Filed under: Farm | Tags: Consider Bardwell Farm, Goats, Interns, Internship, Kidding, Milk
Consider Bardwell’s top milker has finally freshened! Dandelion gave birth to two healthy kids, a doe and a buck. These kids sure have a lot to live up to, including Dandelion’s sweet disposition.
Filed under: Farm | Tags: Consider Bardwell Farm, Goats, Interns, Internship, Kidding
Our does are expert kid-cleaners. They lick their newborns dry with precision and efficiency – our towels are no match. Sometimes the moms can get tough: they will paw a kid into position or pull at an ear with their mouths. This little guy’s mom tugged a little too hard on his umbilical cord, pulling off the protective membrane. He’s ok, but we gave him a dressing to keep his exposed umbilicus clean as it heals. Number 99 also happens to be our biggest kid yet: at 13 pounds, he’s a giant next to his kid peers.
Filed under: Farm | Tags: Barn, Cheese, Consider Bardwell Farm, Goats, Interns, Internship, Kidding, Manchester, Milking Parlor
Our kid count is up to 87, and more kids means more mammas. It’s about time we move back our barrier in the barn to make room for the milkers.
Almost half of our girls have freshened and on Friday we tasted the first milk of the season! Margot predicts the ladies will have a productive year. Our cheese makers are using this first batch of milk to make some delicious Machester.
Of course, more kids means more kid piles. And who doesn’t love a good kid pile?
Although most people know Consider Bardwell Farm for our herd of Oberhasli goats, there are, in fact, a few other breeds and cross-breeds that mingle conspicuously with the others. Perhaps most notable among the herd are the Nubians. With rounded, “Roman” noses, big floppy ears, and multi-colored coats, the Nubians tend to stick out from the black and brown Oberhaslis. We’re pretty certain they can tell they’re different too – the few Nubians we have can usually be found hanging around with each other. We’ve donned them the “Nube Pod”.
Filed under: Farm | Tags: Cold, Consider Bardwell Farm, Feeding, Goats, Hay, Interns, Internship, Kidding, Oberhasli, Pasture
Our pregnant does on a very cold, wintery morning.
Filed under: Farm | Tags: Consider Bardwell Farm, Goats, Interns, Internship, Kidding, triplets
Goats typically have twins; occasionally they only have one kid, and sometimes they have triplets. Last kidding season, Margot and Alex reported only 8 sets of triplets out of their 86 does. Although our number of bred does this year is up to 90, we were still anticipating roughly the same percentage of triplets: that is, only a handful of trios in our estimated 180 kids. But there must be something in the air this season as 6 of our 8 freshened does have birthed triplets. If our does keep it up, we’ll have 250 kids on our hands by the end of kidding season!
