Intro Part Two!

So, with a crazy schedule, I'm looking to post once a week and try to keep the momentum going. ^.^ I try to keep a tight schedule so I can fit everything in without burning myself out, like once a week I have an internet day where I upload things I've worked on, do research, and update posts like this. It also helps keep my facebook time down!

I wanted to bring in some pictures of our beasties:

This is big daddy Loki, an alpine buck I got almost 3 years ago. He's been a great addition to the herd, but not so great on the fences.

He's a sweet boy, but was very standoffish when we first got him, and he still runs away when I break out the harness. He doesn't want to be caught.

Bilbo was last year's little boy, and is nubian/alpine mix. He stands the cold winters much better than his mom since nubians don't grow undercoats. He does have his mom's super sweet personality, but is also the only goat to intentionally hit me with his horns... after we got back from a long vacation. He learned fast I'm still the big boss around here and has been sweet since.

This years boys are Turbo and Zuko. Zuko is Bilbo's full brother, and Turbo is his half brother, an alpine/saanen/something else mix. His mom is a big mix, but she has the big alpine udders.

I liken Turbo to a cat... he silently judges people and doesn't want to be petted except on his own terms. He had a bad habit of escaping, so he had to wear the leash of shame until he got too big to fit through the bars of the gate. When he escaped, I looped the other end over Zuko and made them play brothers. Turbo is warming up more though, and turning into a sweetheart.

Zuko was born with a little white heart on his head, and he has his mother's sweet disposition. He's a great big vegan puppy with horns. He bounces after me, follows me everywhere, will paw for pets, and he loves to play. I'd love to see him and Turbo go to a good home soon. (He's here with our farm sitter)

That's our bachelor herd! Lovely boys I've worked with a lot.

This is Sassy, my alpine/saanen mix, mostly alpine, with her wee little babes Turbo and Korra. She's the alpha of the herd, and one reason my fences are in bad shape... Loki is the alpha male, and he tries to put Sassy in her place, and she full on charges him to knock him down a peg. Sassy's about 7 now, and spent the last two years with us. I worked with her to undo a lot of bad habits. Last year she gave birth out in the cold and we lost her kids. This year was a lot of sleepless nights, and I shifted the breeding by three months. We still had a late May snow storm that had me very worried, but she waited til after to have these little guys. Korra is as sassy as her mom, and very sweet when she wants to be.

Athena is our purebred nubian we got from a dairy farm. Her udders didn't take to the milk machines, and she was left with large lumps in them. She can only be hand milked, and now I leave her alone because I know it hurts her to get milked. She gave me two beautiful boys, and she's getting a break this year after we nearly lost her twice, once to an accident between the goats, and once to someone feeding her something that almost killed her... Our property is on a corner and people throw stuff over the fence... -.- I would love to have a little girl from Athena, but she's really adamant about her boys.

My goats are a big part of my life, I love them a lot and raise them for milk and meat. Though I'm a bit soft-hearted, I don't want to eat my goats or chickens young, I'd like them to have a full life before they meet their fate at the butcher.

And speaking of young, I'll end this on a happy note. We have a new baby chick that was hatched this past weekend.

Wee little Kioshi, and her first time brood mom, Hennypenny. So tiny x.x