Kidding season just around the corner…

In the spring of 2015 our Buttercup, Burdock and Thistle were born and became the start of our little herd.

 

Today we have added our breeding buck, Mr. Gibbs and lovely Isadora who come from Bunyip Hill.

Isadora is “with child” but we have no idea how much or when it will be! So….make sure to get ready.

 

 

We have one hand knitted kid sweater completed and 3 more made out of the felted sleeves of thrift store sweaters. If she kids soon, it may be very cold and we’ll need to keep them warm.

 

I think this part was the most fun:)

 

I used the knitting pattern from phoenexgoatfarm for my hand knitted goatie sweater. It’s a free downloadable pattern. Was super fun to knit. I’ll be making more in several colors.

http://phoenixdownfarm.blogspot.com/2011/01/baby-goat-sweater-pattern-part-three-in.html

 

For the repurposed sweaters I read several blog posts and kind of did a hybrid of all of them. First I washed all of the sweaters in hot water a couple of times with maximum agitation. Then machine dried them. They all felt differently and you end up with something of a surprise. But even a little felting increases the warmth value and helps with fraying while you work with them at the sewing machine. Tightly felted wool wouldn’t really need to have edges finished at all.

When I cut the sleeves off of the sweater it gave me the raw material for two goat baby versions. I also made some mittens out of the body of the sweater (using the ribbed band at the waist as the cuffs) as suggested on http://www.cornerstoneacresfarm.com/recyclereusereduce.htm

 

 

 

 

I added little sleeves to my version to cover a bit of their tiny legs.

Also put together our birthing kit….found a good list on Fiasco Farm’s website at  https://fiascofarm.com/goats/kidding.htm.

Some of the items, we had around the house. The others were purchased at Fleet Farm, Tractor Supply and Walmart. Gathered them all together in a big plastic tote bag which sits in our dining room ready for whenever.

We set up a separate kidding pen in our granary this week. Isadora and Thistle spent last night there just to get used to it. It is a nice private place for Mrs. Goatie and also has good lighting and a little easier to keep warm as it has electricity and is fully enclosed. Oh….and closer to the house, which I love!

 

Thinking I should add a good book or some knitting and maybe a radio to the kit…..

 

Post Script!!! This post was written weeks ago, life got busy, and it wasn’t posted. Since writing, Isadora brought us a wonderful little buckling on Jan 16….all by herself! Hope to post pictures when I find time.