Little Lester

After a virus getting us down here at the homestead I think things are slowly getting back to normal. There were a couple of days where I dragged myself outta bed to feed and care for the animals and then turn around and go back to bed. Mother Nature sure has a sense of humor. The last few weeks of winter were 20 to 30 degrees warmer than spring so far. We have had freeze warnings, days of 30 and 40 degree weather and lots and lots of rain. The herb garden isn't finished. The veggies gardens aren't even started. Pens and cages need cleaning. Stalls need mucking. With spring arriving like a wet winter and bringing me a virus with it I am more behind than ever.  The good thing is the dogwoods are in full bloom and beautiful! I thought for sure the freeze would get them but they survived. The oak trees have tiny leaves covering their branches. Everything may be wet, cold, and muddy but the green is showing through. Next week is suppose to be in the 70's and 80's with no rain so I am looking forward to getting all those outside chores done. Lester (the baby goat) is so wanting to go outside but with all the rain and cold weather I won't let him. Next week he can nap and play in the sunshine while I work. His mom and brother have gone back to their own farm. Lester's home will always be Hidden Haven. His mom's owner saw Lester wasn't going to be as big and strong as his brother Earl and also saw how he and I have bonded and decided I could keep him. I am so happy as I didn't know how I would handle letting him go. He is kinda spoiled. He won't go to sleep at night unless he is tucked in his doggie bed and covered with a blanket. No blankie, no laying down. William thinks I should stop with the blankie and teach him to be a normal goat. Lester is still very small for his age. Very fragile and catches colds easy so I am very careful with him. I honestly don't think he will live to be very old since he got sick when he was a day old. I think it affected his lungs. But for as long as I am blessed to have him he will be spoiled. He eats his oat or rice cereal each morning from a baby spoon. The only thing he will eat from a bowl is small pieces of alfalfa and he will drink water from his water bowl. Anything else he will only take in a bottle or being fed to him from a spoon. He does open his mouth when he sees the spoon and smacks his lips while waiting on the next bite. He still uses his pee pee pads for potty. I know to stand him on it when he first gets up and right after he eats. During the night he will cry if he needs to potty and I get him out of his bed and take him to the pad. He does his business and goes right back to bed and sleep. I always have to wake him up each morning as he loves to sleep in. He also worships the woodstove. With all the cold weather we have had a fire. Lester stands in front of the stove watching the flames thru the glass doors or he goes behind the stove and lays down for a nap. If I get out of his sight he runs (his running is like a fast walk for other baby goats) through the house crying Maaaa until he finds me. He will stand near me until I go back in the diningroom or kitchen and then he will go back to worshipping his stove king. When I go out to feed he waits by the back door for a few minutes crying and then goes back to the stove until I come back in.  Gotta love my Lester!

Not So Innocent

Don't let that sweet little innocent looking face fool you. Last Saturday while H's mom was helping William with a job H stayed with me. He was playing in what I hope will soon be my new herb garden while I was raking leaves. I was raking away when all of a sudden I was surrounded by goats. H thought it would be fun to let them out to play. He then went back to playing in the dirt.

He gave me a big grin when I ask him why he opened the gate and let them out. Good thing I had a bag of goat treats to lure them back . Life is never boring around here, thats for sure!

Thank you so much for the emails, blog posts, facebook posts, comments, cards, and flowers for my birthday. You made the day very special for me and I truly appreciate your thinking of me. I spent the day here with the animals but on the computer and phone with daughters and SIL. They loved giving me a hard time about being old and I loved every minute of it. For those of you not here yet...58 ain't so bad. LOL

Spring Babies

With spring comes the little pitty patter of tiny little feet and there are alot of tiny little feet around the homestead!

Brownie is taking a nap with her son Lo Man

                                       While daughter Dena naps with her head on a water bucket
                                                      

Sissy and her daughter Lexie are enjoying a nap in the shade

Lester is enjoying napping with his mom and brother even though they ignore him. He spends his days out in the goat pen but comes back inside to Maaaaa at night. He also has Maaaa bringing his bottle out to him during the day.

                                      Daisy Duck taking the little ones out for their first walk about.

Louise keeping a watchful eye over her babies

This years first incubator hatched chicks moved to a heated house outside and doing great!

So as you can see there are lots of new mouths to feed but so many fun times ahead. I am sure there will be lots of stories and photos to share.
I am still slowly moving links and things over from the old blog. If you don't see your blog in my listings leave me a comment so I can make sure to get it added. I am getting old ya know and forget quickly. I am also trying to go back and follow everyone from here that I was following from the old one. Its just a slow process as I am not on the computer much because of all the homestead chores. I also apologize for not visiting my blog friends and neighbors very much these days. I try to pop in to a few each morning or evening but am hoping to have a set time each night to just visit and enjoy reading what you are up to. And... I am also excited to be a part of Girls Gone Trashy ! I am honored the ladies over there are letting me share some of my projects. You will find my posts every Wednesday but please make it a daily read  as each day of the week has a different writer and you will find some awesome ideas! Have a wonderful middle of the week and don't forget to count those blessing!!

Buttons Had Twins

Thursday evening I noticed Buttons having contractions.

 Closed her up in a stall with hay and water and kept check on her throughout the night.

 6:10AM Friday morning she delivered a healthy stubborn buckling. A beautiful little doeling followed in just a couple of minutes. As big as she was I just knew she was going to have at least 3 but she fooled me

. Within 5 minutes they were up nursing and walking around. Naming the doeling Gerda after my sweet german friend but haven't named the buckling yet though I keep calling him Bubba. It won't be his name but he acts just like a redneck. The boy is the brown cutie and the girl is grayish black with frosty ears. Life has been hectic around here for the past few days but will be back to post pictures of all the spring happenings around here. Have a very blessed day!

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

I had a post already to go about the crazy things that went on with the animals yesterday and how I am blaming time change but..... the surprise of today will put that post off until later.

Yesterday as I was doing my hundreth butt check of the day I noticed Precious was getting a nice udder. She is a yearling, which means she hasn't kidded so shouldn't have much of one at all. William said he thought she was just getting a little larger one than other yearlings but nothing to worry about. Now remember I was dumb and put the 4 dwarf goats we got in with Precious and Buttons last fall. One of them was a buck. I wasn't thinking and so that left me not knowing when goats were bred or going to kid. Was I ever dumb! Never done that before nor will I do it again. But anyways, Precious wouldn't let Little Man have anything to do with her. I had written down in my day planner the dates I saw him try. Precious never showed any signs of being bred. She didn't get fat, she didn't have a full udder until yesterday and then it wasn't that full. William even bounced her yesterday just to make me happy. Bouncing is when you try to get the baby or babies to move or kick. He felt nothing and he has always been able to get them to kick or move a knee, etc. So this morning I go out to feed and everything is normal (well normal for my critters). William goes off to deliver eggs and plow a garden. I am sitting in the rocker feeding Lester when I hear over the baby monitor moaning. I hear it a few more times and tell Lester and Rusty I think one of the goats has gone into labor. Lester was almost finished with his bottle so I was going to wait and go out when he was done. The next instant I hear a loud moan and then a cry. I know that sound. A kid was being born right now! Poor Lester got sat on the floor, bottle tossed on the table as I grab my birthing kit and dash out the door. Precious had no idea what was happening to her and layed down behind the goat barn in the dirt. There was one foot and a nose and tongue sticking out. I shoo the dogs and other goats to the other pen, latch the gate and see what I can do. I have a large baby changing pad that works perfect for putting beneath the goats when kidding. Keeps the area out of dirt, hay, and cleaner for baby when born. Grab that from kit and see Precious cervix isn't dilated enough for the kids head. I hold the one foot and take my other hand to gently rub around the baby's head to dilate the cervix. I then reach in and find the other foot and bring it out. I keep rubbing around the cervix and soon the head is coming out. Precious had a BIG baby girl! Sorry I didn't think to grab the camera on my way out so these photos are of the baby at about 10 minutes old.

 I cleaned and suctioned the mouth, tied the cord while Precious just watched in disbelief of what she had just delivered. I lay the baby on a baby blanket in front of her and her mommy instints kick in. She starts cleaning and talking to the doeling like she has been a mommy forever. Within 5 minutes the kid was standing up and I moved them into a nice clean stall.

Gave Precious warm molasses water, grain, and hay. Baby was nursing like it was starving! I hooked up a heat lamp as its cool and windy today. Mom and daughter are doing outstanding. Precious is Diva's great granddaughter. Diva was my very first goat here at Hidden Haven.  And also the great granddaughter to my beloved Nitro.

I am so blessed to have their great, great granddaughter who's name is Little Diva but will be called Little D.

This Day Went Way Too Fast

Photo of Lester after following me around the kitchen for an hour. He walks over to Rusty's blankie and just falls over.

Such a busy day yet not a lot seems to have gotten done. Lester is getting stronger but still can't keep up with his brother or Lexie. I take him out when its sunny and no wind so he can at least be around them. He wants so much to play with them. They sniff him and stay around for a minute before dashing off to play their little goat games. Lester walks after them wanting to keep up and play but never catches up. After awhile he will stop and check out a leaf or something that has caught his attention. Nannie will not have anything to do with him. He goes over and tries to nurse him and she just walks away. She doesn't push him away or is mean to him, she just doesn't want to be around him. I think after a few days of nursing him while he was so weak she gave up on him. But Lester is happy and I just know he will be running one day soon. He is already stronger and walking alot longer each day. I am still getting woke up twice during the night to the call of Maaaaaaaaaaaa. Lester wants his bottle and go potty. He has trained himself to cry when he wants to pee or poo and I stand him on a puppy pad. He hasn't wet his bed or had a poo accident in 2 weeks. It is a wonderful blessing knowing he is getting better and will make it.

William had a couple of boys helping him split wood and clean up the wood pile today so I got busy in the kitchen cooking lunch. Teenage boys can really put the food away. I fixed salmon patties, mashed potatoes, baked beans, collard greens, and cornbread. They must have liked it as there wasn't anything left. I baked a chocolate cake for dessert. The dish fairy didn't show up again so I spent part of my afternoon washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Caught up on laundry too since the laundry fairy must have been hanging out with the dish fairy somewhere. Lester has to be able to see me or he cries for his Maaaaa. I let him walk around the kitchen and have to keep watching my feet so I don't step on or knock him over. Takes a little longer getting things done but it helps make Lesters legs stronger as he follows me around.

I had someone ask me about Bella. Yes, she is a Pyrenees. We got her when she was 2 and half years old. She wanted to go back to her old home so we had to put her on a runner for a couple of weeks. She now stays in the goat pen and pasture with the goats, ducks, and some chickens and runs free. She is adjusted and doesn't want to leave her goats. I don't know how old your puppy is but I would put it on a runner in the area you want to grow up to protect. I would keep it on the runner for at least 2 weeks, taking it off once a day and walking it on a leash around the perimeter of where it will be living and protecting. Pyrenees are very smart dogs and yours should adapt quickly. Hope I have answered your questions and feel free to ask more and I will try to answer or point you to someone who can.

Got William and his helpers to till up a new area for my herb garden. I am making it bigger and closer to the house. Got all kinds of plans in my head how I want it to look, I just need to get the plans from my mind to the new garden spot. Something to look forward to and keep me busy.
Took this photo off J's facebook page. Stop growing up so fast!

Sunday my granddaughter "J" is having a birthday. She has grown into a beautiful young lady. So hard to accept how fast they grow up. I loved it when they were small and thought going to grandma's was  better than going to Disney World. LOL Happy Birthday J and I love you bunches!

Don't forget to move your clocks up an hour this weekend. I hate losing that extra hour of sleep but at least will have an extra hour to get things done each day.   Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget to count your blessings!

Hayley's Comet

This morning at feeding Hayley was right there eating with the rest of the herd. I checked her backside and there was no discharge and only about 1cm dilation. That has been that way for a few days. After feeding and watering we milked Hound Dog and Blackie. Not a peep did we hear from the goats while we were milking. Afterwards I went around to give the goats their treats and Hayley was licking off her brand new baby boy. In that 10 minutes that we were milking she was about 5 feet away giving birth. She didn't moan, or make a sound. This was her first kidding and she was a pro. She is also being a excellent mom. All I got to do was finish drying off the kid and give her some warm molasses water and grain. Hayley and her Comet are doing wonderfully and he is a handsome little thing.

A Warm Sunny Day Of Fun

Lexie and Earl are enjoy spring by running, jumping, climbing and playing tag. Daisy Duck decide to lay her eggs in the middle of the goat pen in the spool the goats climb and play on.

We put a milk crate over her nest and put some metal fenders around the spool to keep the goats from bothering her. She seems content even when the goats are above her stomping and playing.

Brownie found the perfect spot for her babies Lo Man and Dena to take a afternoon nap.

Inside the dog igloo. Nothing or anyone can bother them in there.

Blood Hound the goat (yes I named her that as her owners had not named her and she acts and sounds like one) is always climbing and getting into things. She also bays at the moon like a blood hound. She is the loudest goat I have ever been around. She hopefully will be going home this weekend.

Buttons is still pregnant and unhappy about it. I was looking back over my day planner and did see where I had posted Little Man was trying to mount her on October 23. If he did then she is not due till March 22. I am not going to be the one to share that little bit of information with her!

Bella is doing wonderfully! She is off the runner fulltime now. She doesn't even want to leave the goat pen.

She has also made friends with Tinker who has been off the runner for a week now without getting into trouble. Maybe Bella is teaching her how to behave. They do have lots of fun together.

Seems like everytime the flowers bloom one of the critters find them and want to scratch in that very spot. You can't see?

Here is a closer look of  Louise and her 9 chicks. She brought them off the nest yesterday and took them straight to the front yard and the flower beds. She and the chicks are now safe and snug in their own little house and pen.

Yes, the critters here at Hidden Haven are really enjoying this spring weather. Now that its warming up I am sure they are going to find lots of things to get into and keep me on my toes.

Around The Homestead

I guess I have to give in and let spring happen. Don't think I will be seeing anymore snow this year.  I sure have enjoyed all the beautiful snow photos some of you have shared. So here are some spring photos for all of you in snowland.

Twins

After a very long day Brownie had twins. A big boy and a tall slim girl. Brownie belongs to a friend so we still don't have a Hidden Haven goat baby.
Last night I noticed a discharge from Brownie so kept a close eye on her throughout the night. This morning when I was feeding she was following me around crying. She didn't want to eat. I checked but she was only dilated at the most 2cm. We moved her into a stall with a baby monitor so I could keep check on her while doing morning chores. I tried to do some things in the house but Brownie was crying so loud I just went out and sat with her. I rubbed her back, sang her songs, told her stories.

Anything to keep her from crying so much. She was only in early labor and was truly being a drama queen. When real labor started and she was pushing and screaming I decided to check her. She wasn't dilating so I called William. He massaged her cervix while I rubbed her back and whispered in her ear. She lay real still like she knew we were trying to help her.

 When the cervix finally softened up We still couldn't feel the kid. William kept massaging and checking until he found it stuck below the cervix pushing to get out. He got the feet and gently pulled and guided as Brownie pushed.

Seemed like forever but in a few minutes a big buckling was out. I suctioned and cleaned him up a little before handing him over to mom to finish the job.

She cleaned on him for a couple of minutes before laying down to deliver baby number two. A slim tall black with a little frost on her ears doeling.

Mom and babies are doing fine.

Babies have nursed, mom had a bucket of nice warm molasses water, some grain and hay. All are resting comfortably under a heat lamp.  Fresh straw was put in the stall after cleaning it. Baby blankets and birthing pad are in the washer in hot, soapy, bleach water soaking before getting washed and dried for the next birthing. Now if Brownies cries didn't scare Buttons and Hayley I might just get to help deliver some Hidden Haven kids!

Sorry about the blurred pictures. I was trying to take pictures with one hand while helping with my other.