*peeking outside the stall

Narry, Henry's turkey has just realized both Thanksgiving and Christmas have passed and she has survived! Whew!
 (she is going to be part of our breeding stock)

This is the first short trip outside the barn for a bit of sunshine!  They little goatlings seemed to enjoy the ability to frolic around and nibble at fallen leaves like their mother.  After a short while they were escorted back into their stall in the barn where safety and shelter welcomed them!

*meet Rudy, our sire

We have been searching for a Nubian buck for a few months now. Unfortunately the lady we bought our doe's from did not stand good on her offer to us for a buck, so we started our search for a good match for our girls and look what we found in Alabama...

Rudy is only 5 months old and although he is sexually mature, he is not tall enough for mating just yet. We had hoped to have at least one of them bred by now, but we are trusting God's timing, not our desires. When we arrived to pick Rudy up, (Rudy is the name he was given by his previous owners) he was in a grazing yard with two other Nubians. One of them his brother, and the other a doe. All of them were very friendly, following us up and down the fence line and allowing us to pet them with no end. However, when we started to leave with Rudy, his brother bleating for him so that I almost started to cry. Seriously. Since bringing him into his new home here, he has been loud as well. I know he misses his familiar surroundings terribly. Wouldn't you?

He and Boudica are now living together in a stall together, as she will be our first doe to kid. They are both very vociferous goats and have wore themselves out. Bodie is bleating for her two girl friends, Neffie and Cleo who are in the stall next to her while Rudy is bleating for his familiar surroundings in Alabama. I am sure time will heal their hurts and help them turn towards each other. Soon enough they will be in love and will provide our family with milk for which we will make cheese, sour cream, and butter.

We are unsure of Rudy's fate at this point. Initially we had thought we would buy a buck, have him mate with one of our does then butcher him for a source of meat for our family. But now we are giving strong consideration to keeping him at a remote location on our property so we do not have to buy a buck every time we are ready to mate our does. He is a beautiful buck, his markings are really quite nice and since we have the land, we will likely have him become part of our great big family here.

Nubian goats are an excellent dairy goat because their milk is high in butterfat content which gives it a most delicious taste. Because of their build, they are also considered a dual purpose goat which puts them in the category of meat goat as well. Our Nubians are part of our homesteading endeavors and although they have not really produced anything for us yet, other than nanny berries, we get so much enjoyment from them.  I am looking forward to the days of milking and learning how to make cheeses of all sorts! (remind me later that I said that!)

*goat coats

Last week we had below freezing weather again so I had to stitch them some new coats to help them stay warm during the blustery nights.  These are the second ones I have made each of them.  During the day when the goats are out browsing in the barn yard they like to rub up against the barn gate to scratch their sides.  Each time they do this, little holes get ripped into the sides of the little coats.

If you have goats or animals outside that have to weather the temps, you can make these fairly easily.  I shopped at our local thrift store and chose some cotton turtle necks as well as some sweaters and woven vest pull overs.  I cut the arms off of the shirts and then sewed up the holes tapering it in towards the neck. I also taper sewed the bottom part of the shirt so it would pull closer to their tummies.



Shared at:
Make it Yourself Monday
Homestead Revival

*our dairy queens are doing great!

 Nefertiti, also know as Neffie is so loving and affectionate.  She has this way of demanding  your attention with  face.  She is notorious for lifting her long Roman nose up to sniff your breath or sniff your face. Nubians are know as being very social and vocal goats.

This is Cleopatra, also known as Cleo and I can never get any good pictures of her because she is my constant companion.  Stuck to me like glue. My side kick. A leach.  Upon picking her up in Alabama on that first day her personality was obvious and we knew that she was going to be trusting right away.  She took to me without reservation, which I , of course loved.  She is a talker, we will be walking towards the barn at feeding time and call out to them with a "maaa" sound and Cleo will call back, "maaa". It is quite entertaining. 

Bodica, also known as Bodie has grown so much since we first brought her to our humble little farm.  Both Neffie and Bodie were a bit cautious in letting any of us care for them in any way, except feeding of course.  Bodie is just as sweet as the other two dairy queens, but she does not like to put up with getting her hoofs trimmed.  She constantly nips me while I am trimming her. I am constantly correcting her with a firm "no" and a light tap on her head or side.  In the mean time, Cleo is right up in the middle trying to get my attention! 

 We left this dump wagon that attaches to our lawn mower in the barnyard one day and now it has become a permanent ornament as the goats love to hop in and out of it throughout the day as well as take naps in it.  I sometimes lay branches in it as well and they munch them up straight away!

Can't you just see her sweetness? 

Again, I was trying to get some sweet pictures of Cleo, but she was up in my grill. I tried to push her back just a bit so I could get a good view of her in my lens..but to no avail she kept forcing her way back to me.  So, I give you, Cleo (in this fashion). 

Nubian Goats are great for milking purposes (and are a dual purpose goat -meat), and great for the small homesteader or hobby farmer.  You need much less land than you would need if you were raising a cow.  The goats are MUCH easier to handle and manage than a cow - just think of the size comparison!  Your feed to production ratio is much better with a goat.  You are thinking, EW, goat milk!  If  you have ever drank goats milk from the grocer, you are not tasting true goat milk.  If you are interested in the WHY of our choice for Nubian (dairy) Goats as our sustainable source for milk instead of a dairy cow, check this out.

More and more families are starting to get back to the basics or you at least can read some hype on this subject. The decisions our family has made towards sustainability has nothing to do with a whim decision or a sudden concern for our future food source although it is a concern. My dear husband is a survivalist at heart. Much of this comes from his upbringing, who he is and some from his mode of operation in the military.  These things that you see our family taking part in at the present have always been at bay in his mind, the Lord has brought some of it to fruition and some are still on the planning board.  We are enjoying the land, working it (well most of the time), what it brings forth and the ability to share with others as well as store some for a later date.

I was just speaking with a lady last week who was inviting me to join in a co-op that will operate on the barter system.  I encourage you to start one in your area!  This is how they are going to work the barter co-op here: Each person will plant one crop in excess. It will be harvested by that person and the excess will be brought to the meeting place along with every one's excess crop harvest. Each member of the co-op will take what they desire with no money exchanged.  This is such an easy thing to do even with a small suburban lot. There are crops that can be planted year round providing you with many fresh veggies void any herbicides or pesticides for your family dinner table!  Start taking some of the food provision for your family into your own hands, you can do it!


I shared this today at Homestead Revival's Barn Hop! Come check it out!

*meet the kids!

We arrived at Just 4 Goats in Wilmer Alabama on Saturday morning ready to meet our new kids.  It was an sweet experience for me.  Sheila has a TON of goats. She has kids, yearlings, does, does in milk and bucks.  She is trying at this point to thin her herd some, and I can see why!  If we didn't have the ride back home I could have stayed hours petting the larger goats at her place.

One of the many does at Just 4 Goats. Beautiful creatures.

More of the sweet does. They were so amicable and loving, not a stranger in the bunch!

All of the children from this doe smile. Isn't that a sweet trait to carry?

I want to be a goat lady. I want to be a chicken lady. I want to be a crazy cat lady. I want to be a farmer. Oh, wait. Let me check those off my list! I am all of the above.  Sweetness, just sweetness.

Here is Shelia with some of her babies. You could tell it pained her by selling the kids to people she doesn't really know.  The not knowing of if the new owners are going to take care of them properly and love and care for them as she would was really wearing on her.  She did finally tell us she felt good about us as new owners. I assured her we would give proper care to the animals. 

She (Shelia) has a Just 4 Goats store on her property that carries such things as clippers, shampoos, soaps, lotions, and all the things you need to vaccinate your goats.  You can also find meds in her shop as well.  All of the walls were lined with ribbons she has won over the years at shows with her beautiful herd.  She started out rescuing a few goats and after a few years her love for raising healthy high quality goats led her to showing them. 

Here we are in the car on the way home.   We took our Honda Pilot, laid our seats all down and lined the back with tarp and blankets.  The drive home is 2 hours and they were not with held from food or water prior to our picking them up. In fact, she allows her goats to "free feed".  So.. needless to say they pooped and pee'd numerous time!  Oh yeh.  The inside of our vehicle smelled like a barn. I would much rather smell livestock poop instead of dog or cat poop any day.  (Just FYI)

I was telling her about her new home that she would see soon, she was delighted!

I was telling her about all the treats she would find in the field at her new home, she thought it sounded tasty.

Here they are at "home".  The young girl in the front was born just a few months ago and her legal name is Peggy Sue, but we have dubbed her Cleopatra.  All of our girls have queens or royal women's names  from the Egyptian era or there about.  The pretty sable colored one in the back has the legal name Pearl, but we have given her the name Bodica. She and Nefertiti (below) are sired by the same buck, Midas. 

This sweet little one's legal name is Lady Katie but we have given her the name Nefertiti.   Our rabbits have Greek and Norse names : Loki, Athena, Isis, Thor.  Strange, I know. 

Did you know: Goats do not have upper front teeth at all. The have a big pad sort of like an attached thick gum that helps them press things around in their mouth. They do have back molars on top as well as on bottom for grinding food.  These particular teeth are quite sharp so if ever you are visiting here on the far or any other that has goats do not stick your fingers in their cute little mouths.

This is a new adventure for us, it is one of our last pieces to self sufficiency.  We do have a few other things to do before we are self sustained but those things await the sell of our house in NC.  We have just dropped our price again, hoping for an offer soon. 

*the kids are coming!

The kids are coming, the kids are coming!

No we did not adopt and no, we have not lost our minds.  Although on some days I awaken and wonder if we have!  Our lives are totally different today than they were a year ago, that is not bad.  It is just the facts. I had freedom a year ago. I could travel when I wanted to. I have freedom now. We are becoming self sustaining. It is just a good different life.   In the morning we leave for Alabama to bring home 3 kids, three baby Nubian's that is.   I will introduce you to them soon.

Nubians are great milk goats and we plan to breed one or possibly two of our girls next year.  I have the next year to get some needed reading and learning done on how to make cheese, butter, cream etc from our goats milk.  I am so grateful that we will not be breeding until next year. Truly if we bred before then I might consider running away.  The goats are adorable, you are gonna love them!!!