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Springtime is Baby Goat Time

We had a set of twins this morning, then a set of triplets. The ewe had been in labor but nothing was coming. Turns out the cute smaller ewe was trying to come tail first. Got her and her sis out while a tray of Danish were in the oven....I knew there was another but she had him herself maybe 15 minutes later. Then tonight we had another set of big healthy twin ewes. Many of these are half brother/sister matings. I lost the sire and really like what I got out of him.

I'm finally calling it a day. Been going since before 5 am.
 
Joleneakamama said:
We had a set of twins this morning, then a set of triplets. The ewe had been in labor but nothing was coming. Turns out the cute smaller ewe was trying to come tail first. Got her and her sis out while a tray of Danish were in the oven....I knew there was another but she had him herself maybe 15 minutes later. Then tonight we had another set of big healthy twin ewes. Many of these are half brother/sister matings. I lost the sire and really like what I got out of him.

I'm finally calling it a day. Been going since before 5 am.
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whew! That is a lot! You know how lambing is... Long hours and lots of babies! Some heartache at times but, man is it worth it afterwards when they are jumping around all over!!!

We did it for a couple of years but our losses were too high and our learning curve wasn't curving fast enough. It was a lot of heartache. I ended up doing better with cattle.
 
Man_in_the_Middle said:
.I ended up doing better with cattle.
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We got three milk cows back in 2020. That has been a learning curve for me....mostly because i somehow ended up being the "bull's assistant" doing the AI.
I never wanted cows at all....but they have grown on me. The sheep are what I am passionate about. I really feel they are ideal small homestead milk and meat producers. My goal is to breed more people friendly traits (like hand milking size teats and wool shedding) into these animals I already think are great. I'd like to increase awareness too.

Pet personalities, top quality milk and meat....in an easy to handle size.
 
Joleneakamama said:
My goal is to breed more people friendly traits (like hand milking size teats and wool shedding) into these animals I already think are great. I'd like to increase awareness too.

Pet personalities, top quality milk and meat....in an easy to handle size.
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Interesting. Please keep me/us informed on your progress.

I just plain love our goats...they have some people-friendly traits, like smart and easy-to-handle, but I honestly like sheep meat better than goat, and have never tried sheep milk.
 
Mark C said:
Although very few people (to their surprise) can tell our goat's milk from the bovine variety.
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Goat milk is a bit like 'the girl with the curl in the middle of her forhead." I had goats for many years. Most of my life even. I used to share milk with lots of folks too. Many of the people who tried our goat milk next to cow's milk couldn't tell a difference. BUT... then we turned a dozen milk does out on pasture.

Most of my nice dairy goats gave rasty Mc.NASTY milk when they ate weeds. It was "survival food" ONLY.

So the biggest differences for me are that sheep GRAZE, ours eat EVERYTHING that grows including nightshade and horehound, and THE MILK STAYS SWEET. And sheep are also far kinder to each other in confinement. Goats but heads A LOT! Even the does. Dominant does can be mega b'+<#=$. My WORST ewe is better than my most gentle Alpine does were.

The meat is also very fine flavored. This is not your supermarket lamb. Hair sheep don't have a lanolin taste in their fat. It's tender too!

Goat milk may be better for infant feeding, and it is very healthy....good for you!

(I have two Oberhasli doelings here. One half and one super sweet fullblood. Looking forward to milking them next year for the grandbabies and my sisterwife's little ones)
 
Joleneakamama said:
Many of the people who tried our goat milk next to cow's milk couldn't tell a difference. BUT... then we turned a dozen milk does out on pasture.

Most of my nice dairy goats gave rasty Mc.NASTY milk when they ate weeds. It was "survival food" ONLY.

So the biggest differences for me are that sheep GRAZE, ours eat EVERYTHING that grows including nightshade and horehound, and THE MILK STAYS SWEET.
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That explains a lot. I've only ever had grass fed milk, from any species. In that situation sheep & cow milk is nice, while goat milk has a nasty goaty taste, very acquired and I've never managed to acquire it even when we milked a goat for a summer.
 
FollowingHim said:
That explains a lot. I've only ever had grass fed milk, from any species. In that situation sheep & cow milk is nice, while goat milk has a nasty goaty taste, very acquired and I've never managed to acquire it even when we milked a goat for a summer.
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I've tasted the 'goaty' milk, too...and we haven't had that from ours. They eat mostly hay, I'm sure that helps. (When I've had them eat sage, which is mostly what would be 'grazing' here, I don't see a difference.)

Some folks have suggested it might be that they know they're loved... ;)
 
Joleneakamama said:
Goat milk is a bit like 'the girl with the curl in the middle of her forhead." I had goats for many years. Most of my life even. I used to share milk with lots of folks too. Many of the people who tried our goat milk next to cow's milk couldn't tell a difference. BUT... then we turned a dozen milk does out on pasture.

Most of my nice dairy goats gave rasty Mc.NASTY milk when they ate weeds. It was "survival food" ONLY.

So the biggest differences for me are that sheep GRAZE, ours eat EVERYTHING that grows including nightshade and horehound, and THE MILK STAYS SWEET. And sheep are also far kinder to each other in confinement. Goats but heads A LOT! Even the does. Dominant does can be mega b'+<#=$. My WORST ewe is better than my most gentle Alpine does were.

The meat is also very fine flavored. This is not your supermarket lamb. Hair sheep don't have a lanolin taste in their fat. It's tender too!

Goat milk may be better for infant feeding, and it is very healthy....good for you!

(I have two Oberhasli doelings here. One half and one super sweet fullblood. Looking forward to milking them next year for the grandbabies and my sisterwife's little ones)
Click to expand...
Goats are ungovernable species.
 
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