New Additions!

We are thrilled to have added two gorgeous Rosasharn does to our herd!

Rosasharn SS Magnolia

Sire: Rosasharn TL Summer Sol *S (++B ARMCH Rosasharn's Tiger L +*S 'E' x ARMCH Rosasharn's Eclipse 2*D 'E' - 2005 National Champion at 10 years old!)

Dam: ARMCH Rosasharn's UMT Sassafras 5*D 'E' (ARMCH Rosasharn's Under My Thumb +*S 'E' x ARMCH Rosasharn's Sandalwood 4*D - 2000 National Champion Doe!)

Rosasharn SS Naughty Lilly

Sire: Rosasharn TL Summer Sol *S (++B ARMCH Rosasharn's Tiger L +*S 'E' x ARMCH Rosasharn's Eclipse 2*D 'E' - 2005 National Champion Doe at 10 years old!)

Dam: ARMCH Rosasharn's Lot-A-Lilly 3*D 'E' (ARMCH Goodwood Tom Thumb +*S x ARMCH Goodwood Water Lilly *D - 2000 National Best of Breed!)

Both of these does are very sweet and friendly. Quite correct too! They are in need of some TLC, which we are lavishing them with! I will get photos as soon as they are looking better. We will be taking them to a couple shows next year and they will be included in Linear Appraisal. We're excited to see how they do! :)

Goat's Milk Soap - Wonderful Gifts!!

Our Handcrafted Goat's Milk Soaps make for wonderful gifts!

Special orders are more than welcome! We only use Pure Essential Oils and/or Herbs to scent our soaps. No synthetics whatsoever!!

Available now:

Goat's Milk Shaving Soap for Men, Vintage Recipe! (complete kits and just the soap)

SleepiTyme (Lavender Essential Oil w/ Chamomile Blossoms)

Lavender and Vanilla Essential

Breathe-EZ (a special blend of 7 different Essential Oils known for soothing respiratory ailments)

Wildflower Honey and Oatmeal (unscented)

Hand-Milled Soap:

This soap is extra special with EXTRA Goat's Milk! It was milled down and "made again" with additional fresh Goat's Milk. These soaps last longer and lather very well.

Bugz B Gone! (Citronella Java Essential)

Sweet Orange and Eucalyptus Essential

Many more can be made by request! Our soaps are handcrafted using the finest saponified oils available including Olive, Palm, Avocado, Coconut, Sunflower, Castor along with Mango, Cocoa, and Shea Butters. They are truly luxurious!

Prices are usually $5 a bar, 4 bars for $18 -- Additional discounts are available for larger orders.

Go ahead and pamper yourself and loved ones!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Happy Goats. . . and Chicken :)

Happy goaties and chicken lounging in the autumn sunshine. This was too cute, I just had to run for the camera! :)

The little hen's name is "Chicken Noodle" and she is snuggling next to Claribelle and our newest babies out of Cordelia, Pierre and Jacque.

Yes, I know, Claribelle needs to go on a little diet. Anyways, just wanted to share this cute photo! Have a wonderful day everyone! :)

Goat Babies!

I completely forgot to blog about Cordelia's kidding last Friday. It was a "textbook" delivery with two adorable blue-eyed boys. We were hoping for girls but they are both healthy and cute! So, we are all happy!

These little guys will be available to good homes as bucklings or wethered pets. If wethered, I would prefer to sell them as a pair. They are being raised by Cordelia but are super tame, sweet, and people-friendly. Ready for weaning about mid-November.

Some photos of the boys at 28 hours old. I actually took some decent pics! :)

New Additions!

On Monday, I drove down to Lebanon, Oregon to pick up a new doe and her month-old buckling. They are both really nice animals and have wonderful genetics and potential. And they both have blue eyes to boot! :D

I am loving the doe's FF udder. Her teats are soooo long and her fore udder is super smooth! I can't wait to see it with a 12-hour fill.

The buckling's sire is *B NC PromisedLand RB Rampage (a GCH/ARMCH GoodDay SunShine *M, 2*D E91 son). I am hoping he will be a teat and foreudder "fixer". Unfortunately he is a wild little bugger. His dam, Spring, is very sweet and is a loving, doting mother.

I will be taking more "official" photos soon. Anyways, just wanted to share!

"Kodak Moments"

Here are some photos of Claribelle and her triplet boys. . . She is such a good mom!! She is feeding all three of her "piggy boys" with ease too! :)

I just love this doe!!

Urban "Farming"

Just recently, my mom and I have been toying around with the idea of starting an urban "farming" newsletter. What do you all think?

We've raised goats within city limits for over four years now and have finally "perfected" the art. ;) Well, improved it greatly. We started with two bottle-fed Pygmy goats and still have those two goats along with a Nigerian doe or two at home. Looking into adding a Mini-Mancha doe for more milk supply. . .

We're getting our garden planted - heritage tomatoes, corn, potatoes, squash, cucumbers, and more. Our chickens are doing quite well in their new "penthouse suite". My parents purchased an awesome chicken coop that honestly looks like people could live in it! :)
My mom has been raising 20 some odd chicks. She is raising the majority of them for the Andrew's farm but we are keeping about 5-6 for home. There will also be some available for adoption in about 4 weeks.

I have got to get around to planting our goat's pasture! I keep forgetting and getting sidetracked. . . the grass is growing high in their pasture but I want to put some clover, rye, and wildflowers down.

Well, I guess this post turned into a somewhat rambling of what's been going on here. . . I would honestly like to hear what anyone has to say about an urban farming newsletter. We are very open to suggestions, articles, pictures, etc. . . My mom thinks we should offer classified ads and business card listings for a low fee.

Claribelle Kidded!!

I got a little behind posting here with our new arrivals. Claribelle kidded March 26th with. . . . TRIPLET BUCKS!!! :Z

Thursday morning about 7:30am, Claribelle was looking very much ready to pop and crying a little. We moved her to a stall and she started pushing almost immediately. I was watching to see how the baby was coming and saw a tail and what I thought were two hooves. . . nope, the baby was coming out hocks first with legs tucked underneath him (breech?) Claribelle popped him out all on her own with very little assistance. I was sooo happy with her!! She is a superb kidder! The second and third boys came very quickly and easily.

So, I have my first set ever of all boys. . . we have never had all boys in a kidding. There's always been at least one doe - but there's a first time for everything, I guess. At least they are very handsome! The largest inherited his sire's blue eyes and the two younger have their mom's adorable brown eyes. Claribelle's udder looks really great too!! I am hoping for a doe the next time around!

The babies are about a month old in the photo above. They are so cute and sweet!!

Rosie Kidded!!

Rosie kidded Monday morning around 8:30am! She had been acting strange since about noon on Sunday - udder had filled and was very tight, ligs gone, etc. . . It seemed to be taking her a long time to get going. I was getting quite worried that something wasn't quite right. She did have a c-section her first kidding; she had a very, very large single buck kid that was simply too big. So, naturally I was very worried about her. Rosie was my very first goat and is my precious pet. :)

So, we called the vet and said that we'd just bring her in, we didn't want to risk any problems and our vet is almost an hour away. My brother was getting the crate all set up in the truck and I went to go get Rosie from her stall. I walk into the barn and hear small little bleats!! Rosie had a beautiful caramel doeling on the ground and was busy cleaning her up!! :D Ran for towels and started drying baby girl off. I looked behind Rosie and sadly, she had a second doeling that looked like she was stillborn. . . she was still in the sack and quite a bit smaller. I worked with her a good while but she was gone. :(

My aunt was here for the birth and was able to witness Rosie's last kid, a black agouti buckling be born. He came out rear feet first but it was quick, unassisted, and uneventful. Thank goodness!!!

So, I fretted and worried for no reason! Rosie knew exactly what she was doing and she is such an attentive, loving, and protective mother!! I don't plan on breeding her again because I'd rather not take chances but she will enjoy these babies and live her life out as my special pet. :)

The photos above were taken when the babies were two days old. Both kids will be for sale to wonderful homes when they are weaned - let me know if you are interested! :D

Just an Update. . .

The goats are all doing very well! Life is pretty darn good. :)

Claribelle is looking like she'll burst any second. I find it hard to believe she is still holding onto those kids. I thought for sure she would be kidding in mid-February, but she proved me wrong by going with her March 25th due date. Hoping she has triplets!!

Our three Pygmy goat does will be due around the time Claribelle is due, so we'll be swimming in little kiddos by the end of this month. ;) I am kind of nervous about our Pygmy does kidding. . . hoping for quick and easy deliveries! Everyone looks like they'll be having multiples, so that is good. I love single babies -- but not with the small Pygmy does, it's too easy for that single kid to get too large.

Iris kidded 2/26 with triplets! Two bucks and a doe, all three of her kids inherited blue eyes! They are gorgeous babies! The little doe kid was pretty weak so I took her in for bottle-feeding. She is now partly bottle-baby but also nurses from my milkers when they are in the stanchion. Her brother will most likely be going to Idaho as a future sire. Her other brother is for sale as a buck, if anyone is interested. ;)

All of our other little babies are doing great and growing big! Lyla's single doe kid is growing sooo fast! She is nearly the same size as Honey's triplets, who are a month older than her!

Lyla Marie Kidded!!

One of my favorite does, Lyla Marie kidded early Saturday morning; her single blue-eyed doeling was born around 3:30am.

Friday afternoon, Lyla was getting started with little contractions here and there, talking a lot and trying to get comfortable. As I got her arranged in her kidding stall, I told her that about 15 months ago, I watched Lyla and her siblings being born. I cleaned off her nose and helped her get latched onto her mom's udder. It was pretty endearing for me to see "my baby" grow up and have her own kids. :)

This delivery was a little trying. She presented correctly but was quite large (4+ lbs.) I helped her along by pulling. Lyla is a wonderful mother; so very attentive and loving. I'm so proud of her! Her doe kid is absolutely gorgeous! I am so, so tempted to keep her and just might do that! :D

"Singing" Goats ;)

I just took these pictures of Honey's new buckling yesterday. He was "singing" to us. ;) Well, more like yelling at the top of his lungs for his momma. ;) It was picture time here and as you can see, he was quite upset with me!! Hee-hee. :)

We have several babies for sale, including the buckling above. So, if you're looking to add some cute Nigerian Dwarf goats, let me know!! :D

Honey Kidded!!

Honey kidded this morning around 10am! This is the doe that I did not want to breed so soon, but she had other plans, I guess. Hate it when those accidental breedings happen. I feel bad because I like to give them a rest before kidding again, but oh well, there's nothing to be done about that now. . . . She'll get a good, long break after this kidding.

She had two does and a buck! One doe is a reddish gold with a little white, one doe is a lovely chocolate chamoisee with some white, and the buck is a lighter chocolate chammy with some white too.

They weren't all fluffy when I took these pics. . . . they were about 2 hours old. Honey was a "pro" at kidding (as is her usual!) I came out to feed and she was the only doe not around so I rushed to find her and she was in the barn with her three little ones peeking out from behind her. Their faces were all clean and lungs definitely clear! Very vocal little babies. ;) Bodies were still a little damp so I dried them off and took them into the "big barn" with a heat lamp and they snuggled down in the straw. Made sure all were nursing and left them alone for a bit. We might keep one of the does, but we'll see how they develop.

So Cool! :)

I thought this was the coolest article from a magazine I read on a regular basis. It's amazing to think about all the wonderful creation! The design evident in nature is so incredibly awesome!


"If you have ever watched a sheep, goat, or cow give birth you have probable marveled at how quickly the newborn gets to its feet and finds it way to the udder for milk. All mammals feed their young on milk. But in the case of young ruminants, such as lambs, kids, and calves, there is another, unseen marvel.

Consider: Cows (and goats) have a four-chambered stomach for the multiple processes needed to digest grass and forage but newborns feed on only milk, which does not need all those processes for digestion. So when a newborn suckles, a special bypass tunnel opens to allow the milk to go directly to the last chamber. If milk were to find its way into the first chamber, the rumen, the calf (or goat!) would suffer because the rumen is where hard-to-digest food is broken down by bacterial fermentation. Fermenting milk produces gases that the newborns cannot eliminate. However, when young ruminants drink milk, whether from a teat or a bucket, a reflex action snaps the entryway to the rumen. Remarkably, something different happens when a newborn drinks water. It needs plenty of water in its rumen so that bacteria and microbes there can mulitply, ready for when the youngster begins to live on forage. Although milk goes directly to the stomach's final chamber, plain water enters the rumen. The small ruminants amazing bypass is for milk only!"

~ excerpt from Awake! magazine 10/08 pg. 13