Baby Goats Are Born

Baby goat, baby goat
bottle feeding can be a pain,
Baby goat, baby goat
but it is worth it to see you gain.

You hop and leap,
so very cute
watching you play
is such a hoot.

Baby goat, baby goat
you are just so darn adorable,
Baby goat, baby goat
giving you away would be just horrible.

You have brought us joy,
and made us happy,
but oh no, baby goat,
time to wear a nappy!

Baby goats just dried off and fed for the first time.

Hello from the nursery at Homeland Farm. In case you couldn’t tell, we had two babies born this week. Their momma was a Nigerian dwarf cross that my daughter Brogan rescued from an auction. Buttercup, their momma, is just a young goat herself, and had no interest in her two doelings at all. So, into the house they came.

It is a lot of work for the two surrogate “moms” who now have to bottle feed several times a day. It really is like having twin, human babies. They need to be fed, cleaned and entertained each and every day. About the only difference is that we don’t need to worry about setting up a college fund for these little girls.

The biggest doe was born first, and her mom had a very hard time pushing her out. She ended up being stuck in the birth canal for over an hour, and when she was finally born, she ended up having a slightly odd shaped head. They named her Quasimodo, and the smaller, second doeling is named Esmerelda. They are both eating and doing well, and yes, are living in my house.

Momma goat struggling to give birth.

We enjoyed some very nice temperatures this week. One day it made it all the way to 50 degrees, and it was wonderful. It made us feel like we really need to write up our spring “to-do” list, because spring is finally on the way.

We are going to have to do a lot of fence repairing and replacing this year. My daughter has several rescue horses, and between them and the heavy snow, our fences are in trouble. I can see many post holes needing to be dug this spring, once all that snow is gone.

Cliff, my sweetie, and Cass, a young man who lives with us, have been busy planning and building outdoor chicken houses. We want to raise a couple batches of meat birds this spring. One is for our own freezer, and one batch we will sell at our farm stand. We have always had good luck selling extra broilers in the past, and with the new interest in eating locally raised food, I am sure we will sell all we can produce.

My oldest son, Cameron, who also lives at home, has been working with student volunteers who have come to the farm to work through a school program. They handle watering all the animals, and do lots of manure shoveling. They have also cleaned alpaca fleece, and carded fiber rabbit fur. We try and vary their jobs for a more interesting farm experience. All shoveling all the time makes Jack a dull boy, as they say.

My other son Liam helps do various farm jobs as well. He helps round up alpacas and horses, should they escape, and is a big help during haying. At almost 15, he is getting older, and more mature, and is able to handle more responsibility.

Jenny on the porch holding a loose sheep.

We also have a farm manager named Jenny who lives here. She is Brogan’s right-hand gal. She does chores when Brogan is working, and helps with the rescue work. So, as you can see, there is a lot going on here every day, and a lot of people doing it.

Everyone also helps with the firewood hauling and stacking, yard work, barn cleaning, gardening and all the other various jobs that are part of farm living.

Cliffy cooking bacon on the campfire.

Life is very busy at Homeland Farm, but life is very fulfilling as well. We do take time to enjoy the “little things” in life. We enjoy S’mores in the summertime, cooking out in the backyard, and enjoy a cool, refreshing swim in the lake after a hot day of haying. Life does not always run smoothly on a farm, and we do have our ups and downs like everyone else. But for my family, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Cameron and one of our pet pigs at a cookout.