Chatty kicks off kidding season
...due in one week, Chatty starts off this year's kidding season.
I never tire of the baby goats. It’s a busy time of year, but such an enjoyable one as well. Not to mention the milk! It’ll feel good to have milk a plenty again. We are currently relying solely on Glenda, one of our Nubians, for milk. She is faithfully providing us with a half gallon per day, but it isn’t enough to meet all the dairy demands we have.
Chatty, the goat our business is named after, is up first, due next week on December 20th. She will likely go two days over, as she always has in the past. This will be her fourth kidding and first time being bred to our silver red-buckskin buck, Flat Rock’s Groove It Out. Fingers and toes are crossed for a couple of blue-eyed silver doelings!
After Chatty, we have four does due in January. Mooney, Pooh, Cuke and Astrid. In February, Raven, Pip, Naomi and Nutella are due to kid. March has seven does kidding (Callie, Clementine, Fawn, Lucy, Luna, Petunia and Frog) and April has four (Cookie, Rebel, Lyric, and Matilda). And finally, we finish kidding in May with Glenda who was just bred to our stellar Nubian buck, Bandit. I think I’ll be ready for a break by then!
Staggering breedings like this allows us to remain in decent milk production year round. When one doe is starting to decrease production, another will be hitting her peak. This will be more important than in previous years as we are opening our herdshare in the spring and will rely on a consistent milk production. Additionally, as the demand for our soaps and lotions increases, so does the need for more milk from our does! We are excited to be expanding our dairy operation and equally excited to see what all of these goats can do to transform our overgrown, brushy areas of our farm in the spring and summer. More mouths and hooves equals more animal impact on the land and with intentional management, that can be a positive thing.
As always, we do have a reservation list open for people interested in goat kids. Unlike many dairy operations, our does get to raise their babies. No one will teach those baby goats how to be a well mannered adult goat like their own mother and I don’t have the heart to take goat kids from their mothers. Those bonds are strong and natural and while we do get less milk while the mamas are raising their kids, it’s worth it for us overall. This means goat kids are sold after weaning age, around 8-16 weeks old. I am in the process of updating our website, and information can be found by clicking HERE. Additionally, I’ll list breeding pairings here. All of our Nigerian Dwarf and Nubians are ADGA registered. We also breed mini-Nubians which exemplify many of the best qualities of each breed. That hybrid vigor is a real thing, and they are a wonderfully hardy homestead goat that’ll forage well and put milk in the bucket for you. We also breed for a naturally healthy herd and parasite resistance, a nice teat length for hand milking, and well mannered goats you can trust around even your littlest kiddos.
Ok, below you’ll find our breeding pairings:
Roamn Ranch Rum Chatty x Flat Rock’s Groove It Out (due 12/20) Nigerian Dwarf, possible blue eyes, silver.
Crooked Branch Farm JT Amy (Mooney) x Flat Rock’s Groove It Out (due 1/6-1/30) Nigerian Dwarf, possible chocolate, moonspots, silver.
Chatty’s Love to Gossip Girl (Pooh) x Flat Rock’s Groove It Out (due 1/6-1/30) Nigerian Dwarf, possible silver.
Chatty’s Cuke x Flat Rock’s Groove It Out (due 1/6-1/30) F1 mini-nubian, possible silver, polled.
Turtle House Farm Astrid x Blessings@HT SR Rockstar (due 1/9-2/7) F1 mini-nubian, possible polled.
Happy E Farm Raven Dove x LazyDuck Farm RW Think Again (Xavier) (due 2/2) Nigerian Dwarf
Chatty’s Groovy Lil Pipsqueak (Pip) x Blessings@HT CH FireHawk (due 2/17-3/10) Nigerian Dwarf, possible chocolate
The Kayne Creek Naomi x Blessings@HT SR Rockstar (due 2/20) Nigerian Dwarf, possible chocolate, blue eyes, polled.
Chatty’s Hazelnut Nutella x Blessings@HT CH FireHawk (due 2/17-3/10) F1 mini-nubian, possible chocolate.
Bryson Farm Clementine x Flat Rock’s Groove It Out (due 3/10) Nigerian Dwarf, possible silver.
Bryson Farm Fawn x LazyDuck Farm RW Think Again (Xavier) (due: 3/12) Nigerian Dwarf.
Crooked Branch Farm SM Luciola (Lucy) x LazyDuck Farm RW Think Again (Xavier) (due 3/15) Nigerian Dwarf
Hidden CF Lunar Eclipse (Luna) x Lelas Dreams Love Bandit (due 3/21) Nubian, possible moonspots
LazyDuck Farm LB Petunia Brown x Lelas Dreams Love Bandit (due 3/26) Nubian, possible moonspots
Hidden CF Hoppin’ Around (Frog) x Blessings@HT CH FireHawk (due 3/25) F1 mini Nubians, possible chocolate
Chatty’s Callisto’s New Groove (Callie) x Flat Rock’s Groove It Out (due 4/8) Nigerian Dwarf, possible moonspots, chocolate, silver
Just 4T MAV Matilda x Blessings@HT SR Rockstar (due 4/10) F1 mini-nubians, possible polled.
The Kayne Creek Cookie Monster x LazyDuck Farm RW Think Again (Xavier) (due 4/21) Nigerian Dwarf, possible chocolate, moonspots
Chatty’s Rebel Without a Cause x LazyDuck Farm RW Think Again (Xavier) (due 4/28) Nigerian Dwarf, possible silver
Zanzabeez RT Lyric-Leigh x LazyDuck Farm RW Think Again (Xavier) (due 4/21) Nigerian Dwarf
Raspberry Hill Glenda JMR x Lelas Dreams Love Bandit (due 5/12) Nubian, possible moonspots
And before I know it, it’ll be May! Reach out if you have questions or are interested in a pairing, and happy kidding season!
Morgan