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You'll be surprised... I milk standard size goats down on one knee. Even at 5'4" when you're bent over trying to milk those short legged goats, your back is going to complain.
 

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Ouch... been there, done that. sorry.
 

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No new pics...:hide. Sorry. I’ll try to work on that.

Anyway, weighed Diamond’s kids over the weekend. They’ll be eight weeks tomorrow and the two bucklings will get weaned tomorrow night. Jasmine won’t be weaned until later when she won’t be alone.

Jackson 17.1 (4.1)
Jericho 17.8 (5)
Jasmine 10.1 (2.6)
*birthweights in parenthesis, weights in #

I hate that Jasmine is so far behind the boys but I’ve noted two things...
1) the boys have basically quadrupled their birthweights and Jasmine is almost 5 times her birthweight.
2) we have physically seen the boys push Jasmine away when she tries to nurse over the last few weeks. The boys have been pulled for 8 hours a night for some time so that she doesn’t always have competition.

We are hoping that the extended time with Diamond will help jumpstart Jasmine into another growth spurt.

Any insight??

Snowflake and Nellie have confirmed fetal movement that I can feel. Just a waiting game on those two.

No idea if Caramel is bred or not. She looks skinny one day (not that skinny but skinnier) and pregnant fat the next. I’ve only milked a 1/4 cup each morning just to make sure she’s not too full or getting mastitis. I can’t eval her udder for pregnancy since she’s drying off. I haven’t noted any swelling but she can have Day 145 be as late as April 12 so she doesn’t have to be showing those signs yet. Ligs aren’t like two solid pencils but it could be my mind playing tricks on me. Who knows?! Either way, I’ll either get kids this spring from her or if no evident signs closer to April 12, she will get to visit with our new buck, Knight, daily until we think she’s covered for Fall kids.
 

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I do have pics! (Just not of the goat kids.)

I took these pics of Diamond’s udder this weekend after an 8 hr fill (separated from the boys but not Jasmine.)

Shaving her udder is on my to-do list so I can get better pics! I’m getting about 2 cups once a day now and I’m not emptying her. I can’t wait to see what she does once the boys aren’t getting their share.

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I snapped another Caramel pic this morning when I did daylight rounds and gathered eggs. I’m still not sure what to think. I could have her blood tested but since it doesn’t matter either way, we will just wait and see.
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Snowflake’s ligs are even softer today. Day 145 is a week from tomorrow!

Nellie seemed to be twice as wide today. I’ll try to get a pic soon.

Diamond is trying to wean Jasmine too! She stamps those back legs any time I try to make her stand for her. Her udder hasn’t been full and tight when I go to milk her though so maybe she controls when she feeds her.

Found lice on the bucklings and had some minor hair loss on the ears of two does so we treated them with DE. The two human girls enjoyed helping me rub in dust on all of them. DH spread DE in all of the goat pens while we did the goats. The resulting residue on everyone was quite a sight!

Nellie and Caramel also got a hoof trim. Knight’s was done prior to picking him up. Snowflake’s will be done after she kids. I’m going to slowly make my way through a few each day since my wrist is bothering me. (I didn’t realize turning 30 meant you fall apart!:hide:duc) It shouldn’t take too long though. The three kids need done, Diamond, and King. I’ll probably do the kids tomorrow and do Diamond and King on Monday since I’m supposed to work all weekend.

Jericho and Jackson were weaned on Tuesday. They are very happy right now and keep trying to figure out how to escape their stall.
 

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Jericho and Jackson are 8 weeks already? :ep Seems like they were just born a couple weeks ago... How old are they when you wean them?


They are 8 weeks! I double counted on the calendar to check my math. It flew by! They have been mounting everyone since week one. I’m not taking any chances on them breeding their sister or mother so they got weaned together. I need to get the paperwork done to put Jericho up for sale. We aren’t in a huge hurry though since he makes such a good buddy for Jackson.
 
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