rachels.haven 2026 kidding,lactation&farm journal

[Ridgetop]

I love my lamanchas best and always will. They also make the milk my family likes best and actually stay in enough milk for our family of 5. I love their personalities and their creativity and intelligence. We will always have them as the main breed.

DS2 raised LaManchas and DS3 had znubians. Both of those breeds have the best milk. Our LaManchas used to sneak up on the Nubians and suddenly reach out and bit their floppy ears. Sudden screams from the goat pen became commonplace after getting LaManchas. The children said the LaManchas were "breedist".

Dam raised kids are awful. We always raised ours on bottles and the bucket on pasteurized milk to prevent CAE. I tested every year for CAE but you can't be too careful. Dam raised kids are not too bad if the dams are super friendly but dam raised from dam raised are a big NO NO in my book. Hard to train to the milkstand and hard to help when kidding without restraints. Since we also showed our milk herd the children taught our goats from 2 months old to lead on a collar and walk on a lead. I miss my 4-H children with the sheep! LOL

 

[rachels.haven]

Got him. Non consensual pedicure performed. Good feet. He still remembered his get on the stand training i gave him before I let him out but other than that he's like a wild animal. Phew!

 

[rachels.haven]

Spot the Baby, our Saada x Lucky*Star's experimental easily slid out two big bucks while I was installing my kidding baby monitor. I guess that works. Two easy come, easy go kids, one new milker. She also has little to no udder, but that will probably come since that seems to be the theme of the year for the ff. Nice long teats though.

I have a ND named Becca due today who is showing an udder through her fluff, but she's holding onto those ligaments. The kidding monitor is ready for her I guess.

 

[rachels.haven]

I take it back. Baby had a little udder with three cups of colostrum. Good enough for this year.

 

[Baymule]

3 cups! There's a bright spot.

 

[rachels.haven]

Today i caught Becca with no ligaments trying to hide the front half of her impressive bulk under a hay feeder out in the mud. She is not a particularly cooperative goat so this is how she felt about being unwedged and walked to the kidding stall. The breed character oozes off of this one (hopefully just at this age).

She thought she was winning too, until she discovered what a gorilla cart can be used for.

Now she's being watched on the baby monitor.

I nabbed Riker and put him in with Dogo too. They were happy to see each other. Then i fed them (I'd already fed Dogo once and not Riker, but i know the rules). Dogo tried to guard his bucket on the gate. Guess what?

Dogo is getting a re-education. He is back to Omega dog. Don't touch Riker's goats. And no one is allowed to eat in Riker's sight but Riker. Trained by the late Bailey as she lost her mind.

Ill be feeding someone behind the wrecked barn and someone in front. Riker is mean but not terribly bright. Cookies meanwhile just sat around keeping the does off her food and had the luxury of being able to eat it all slowly as if she were thinking about every piece. I think she'll miss the playmate.

Then when i came in a part of my fridge collapsed and splattered a gallon of milk in the fridge and everywhere in my tiny kitchen on our cardboard floors so naturally i shut that fridge, took off my soaked socks, dressed the pre-k kid, disbudded two doelings as planned and I'm getting in the shower. When i get out i will deal with it. And the laundry none of the men care about. And the dishes. (And a lot of other basic things ive been tolerating for too long that i don't care to put in writing) Sometimes i think i should move out to the barn.

And THEN since I'm done dealing with everything I will kill the nasty rooster. He's so gamey he won't even let me in the coop or run anymore. I should have kept a cochin rooster.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

What a day!

 

[Baymule]

No fun on the milk spill. A mess to clean up, and you have to clean it up. Every thing else—meh.

 

[rachels.haven]

Yep. Mark is going to have to replace the floor The cardboard fake wood floors the house came with absorb liquid and you're not even supposed to mop them. It keeps squishing out more milk between the seams. We duct taped the fridge shelf so it won't do it again.

Mark came home and found me upset and cleaned the whole thing the best that he could himself. I helped, but it was a bad day. We're still a mess, but it's mostly back to status quo.

I started today at about 5:30 holding the baby monitor receiver out the window and seeing the angry doe potatoing in loaf mode in the stall to protect her udder from the cutest poops she's ever pooped.

No, she did not feed them, and that's fine by me. Plugs still in both tiny teats and she had every intention of keeping EVERYONE off her udder. They chomped that bottle like a snapping turtle as soon as it was in reach and downed about 5 oz each and have kept eating all day. Buck/doe twins.

Mom made about 3 cups of colostrum (matching the previous 200 lbs doe). She is an absolute witch on the stand though so if she doesn't settle down her daughter and possibly son will stay and she will go. The doe's dam is usually milked through for 2+ years so the point of sisters Becca and Twenty-One being here is to get persistence of lactation for sure into my ND herd. They do not have to stay if they give me kids, especially both sexes. I'd LIKE to get a Beaul daughter out of her too but I'm not milking a turd. Beaul is younger than Oberon and every Oberon daughter is a doe to justify Beaul staying.

 

[rachels.haven]

Here's my frostbite doe. The scab seemed to be restricting teat expansion so I did what humans do and picked it and cleaned it off. There are only a few actual bleeding spots anymore. So that and the damage at the bottom of the medial is all that needs to heal. I really hope she's still going to be hand milkable, but for now I'm just grateful she's not a cull.

Pink is new skin. Black is her original color.