacocks are very nosy. Like cows really.

Speaking of cows the Dutchies were locked out in the field (much to their delight) for the afternoon so Our John could bring in the tractor and we could  finish scooping the middle pen and scoop the yards. So I am feeling confident that I will have two maternity ward pens ready for the cows when I go to Portland. Hopefully they will not do anything silly while I am gone but if anyone is close I can leave them in their clean baby pens for the 48 hours that I am away.

It would be very nice if everyone did as expected and I can wean the goats before the cows  have calves(mid April would be nice). And get to Portland (which will pay for quite a bit of very good feed this summer) without any dramas in my absence.
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Queenie’s Bobby. goats-095Last night I set up a heat lamp for the La Manchas (they had them in their nursery)  in case they were cold. But they chose to sleep on top of a bale of straw instead and the cats were sleeping under the warm light. Cheeky buggers. So early this morning I swapped it out for a low wattage white bulb.  They have not slept in the dark before so we will do that slowly. And it is not that cold really.  The fire risk of those heat lamps always makes me nervous.  I have not spent that much time in the barn in the dead of night for a while – I had forgotton how Loudly Sheila snores!

Above is Hans in the foreground again. He is a goer this wee chappie.  Both the Billy goats are pure bred La Mancha. The girls are almost but both come from exceptional milking stock.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Love your friend on a farm,

celi

 

48 responses to “4 Times a Day”

  1. Love, love, love the goats!! Oh I would be in heaven with them – I have always wanted goats! They seem to have such wonderful personalities, especially when young. They see the positive side of life and bounce around in their happiness. You can never feel blue when round a baby goat. They will lift your spirit every time. I will be glued to your site as they grow up, watch every little minute. I so hope they bring lots of laughter and happiness to the farmy.

  2. Thank you Celi for the treat of two postings to read this morning. The Farmy is such an education… goats! Brill and they look so full of personality and bounce. Won’t Boo find them even more of a challenge that those kittens. Sounds as if your spring will be full to bursting with babies. Lovely. As always, I am enjoying all the pics. My niece loves her Farmy calendar, so thanks again for that opportunity to spread a little bit of Farmy love! Energy… still a wip to keep up with my work, nevermind to keep up with you!

  3. What gorgeous new additions to the Farmy. I suspect that they shall get up to all kinds of mischief as they grow!
    Christine

  4. They sure look different to SA goats! Welcome little ones, Boo is the best nanny you could have chosen. I’m curious why does one (Hazel ?) have earflaps and the others don’t? Laura

  5. Me thinks that you may be asking for a miracle that nothing should happen whilst you are away, i think it is known as Sod’s Law!

  6. Over the past few years I have found it beneficial to extend the bottle feeding a few more weeks the kids seem to do a little better.

  7. What a wonderful way to push into spring. We are going to have fun. Thank you for including the reactions of the farmy animals to the new additions. I was wondering how that would go. Boo is really special for sure. You can always count on him to be a good host.

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