Our neighbors generously offered to let us pick cherries and pears on their property. We couldn't let this opportunity slip pass us. So, Kayla and Calvin picked 2-4 gallons of cherries during this past week, then this Saturday, we all got ready, and walked down th to our neighbor's property. They own two cherry trees and one pear tree. (The pears aren't ripe yet.) That evening we picked 8 gallons of pears!

Hi! my name is Target, not because my 'mommy' had any intentions on using me for meat, but because of my markings. I am very colorful, sweet, and growing fast!! I will be a great buck when I am older. Okay, that is all I have to say for myself :-) Hello, my name is Jordan and I am the 'mommy' of Target. I already have two bucks and can't keep any more. His line has always had great milk producers. Target is 2 1/2 months old & growing big very quickly. He will need to be moved into the buck pen soon as I do not want an accidental breeding with my does, so if he can be moved to his new home before the older ones rub their scent onto him, I would like that very much. I have his 'real' mom and dad on site plus some of his sisters and have pictures of his grandparents. $75 All reasonable offers considered.

Today, I have sold one of my Toggenburgs. She was a yearling, produced wonderfully, and was very loving. I just have too many goats to keep them all.
Next year I am looking at having 9 goats give birth, which very well could give me 20babies! Anyways, the family that bought are wonderful and will give her a lot of care and love, besides letting her play with all their sheep!

The hens have earnestly begged me to post a story about them....oh, and the rooster doesn't want to be left out either. :-) Our family has a tradition of letting one or more hens sit on eggs each spring. This year was no different. Kayla who was in charge of gathering the eggs, left certain ones under the broody hens. I forgot to warn her that we shouldn't switch the eggs around, so some of the eggs got started a couple days later then the first ones. Three weeks later, Midnight hatched an egg. That evening, Mercy, the other hen, got off with one chick and left her other eggs to get cold. I took Mercy's remaining eggs and placed then under Midnight. Midnight sat on them for another day, then got off the nest with her three chicks. I took the remaining eggs and put them in the incubater. One chick began to hatch, but then died that night, because there wasn't enough humidity, so when I heard another chick begin to hatch, I went ahead and opened it. We have had to open eggs in the past before, so I wasn't too nervous about doing it, except that this one didn't have any hole yet. I carefully opened it and pulled the shell, then the membranes off all the while talking to it. I read on the Internet that it is best to pull some shell off then put the chick back in the incubater for 20+ minutes, then pull some more off. It was already 9:30 pm and I was tired, so I did it all in one sitting. The umbilical cord started to bleed, so I applied some Quick Stop, which helped. This chick was weak and didn't move much and breathed hard, so I thought that it was going to die. The next morning, Mom came into my room. I heard some peeping coming from her hand and sure enough, the chick was wobbily sitting on Mom's hand!!! I spent some time praising God for his blessing and mercy in letting us raise this chick. I named her ( I hope it's a her) Patience. Patience follows me around the yard, flies onto my lap, and chases bugs that I point out to her!!!! She is so special I hope she lives for many many years and gives me lots of eggs in the meantime! Mercy and Midnight took turns caring for the chicks, until one day, when Mercy got selfish and beat up Midnight, we had to put her back in with all the other adult chickens. So, I think that I have fulfilled the wish of the hens and rooster to post their story on here! The eggs came from these hens.

When my Great-grandpa died, my brother, Corbin and Mom flew down to Denver, Colorado, for the funeral. Corbin took his 100 year old banjo that Great-grandpa had given him to play at the funeral. I stayed home to watch my two younger siblings, Kayla and Calvin, tend to the animals and the house. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work as well! One day, I looked out the window and much to my dismay, saw a coyote very near to us. It was in our neighbor's field, but was as close as it could get to my goats as it could. I went outside after telling Kayla and Calvin to stay in the house, took our two bigger dogs and a tool that is like a hoe and headed out after it. The coyote ran to the back of the neighbor's field when he saw us, then started to run towards our field, despite the dogs barking at him. I then opened the gate between our field and the neighbors and let the dogs go. They chased after him hard, but as soon as they smelled him, they quit and just watched the coyote run around them! So, I started out after them. The coyote finally jumped the fence, then began running down the road one way, then the other way, then into a driveway and back into a field. After a while he left, for which I was glad!! The evening before Mom and Corbin were supposed to fly back, Valentines was showing signs of an approaching birth. So much so, that I didn't think that Mom was going to be able to get back in time to see it. The next morning, which was Saturday, Mom and Corbin made it on the flight (they fly as standbys) which was going to get them home at 1:00. I stayed home when Dad went to go pick them up at the airport. Valentines was moving along very slowly according to what most of my goats do. Some of the signs that Valentines was showing, if they had been on almost any other goat of mine, would have meant that the babies would have born early that morning. At 2:00 pm, Dad arrived home with Mom and Corbin. Mom came out to see me and Valentines. Another while went by, then I finally went into the house to eat lunch. I changed out of my 'barn' clothes and into a beautiful dress that I had sewed. I had just barely sat down to enjoy a relaxing lunch when Kayla came running in shouting "Valentines is laying down and baaing and I think that she is having a baby!" I quickly got up and not bothering to change again, hurried outside. There was Valentines with her baby's head out. Corbin called some friends that wanted to see this birth. They didn't quite make it, but they loved seeing the babies take their first wobbly steps. Then the Hahners came over and watched me milk the goats and feed the babies. They bought their first 'milk' goats from me and so wanted to learn how to milk and take care of newborn babies. Val's baby boy was born with a couple of issues. First, he walked on the heels of his back legs. Second, he had an overbite. Thirdly, he had an eye problem. The eye went through several changes. First, it had a milky blueish/whitish over 3/4 of it. Then it had a red rim around the border of the eye. Then, it looked normal, but when I looked closly at it, it had a marbly look. Then, lastly, it went normal. So, we thought that it would be approriate to name him, 'Miracle'. These changes took a couple of weeks to complete. The little girl was born with no problems. I named her, Unity.

Unity is the brown one. Miracle is the black one.

Birch had a very start and stop labor. I would be just ready to dial the home phone when she would relax. Then a couple minutes later, she would be pushing again. I tried to time the contractions, but even the time between them would flucuate. Finally though, she was pushing close enough together, that I called Mom and she came out to watch. After starting and stopping several times, she pushed out a baby. Mom remarked that 'Target' would be a very nice name for it. I replied that the name would fit because it was a boy. Then Birch pushed out a girl that I named Jeminna. They both were beautiful and healthy. I am planning on keeping Jeminna.

Next morning, bright and early, I got up to go out and milk. I saw immediatly that milking would have to wait a bit, as Kasaw was in the process of having a baby! The baby bag was visible, so I called my family on the cell phone and brought Kasaw into the birthing stall. Kasaw didn't seem to know she was in labor, she just would walk around a bit then squat a bit, then walk around some more. She never made a sound, except when she wanted me to stay with her. When Mom got out, she advised me to check the other pens out and make sure that Kasaw hadn't given birth to a baby before I got out there. I did that & when I passed the pen where we were keeping Cherokee by herself, I said jokingly. "Maybe a baby jumped over the gate to see Cherokee". I peeked in and there was Cherokee dead. What a damper on a day that was supposed to be joyful. The only thing that I could think of was "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, Blessed be the name of the Lord." I went back in with Kasaw and delivered a little boy. Mom thought that that was the only baby, but I was convinced that there was another. Sure enough, a few minutes later, Kasaw had a little girl! The friends that saw Grommette's birth bought them and named them Cow and Cappuchina.

The morning after the episode of finding lice on Cherokee and taking precautionary measures, so the other goats wouldn't get them, Grommette's udder filled up. I called some friends who had asked me to please let them come over and watch a kidding and set up all the articles needed for a birthing. At 10:00, Grommette began pushing, just as my friends showed up. The birth went uneventfully, for which I was thankful and a couple hours later, my friends went home. They had really enjoyed the birth & had learned a lot. Grommette had three kids in quick succession. Two boys and a girl. The girl we named Gloria, the boys Granite and Gopher. Some things that I have observed with Grommette are that she always gives birth 3 days late and at 10:00 am & that two babies are almost identical and the third is different! When my friend's were leaving, I checked Kasaw out, who was due one day after Grommette, and her udder was filling up!!! I moved some older babies into a pen that used to be occupied with chickens, moved Grommette and her youngens into the pen that the older kids were, and got the birthing stall ready for Kasaw...

Cherokee was a Registered Toggenburg that I had bought last fall. She had won several ribbions and was an excellent producer. This spring in March, I noticed that she had her hair fluffed out. There was snow on the ground and I thought that she was just cold. Then a few days later, her milk production dropped drastically. She had a very high fever & when I went to give her penicillian, my very first shot, I found to my dismay, that she was covered in lice. Actually they looked more like fleas, but I have heard that goats can't get fleas. I called all the goat people that I thougth would know something about lice & sprinkled Diatematious Earth on all their bedding, walkways, directly on the goats, and in my milk barn. Then because Cherokee had them so bad, Mom picked up some 'real' flea killer & I then sprinkled that on all the goats. When I though that I was done for a while, I also had to syringe fluids down Cherokee quite often and give her shots and make sure she was warm enough, Grommette's udder was getting full. I am always happy when a goat is ready to give birth, but this time with poisenous flea powder sprinkled everywhere and knowing that Cherokee might die anytime, and Diatematious Earth sprinkled in the Birthing stall, I was overwhelmed. After a quick shower, my spirits revived & I was able to carry on my nursing...

Velvet had her babies two weeks late in January. I read aloud to Kayla while I kept an eye on Velvet. Velvet wasn't very comfortable. She kept walking around in the birthing stall and laying down then standing up again. Whem Mom called us in to eat, I stood up to go, but then decided against eating right then, for Velvet was having a big contraction. Kayla ran inside and let Mom know what was happening. Velvet didn't have any more contractions even though her baby's head had slipped out. Mom came inside the barn then and thought that the baby was sucking in fluids. We had to get the baby out immediatly if it was getting fluids in it's lungs. I slipped my hands inside Velvet. I didn't know what I was feeling. I said a quick prayer and immediatly God let me know what I was feeling. The baby's front legs were alongside it's belly instead of along it's nose like they should be. I brought the legs forward and pulled her out. I named her Hope, because I had hope that I could get her out. We weren't sure if she was okay at first, but she did survive, for which we are very thankful. 1 1/2 later, Mom left, but she was going to be back in 5 minutes. I told her that she may miss it & she did! She had no sooner stepped inside the house, when I called her on the cell phone saying that the baby was coming! She turned around and came right back but it was already born. All this happened in about 2-3 minutes!! I named this one Blessing, because she was a blessing to her mom to be so fast and easily born. About 15 minutes after Blessing was born, Velvet began to push again. There was no progress, so I put on gloves and slipped my hand inside. This time the baby was breach (bottom first)! I gently pulled the legs back and he was born rapidly. This little boy was always tripping on his sisters or stepping on them. I named him Brother, because I was constantly saying "Brother, watch out for your sisters!" "Brother, be nice!" "Brother, be a gentleman, do NOT step on your sisters!" His full name is 'Bothersome Brother', as a joke, because I know that some people think that brothers are a bother, but my brothers are far from being a bother to me!

Every morning, when the kittens got old enough, we would put them out in our hay barn. We kept a board across the door so the kittens couldn't get out, but our older cats could. A couple of times the board would fall down, but we didn't worry much about it because the kittens would stay in the barn. One night, the board had fallen down & when Corbin went out to bring them inside for the night, he could only find four kittens. Truffles was no where in sight! We searched everywhere inside the small barn and outside & had almost given up when Mom saw a white something back behind a board. We thought that it looked like feathers, but pulled it out anyways & it was our kitten. Our dog had given her a bath with his tongue & we thought that she wouldn't make it because of her being wet and cold. Mom warmed some towels in the oven and wrapped her up in them. She gradully warmed up and survived! We found good homes for all of the kittens. Raising kittens is something that I would like to do again if I ever find kittens in need.

Grommettes Birth -

Grommette had a nice easy birth. This time I was there to see it. When I could tell that she was ready to begin pushing, I called Mom out to see the babies be born. Grommette quickly pushed out two girls and a boy. One of the girls was pure black that I named Bitty. The other girl was named Blossom & the boy, Bobby.

Suzie's birth-

Suzie started labor early in the morning & pushed out her girl and boy in early afternoon. She had a great birth.


Spice's birth-


I could tell that Spice was going to have her baby soon. Mom called us in to eat & while I was eating, Spice went into a little ditch & had her two girls. I was watching her out the window, but Spice never did show anything that made me think that she was in labor so I missed it! We named the babies Rosemary & Clover.

Grodivia's birth-

One afternoon, Grodivia's udder was full, so I knew that it would be soon. The next morning, Grodivia would go out into the field for a while then come back into the barn then go back out. I was busy doing schoolwork, but asked Mom if I could go out with her for a couple minutes. Mom said yes. When I got out into the field with her, she turned and headed back towards the barn. I followed her and sat down beside Grodivia. Soon she laid down and began pushing. When the baby bag appeared, I ran into the house and informed Mom. When I got back outside, I found to my surprise, that Grodivia had stopped pushing & was waiting for me. As soon as she saw me, she laid down and finished pushing her boy and girl out. I named the girl Snickers & the boy Hershey.


Winter's birth-


One evening, some friends were over that had goats themselves. They were the ones that got me started in goats. Rachel mentioned to me that Winter's udder was filling with milk. I checked it and indeed it was! The next morning the udder was full, so I called some friends that had let me know that they wanted to see a goat's birth. They came over and a couple hours later, Winter was in labor. It was a start and stop labor, but eventually I saw hoofs and then the baby was born. The next girl was born soon after. We named them Spring and Autumn.



Valentine's birth-



A few days after Winter gave birth, Valentines had her babies. I didn't know when Valentines' due date was, so just kept an eye on her. The morning that she had her twin girls, I checked her udder. It was empty, so I thought that it wouldn't be for a couple more days, but I had a fleeting thought that I would miss the birth. At 2:00 p.m. I went out to check her and Birch who was late by two weeks! There was Valentines' laying near a hay feeder with two girls tucked up next to her.


Birch's birth- that same day while tending to Valentines' babies I had another thought that I was going to miss Birch's birth. I hastily pushed it away. That night Birch's udder was filling, so I set my alarm to go off every 2-3 hours. At 2:00 a.m. Birch had two babies. I got there right after the 2nd was born. I sat down on a box and began petting and drying off one of the babies. Birch lay down and began pushing. I thought that it was just the placenta, but when I looked closer, I saw ears, and eyes and a nose. Another baby!! We named the two girls Hazel and Holly & the boy Hickory.

One day, our neighbor called us asking if we wanted to try to raise baby kittens. Of course we wanted to!! They were only 2 1/2 weeks old, but the mother cat had abanded them and so we bottlefed them until they were a couple months old. When we first got them, they could fit in a tiny box & lived by my bed, but they quickly outgrew that and "graduated" to a kennel. There were five of them. One was black with white whiskers named Seal, one was orange and white, one was orange, black, & white, named Truffles, and one was grey. We had sooo much fun with them. Our family would take them out on the lawn and play with them when the days were pleasant outside. We were able to find some really good homes for them all, although us kids were very sorry to have to see them leave.

Birch's birth-

Birch gave birth to two healthy kids on Feb. 10, 2006. I had know that she was going to give birth soon, so had locked her up Saturday night in the birthing stall. Sunday morning I went out to check on her and found to my surprise and delight that I hadn't quite missed it, but the kids would be born anytime soon. I ran into the house, grabbed up the towels, camera, and bottles, and raced back outside. The first one was born seconds after I got inside the birthing stall. The other one was born a few minutes later. She had a girl and boy. I named the girl Valentines, and the boy Valiant.

Suzie's birth-

Suzie had a little boy that I named Scamper. Since Suzie only had one and this was her first time, Mom had to pull him out. I wasn't there for this birth. We named him Scamper, because that was what he did best...running, jumping and playing all the time!!

Laritta's birth-

I had been checking on Laritta quite often throughout the day. I missed Bambi's birth, but saw the other two born. We named one Splash and her only girl, Spice. Larrita had a stillborn or Mummified baby as well. That was so sad. It was the first and only time that I have seen a stillborn.

Grommette's birth-

I knew that Grommette was going to have her babies any time, so I began checking on her every twenty minutes. At one of those times, I noticed that she was having a hard contraction, but I didn't know that I should stay with them at that point, so I went back into the house and set the timer for another 20 minutes. When the timer went off, I ran out to check on her again. This time I found her with two babies on the ground and the next one being born. Grommette had a girl and two boys. I named the girl Grodivia, because she was pure brown, the boys were named Tinder and Steel.

Mary's birth- Mary had her two boys on June 26, in the morning. The birth went well and easily. Calvin and I were the only ones that were home. He helped me wipe the babies off with a towel when they were born. We named them Marxy and Molassas.

Laritta- a beautiful, wonderful, first pregnant/milking doe. A couple of days before my 12 birthday, Mom asked me if I would like a pregnant Nubian doe. I am sure that you could guess my answer-YES!!! I had been at a friend's house and when their milking time came around, I was able to sit down and milk.-slowly, and sometimes missing the bucket, and cramps in my arms if I went too long- but I was milking! On my 12 birthday these same friends came over to our house while their parents went to check out the goat. I was anxiously waiting for the crunch of wheels on our gravel driveway, signifiying that they were here with the goat or not. At about 3:oo they called, saying that they were on their way back to pick up their kids & that there was a goat in their back seat! I was so thrilled- they couldn't get here fast enough! When they arrived I hurried around to the back of their car & when they opened the back door Laritta jumped out. I spent all my spare time with her, petting her, talking to her, & just being with her. I couldn't tell if she was for sure pregnant, but one day after we had just arrived home from some errands, I ran back to her pen to see if she had had her baby. (we didn't know what the due date was & I wasn't experianced enough to watch for the signs that they show beforehand) She hadn't had it, but the baby was pushing hard against her stomach and when I called Mom over, she said that it was indeed a baby pushing on her!
On September 17, 2003, I ran outside to check on Laritta. The day before the udder felt different, but I was too ignorant to know that what I was feeling was milk. I looked in one of the sheds & there she was looking uncomfortable. I thought she might be in labor & Mom confirmed my guess. While she went to get towels, camera, & bottles, I stayed so that I could keep an eye on Larrita. Soon after Mom had left, Larrita began pushing. I was nervous thinking that her birth would be as difficult as the Pygmy's had been. She however pushed Rose out with no problem. At first I wasn't sure if the baby was okay, because when it wasn't moving, but when I stepped over to it & picked it up, I could see that it was just fine. We raised Rose basically in the house. We always say jokingly that Rose learned to play the piano & wash dishes. One thing that we didn't know not to do was to play butting games with goats. We ended up ruining Rose because of it. She thought that she was stronger than us & could be dominant over us. She never did try to butt me, but Corbin got butted a couple of times before we sold her. Larrita then had a year later, two boys & a girl. I sold the boys, but kept the girl, which I named Birch.