goats

Nutmeg Classic 2025

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On Saturday, Rob, Anna and Amanda attended the Connecticut Dairy Goat Association’s Nutmeg Classic ADGA show. It was a cool rainy kind of day and it poured for four days in the week leading up to the show making show prep a little difficult. Chili got a tick bite that swelled up and required treatment and everything was wet. But we persevered and loaded up 4 milkers, two dry yearlings and 4 baby doelings.

Amanda did showmanship and placed third in a large class. She is continuing to make progress on fitting her goat better and better. Amanda has been working hard on Porsche’s udder and back leg sensitivity and has started to be able to touch and move her rear legs. The judge touching the udder is still a work in progress. Amanda has used clicker training to reward Porsche for behaving and it is working.

There were two rings, and recorded grade goats were right before lamanchas in both. The judges were Ed Jodlowski in ring 1 and Will Pearson in ring 2.

Chili, our Recorded Grade, Lucky 4-leaf E Red Hot Chili, placed first in ring 1 and was Grand Champion and Best of breed. She was placed first for her mammary, her udder is definitely her strongest asset. It is glued on, very symmetric and milks down really well. In ring 2, Chili went Reserve. Unfortunately, though, grades didn’t have the numbers for sanctioning. Her clip job was a hack job as we didn’t think we would be able to bring her, but then her bug bite got better. Note to self, clip with a #4 or 5 next time and do it all at one time. Chili still knows how to shine.

We brought two 2 year old lamancha milkers. Sawfish AS Porsche, a 2 year old second freshener, and Sawfish QS Ferrari, a 2 year old FF Phaylene daughter. They both did well, Ferrari was third and Porsche sixth in ring 1 and Porsche went second, first udder in her class and then Reserve in ring 2 (she had filled more by this time). Ferrari was 4th in her class in ring 2. Ferrari was commended on her udder structure, nice fore udder and symmetry.

Ferrari
Porsche

Carolina, our (forever pending) champion doe, Majenli LK Carolina, went into both rings as a champion challenger and placed second each time.

For juniors, we brought two dry yearlings, and four kids under 3 months. Kipu and Tiramisu, both Chili daughters, showed first in the recorded grade classes. Kipu was VERY naughty. In the line up in ring 2 she was so naughty Rob had to step in after she knocked Amanda to the ground. But, she won grand champion in both rings. Unfortunately not sanctioned due to low numbers, but she looked fantastic. Tiramisu was cold and unhappy being away from her friends, and was not walking well in the ring. She placed second to an older February kid. Note to self, maybe work with the kids a little bit before taking them to a show, and do not ignore the dry yearlings all winter.

Tiramisu
Tiramisu
Sawfish Kipu

In the junior lamancha classes we brought Sawfish Chrysi, Carolina’s dry yearling daughter from last year and Creme Brule, Apple Fritter, and Bon Bon. Bon Bon was the youngest at only 5 weeks old. Chrysi was very naughty as well and did not cooperate at all, constantly trying to free her head and jump. She placed third in the dry yearling class. No pictures of the littles because we were all in the ring with them. Apple Fritter placed first in ring 1 and C.B placed first in ring 2. Bon Bon was third and fourth respectively.

Overall, we were happy with the outcome of the show. I think we need to work on timing our udder show fill better and do more work with the wild and unruly ones. We came home with some ribbons and some home work to do.

goats

Kidding is DONE!

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Bali a week ago.

Last Tuesday our last goat to kid went into labor. It was Sawfish QS Bali. Bali is a really cute loudly colored black and white yearling doe. I found her a little warm and uncomfortable on Tuesday afternoon, pawing lightly and panting slightly, so I moved her into our kidding stall in the barn. I left to get a few things at Tractor Supply and a few other errands and told Amanda to keep an eye on her.

Before I got to TSC, I got a text that Bali had discharge. By the time I was checking out, there was a doe on the ground. When I got home (Tractor Supply is 4 miles away), Bali delivered another doe. Double pink! And quick nose n’ toes deliveries. I’ll take that any day from a yearling! Rob was also home (I did not just leave Amanda to handle Bali) and Q had come home from school just in time to deliver baby number 1. Baby number 1, the chocolate sundgau was named Chocolate Truffle and weighed 8 pounds. Baby number two is a broken black and tan doeling with the cutest head. She has been named Eclaire and weighed 7.8 pounds.

Chocolate Truffle
Eclaire

Bali did great and gave me 6 cups of colostrum. Sunday am she milked 10 cups. Her udder looks cute with teeny tiny teats though. They have been elongating each day. Bali has been upset about her babies being gone, but I think she is starting to get over it now and she is eating better than she did at first.

Almost 6 cups of colostrum
Bali 4 days fresh

The kids are doing great. Due to the weather Saturday, they have stayed inside a little longer than most and are quite sociable at this point. A few of the kids are leaving this week, which will make room for Truffle and Eclaire to move to the baby barn permanently.

Bali was bred to Apollo and their planned pedigree is as follows: https://genetics.adga.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=L002384545&DamNum=L002377682

Bali needs some calories, but is otherwise doing really well. I think the decision to breed her last fall was a good one.

So, now we have 6 doelings. Now we have to decide which 4 get to stay. Impossible task! If you’re interested in a doe kid, reach out. We are unlikely to decide until sometime in June, but if there is an awesome home available, we may be swayed earlier.

bees

Sawyer Apiary

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In 2019, I (Rob) took a beekeeping class with the intention of getting bees that year. 6 years later, the apiary finally became a reality. I have been collecting equipment for a couple of months and today I picked up 4 packages of bees from Stonewall Apiary. A package is 3lb of bees, or about 10,000 bees. A typical hive will have up to 80,000 bees, but the number I hear most in New England is around 40,000. The picture shows a 5th hive on the stands which I have set up with the hopes of catching a swarm, or group of bees that left a previous hive. Up in the tree there is a smaller blue box which is a different swarm trap. If I get lucky, I’ll get some free bees.

In an average year, honey would be harvested twice (mid-summer and fall). However, when establishing new hives, a fall harvest is really the only option. So hopefully, I’ll be bottling honey this fall.

goats

Ferrari’s kids

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Sawfish Bon Bon, newly born.

On April 3, her due date, Ferrari went into labor. I separated her into a kidding stall and about an hour into active labor things stalled. I called Rob for him to come home, because I was alone, and I needed to intervene. She was pushing and not making progress. When I tried to feel what was going on, there was nothing presenting. I gave her some additional calcium and kept watching her until Rob came home. We went in, and found her first kid upside down with only one foot presenting. We put in a call to our vet after trying to locate a head, but managed to snare a head with the kid puller before she called back. There was a lot of blood and we were concerned. We pulled the first kid, a 9 pound doe kid. A second, 9 pound buck kid, soon followed on his own. Again lots of blood. Babies were ok, but we were unsure about Ferrari, she seemed in shock. A uterine tear was high on our list of possible outcomes. We brought the babies inside and got some colostrum milked off, unsure if Ferrari was going to make it. She was eating and drinking, but very sore and kind of quiet.

Ferrari passed her placenta and we threw the book at her with some TLC and antibiotics, and she seems to be recovering. She milked 8 pounds on her first milk test, two weeks fresh, and her udder looks nice. Still working on putting some weight back on her.

The babies were named Bon Bon (doe) and Fudge (buck kid). This breeding combines our Phaylene line with our Carolina line, crossing Phaylene’s daughter with Carolina’s son. We look forward to seeing Bon Bon mature in our show string this year. She looks a lot like her grandmother, wide in the chest and rump, but longer and with more angularity in her rear legs and a more uphill build. Fudge is a broken sundgau with white on his poll and he will join Porsche’s black son Macaroon in our grow out pen this year and we might even use him on a yearling this fall.

Here’s a link to the kids pedigree: https://genetics.adga.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=L002377681&DamNum=L002291974

With the nice weather, our other baby goats have been enjoying some time outside in the baby goat pen. Below is a video. Apple Fritter, Camellia’s daughter rules the roost. Wait for her to appear at the end of the video:

Next, and last to kid, is Bali. She is due this week. She was bred to Apollo. We are hoping for an easy delivery and a healthy mama and babies. Bali is carrying twins. Her yearling peanut gallery also wanted to be in the picture! Don’t worry, Bali was baby clipped after this picture. She turned into a yak this winter.

goats

Milk Test 2025 #1

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This year we are participating in Milk Test with our goats. That means we will have days throughout the year where we record the weight of milk produced by each doe and send samples of their milk out for testing. The test includes % butterfat, % protein, somatic cell count, and other parameters. If the production is high enough over the documented time, the goats will earn milk stars. Prior to this, we have only participated in 1-day milk tests as part of the 4-H Big E goat program. Anna and Rob both got certified as testers and we are doing “Owner-Sampler” testing which means we do our own weighing and milk sampling. We will have a verification test at some point where another tester comes to our farm.

Milking Ferrari
Weighing the milk

So, here are the results from today. The “DIM” column is days in milk.

Tesla is a first freshener but has been combating mastitis. We hope her numbers will continue to improve. Ferrari is really impressing us as a first freshener. Camellia had an aborted lactation last year, so we were pleased to see her full potential this year. Overall, we are quite happy with our first results.

goats

Chili and Carolina Kid

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Chili started us off on the tail end of our main kidding frenzy last Sunday with triplets. She had two bucks, one black with red, and one black with tan, and one little chocolate doe. They weighed in at 8, 7, and 5.6 pounds. Chili looks great and her udder has increased in size this year, she is really putting in the pail!

Chili a few hours before kidding.

Chili’s kids have been named Biscotti, Tiramisu(doe), and Cannoli.

Tiramisu

Carolina went into labor on Monday evening and delivered a large 9 pound single doe. We were concerned she had slipped her pregnancy earlier this spring because she was not very large. I guess she was just hiding that one little doe in her big body (Carolina is 160 pounds plus). We named the doe Creme Brulee, or C.B. for short. C.B. is a light chamoisee color and will likely clip a little darker and look more brown. But she is adorable here in this baby coat.

Creme Brulee

The kids are now a week old and have been disbudded and are transitioning to the lambar buckets. It’s no secret that Tiramisu is “mine” and C.B. is Rob’s favorite. They will both be nice does.

Tiramisu pedigree: https://genetics.adga.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=L002384545&DamNum=L002232082

C.B. pedigree:

https://genetics.adga.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=L002384570&DamNum=L002158268

Tiramisu
Creme Brulee
C.B.
Tiramisu and C.B.
Biscotti
Cannoli in the middle
Biscotti and Cannoli

We have two more goats due to kid this year. Next up is Ferrari with a due date of April 3. She is bred to Sawfish Crete, Carolina’s son, so expect some black and tan goats. Bali is our milking yearling this year, she is due at the end of April, carrying twins by Blue Farmhouse Apollo. Fingers crossed for at least one more doe to keep, but time will tell. Most of all we want easy nose n’ toes deliveries and healthy mamas and babies. And maybe some color babies from Bali…

Bali October 2024
goats

Are You Kidding Me?

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This week we welcomed Camellia’s and Porsche’s kids into the world. Let’s just say, we should not play the lottery anytime soon. Our buck kid to doe kid ratio is currently 7 to 1.

Churro

Camellia (Camellia pedigree ) started filling up her udder for real on Tuesday and presented with a little bit of mucus discharge late on Tuesday evening. Anna spent most of the night checking on her and things did not progress in a normal fashion. She started having some bright red bleeding discharge early am, but no real contractions and we went in to check her and could feel a head but she was not completely dilated and we could not get in any further. With the abnormal signs we were seeing and the length of the labor, at 5 am we decided to call our vet out, as we were concerned about hurting her in the process of getting the kids out and felt the kids were probably in distress at this point. Camellia had aborted with CVV last year and had had a retained placenta, so we knew her delivery may not be textbook. We had given her some calcium and as we were waiting for the vet Camellia started to have some smaller contractions. Dr. Cara came and helped us deliver live triplets and one mummified fetus. We had US Camellia with potential quads, so that checks. Two bucklings and one doe kid. Camellia was bred to Carolina’s son Sawfish Crete (Crete pedigree). The kids were 9, 8 and 7 pounds, and their names are Churro, Apple Fritter and Peanut Brittle. Churro came out pretty distressed and weak, but breathing. Apple Fritter (doe) is a spunky little thing. And Peanut is catching up. Camellia is milking a gallon a day already and while a little sore, is recovering well. In hindsight, Camellia may have been slightly hypo calcemic and we should have given her calcium sooner. But we live and learn.

Apple Fritter
Churro
Apple Fritter
Peanut Brittle
Apple Fritter Camellia’s doeling

Porsche, Camellia’s daughter decided to have her babies on Thursday afternoon. I had a dentist appointment mid day and she was kind enough to wait for me to get home to kid. Rob and Amanda made it home from work and school just in time to welcome her two buck kids into the world. One is a broken black and tan, the other a solid black, both weighed in around 8 pounds. The have been named Smore’s and Macaroon (Rooney). Porsche (Porsche pedigree) was bred to Apollo (Apollo pedigree). Porsche is doing great after kidding.

Smore’s meets the others
Smore’s
Macaroon
Smore’s
Smore’s and Macaroon

We are happy to report all the kids are doing well, and we are grateful for that, however if someone knows how to summon the doe fairy, we would like for her to visit for Chili and Carolina, who are up next for kidding.

And, yes, there is certainly a certain color trend in our goats so far…

Tesla and Camellia babies
Tesla and Camellia babies
Muffin
Muffin
goats, kids

Kidding Around

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Sawfish AS Tesla July 2024 as a dry yearling.

We officially started off kidding season for us last night with Sawfish AS Tesla (pedigree). Tesla was bred to Blue Farmhouse Eros (Eros pedigree). Tesla brought us triplet bucks, 9, 8.5 and 7 pounds. Number one and number two are carbon copies of Tesla, and number three was cream. Unfortunately number three was DOA, and appeared to have aspirated and we were unable to revive him despite our best efforts.

The naming theme this year is desserts, and I think one of these boys is going to be Biscotti. Until decisions are made it is “big boy” and number two. Big boy came out head first with one leg back, and Tesla needed just a little bit of assistance getting him out. She is a 2 YO FF, and looks good with an appetite this morning.

Quinn and Amanda enjoyed having baby goats again and the boys slept on Amanda’s bed for a bit. The first babies are always the ones to get a little spoiled. Maybe they will get to move out to their garage pen later this week since the weather is going to be nice and warm. For now they are enjoying being house goats.

Mother daughter pair Camellia and Porsche are due Friday, so stay tuned for updates. Camellia was US with 3 plus, Porsche is carrying twins. We bred Camellia to Carolina’s son from last year hoping to add a little length and a wider escutcheon and straighter teat placement to her strong frame. Porsche was bred to Apollo for a fun outcross (and Amanda would like some not black goats). Let’s think pink, especially since none of Amanda’s 4-H projects carried does last year!

Camellia eating her breakfast

Time to baby clip Camellia! Her udder is slowly filling, she usually goes on her due date.

health, marriage

Wear Sunscreen

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POST CONTAINS A GRAPHIC IMAGE.

In December last year I (Anna) went to my annual skin check with my dermatologist. I have very fair skin and I do not tan (at all), I turn lobster red and I cannot count the times I have had nasty sunburns. A few times I have even had sunburns that would count as second degree burns. As a late teenager, I had several moles removed in Sweden and a few had precancerous changes. In the last few years I keep getting little spots of actinic keratosis especially on my face and hands and they always seem to want to biopsy one or another of my numerous moles. My appointment in December was no different. The dermatologist froze a few ak spots on my face and biopsied a mole on my left cheek. She said, she just didn’t like how it was just a little bit uneven and two different colors. Well, it turned out to be malignant melanoma. And like Rob said when I told him:”That’s not ideal”. Nope, not ideal. And I had not even noticed it myself. Oof!

Rob and I in January

Fast forward a few months, and after a consult with a Moh’s clinic, I had a Slow Moh’s procedure last week removing the melanoma. The margins were clear, thankfully, but the defect on my face measured 3.5 by 2.4 cm. I had been told there would be a sizeable scar that would fade over time. In order to cover the defect (excised hole) they had to make additional cuts and move skin up from next to and below my ear. I have an L shaped wound across my cheekbone and down by my ear. Ouch.

In the past, when I made appointments for skin checks, dermatologists always made me feel silly for going, one even said:”your odds of getting skin cancer are very low”. Well, the truth is that 1 in 5 Americans will have had skin cancer by the age of 70. And if you’re fair skinned, you are 30 times more likely to be in that group. So, get your awkward skin checks, check your skin and ask your partner or friend to check those areas you cannot check yourself. Caught early, you may have an ugly scar, but caught late, it can be fatal. Judging by the “civil war- esque” bandages in the waiting room at the clinic I would say cheek, nose, and ears would be the first places to look.

The photo below is pretty graphic, Rob took it last week when I took my bandage off for the first time. It is less swollen and raised now, and tomorrow I will get my 20 something stitches out.

Anna 2/21/25

There is a graduation speech called “Wear Sunscreen” that I have always loved, and I will include a link to it below. If there is something to be learned here, it is definitely that. WEAR SUNSCREEN!! And cover up and avoid the sun at peak hours.

The story of our lives with horses. And goats.