Mini Yooper Goats: 2013

Monday, August 19, 2013

Update! Yea!

It has been forever since I've updated this blog with my herd. Since I last posted, there has been a birth. Bailey gave birth to two wonderful little Nigora kids, dubbed Ron and Luna by their new owners. Some of these pictures are new, some old.

The entire herd!

I'll start from the beginning!

The kids were born on 24th of June in the wee hours of the morning. I actually didn't witness the birth! In fact, it was my father that found the kids (and I ran outside when he called with what he found). The two kids were both still wet, so it only just happened. Everybody was healthy and active. Bailey was attending her kids closely, and her kids readily nursed.

Shortly after birth, Ron had floppy ears, and Luna had airplane ears! Easy to tell apart!

Loving mother

Adorable Luna

Being born is hard work

Both kids have their father's blue eyes!

As they grew, they stayed just as adorable! Their fur is incredibly soft and silky. Petting the Nigora kids is like petting a goat shaped bunny.

Luna giving us her best smile. She has some incredibly airplane ears, now!

Side profile of the lovely lady

Out enjoying some free range grazing

At this point, Ron's ears are the same as Luna's. But he has bigger horns!

Of course, the other goat's have gotten their pictures taken. Yoko and her kid, Keweenaw Copper Lady (also called Cop or Copper). I added two new goats from Grasse Acres to my herd, as well! Johnnie Walker is my new blue eyes (possibly polled) buckling who is just a ham for attention. Winne (short for Winter is Coming) is an adorable little girl who is my mother's favorite!

Johnnie!

He is such a sweetheart

Grasse Acres Winter is Coming

Little Copper's registered name should have been "Piglet". She is a very chunky girl. She has yet to stop nursing from her mother!

Yoko, the top goat of the herd!

I love her so much!

George, the tank. Really, he is stocky!

Zoom!

Lastly, my lovely Suzie Q! Sure, her registered name isn't SuzQ, but that nickname certainly has stuck to her! It took her a while to reach her full potential, but now she is a grown girl!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Summer Solstice Farms

Yesterday I went to visit Heidi of Summer Solstice Farms. While talking goat, I captured her goat gang relaxing and enjoying the spring warmth. It makes me glad I usually keep a camera in my pocket (not just the really bad quality one on my cell phone!), since they were being too cute!

Heidi keeps Alpine and Nigerian Dwarf goats. She has a great little herd! They're always ready for a good nose (or bum) scratch from any person they can get it from!

Most of the herd, taking a nap or chewing cud.

Everybody's names. Nougat recently had a date here with Tractor George!

ChouChou (pronounced like shoe shoe, the footwear x 2) and her day old doeling, Miette!

This is Raita's little kid, Raan!

Creamy using her daughter as a pillow.

Even more adorable picture of Creamy using her daughter as a pillow!

Not shown are Heidi's boys, Bucky and Trapper. They were busy roughhousing the entire time!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Nekkid Angora

Due to the yoyo weather we're experiencing this spring in the UP, I held off on shearing my Angora goat Bailey. But since spring is finally here, I could finally remove her fleece!

Even after sharpening, a pair of metal hand shears were not worth the steel they are forged from. So I went to plan B. This included a pair of dog clippers I used on the Nigerians to give them a 'show clip'. They are not in any way meant for something as thick as wool or mohair! They worked, albeit very slowly. The clippers have a small cutting path, so it took many passes to get the job done.

Now she is much more comfortable without all that heavy fiber! Though she proved her displeasure at being shorn by doling out some bruising hits with her horns and hooves. In the end, she and I were both tired!

The day before being shorn

Look how naked she is now!

She looks like a sanaan goat without her fiber.

This look translates to "I hate you >:( "

In other news, I also sold Yoko's little buckling on Sunday. He went to a great home where he'll get a lot of love and great care! He'll be a herd sire when he grows up! I took these pictures the day before.

Aww, taking a nap.

They didn't fit so well when they tried to nurse. They weren't hitting up the milk parlor very often anymore, though. They prefer hay and grain like big goats!

The neighbor's pretty farm

The green is the excess tattoo ink. Tattooed ears are required for registration. My herd tattoo is YP3R. Makes sense when my herd name is Yooper!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

New Kids!

The new kids are here! They were born on March 11th, 2013 between 8-9pm. I didn't mark the exact time they hit the ground because I was a little bit distracted with the new babies! Twins were born, one girl and one boy.

Yoko did need a little help. The girl was coming first, except she was sideways. I managed to get her in a better position, and out she came! She weighed 2lbs 6oz. She was shortly followed by the little buckling. He came without problems, and weighed 2lbs 12oz.

I am pleased to say that Yoko is an excellent new mother and the kids are healthy and active! Yoko wasted no time when it came to tending them as soon as they hit the ground. I took care of most of the birth stuff with towels and suctioned their noses and mouths, and she cleaned up the rest. In no time, they were trying to get their land legs and attempting to nurse!

This post will have more pictures than usual, but they are saturated with adorable!

Some of the pictures taken the night of the birth!

Yoko early on in labor. She needed some love and sat next to me for some head scratches.