In other news, the last of the does and doe kids made their way to their new homes this week.  It is never easy letting go but these last two girls were so very special to all of us that there loss will be deeply felt.  And the barn seems so empty these days.  

We still have Toblerone up for sale and he will make someone a fine buck.  We also have three wethers to sell and then we will be sold out for the year.  Cutting back the work load is much better for my health, but boy do I miss my goaties!
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Due to my increasing disability we have cut back the herd again, and several more does will be heading for new pastures next week.  Kingfisher will also be going to his new home in Montana and we are hoping that this handsome young man will soon be going to his new home as well.   it feels weird to walk into the barn already, and not everyone that is leaving is gone.  Going to miss them all, but I want them to have the best care possible and I think they have all gotten very good homes.

Last year I cut my herd in half, this year I cut my herd in half again trying to keep my work load small enough I could manage it with my increasing disabilities.  And here I am again making more does available.  I should just disperse my herd but after 14 years of owning goats I just don't have it in me to quit them cold-turkey.   Most of the does that are staying here are staying for sentimental reasons - they are related to my very first doe Mame' and my first buck Sunny.  

All three of the following does have blue-eyes and all three are in milk with a sale price of $650 each:

Wags Ranch HT Moana - 4 yr old second freshener
Wags Ranch HT Rose Pavlova - 2 yr old first freshener (this girl will be a power house milker)
Wags Ranch HT Viennetta - 2 yr old first freshener

You can see pictures and pedigree info on the doe page, (unposed pictures take taken 7/19 below)

  I also have two adult bucks for sale as well and they can be seen on the buck page.

Tangled Forest BB Kingfisher - 2 yr old buck has blue-eyes and moonspots and is the gentlest, sweetest buck ever.  And his pedigree is fantabulous!  I drove all the way out to Maryland to bring those fantastic genetics to the western half of the US.  Take a look at the dams behind this guy!  $1000

Onaqui EYHO Toblerone - 1 year old buck with marble eyes.  Toby is extremely shy, not just with humans but with the other bucks and bucklings too.  He is not the easiest guy to catch, but once you catch him he stands still.  He also has a very lovely pedigree with high LA scores on the does behind him.  His price is discounted because he can be hard to catch. $500

I did not have the ability to shave goats this year so here are the boys in all their hairy glory. (Shaved pictures of Kingfisher as a yearling are on the buck page.)

After I finished the milking yesterday morning I noticed that Viennetta's udder was significantly larger than the day before and she was off by herself and even the offer of an animal cracker wasn't tempting to her.  And she never turns down a "cookie".  

It was a very smoky, sultry day due several wildfires near us, so rather than letting her kid outside we moved her into the kidding room and ran the air conditioner unit that has filtration so both she and I could breath easier.  I spent the day in the barn with her and by late afternoon it was starting to be apparent that she probably had a kid out of position.  Sure enough when she finally started trying to push in earnest, the first kid presented with a single ear.  At first I thought it was a tail and while breech births can be risky they are not all that uncommon and it isn't hard to help a doe out.  But no, this was an ear and the little buckling had his head turned sideways.  The second I got him out, his bigger SISTER was coming right on his heels.  She came out hungry and was immediately trying to get to her feet and nurse.  

Viennetta is a first time mom, and while she talked to them and cleaned them up she wasn't too sure about letting them nurse.  She is doing better this morning and the babies had full tummies when we took them out for a quick round of pictures.

​Ember will be retained in our herd and her brother will be available as a wether.

Creamy surprised us on Sunday June 27th on day 145 of her gestation.  We were doing two hour checks but she really wasn't looking ready to kid anytime soon.  Went out for a check to discover kids all nicely cleaned off and nursing.  Impressive for a yearling first freshener who wasn't supposed to get bred.  We don't bred kids young, we wait for them to be around 18 months old.  But she was big enough and demanding enough that I gave in and bred her.

The white boy has bright blue eyes and has been nicknamed Casper.  His more colorful brother has brown eyes and is being called the Calico Kid.  Other than this quick photo op while their pen was being cleaned a couple of days after they were born, we kept them penned up in the air conditioned kidding room for a week while we were recording record high temperatures. They are out and about now that daytime highs are in the more manageable temps.

The boys will be available together as pet wethers for $150.