Finished Kidding

We have finally finished kidding for the year.  I present to you the last five girls to have kids.

Blaze gave us our second Fionn kid on June 19th.

Blaze and Sandy

Her name is Sandy.

Sandy

I must say, I’ve decided to try and train Blaze to be a milking doe once Sandy is weaned.

After Blaze was Vinnie.  She had Boeris twins on June 21st.  She has one little buck, and

Vance

she also has a little doe.

Violet

Next up was my x-ray goat Haley.  I pulled one big Fionn buck from her on June 22nd.

Justin

He has been named Justin.

I think he’s pretty happy with that milk!

The next day Haley’s triplet sister, Harley, had another Fionn buck.

Harley

This one was pretty small, but he’s really growing and getting strong and doing well.  He’s been named Bullseye.

Bullseye

Finally, today was Victoria’s turn to have a Fionn baby.  She was the youngest girl to be bred, and when I came outside and heard her yelling, I figured it was time to get her locked in.  She had not been doing anything the hour before when I checked on her, and now she was in full labor and pushing.

It was not easy to get the kid out of her.  She kept trying to get away from me, but I kept trying to pull the kid, and I would pull her too.  As she was on her knees trying to flee, I finally sat down and put my feet against her back side and pulled on those feet as hard as I could, and he finally came out.  Poor girl doesn’t want anything to do with me now.

Of course, she wasn’t too sure about the kid either.  I’m not sure she really believes that he came out of her.

Victoria and kid

She did finally figure things out and he got cleaned up and was nursing.

He’s much cuter now that he’s all dried off.  He doesn’t look near like the giant square peg I thought he was.

I’m very relieved to be done kidding for this year.

Linking to SOOC Sunday and Your Sunday Best.

Pop Up Showers

I’m so happy to say that I woke up this morning to thunder and a quick shower moving through.  It only left us about a tenth of an inch of rain, but I’m so grateful.  It is so important to continue getting rain for the crops.

I’m lucky that my corn is still doing well, and when I went out to take pictures of how much the rain helped it, I saw more dark clouds.

More showers were moving in, and that’s exactly what my pasture needs to grow also.

I watched the clouds roll in and the thunder began to sound again. Now, we’re getting more rain!

After a mad scramble to the barn, the goats are just standing around watching the rain fall.

They are nice and dry in there.  My pasture and field are getting much needed rain.

I could stand here and watch it bounce off the patio bistro table all evening!

I am so grateful for each drop of rain we get.  I hope all those suffering from drought conditions get some relief.

Linking to Farm Photo Friday, Friday Photo, and the Summer Daze Photo Party.

On a Really Hot Day

Thanks to those that have inquired about my poor kids left in the pasture by their maas.  I’m very glad my mom and I found and brought both kids that were left in the pasture up and have their moms shut in.  Last night was the first time in ages I hadn’t had to make several trips to pasture to look for kids.  That was a huge relief.

Blaze and Sandy

I do think Sandy is getting revenge for being left in the pasture for twenty-four hours with no company and only a moment or two to nurse.  She has hardly been in the pen with her maa since we brought them up.  Even when they are laying close together, there’s a fence between them.  It’s driving Blaze crazy, but I personally think she deserves it.

Sandy and Blaze

We’ve had some really hot weather with heat indexes above 110* F.  It’s supposed to continue for several days.  I know on days like this, I prefer to sit in the house and take advantage of the air conditioning rather than track down kids.  What do the goats do when it’s so hot?  Well, they leave their kids in the barnyard when they go out to eat.  When they come back from pasture, they are panting.

“It’s hot out there! Please, get me some water,” says Vixen

When they start coming back, that’s my cue to get all fresh water in the buckets, pools and tubs.  The first thing they want to do is get a drink, even though their kids have a different idea.

Kizzy and her triplets

When they are up in the barnyard and have had their drinks and fed their kids, some just lounge outside under the shade tree.

Amos and Pebbles

Indie and Sherman are certainly relaxed.

Indie and Sherman

Mary thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to grab a little “Maa and Me” time

Mary and Kizzy

while the boys snooze in the sun.

Paul and Peter

Meg prefers to stay in the shade of the barn, but she’s smart to stay by the open door to catch a breeze.

Meg

Cutie thinks the old gate makes the perfect place to prop her head.

Cutie

Myson says it’s time to use the fence to scratch, scratch, scratch.

Myson

Victoria says she’ll just put off giving birth until it cools down some.  I certainly hope she doesn’t.  I’d prefer she had her kid before bed tonight. (I like my sleep.)

Victoria

Some little goats think it’s perfect weather for playing!

Nancy and Buck

Bullseye is trying to stay cool by laying on the concrete floor of the barn.

Bullseye

It doesn’t seem to be working.  They are all pretty hot.  Hope you all manage to stay cool if you are experiencing this horrible heat.

Linking to Friday’s Fences, Farmgirl Friday, Forever Farmgirls Friday, and Camera Critters.