Livinwright Farm's Journal

Introduction:

We started our journey in owning goats back in September of 2010.
We purchased a trip of 5 goats from a woman in Marlborough, NH. The trip consisted of 2 dams(Momma & Maude) and 3 kids(Cali & Pup, and Marly). Cali & Pup were/are Momma's doeling & buckling. Marly was/is Maude's buckling.
Here are some photos from the day we bought them & brought them home:
Pup - was rejected by Momma, we think due to interference from the human mommy.

Cali & Marly

Momma, Maude, Marly & Cali in the back of our Hyundai Santa Fe on the ride home - you should have seen the looks we got on the interstate

Momma & Cali (left)

Maude & Marly (front)

Pup

When we first got them home, we didn't have the barn finished, so they were all housed on our porch in a make-shift stall.



Barn Construction:

Oh wow. The barn is beautiful!! Where did you buy the clear roofing? My husband and I have been looking online but haven't purchased ours for a greenhouse?

Thank you!

We purchased the clear Tuftex Poly Carb panels(12 ft for the roof & 8 ft for the wall) from Lowes (North Conway and Rochester).
We thought it would work the best for giving the hens the most natural light through the winter as possible.
Over the buck & doe sections are standard galvanized metal roofing though.

It's a really neat idea! Wish we'd thought of that Momma & Maude look half boer. Even the way their udders attach look boer. Maybe they really are Nigerian/Boer mixes like Bonnie?

Maybe, someday, if we ever have the money and opportunity to have it done, we will have Momma's DNA tested to find out what breeds are for sure in there, but for now, we are going with Nigi-Boer.

MrsDieselEngineer wrote:It's a really neat idea! Wish we'd thought of that Momma & Maude look half boer. Even the way their udders attach look boer. Maybe they really are Nigerian/Boer mixes like Bonnie?

I was just gonna comment and say they look like mini boers

Wow, we let this go unposted in for a hair too long, our appologies!

We have been working on insulating the doe side of the barn, slower than we would like, but it's getting there. So far we have the back wall and the side wall of their section insulated & the interior wall covered up with plywood. It is already quite a bit warmer in there than it was. Can't wait to see what it is like after the front & final wall is done.

Our beloved little herdsire, HighNote, is anxious to start the career he was bought & raised for.
This past week we discovered that one of our doelings, Sheba, had another standing heat... She was grunting at HighNote through the door, turning her backside to the door(the little hussy ), and letting one of our doelings, Pearl, mount her. This was just 24 days after we noticed her looking QUITE poofy back there. In about 18-25 days we will be keeping an eye on her to keep track of what her cycle is.
Our doe, Momma, had a standing heat 2 days prior to Sheba's. She kept flagging (swishing her tail quick & a lot), sniffing HighNote through the window on the door seperating their respective sections, and when we cracked the door open, she stuck her nose through, let HighNote blubber & snort at her, lick & nibble her face & neck, and while all this was happening, she let Pearl mount her... well, attempt to (Momma is/was too tall).

Our cockerel finally decided that, in his mind, he is officially a rooster. He crowed for the first time yesterday afternoon. It sounds bit funny. He has more of a "Cokadoo__-ooo" he misses the "dle".

In preperation for the big dispatching of chickens (roughly 40 hens), we seperated out all the girls that are 1 yr or less old and put them in with the cockerel.
We insulated the hen house yesterday in preperation for last night's dip in temperature. Good thing too, it got down to -13°F. When I went out to the barn this morning, everyone was alive, happy & fine. The chickens' waterer did have some ice in it, but it was slushy, so it didn't completely freeze.

So glad you haven't had any chickensciles or goatsicles in this bitter cold!
Sounds like your coop is staying nice and warm

There was ice in the waterers this morning... both in the doe barn (2 heat lamps running 24/7) & in the hen house.

This is the most beautiful barn I have ever seen! Are you guys a carpenters by trade, or something ?

Thank you! Nope, not carpenters by trade, just by hobby & necessity

Well, a lot has changed at our farm in the past couple months, and we are a bit ashamed that we haven't been posting here more often.



Last month we found and paid for, but are not bringing home until the end of May, a frosted gold with white Registered Nigerian doeling from It's A Good Life Farm.
Then we sold our 2 mixed breed does, 2 purebred but not registerable Nigerian does, 2 purebred but not registerable Nigerian wethers, 1 purebred but not registerable Nigerian buck, and 41 hens!

That left us with 2 AGS/ADGA dual registered Nigerian does(Pearl & Onyx), 1 AGS/ADGA dual registered Nigerian buck(HighNote), 20 young hens of various breeds and 1 Golden Laced Wyandotte rooster.

We then purchased and brought home 2 doelings from Proctor Hill Farm. One is frosted black & white, and the other is a golden buckskin. We have a deposit on either a buckling or another doeling from Proctor Hill, out of their doe Charlize who has a beautiful udder!

This week we hatched out our first chicks of 2012. 18 eggs went into lockdown, 15 hatched out.
Sire is our Golden Laced Wyandotte rooster.
Dams are:
White Plymouth Rock
Golden Laced Wyandotte
Blue Laced Red Wyandotte
Black Australorp
Blue Wyandotte X Black Australorp or Black Giant



Next hatch might include Light Brahma or Cochin eggs... if they start laying by then.

Goodness me! I can't believe that I have let this sit non-updated for this long!
Lots has happened since I last posted!
We put a new addition onto the barn (left side, kidding/kid section):


Pearl is bred, and due to kid between Sept. 30th and Oct. 4th with HighNote's progeny.


We purchased and brought home not 1 buckling from Proctor Hill Farm, but 2!!
Proctor Hill Farm AB Archar (Proctor Hill Farm BW ArcticBay *S x Proctor Hill Farm BO Charlize)


Proctor Hill Farm IS Phoenix (Twin Creeks SEM Indian Summer *S x Dragonfly IH Northern Flicker)


With the drought across most of the USA, we decided to plant some Early Sunglow corn that will be ready to harvest in mid September!! It is already 10 inches tall!!

Oh my! I am absolutely mortified that I haven't updated this topic in such a long time!

Brief summary of what has happened over the last few months:

Our grey roan doe, Pearl, kidded easily on September 30th with buck/doe twins, sired by HighNote.
The babies:

Pearl's udder 12hr fill:



HighNote was sold last week to a farm down in Yarmouthport, Mass, and is going to be living his dream, siring many offspring
Our black & white doe, Onyx, had a rendezvous with Archar on November 17th, and so far, it looks like she settled
We had the NH State Vet do our disease testing this year for the goats(CAE, TB, Brucellosis, and Johne's) and chickens(Avian Influenza and Pullorum-Typhoid). Everyone came back NEGATIVE for everything! :cheers:Yay!!