Getting ready for the kids

We need to start feeding about a pound of grain per goat per day starting about the middle of February. If you have any ideas how to do this the most efficiently I would like you to share them. Right now what I have thought of is just put each one on the milk stand and feed them, this way we can make sure each one gets their proper amount. Let us know your ideas and we wish Janina the best with her marathon run, don't know if anyone else is also running but best to all of you crazies.

Great job All

I just wanted to tell everyone what a great job you have done this whole year, I know sometimes groups can have little quirks and tiffs but everyone has done a great job with spreading the work and accommodating everyone's differences in opinion at times.

I for one really miss the milk, I know some of you don't feel the same way but if you watch Food Inc. or Fresh the Movie or read the Omnivore's Dilema I think you might change your mind, not only is the milk better for what it does not have in it, it is great for what it does have in it, if you do the research you will find that about the only thing "milk" in the store and our milk have in common is that they are both kind of the same color. I know the billy goat kind of messed with the taste but with a little tweaking next year I believe we can totally eliminate that and keep the sweeter taste all year. Thanks for the great work and help all year and now we can look forward to the kids coming, they are always fun to have around.

It's a Dry Country!

We have finally dried up the goats so no more milking for the next few months. I must say that it is quite a relief to me. Now we just need to feed them, but that seems like nothing...load a little hay up in their feeding bin, fill the water, and bam! it's Miller time.

We are planning on the goats delivering in the Spring and we may have 1 or 2 more people join our group. That would be about perfect(or as perfect as it can get) for this setup. We also don't expect any capital costs this year so that will be some additional saving, which is what this is all about anyway.

The Lame Goat is moving around just fine now. I don't notice any limp in her anymore. In fact except for the giant joint (looks like someone who pops their knuckles a lot) you would never know she was in mortal combat and nearly slaughtered by a fierce predator. She still hasn't regained her place in the pecking order yet though. Might take some more time for that to happen.

I did take the pump and bring it home to keep it out of the weather, we don't really want to have to buy another one of those if a little shelter will help keep it in tip top shape. I might be underestimating it's hardiness, but taking up a little shelf space is worth the peace of mind to me.