A day in the big woods...

All of our December babies are doing very well. They are all thriving and growing by leaps and bounds. They have reached the age that it was time for them to go out and explore the big world. Being so warm out the other day, I left them all out of their goat yard to roam free around our woodland property to do some exploring. All 7 kids pretty much stuck together as they went to discover what was around the next tree. The momma's decided to stray off from the kids to go munch on a large bail of hay we have wrapped under a tarp. All except one that is, Hopi stayed with the kids for the whole outing. It was like she was appointed the designated "babysitter" for the day. But she had a wonderful time entertaining the kids. She pounced, ran, hopped, and leaped, and as she did each so would the kids. It was so enjoyable watching her play with the kids that I had a smile glued to my face for the entire hour. I called her "Aunt Hopi" and it fit her well for the day. She treated each kid as if they were her own. If one would stray off to far and start to cry out because it thought it was lost, she would quickly run over and comfort that baby and gently nudge it back to the group. Then they would all start running off in the same direction together. They explored downed tree stumps, rock piles, and bushes. It was a new learning experience for each kid. In one instance, a big hawk came around and started getting lower and lower casting his dark shadow over the area where the kids were now browsing. Aunt Hopi immediately went into action and rounded up all the kids and stood over them until the hawk got the idea that there would be "no free lunch here today" so moved on. Of course I was in full alert mode at this point ready to take action and rescue kids if need be, but I quickly realized that would not be necessary as I saw each kid standing under Hopi for safety until the threat was gone. What a wonderful doe Hopi is. It was a beautiful site indeed watching her with the kids on their adventure in the big woods. The way she cared for each one like her own. I have to wonder now if another doe will be appointed to watch the kids on their next outing or if it will always be Hopi that volunteers for the position... I will have to wait until another lovely day here at Laurel Haven when I let them out again to discover the answer. I will be sure to keep you all posted when that happens. But I wanted to share our "adventure in the big woods" with you all. And the caring compassion our doe Hopi, "Aunt Hopi" that is, showed towards all 7 babies. What wonderful animals these goats are. I have always known they were a special breed of animal, but when I watch with my own eyes events like this, it is so rewarding to have my herd that I have. The goats have taught me so much, and gave so much back that I would have never thought possible before I ever owned a goat. Anyone that owns these Nigerian Dwarf goats knows what I am trying to say... they are a special breed of compassionate, intelligent, unique animals. I could not imagine my life without now.

Morning Glory kidded!

Morning Glory kidded with twin bucklings! Both boys have blue eyes. One is a dark buckskin in color and the other is a Cou Clair. Both are very nice bucklings, and conformationally correct. I am very pleased with Zen's boys. And Morning Glory had the easiest kidding of the season. I am so proud of her, she made my job too easy. The one buckling is very laid back while his brother is like a little jumping bean and rarely stands still.

Well I get a break from birthing out does for a good month and will be able to just sit back and enjoy babies for awhile. That will be great as I am in need of a break. We do not have another kidding for about a month and then Eowyn is due in late January. So more babies coming soon!!!

Sister Kidded!

After years and years of failed kiddings with Sister she finally delivered a beautiful daughter. Actually she had triplet does but only the first one was born alive. The other two were very small and stillborn. While this is very sad and breaks our heart that we lost two of the three, we are just blessed to even have one. For some reason Sister just isn't meant to carry babies. I am thinking it is something genetic that is making her miscarriage, and reabsorb her babies. But luckily we did get one darling little doe from her. And I mean little, as she is the smallest kid of the season. I am still up in the air of whether to ever breed her again. I do not wan to put her through this every season, as we may have just been fortunate to even have this one. I just don't know as there was clearly something amiss about this delivery as the babies were almost to small to even survive. But one is and she is lovely. Of course she will be retained to replace Sister should we decide to retire her now after blessing us with her daughter. What a beautiful doeling she is too. Actually she was the flashiest of the 3. So we were clearly blessed with the prettiest of them all. And believe me, we are more than honored to have her here with us. Thank you Sister for this wonderful gift!

Hopi Kidded!

Hopi kidded with a buck/doe twins on Wednesday. She was very overdue at day 153 and we were very concerned. When she went into labor we knew something just wasn't right. After a hard labor she finally delivered a doeling. But then her labor continued for hours afterwards. I finally had to assist and went in to disover why she had gone past her duedate as she did, it was a dead buckling that was holding everything up. We are just thankful at this point that Hopi is doing okay after having such a hard time with this delivery and that we have 1 baby for her to love. And this little doeling is adorable. She has the sweetest face you ever did see and to add some flash she has lots of moonspots. What a sweetheart she is and her momma adores her.

Warpaint kidded!

Oh I do beleive we are having a "Buck Year" here at Laurel Haven... as Warpaint kidded last night with twin bucks! They are adorable and have moonspots. One boy is identical to his momma but I do beleive has even more moonspots than she does. The other boy is unique in coloring and also sports several random gray moonspots.
It was far from an easy kidding, as Warpaint labored hard and long. she finally became exhausted, so I had to go in and help things along. But we were successful in bringing into this world, two beautiful bouncing boys! Momma and sons are doing very well today and the boys even got to go outside for a bit as it was in the 60's today. They were loving their day in the sun!

Strawberry Kidded!!!

At 11:00 am this morning, Strawberry blessed us with a single buckling. He is healthy and gorgeous! He resembles his sire with the exception of having several moonspots including one large one on his face.
Both momma and son are doing great. It was an extremely easy birth, and Strawberry did wonderful. Strawberry wanted to give birth outside, as when we left her out this morning to feed with the herd, she had other plans. She drifted away from the rest and went down into the woods. We followed her and found her lying down starting to labor. So we brought her back up to the kidding barn where she quickly began to proceed into delivery. Within moments we were blessed with this gorgeous boy!
Now we are excited to see what is upcoming from the other does due to kid at any moment. Lets hope for some doelings!!!

The Doe's Secret Code of Honor

I have been getting lots of phone calls and emails the past few days about my upcoming kiddings so I thought it was time for an update.
No, we do not have babies yet. I thought for sure last night was going to be the night for Strawberry, but after spending most of the night with her waiting for things to progress, she woke up this morning, feeling very good. Wanted to browse, and mingle with the herd. So that was just false hope. My does usually average about day 144 for birthing, this season they are holding out and going past that magical 145 day mark. I guess that is good as that just means healthier kids the longer they are inside of momma. But my, the anticipation is killing me.
At the moment I have 3 does in the "maternity barn" Hopi, Strawberry and Warpaint as all 3 are showing sign of being ready. What they are waiting on is beyond me. I guess they are waiting on that moment when I leave the property to do some much needed Christmas shopping. As for the past week I have put my life on hold for them. I have not left the farm in 3 days. Not even to make a quick trip to the grocery store. I do think the does are enjoying themselves, watching me pace around the barn, checking monitors to make sure they are working, feeling ligaments to see how far along they may be, and of course they like that extra handful of feed I offer with each check. They are living up to "The Doe's Secret Code of Honor" (see below) Maybe they are prolonging it due to all the "special" treatment they have been recieving over the past few days. They had better kid soon as my next group of does to kid is coming up early next week. I will have my handsful if everyone decides to give birth around the same time.
Well they can't keep those babies from me much longer as their days are running out... Hopi is already at day 147, Strawberry on day 146, and while Warpaint is only on day 141, she seems to be the closest in my opinion.
I will be sure to let everyone know as soon as the babies are born. I know some of you are as excited as I am to see the kids from this season. All I can tell you is the same thing I have been telling my self... it can't be much longer.


The Doe's Secret Code of Honor

The doe's secret code of honor is as old as goats themselves and is ultimately the species best kept secret. No doe shall ever kid before its time. (Its time being determined by the following factors):

1- No kid shall be born until total chaos has been reached by all involved. Your owner's house must be a wreck, their
family hungry and desperate for clean clothes, and their social life nonexistent.

2- "Midwives" must reach the babbling fool status before you kid out. Bloodshot eyes, tangled hair and the inability toform a sentence mean the time is getting close.

3- For every bell, beeper, camera or whistle they attach
to you, kidding must be delayed by at least one day for each an audio monitor, one good yell per hour will keep things interesting.

4- If you hear the words, "She's nowhere near ready.
She'll be fine while we're away for the weekend," Wait until they load the car, then begin pushing!

5- Owner stress must be at an all time high! If you are in the care of someone else, ten to fifteen phone calls a day is a sign you're getting close.

6- When you hear the words "I can't take it anymore!"
wait at least three more days.

7 -You must keep this waiting game interesting. False
alarms are mandatory! Little teasers such as looking at your
stomach, pushing your food around in the bucket and then walking away from it, and nesting, are always good for a rise. Be creative and find new things to do to keep the adrenaline pumping in those who wait.

8- The honor of all goats is now in your hands. Use this time to avenge all of your barn mates. Think about your friend who had to wear that silly costume in front of those people. Hang onto that baby for another day. OH, they made him do tricks too! Three more days seems fair. Late feedings, the dreaded diet, bad haircuts, those awful wormings can also be avenged at this time.

9- If you have fulfilled all of the above and are still not sure when to have the kids, listen to the weather forecast on
the radio that has been so generously provided by those who wait. Severe storm warning is what you're waiting for. In the heart of the storm jump into action! The power could go out and you could have the last laugh. You have a good chance of those who wait missing the whole thing while searching
for a flashlight that works!

10- Make the most of your interrupted nights. Beg for food each time someone comes into the barn to check you. Your barn mates will love you as the extra goodies fall their way too.

Remember, this code of honor was designed to remind
man of how truly special goats are. Do your best to reward those who wait with a beautiful doeling to carry on the Doe Code of Honor for the next generation of those who wait!

Counting Down...

Thought it was time for an update as our kiddings get closer and closer. We are counting down the days as we reach our last week before the big events unfold. A lot has been going on preparing for moment when our first doe goes into labor. After the first one it usually starts off a chain reaction. So it has been a busy week here at Laurel Haven as we get prepared. So here is an update on each doe due for the month of December as she gets ready to deliver those sweet babies of hers.

I’ll start with Hopi first, as by calendar she is first to kid on Dec. 1st. I have noticed Hopi has really dropped as her babies are getting in place for the birthing. Her udder has also grown tremendously over the past few days. Another true sign of things to come. But the biggest tell tale sign is her becoming more and more affectionate. Out of every doe here Hopi is by far the most affectionate of them all during birthing. Last time she kidded she had my face chafed from all her licking. She proceeded to lick my face the whole way through labor. I mean to say, you can’t even begin to imagine what it was like. I have had lots of does get licky, licky during the kidding process, but I never experienced anything like what Hopi did with me that evening. She forcefully insisted upon licking me up on side and down the other on the face, hands, anywhere she could. If I pushed her away she came right back and continued. When contractions started hitting her stronger she would lay down during the contraction but immediately get back up to lick me some more. I honestly was beginning to feel violated do to her forcefulness. So I am prepared for another encounter of the same this time around. I do think I will put a coating of Vaseline on my face to prevent the chafing this time. As the next morning my face was very red and sore. Like when your face gets wind burned on a very cold winters day. It was hard to explain what really happened to my face to outsiders. How do you tell someone that your face looks that way because your goat kissed it raw? I love Hopi but I could do with less affection this season. Anyway I am prepared for it, and so be it if it makes her happy and keeps her mind off of all the pain she is going through. I would sacrifice the skin on my face for her… but really I don’t think I will have much choice anyway. I already see her changing into the prekidding affectionate doe she is.

Strawberry is also showing some “I am getting ready” changes. Babies have dropped. I am going to say babies but I am thinking we may only get a single from Strawberry. I don’t know why I just keep thinking a single doe. I hope she has at least twins, I love when they have a sibling to bond with and snuggle up to on those cold nights. But something just tells me a single doe. Her udder say different, as it is large enough for multiples. Yes, she has enough milk in there to feed several to their fill. I guess we will just have to wait another week and see. This is my first kidding with Strawberry so everything will be new to me as far as her prekidding personality. I don’t think we will have another Hopi on our hands from this girl. I feel honored when I do get her permission to share a moment of affection with her. It is always on her terms, never mine. I am very excited about this kidding as it should produce some fabulous offspring sired to our buck Sharpie. Two Caesar’s Villa goats producing has to be good you would think. I mean it worked for Sharon Boger all those years. Look at the quality that came out of her herd. So I am holding my breath that I can get something just as nice from this breeding. Yep, I am very excited about this one.

After Strawberry should be Warpaint. I haven’t seen much drop in her yet. But I don’t see how her udder could get any bigger without exploding. It is already large and tight. I realize it will get fuller but it’s hard to imagine how it could. I just felt her babies moving around this morning. She loves for me to scratch her big pregger belly of hers. My those kids were kicking up a storm in there today. I could feel one little foot very distinctively as it moved back and forth. I like to push my face up to their bellies and talk to the babies. I say stuff like “hi baby I will get to meet you very soon” and “as soon as you come out I am going to kiss that sweet face of yours” just stuff like that . Sometimes I get the oddest looks from the dam when she peers back at me but that doesn’t stop me. I figure by the time they are born they will recognize my voice and already be adapted to us humans. Plus I just enjoy it. As every time I start talking it gets them kicking even more. And I love to feel those babies moving around. It just gives me comfort knowing they are doing okay in there. Warpaint is a fantastic mother and one that shares her babies with me too. Some does can get stingy and upset with me about wanting to handle the kids so much… but not my Warpaint, she doesn’t mind at all when I babysit. I just bet these babies are going to be some of the flashiest kids born this season. With her moonspots and then the sire being Rocky who is our biggest moonspot producer of all the bucks they should just be fabulous looking both color and conformation. Rocky puts some beautiful kids on the ground in the past. And then matched up with Warpaint… can you say moonspots!

And one of the most surprising kiddings about to take place this season is Sisters. Finally at the age of 4 she is going to be a mother. I can’t even believe it finally happened after all those attempts that failed in the past. I am her third owner and everyone gave up on her because they could not get her bred. And here she is just a few short weeks from kidding. And I just know she will be the Mother of the Year! We call her Aunt Sister ( I know sounds odd put together doesn’t it) because she loves to play with the kids. And she always allows them to snuggle safely in with her at nap time. She will lay in a corner and behind her will be a pile of babies taking their afternoon nap. It is a beautiful site to see, but also one that was a bit sad because we never thought she would get a chance to be a mother with her own child to care for. When the babies would wake up hungry they always ran back to the comforts of mom leaving her all alone. She often would just stare at the mothers feeding their babies and look so longingly like oh if only I could have a child one day to need me like that. Well her day has come. The babies seem very healthy and active and she has a quite a bit of milk in her udder for them. It seems odd seeing our Sister sporting an udder after all these years. But she has one and a nice one at that. We often cracked jokes from her name “Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” because we never had, we won’t be able to do that no more. I am so happy for her, and when I see her bite at her sides when the babies move it just gives me a sense of pride for her. Cause she looks up at me like did you see that? I have a life growing inside of me. And she just seems to glow. Yep our Sister is going to be a mother very soon and on that day it will be a very happy moment here at Laurel Haven. I really need to come up with some fitting names for these kids as they will be quite special… miracles almost. As many have told me that there is no way Sister would ever produce seeing she never has and will be 5 soon. Well she is! If anyone has any name suggestions I would love to here them!

And lastly for our December due does is Morning Glory. Haven’t seen a whole lot of changes in her over the past week or so other than she is eating up everything she can. Her appetite increases more than the others when she is close to kidding. This girl can do some eating let me tell you. She never seems satisfied ever. It’s funny because if we give them snacks and one of the goats turns their nose up to it, we say give it to Glory she’ll eat it… and she does. I am hoping those babies have her blue-eyes. And they should as every kid she produced has had them. So to date she is 100% with throwing blue-eyes. I am not into the blue-eyes big time like some are, I can take them either way blue or brown. But it’s nice to see them once in a while. And I have several people wanting a blue-eyed kid this season so I do hope for their sake she throws them again this season. He daughter last year is just lovely and was born one of the largest kids I have ever seen. Especially for a doe kid. I did have to assist a bit with delivering Mystique due to her size, so I am hoping this time she has twins as the chances they will be a bit smaller is greater. Oh well if not I will be there to help once again. I am getting pretty good at going in an repositioning kids if I have to say so myself. I just close my eyes and envision what I am feeling and work from there. There is no greater feeling in the world than bringing in a life that wouldn’t have survived without your assistance. It just warms the soul!

It’s hard to believe it is that time of the year again… Within the next week I will be spending countless hours in the kidding barn with my pregger doe as she reaches each stage of labor. I have all the supplies ready now, and the kidding barn is set up and ready to go. Just waiting now for that first doe to call for me. Won’t be long now… and I will be sure to keep you all updated as the big events happen. So stay tuned…

Baby Bellies

I recently took some belly photos of our does that are soon to be kidding. Always an exciting time around here... In just two short weeks it will be the beginning of an onset of kiddings as we have 5 does all due within a weeks time. My are we going to have our hands full. But we are prepared and ready for the big events to unfold. So stay tuned for all our birthing announcements to be posted here as they happen. Meanwhile, check out some of these baby bellies!!!

Welcome...

Welcome everyone!!! I used to have a "What's New" page on our Laurel Haven Farm website at http://www.laurelhaven.net/ , but when the site was updated it was removed. I realized I missed putting weekly updates and exciting happenings around the farm on this page, so I decided to start it back up. But then I considered using a blog, afterall it is the "in" thing at the moment. And to keep up with the times I thought, why not a blog for our website it would be a great way to keep everyone up to date on events, kiddings, and other news. So here it is, we hope you enjoy checking in from time to time to see "What's New" here at Laurel Haven Farm! And to see all of our animals feel free to visit our website at www.laurelhaven.net .