Category Archives: Goats

A trip to the other side

We get away…

Sadly, this month we lost our milking goat, Betsy.  One evening she had an upset tummy and the next day she was gone.  It was quite a shock for us and we are left with only two goats, neither of which are in milk.  We find ourselves running out of milk constantly as we can’t get used to buying it from the shops!

She was milked twice a day every day and therefore we could never really leave the croft for very long.  In fact we haven’t both had a night away from here for the last 13 years!

As we had relatives staying with us who could look after the dogs and keep an eye on the rest of the menagerie, we took the opportunity to snatch a few days break on the West Coast.

We stayed in a lovely B&B and spent our days sightseeing at Fort Augustus, Fort William and of course, we couldn’t miss the great glen, Glencoe. The weather wasn’t great but it didn’t rain too much and thankfully, the midges were nowhere to be seen.

Now our batteries are recharged, we are ready to tackle hay making, should the sun ever decide to return.

In the meantime Toby is reaching the adolescent ‘naughty teenager’ stage in his life, and as he is also getting bigger and heavier, it is important to try and maintain his training while he works through it.  Not easy for us, particularly as his training classes have finished and the incentive to show off his week’s work has finished with them!

Thankfully he has one particular trick to fall back on, which he perfoms twice daily at feeding time – ‘Bring da Bowl’.  Once all of the dogs have finished eating, we line the bowls up and Toby fetches them all one by one!  Here he is in action:

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The Keystone kids

The kids prove to be very agile

When the sun finally fought its way out from behind the clouds and the rain stopped, we took the dogwalk out into the field for the dogs to do some training.

Daisy was the star, showing the other two how it should be done, before they all raced off for a well deserved game.

For a bit of fun we put it in the field where the kids were enjoying some fresh air with their mothers and it was an instant hit!  We couldn’t keep them off it.

You can see their antics in the video below.

Kidding about

We relax into kidding

After the stress, lack of sleep and vets visits that accompanied this year’s lambing, we were pleasantly surprised by the lack of fuss over kidding.

Firstly, we knew the exact date that the goats had visited the billy so the due date wasn’t guess work, and secondly they usually get on with it on their own.

Even so, we were taken somewhat by surprise when Lulu kidded 3 days early.  She wasn’t interested in her food in the morning so we knew something was up.  By 11.00am she was laying down pushing and making a hell of a racket (sheep rarely make much noise at all).  Not long after that, she popped out two kids, one of each and was soon cleaning them up.  She had plenty of milk and was happy to let them feed.

A few days later, Betsy started, again a day or two earlier than planned but she followed a very similar pattern, giving birth to another boy and girl and requiring no assistance from us.

When the kids were just a few days old we took them to the vets for disbudding so they won’t be sporting horns like their mothers.  All four recovered quickly from their ordeal and are growing rapidly into cheeky little minxes that you have to keep your eyes on as they are constantly on the lookout for trouble!

Our other goat, Lily, also visited the billy but some time after the first two, so she missed out on being scanned.  If she is pregnant, she will be due in early June so we are looking forward to that and after the recent successful experiences, very relaxed about it.

The dairy

The kids are weaned, the goats are in full flow and the dairy re-opens

It’s been a busy few weeks here at the croft.  We separated the kids from their mums, earlier than anticipated due to sore and bleeding teats.  Those little beasts have sharp teeth.  For a while we hand milked the does and fed the kids with bottles, but they weren’t keen and were eating solid food and hay with great enthusiasm.

Once the mothers were healed up, we got out the machine and since then have been milking twice a day.  These two goats are not producing a lot compared with some breeds but we are getting around 21 litres a week.

Every day is a challenge, so far we have made yoghurt, ice cream and butter. With the waste product, buttermilk we have baked some beautiful baps.  The fridge is full of jars of cream and soon the cheese making will begin and we will be drowning under vats of whey.  It’s almost a full-time job!

In other news we have switched Fin’s medication from Atopica to a relatively new drug, Apoquel which is extremely difficult to get hold of.  It is not specifically for his particular problem but it seems to be keeping him stable and the difference in his overall demeanour is remarkable.  His appetite is back and he is far happier.  At nearly 15, we know we are not going to cure him of this awful disease, but we are doing the best we can to keep him comfortable and allow him to enjoy his life again.

The kids party

After lambing we are kidding

It’s been an exhausting couple of months, with long nights watching the CCTV cameras, on the lookout for ewes in the process of lambing.  Not so for kidding.  We knew the exact date when the goats had conceived so there was less speculation on when they would give birth.  Our window of watching was much narrower.

It turned out that both Betsy and Lulu had their twins one day earlier than expected but we were prepared and not taken unawares.  Betsy was first, easily giving birth to a boy and girl – Cocoa and Chanel.  Lulu followed up a few days later, with an equally painless (for us anyway!) birth of twin girls – Mitzi and Melody.

We decided to have them disbudded as we have found in the past that people are not keen on owning horned goats.  This would give us a better chance of selling them if we chose to do so.  The visit to the vet wasn’t very pleasant but they all came through it OK and had forgotten all about their traumatic experience by the following day.

They are delightful little creatures, very fluffy and full of fun and Lulu is a fantastic first time mother.  Betsy also a first-timer, loves Cocoa but is not at all keen on Chanel.  When Betsy is busy eating, Chanel sneaks in for quick drink, but to ensure she’s getting enough nourishment, we have to tether her mother to allow her to feed.

Every few days, we are separating the kids from their mothers overnight so that we can have our own fill of milk in the morning.  It’s lovely to have our regular supply back again and as the weeks go on, we can look forward once again to ice cream, butter and cheese!

Billy the kids

The girls pay a visit to a billy

We don’t have our own billy goat and are not keen to keep one as they can be quite unpleasant.  They have a particularly strong odour that permeates everything and some can be stroppy and difficult to handle.

Last year we looked without success for a billy for the older girls and even considered AI.  The process was so complicated, we abandoned it in the end and unfortunately, for the first time in years, we no longer have a regular supply of milk.  That also means no cream, butter or cheese, we are having to to buy it.

This year, we are lucky enough to have access to a handsome young boer.  The two younger girls paid him a visit earlier this month which we can only hope was successful.  Although they look like sisters, Lulu and Betsy are actually aunt and niece.  They are two and half years old but only a few weeks apart in age and although they’ve grown up together, their characters couldn’t be more different.  Lulu on the right whose mother is pure white Lily, is cheeky and full of mischief.  She can also be a bit of a bully to the shy Betsy, whose mother Belinda is also Lily’s mother.

If their visit has paid off, we will be delivering kids in March.

In other news we are wallowing about in mud, thanks to all the rain, and the dogs are permantly plastered in it and tracking it into the house.  Roll on the snow!

Fin has had ups and downs too, and has been a bit of a worry.  We are currently trying Slippery Elm powder in and effort to get his digestive system back on track.  He still enjoys his walk, nevertheless, and we have to watch him constantly to ensure he’s not eating something he shouldn’t!

Lambing live

Our most successful year, ever

Lambing is always a stressful time here at the croft and this year was no exception. It’s filled with sleepless nights watching restless sheep and anxious days peering at fragile looking lambs wondering if they’re feeding properly. This year was made a wee bit easier by the installation of our CCTV cameras. Instead of spending hours in a chilly shed, we could monitor all the activity from the warmth of the house, only needing to venture out when a lambing was actually in progress.

It all went much more smoothly than usual and of course we could see which lambs were feeding and which ones needed a bit of help. One particular boy (we named him Polka-dot, after we marked him with a blue spot so that we could recognise him instantly in the crowd), spent his time standing hunched in the corner. We eventually came to the conclusion that he wasn’t getting enough milk so with the aid of an obliging goat, we supplemented his mother’s milk. He is now fat and healthy.

Most of the births were straightforward, the ewes producing mainly twins but there were a couple of singles. No triplets this time which is good for the mothers as it’s easier to cope with two. However, we did have one first-timer that gave us cause for concern. After watching her all night on camera, she finally got started in the early hours, but the lamb was going nowhere. It was stuck fast. Thanks to the assistance of our obliging neighbour, an experienced sheep farmer, now retired, and some baling twine, we managed to heave the enourmous lamb out.

Despite the fact that it took quite a while and its tongue was blue, it survived and is now thriving. What a relief and we were so grateful for the help, you learn something new every year.

Only one left to lamb now and she is certainly taking her time. All the rest are ready to be vaccinated and move on out to pastures new.

In other news, Fin seems to be responding to the medications and is feeling a lot more comfortable now.

The goat hotel

Upgrading the goat pens

This month we have been busy upgrading the goat accommodation in the shed.  The goats were living in one large pen but that was giving us no end of trouble.  More than a year on and Lily’s kid Lulu will just not stop suckling.  We have separated them for months at time but as soon as they are reunited, she’s back on the milk.

Both Lily and Belinda are milked twice daily and we use that milk for cheese, butter and ice cream so with the now nearly fully grown kid taking a huge part of it, it’s a real problem.  We have tried taping Lily’s teats with micropore and painting on Stop ‘n’ Grow but whereas this might deter a nail biter, it seems goats like the taste and the tape was soon removed.

We decided to split the big pen into three and spent several weeks building their new living quarters.  We have learnt a thing or two about goats since we built the original pens.

  1. Put the hay racks up high.  Goats mostly stand on their hind legs to eat it where they take it out of the top of the rack and scatter it all over the ground.  Once it’s been on the floor, they won’t touch it.  It gets trodden into the bedding and wasted.
  2. Don’t put the water bucket anywhere near the hay.  They won’t drink from it if there is a strand of hay floating on top.  But more importantly mount the bucket on the wall, higher than their tails (to avoid accidents)!

The new pens have been made from fence posts and recycled pallets and now they are finished look very professional and also cosy.

We have put Lily in her own room as since she’s such a softie, the other goats tend to bully her.  Next to her is her naughty kid, Lulu so that they can remain close but she cannot get access to the precious milk.  She is housed with the other kid Betsy, who belongs to Belinda.

Belinda herself is back living with her original roommate Anastasia.  Those two seem to rub along fine with just the occasional head butting session.

In addition to the above, we have also built a second milking table so now we are able to milk two goats at the same time – progress!

With the girls all happily settled in their new homes, that frees up the rest of the shed for lambing time – a way off yet but it’s best to be prepared.

Utterly buttery

Finally, we get to grips with butter making

With two goats in milk, the twice daily routine was taking much longer and was tough on the hands, so when we were given an ancient Alfa Laval milking machine (just like the one on Wartime Farm, if anybody is watching it), we were delighted.  It needed quite a bit of work to restore it to full working order but once it got going, it made our lives so much easier and the goats don’t mind it either.

We have been busy making cheese, ice cream and have finally after many false starts, managed to make butter.  In the past when we’ve tried, we’ve ended up with a solid cream instead of the butterfat separating from the buttermilk.  Therefore, it was an exciting moment when we ended up with our first dish of home made goat’s butter!

Rather than the usual yellow colour we are all familiar with, goat’s butter is pure white but with a sprinkling of salt, it tastes delicious.  It also makes great pastry, even though it’s a little difficult to handle (can’t imagine anyone on the Great British Bake Off using goat’s butter pastry) and of course the buttermilk is perfect in scones or soda bread.

It takes a while to make it.  Firstly the cream needs to be separated from the milk and this needs to be collected for about 3 days before there is enough for a decent amount of butter.  The cream then has to be beaten until it separates and when drained is shaped using the antique butter pats that we bought especially.

Perfect on home made rolls, muffins and crumpets.

Lily delivers

First time mum serves up her kids

According to the goat gestation calendar, Lily was due to kid on 4th May. In reality though, it could have been any time from 28th of April to 8th of May as these dates were 145-155 days from the time she met with the billy.  In fact she met with 2 billy goats, we were hedging our bets.

We moved her out of the pen away from the other goats, particularly Anastasia who is a bit of a thug, into her own personal birthing suite.  She seemed relieved and soon relaxed into her new domain.  We kept a close eye on her, counting down the days until the morning of the first of May when she was acting a little oddly.  By the afternoon we were certain she was in labour and at around 6pm she laid down on her deluxe straw bed, made a noise like someone throwing up and produced 2 tiny kids, easy as pie.

We had just spent weeks ewe watching, seeing them pacing, panting and groaning, thinking any minute they were about to give birth, then spending the night checking them every two hours, only for them to finally lamb at 9am the following morning.  The quick and stress-free birth of the kids was like a breath of fresh air.  We didn’t even need the rubber gloves!

Although very small, they seemed healthy and lively and she was keen to clean them up, which meant hopefully, that she would be a good mother.  Since this was her first time we had no idea how she would take to it.

Strangely, the female kid was black with distinct white markings and pricked ears, the image of one of the beaus that Lily had met with, but the male kid was golden brown with floppy ears and looked eerily like the other billy she had a liaison with on the same day.  Neither took after their pure white mother.  We wondered if it was possible that there could be two different fathers.  I guess we will never know unless they do DNA tests for goats!