Happens Around The Farm

 

     Well as you can guess we have been busy with kidding season.  So far we have had twenty-eight goat kids, with eleven of them being doelings and seventeen bucklings.  Our farm retained (kept) five doelings and two bucklings.  *We do have some buckling (wethers) available if interested* Here are a couple of them. $100.00 each or $300.00 as Bucks Intact. Sire: Little Tots Estate Oxytropis and Dam: Gypsy Moon J-Lo.  *We were so impressed with this breeding, that we plan to rebreed the sire and dam*

     Other news--We are looking forward to the arrival of our second American Guinea Hog piglets that are due in the next couple of weeks.  We will keep a couple of barrow's for meat for our family, but will sell the others.  Prices are: Gilt (female) $200.00, Boar (male breeding) $150.00, and a Barrow (fixed male for meat) $75.00.  They are very docile and considered a homestead small farm hog. 

 

Carl has planted a big part of our garden.  We will have lettuce, onions, strawberry's, cantaloupe, tomatoes, green beans, broccoli, cabbage and corn.  The lettuce is already up.  We can't wait to start getting fresh vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

On another note, we have been doing our DHI 305 day milk test.  These are the two new goats to star on milk testing. Windy City Acres Bambi *D and CapraKoza AG Meg's Surprise *D.  We are very excited to have several star. 

 

Windy City Acres Bambi

CapraKoza AB Meg's Surprise

  

Little Tots Estate Veronica is in the kidding pen.  At this time, we are taking reservations.  The Sire is: Little Tots Estate Oxytropis.  She received her star this past year.  Veronica is 2*DD for her milk production.  

 

 

Another Day at Sycamore Springs Farm

Many New Additions This Season

     Our farm has been very busy with kidding season.  At this point, most of our kids have been born at night.  Our tally is nineteen kids, which included twelve boys (bucklings) and seven girls (doelings).  

These are the girls (doelings) that we have retained:

Sycamore Springs AM Blessings
Sire: Kids Corral Seq Anchor Man X CapraKoza AG Confessions *D 

Sycamore Springs "MG Midnight
Sire: Lost Valley Z Mardi Gras X Little Tots Estate Annabelle *D

Sycamore Springs MB Eve
Sire: Kaapio Acres Montego Bay X Muddy Creek RW Charmin *D

Sycamore Springs AM Miracle
Sire: Kids Corral Seq Anchor Man X CapraKoza AG Confessions 5*D  

These are the boys (bucklings) that we are keeping:


 

Sycamore Springs Branson (Wether)
Sire: Kids Corral Seq Anchor Man X Dragonfly Farm G Hayley  

Sycamore Springs Fire Cracker
Sire: Lost Valley Z Mardi Gras X Little Maple Farm Rosie *D

     
*At this time, we only have three bucklings for sale.  All the doe's are sold*

Update--We started our DHIR 305 day milk test.  The testing  started in January and we are pleased to announce that all four of our doe's have earned their *D with AGS and pending with ADGA.  

1.  CapraKoza AG Confessions 5*D
2.  Muddy Creek RW Charmin *D
3.  Little Tots Estate Annabelle *D
4.  Little Maple Farm Rosie *D

Some people have asked why do you do this testing? Well simply it is because we want to be able to judge our herd by milk production, butterfat, and protein levels.  We feed our goats the best possible feed (ADM), mixed minerals and Alfalfa hay.  Everytime the test is done, we gain valuable information that is needed to make our herd better.  Our doe's earn stars based on the percentage of butterfat and milk production.  The kids born to these doe's ultimately are better proven quality for milk production. 

Another Day at Sycamore Springs Farm
    

New Kid Additions

     Since our last post, we have added additional goat kids to our herd.  Little Maple Farm Rosie had triplet bucks with Sire: Lost Valley Z Mardi Gras.  One has been sold and two are available.  One has blue eyes and the other one has orange spots.  All of them are very nice and will make a great herdsire.  Little Maple Farm Rosie is on our 305 DHI milk test and unofficially may have starred.  We are so excited.  All her bucks are really nice.  I am trying to tell myself you do not need another one, you do not need another one.  My husband hopes that I don't. LOL 
Our last two bucklings.  You can see them at: www.sycamorespringsfarm.com on the for sale page. 

Update

     I wanted to update you since our last blog.  Our little bottle baby is doing good and is gaining weight.  We have now named him Sycamore Springs Branson.  Branson is still living at our home as a bottle baby and is eight days old.  Unfortunately, after a couple of attempts he has not been able to maintain his temperature in the barn.  Branson has a sweet personality and is a gift from God.  This is Branson:

Sycamore Springs Branson

Breeding--some breeders pen breed, which means leaving the doe with the buck for a certain amount of time.  Other breeders put the doe and buck together for a one time breeding.  Well this year, we bred both ways.  There are positives and negatives either way. At this time, we have two more doe's that are pregnant and due in December.  



Little Maple Farm Rosie

Muddy Creek RW Charmin

The bottle baby

     Today has been a long day.  This morning started off with our smallest goat not doing very well.  In fact, he was almost dead.  As a result, we had to do interventions to help him.  Even doing this, there is no guarantee! 

      His body temperature was extremely low.  *The trick that I have learned is that you check the gums and outer lips* If they are cold then his body temperature is too low.  Sometimes, you don’t have time to take a temperature and this is a quick reference.  So I had to get his temperature up.  We put him between two bean bags (that you can warm up) and wrapped him in a thick towel.  Then I blew a warm hair dryer back and forth in the blanket. 

     At this point he was still too weak to suck.  So I put a tube down his throat to his stomach and gave him kick start (electrolytes) about 5 to 10 cc.  Of course, this was really a family affair.  Each one of us had a role in this procedure to help him.  It took about two hours for us to really see a slight change. 

     The next time he was tubed, we gave him  ½ colostrum and ½ kick start (electrolytes).  Again we started seeing improvement and the temperature was better with only having to warm the bean bags up every other hour.  The third time we tubed him he was not happy and fighting it, so we started giving him a bottle of colostrum.  He took off drinking two ounces without any difficulties.  So every two hours we offered a bottle and he drank two ounces each time.  Early this evening, he drank three ounces and his temperature is stable with no bean bags needed.  So where do we go from here? Well it looks like we might have a bottle baby.

Sycamore Springs Buckling

Carl and the buckling

Fun on the barn

     Tonight, was one of those nights at the barn that was just fun.  We took our time and just found our self sitting around talking as a family.  All the goats were content, warm and had full stomach's.  Sometimes, we get so caught up in trying to do everything that we forget to stop and take a moment and appreciate everything around us. 

     We have three goats that could kid any day.  It was fun as each one of us decided who would kid first.  So this is my official record.  Joseph and I say that the following goats will kid in order: Confessions, Violet and Black Beauty.  Carl and Megan say the following will kid in order: Violet, Confessions and Black Beauty.  Well it's a fun bet. :)

Confessions (First Freshener)

Black Beauty (Senior Doe)



Violet (Senior Doe)


Another Day At Sycamore Springs Farm 

 

   

Milk Testing and Labor

    
     Our farm goal this year was to do a few one day milk tests.  We decided to only do the one day milk tests to gain some experience before going straight into the 305 day milk testing.  So today we sent off our DHI milk application for the 305 day testing and got our weight scales ready.  We are really excited.  This information tells you a lot about your herd.  It gives you information about each doe's butterfat and how much they are milking in pounds.  Plus: helps you improve your herd and the breed.  Our first milk test will start in January 2013.  All of our twenty-two doe's will be on the milk test. 

     CapraKoza AG Confessions is in early labor.  She is a first freshener, which means she is kidding for the first time.  First of all, I have learned that all goats are different.  About the time I have it figured out we have a new experience.  Some of the signs that Confession is exhibiting are: no ligament, swollen vulva area, pawing at the ground, developed bag, drainage, smelling her urine, biting at her side, restless, dazed look, and stretching.  Of course, there are many more signs, depending on the stage of labor. 

Supplies: these are a few of the supplies that we have ready: towels (you can never have enough), pee pads (we use them to put the goat kid on and then pass it to one of our children to clean it off), baby syringe (for suctioning the nose and mouth), drench (liquid electrolytes) and/or jump start (gel), colostrum (gel) if needed in emergencies, molasses (for the mom after delivery mixed in warm water), heat lamp (in winter), camera :), garbage bags (for clean up), hairdryer (in winter), fresh straw and hay.  Some other things that I have used during an emergency are: my stethoscope, 10 french NG tube, piston and lactated ringers (IV fluids).  My professional background is a nurse.  Unfortunately, I had to tube one of our quads in January of this year.  He wasn't sucking and as a last resort, I tubed him.  We were very blessed that he survived.  The most important thing that I have learned is that you have to make sure the tube is not inserted into the lungs.  *Please note--you are not always able to save every kid* It's really sad and those are the days, that I wonder why I started raising goats.    However, there are more good days than bad.

On one last note--we have decided to sell Kaapio Acre's Montego Bay.  He has successfully bred several of our does.  We are asking $500.  His pedigree has a lot to offer as a herd sire.  We are proud to be able to offer him to another herd where he can be used.