May 15, 2010

Meet the New Kids

Our spring kidding season is finally over with and the new goat kids are growing up fast already. I hope to get a sales list out to the people on our waiting list for goat kids in the next few days. It has been a hectic spring and I am running behind on many of the things on my "To Do" list. When the last doe kidded this spring we ended up with 32 goat kids born, 18 bucklings and 14 doelings. These are not all of them by any means but just a few pictures of some of the new kids on the farm.

This Boer doeling and her mother are just relaxing on the old walnut tree stump.

There were some red Boer kids born this year. I just love the solid red Boer goats.

This old tree log is worn smooth from goat kids jumping and playing on it.

More spring born Boer goat kids, the black headed one is a doe and the red one is a buck.

This doe is a 75% Boer / 25% Nubian cross. I personally really like this cross. I don't know if it is the hybrid vigor or all that milk they get from their Boer/Nubian cross moms but they almost always have the quickest weight gain. This is one of Penny's kids.

Two Purebred Boer kids, what sweet faces!

A curious Boer doeling.

A peaceful afternoon for these girls, chewing cud and laying on the walnut stump.

A couple of the 97% Boer kids.

One of Cookie's bucklings, he sure has grown a lot since this picture.

One of Belle's kids. Belle is a doe I had on the sales page of our website last year, she is a great doe that just didn't sell because she is a bit on the plain side compared to the flashy black and paint goats we had for sale at the time. That plain white doe had this pretty black doeling and a really nice blonde buck. I am kind of glad she didn't sell!

This blonde buckling is the brother to the black doeling in the picture above. Sometimes siblings can be very different colors!

My husband calls this doeling "Miss Pretty" because she is so feminine and had such a pretty face as a kid. We both had a laugh the other day when we noticed "Miss Pretty" really needs a shave! I have never seen a kid with so many whiskers and long "eyebrow" hairs!

The Proud Pappas

24 comments:

brokenteepee said...

They are all precious.

I had to chuckle at the one photo - it looked like a pushme pullyou goat. heh

Tonia said...

Ahhh They are all so pretty! Those bucks are nice!! You had some very nice babies.

Callie Brady said...

Lovely kids... those photos bring back a lot of memories of kids jumping and playing. They are a lot of fun to watch. Miss Pretty is a doll!

Gail said...

Very nice kids, they sell quickly.

Kelly said...

Know wonder you are a little behind in your to do list. You have been very busy. The goats look healthy and happy.
Kelly

Anonymous said...

What nice looking kids!

Amy

Kelly Cook said...

I didn't know you had such a big goat farm-looks like lots of fun!

farmlady said...

They are all so beautiful.
Will the Boer/Nubian does be really good milkers? I know that Nubians are.

Nelly said...

They're all absolutely gorgeous Jennifer!!!! More pics please :-))

Alison said...

Pricilla beat me to the pushme-pullyu comment!

I don't know much about goats, but you have some fine-looking animals there. I'm also impressed at how green your pastures are, with all those goats in them. It all looks so well-managed. All the goats look happy, too. :)

Renee said...

They are all so cute!

I don't know how you can stand to let then go! Lol! I would be such a terrible farmer...

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

Such gorgeous goats! I'm going to add you to my blogroll at Goat Berries :)

Teresa said...

The kids look great. I must say I love the cross bred goats too. Mine are mostly boer and Saanen mixes.

Christy said...

That is a lot of babies! I was excited about my 2.

sunset pines farm said...

they are all SO pretty! I love red boers. We are in the market for a baby for my daughter to show, but all the way in GA. Haven't really decided what to do-a neighbor has show boers, nothing special though-yours are so pretty.

Window On The Prairie said...

Love spring. We're enjoying the calves on our farm.

GardenOfDaisies said...

Your kids are just adorable!! I wish I lived in the country and could have a goat.

Bossy Betty said...

They are all adorable!!!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful look at a few quiet moments in your hectic life. Now that kidding is over maybe you can enjoy a more regular schedule for a few weeks?

Jennifer said...

Thank you all for your kind comments!

Farmlady - Yes, the Boer/Nubian does I have are pretty good milkers. They do not produce as much as my purebred Nubians but produce more than enough milk to make it worth the effort of milking them.

The reason I think our Boer/Nubian crosses make good dual purpose goats is that the Boer typically has an even higher butterfat to their milk than Nubians do. (problem is most purebred Boers don't produce much extra milk and have tiny, hard to milk teats so the cross ups the milk production and puts easier to milk teats on them while the Boer part puts more muscling on their market kids making them better for the freezer) Great milk for cheese making! I think they make great dual purpose goats and are good for homesteads.

taylorgirl6 said...

We just recently tried goat meat (Boer) from our local farmer's market, and wow! What a great flavor! I can't wait until we have enough room for a small herd of our own. Thanks for all the great info!

CatHerder said...

oh they are soooo adorable

Sunshine Mom said...

I'm so jealous! I've been bugging my husband to buy me a goat for a few years now. :) I love your blog. We moved to Florida 7 years ago from Wichita!

Anne-Marie said...

Darling. They look like they're having a great time exploring. Hooray for Spring and cute baby animals!