The Flying Goat Chronicles

It's Always a Learning Experience.

2012-02-23T17:18:00.001-05:00

As mentioned in my last post, we expected kids on the ground the first week of March. But if there's one thing I've learned from raising goats, it's to keep your eyes open and pay attention to the ladies. Abigail surprised us by kidding early in the morning on February 15.

Now, if you're counting goat pregnancy days, the absolute earliest we should have had any kids would have been February 25. Nostradamus was away clearing brush with the boys at Crooked Well Farm until September 29th, and when he came home, he immediately went in with the yearling does and Gracie also saw some action. Goat gestation is typically 145-150 days, so we were not expecting kids to show up until at least the 25th of February. However when I arrived home on the 14th, I saw Abby had lost her ligaments and her udder had filled considerably. Also out of the ordinary for her, the day before she had been slightly off her food, and extremely sensitive to any touch on her back.

We put our plan in place for premature kids and prepared to do night checks on Abby. When I went out at 3:00AM, feet were showing and Abby was laying in her stall. I helped her get the first kid out and rushed it into the house where warm water and kid support was waiting. The second kid was positioned awkwardly with one foot sticking out, but somehow crossed over behind its head. I had to assist more extensively with the second kid with Devin and our friend Jessie holding Abby, who was unwilling or unable to stand, up.

Both kids were rushed inside, and warmed and started by the fire. These babies definitely were not "done." Their teeth had not erupted and their white patches of hair easily showed the pink skin underneath. Both received colostrum and amazingly did not have to be tube fed. For babies at up to 10 days early, this was remarkable. While babies were stabilized in the house, I attended to mom in the barn. Except in extreme cases, with animals other than my own, I have never experienced a doe who would not stand up shortly after kidding. These cases were due to significant internal injury or prolonged labor due to a incorrectly presented kid. Abby's labor, while certainly not textbook, and not ideal with the early delivery of the kids, was far less traumatic than other births I've experienced. I decided that she just needed some time to recover and gave her some meds and went to bed.

When Abby was still down almost 24 hours after kidding, I became extremely concerned. I had put a call in to our vet already, asking whether the frozen antibiotic I had would still be viable (the answer was yes), so when she called back, we discussed Abby's progress. Dr Mailhot's opinion was that it sounded like a sciatic nerve injury, and that I could support her with continuing the antibiotics, some anti-inflammatory medication, B vitamin complex, a selenium boost, and calcium. This type of injury is uncommon, but can occur in goats, sheep or cows during labor and delivery. I had already started Abby on calcium gluconate prior to any delivery, and continued it for several days post kidding, as well as banamine (an NSAID) and naxel (an antibiotic). Her lack of rapid response to any of the supportive therapy caused me to rule out hypocalcemia, selenium deficiency, or pregnancy toxemia, and her slow progress has inclined me to agree that this was a nervous injury. Devin built Abby a sling and pulley system to help support her during milking. She has continued to make progress. At eight days post kidding, this morning, she was able to stand on her own for several seconds after being helped up by me and Devin. We are hopeful that she will continue to improve steadily. She seems to be getting frustrated now, with her inability to ambulate, and is trying much more to get up and about. I have heard from other goat owners that this can happen, and the doe can go on to kid without any issues in the future. This certainly gives us additional hope for Abby.

Of the two doe kids, one is still with us. We lost one at around 24 hours old. I am still having a very hard time with this loss because I feel like I could have prevented it. With premature goat kids, often the largest concern is that their lungs are not developed enough, and they expire quickly. A shot of dexamethasone is typically given to try to help boost the lungs. Both babies goat a shot of dex as soon as they were in the house. Both were kept by the woodstove and warmed with warm water baths and hot water bottles. Both had drinks of colostrum. When I woke up on Thursday morning, Devin checked the kids and told me we had lost one. While at work on Friday, I got a call that the second kid had also almost gone as well. Her body temperature had dropped and her heartbeat and breathing had become erratic. Devin revived her with a warm water bath and a boost of epinephrin and dexamethasone. I can't even begin to say how proud I am of Devin for making fast decisions that kept this little girl with us.

This experience, while stressful, has certainly been a learning experience. Either Abby's kidding injury, or early kids would be a stressful enough situation, but both combined into one event has made for a crazy past week.

If I had to give advice for goat owners on how to deal with premie kids, it would go something like this:

Get them in the house as quickly as possible. Give them 0.25mL of dexamethasone to start. (This is what I gave these kids, even though it turned out their lungs weren't the most difficult thing about them.) If you are in a place where they are fading, and it can happen fast and unexpectedly, it could be better to give them a little more up to 0.5mL. Get them into a warm water bath at around 103°F to get their body temps up. Keep them in a warm place. If they are not suckling, tube feed them a small amount of colostrum. Continue to feed small amounts of food frequently, whether by bottle, or by feeding tube. Keep them warm. Constantly monitor their temperature. I think this is why we lost the first baby and came close to losing the second. They are unable to thermoregulate, and need help. The best way to do this is to keep them on your body at all times. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but with a heating pad, you have to worry about overheating, and with a hot water bottle, it eventually loses its helpfulness and actually can draw heat away from the baby. Put a diaper on them and put them in bed with you. Make sure the babies pass their meconium. Be careful not to overfeed. Have CD antitoxin on hand, and don't hesitate to give it, it won't hurt anything. If you have a chance, knit some goat sweaters well ahead of time.

I write this for myself, and with the hope that it may also help someone else in the future. As I said, I am still very sad about the loss of the second doe, thinking that I could have done something to help her had I been there minutes earlier.

We have the survivor in the house still. I always say no more house goats, and we always end up with kids in the house for one reason or another it seems! Gracie and the other yearlings are due to start kidding this coming week, so we will have little Clove join the other new babies in the barn when they come.

Clove and Satchmo.

PS. Since we've had to decide on our naming convention early, we've decided on herbs and spices.

Naming Conventions 2012

2012-02-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

I wrote a little while back about how we name the goats that are born here on the farm, and it's getting to be the time of year where we need to start thinking about names for 2012!

We're hoping you might help.

With ten does expected to kid this spring, we're conservatively estimating 20 kids will be bouncing around the farm needing names, and we're having a hard time coming up with naming conventions!

A naming convention simply means a kind of theme or commonality that a group of names shares in order to gather some kind of information about the group and/or individual. Last year was the Year of the Beatles. Sexy Sadie, Dear Prudence, Penny Lane and Yoko Ono were the does that joined the Flying Goat Herd.

We can make no promises about choosing readers' conventions. Who knows? As soon as I hit "publish" I may come up with an idea! But we'd love your input! Here are some thoughts that might help:

* Names/themes should be easily recognizable and categorized. As the years go on, we want to be able to easily remember and group animals by their names.

* Categories can be broad, and, really, almost anything can work here. We've tended to be partial, in the past, to human names, but that doesn't mean our minds can't be changed!

* We're a little quirky 'round these parts. Obscure references don't frighten us.

Feel free to send us an email, or a comment on facebook or this blog. We will pool all ideas and figure something out soon. If we use your idea, we will (of course!) let you know and give credit where credit is due! Kids are expected to be on the ground in around four weeks!

Gratuitous baby goat photo to get the creative juices flowing:

Get to Know Your Goat: Evey Marie

2012-02-08T14:25:00.000-05:00

Every Marie was born shortly after Liberty and Abigail in the summer of 2009. Her dam is Ruthie Mae, and sire was Rams Farm's Hawk. Hawk stayed at Flying Goat Farm for a short time in the winter of 2008-2009 to help take care of the ladies.

Evey was my favorite doe kid of that season. (Don't tell!) But look at that face! How could I resist! She was a quiet little girl at first, but her personality came out in the days to come. If I recall correctly, Evey's name came from having recently watched "V for Vendetta."

There was a pretty significant period of time where it was nearly impossible to get a decent picture of Evey, because whenever the camera came out, she would try to eat it.

But as she grew up, she became more independent. Evey has stayed a little less vocal than the other does from that season, but she is a strong and curious girl- always up for a run around outside or trip into the woods to eat some pine fronds.

As with the other first timers, Evey has mellowed out a lot over the past weeks. She seems to be handling pregnancy as well, if not even a little better than her stall mates. She had no qualms about hopping up on the stand to have Devin trim her feet last week, and no problem with me feeling her abdomen to check for baby movement. And I was pleased to feel several fast and vigorous kicks! We can't wait to meet the kids and see what traits their lovely mother has passed on to them!

Barn Cleaning Saturdays

2012-02-04T15:47:00.001-05:00

First fresheners cooling their heels while they wait for their pen to be cleaned. Check out Evey's nice little udder starting to show!

Saturdays are barn cleaning days at Flying Goat Farm. Never anyone's absolute favorite farm chore, we have decided, over our few years of owning goats, that this is the way we like to do it.

Usually, when the temperatures are somewhat moderate, and the dooryard isn't an ice skating rink, the goats spend their day outside while we neaten up their messy pens. With the chillier temperatures and fearing for wobbly pregnant ladies' safety walking on the icy bits, we shuffle everyone around in the barn and get everywhere all cleaned out, as well as having a bit of a morning constitutional.

The "little girls," as we tend to call the dry doelings, are a bit less patient than their older, more pregnant counterparts, who are content to amble around and nibble hay. These girls want to run and bounce!

Making us nervous sliding around in the snow!

Sadie being a bit conservative.

It sounds kind of silly, but figuring out how to clean the barn was something that actually took conscious effort. I grew up around horses, and for the time that my horse lived with us, he had his stall picked out twice daily. It's pretty much impossible to do that with a goat! Goat berries do not lend themselves to being neatly picked out with a pitchfork, so we've come to the once a week major clean out as our preferred method.

Another method some people use is called the "deep bedding" method. Basically, the bedding in the barn is left to begin to decompose on the bottom, while fresh bedding is added on the top. Generally, deep bedding is completely removed twice a year or so. The advantage in the winter is that the decomposing bedding down below gives off heat as it breaks down, making a more comfortable temperature bed for the animals. We chose the once a week method because of space and perhaps a little bit of obsessive compulsive barn tidiness. It's also a good excuse to spend some time hanging out with the goats!

Penny, Prudence and Sadie, raring to go!

Get to Know Your Goat: Abigail

2012-01-29T13:54:00.001-05:00

Ms Abigail

Abigail is another of Rain's kids from 2009. We met her sister Liberty a few weeks back. Abigail was the first to be born of the triplets and the one that was holding up the show by trying to be born tail first.

Right from the start, Abby had an outgoing and loving personality. She was always the first of the babies to get up and come over for snuggles.

And often the first to try new things and meet new friends!

Abby at just a few hours old.

Abby on the left and Libby on the right.

Meeting new people at our first Open Creamery Day.

Abby is due to kid in early March. I felt some baby flutters in her belly a few nights ago when Devin was doing hoof trimming. Abby and the entire "Quatrain of Destruction" have mellowed out quite a bit since their rendezvous with Nostradamus in October, and the whole pregnancy thing seems to be agreeing with Abby. We look forward with excitement to her kidding this spring!

Tan Your Hide

2012-01-11T17:02:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned a while back, we took our wethers to the butcher at the end of November. Never the easiest part of this whole dairy farming thing, we do our very best to make sure that the boys are well taken care of and have a happy life. When we place our order with the butcher, we always ask for organs returned as well as ordering our cuts with the bone in, and minimal processing. We feel that it is most respectful to the animals that we waste as little as possible.

To this end, this year, we also requested that the butcher leave the goats' hides out for us to pick up. We had never done this before. I drove over to Windham after class one evening to pick up the skins.

Armed with the book Tan Your Hide and some limited research online about tanning, we set to work immediately when the hides arrived home. With the tanning process, there is an element of urgency. After the animal has been skinned, it can either be dried and salted for storage and later tanning, or cleaned and tanned immediately. We decided on the latter. This meant that Devin and I were out in the driveway until almost 11:00pm scraping and washing and stretching hides. After the skin is removed, decay starts immediately, and without quick action, the hide is compromised.

Devin making a goofy face as we were commenting on the potential scariness of the back of the house...

I don't have adequate documentation of early stages of the tanning process. After cleaning, we let the skins hang out on the line to get rid of some of the water. Devin prepared a tanning solution from the Tan Your Hide book made with water, battery acid and washing soda. The hides soaked in the solution for three days, the were stretched and scraped and rubbed with Neatsfoot oil periodically over the course of drying. Drying took a while because we were trying to dry the hides during a humid murky weather pattern, and we ultimately brought them all into the basement near the woodstove to finish drying because a storm was rolling in.

Hides after being completely dried inside.

After drying, Devin used a pumice stone to remove any bumps from the back of the hide.

And rubbed the haired side with borax to clean and fluff the hair.

Several hides were given as Christmas gifts, and we have a couple left to use in our home.

2012

2012-01-08T08:58:00.001-05:00

So I don't want to jinx anything, but so far, 2012 is going along fine at Flying Goat Farm. We're enjoying the couple of months of winter "rest" that we get when the girls are not in milk and planning for the exciting changes that will happen this season...

As I think I've mentioned before, we are pretty sure that all ten does are bred for this spring. Kidding is expected to start this first week of March with Grace and the first fresheners kicking things off. We're very excited to see what we get for kids this year!

Shortly after kidding, but before farmers' markets start in May, we are tentatively planning on holding some cheese making workshops. These will likely occur in mid March or early April. Decisions about dates and exactly what the day will entail are being finalized, but rest assured that several cheeses will be made (especially feta- it's fun and satisfying), delicious lunch will be provided, as will adorable new baby goats to pet and snuggle.

Also happening so far in 2012, something I'm very excited about: No more cars older than me! (I'm the oldest one here, so I figure I'm the person to measure by.) Devin recently sold our beloved 1981 Mercedes Benz 300TD Wagon, Dory, and we found a 2005 VW Passat TDI Wagon to become our new farmers' market vehicle and Devin's daily driver. Words cannot describe the relief Devin and I both feel at the prospect of having a vehicle that should not need constant babying. Dory's new owner was sent with a stack of receipts for all of the parts that went into her, and I got a little woozy thinking about the money and time that went into maintaining that car over the past several years. Fingers are crossed that that is a thing of the past...

We are also anticipating some fairly substantial changes this spring/summer in the farm. Our herd is growing, and we are expecting to rapidly outgrow our current barn. During this winter lull, we are hoping to gather more information and detail plans on expansion in the year to come. This ultimately means more cheese! Exciting things are afoot for 2012!

Mon Poulet Rôti

2011-12-28T16:42:00.000-05:00

I've never roasted a chicken before. I'm actually fairly inexperienced at cooking meat. When I cook meat, it's inevitably in some kind of saucy dish like chicken curry or spicy honey chicken with snow peas. Cooking with skin and bones is kind of intimidating, to say nothing of roasting the whole bird. But, Devin decided a few days ago that we were going to roast one of the whole chickens in the freezer, then needed to be working on an outside project this afternoon, I took up the task.

Of course I hit up the usual resources for recipe and instruction: Google, Tastespotting and youtube. A quick google of "best roast chicken recipe" yielded this result on epicurious.com. It seemed that people had good success, so I decided to give it a go.

First issue: What the heck is "trussing" a bird? I found the answer to that question in this youtube video.

After a couple of views and three attempts, my chicken was successfully trussed, salted and good to go! (Disclaimer: the three attempts were due to the fact that initially, I cut my twine too short, then I forgot to salt the inside of the chicken.)

I sat the chicken up on a little bed of potatoes my mom grew in her garden this past season and some carrots.

68 minutes later, a delicious and beautiful roast chicken!

It wasn't around long enough to take many pictures of, but the results were delicious!

Goats for Christmas.

2011-12-27T19:31:00.003-05:00

Several weeks ago, I started plotting what I was going to get Devin for Christmas. After much deliberation, I decided on two 2011 doe kids from Valley View Farm. I made it my mission to sneak them into our barn on Christmas morning, and with the help of some friends, we made it happen.

I emailed Liz at Valley View Farm to see if she had any does available, and she sent me photos of two. She was good enough to keep them until the 23rd, when, while Devin thought I was at work, I was actually zipping down to Massachusetts to pick up the little ladies. We caused quite a stir on I-95 North on the way back up. I have never seen so many people with cameras and cell phones taking pictures of two little goats in a car!

The girls made it back to Maine safe and sound, and spent two nights in our neighbor's barn with their two horses. Christmas morning, my parents and I went to "walk the dogs," while Devin cooked brunch.

The goats are better behaved than the dogs!

Luckily, no traffic on Christmas morning.

Up the path behind the barn...

...to sneak in the back door.

New digs.

The big girls check out the newcomers.

We went back in the house, had some delicious food and started presents. I wrapped up the new girls' ADGA paperwork along with some photos that our neighbor had printed off in a box with a fancy bow.

What the present is dawns on Devin.

Meeting the new girls.

Meeting their new herd-mates.

The new girls are adjusting well. In keeping with the Beatles theme of 2011, Devin has named them Penny Lane and Yoko Ono.

Get to Know Your Goat: Lady Elaine Michelle

2011-12-20T17:27:00.000-05:00

Valley View Farm's Lady Elaine joined the Flying Goat herd in the fall of 2010. Elaine, Dorothy and Nostradamus all came together.

Lady Elaine came from Valley View with her name. I added the Michelle because it sounded right. The goats often get middle names.

Elaine kidded for her first time this past spring and gave birth to Sadie on my birthday!

We were thrilled with how Elaine freshened this year, she has a wonderful, easy to milk udder and easily produced a gallon a day at peak milk.

Elaine is a steady, easy milker. Never fussy on the stand and easily adjusted to the milking routine. She's more petite than some of our other girls, but when she's milking, everything she's got goes into that milk production. We give her plenty of grain, hay and browse and can really tell the difference in her milking capacity!

While we don't have an exact date for Elaine to kid in 2012, she has hung out with Nos enough that at this point, we can only assume that they took care of business, and we look forward to seeing this lovely little lady kid and milk again!

Farm News

2011-12-17T17:00:00.000-05:00

Apologies for the lack of posting this last week. School finals and studying and work has kept me quite occupied! Finals are finished and I am looking forward to having the next few weeks free of studying for the first time in a year!

It seems strange to think that we're already thinking about kidding in the spring! The first fresheners are going to be kidding at the beginning of March! Only just more than two months away! We're very much looking forward to seeing the kids out of Libby, Abby, Every and Norah. We're also thinking of holding a cheese-making class or two in the spring before markets really kick into gear.

The weather has been so mild, that the goats are still going out regularly. All the does are dried off, no one is milking at all, and we were very excited that Ruthie cycled right on time to be bred last week! All of the "of age" ladies have been bred now, and we will be finished kidding in May for 2012.

Not too much else is happening right now, for a change! It's quieted down and slowed down a lot in terms of chores and milk and cheese duties (obviously), and we're hoping for a little more snow than what we got this morning for Christmas!

Get to Know Your Goat: Liberty

2011-12-05T16:52:00.000-05:00

Liberty, or "Libby" as she is more commonly called, was one of Rain's daughters from 2010. She was one of triplets along with Abigail and another buckling.

Libby's birth was one of the first one the farm, and was part of a stressful night. She was born at around 10:00PM on the 4th of July, to the sound of fireworks from all around. Rain's kidding that year was a little nerve wracking. It was smack in the middle of a heat spell, and even at night, the temperatures were at least 80°F. Rain and Ruth were both still pregnant, and we were both so worried about them in the heat.

Rain's water broke that night while we were watching her in the barn. She did not seem to be interested in pushing, though, which immediately made me concerned. I washed up and "went in" to check out where the first baby was. Generally, I don't have to do much to check if a kid is presented properly, with its front feet out in a diving position, but this kid was all tangled up. It wasn't Libby holding up the show, but her sister Abby. I did some careful repositioning inside poor Rain, and Abby came out. The bucking followed, then Libby also had to be adjusted for a smooth delivery.

Libby (left) and sister Abby at 12 hours old.

Libby was immediately Devin's darling that summer. She is just such a sweet and mellow little girl, just like her mom. We continued to fuss over everyone who was born that week, as well as their dams, and everyone came through the heat just fine.

Little Liberty

Libby, Abby, and their brother, Indy, were all named for their birthday, July Fourth. Liberty, Abigail (Adams), and Independence.

Little Libby has grown up to be quite the show stopper. I always loved this picture of her strutting out with her sister on the far left, and Evey (Ruth's daughter who was born a few days later) in the middle.

Always so photogenic...

Liberty has been bred to Nostradamus this fall, and we are very excited to see what beautiful babies she makes for us, as well as what she looks like in milk!

Thank you, Boys.

2011-12-03T16:26:00.001-05:00

Part of the hard truth about any dairy enterprise is that in order to get milk, there have to be babies, and some of those babies are going to be boys. Sometimes you will end up with a far greater number of boys than needed to continue production, and it is simply not feasible to keep them all around.

We took our young wethers to the butcher this week. We had a kidding season heavy on bucks, rounding out the spring with six boys and two girls. Five of the boys were castrated, and we kept one to serve as a future sire.

Grazing with the mammas in the spring...

Chowing on apple mash in the fall...

Checking out the first snow of the season...

I always take a moment to thank the animals when I drop them off. It's never easy, but we do everything we can to make sure these animals had a happy and healthy life.

Thank you, Boys.

Naming the Kids: Part 2 of 2.

2011-11-27T16:10:00.000-05:00

Part 2: GTKYG Name Origins

Graice Lou.

Grace came to us from Ram's Farm. Her registered name is "Flirt." "Flirt" was quickly replaced by Grace, because she is not at all graceful.

Mr Tumnus.

Mr Tumnus was named by Devin when he arrived home. Tumnus was actually birthed at Ram's Farm. It was my first kidding experience and Helen and Vicky were generous enough to allow me to hang out with them for the weekend and experience lots of kidding. When T arrived home, Devin said, "He looks like Mr Tumnus." T hung out in the house for a bit because he was the only kid at that time. We've since decided that kids are only allowed in the house under extenuating circumstances.

Ms Beatrix's registered name is "Bluebird." We promptly gave her a farm name. They both begin with "B," and Bluebird would probably have eventually been shortened to "B" anyway. But, in general, we prefer to keep the naming of animals to mostly human names.

Nostradamus.

Nos was another one of Devin's moments of inspiration. I have no other explanation. He came to us from Valley View Farm without a name.

Rain.

Rain also came from the Ram's Farm herd. She came to us with her name. We liked it.

Prudence.

One of the Year of the Beatles babies. Her sweet little personality earned her the title "Dear Prudence."

Dorothy Gail.

Dorothy came from Valley View Farm. She had already been named Dorothy. I added the Gail. Like, from The Wizard of Oz, if you didn't already figure that out. Though I think that Dorothy may have spelled her name "Gale."

Drying Off.

2011-11-24T09:44:00.000-05:00

Drying off is the process of slowing down the volume of milk produced by the milking does and finally stopping. This is the drying off time of year. It's one of the indications, here at Flying Goat Farm, that the holidays are coming, breeding should be wrapping up, and we're getting ready to hunker down for the winter rest.

We take about four weeks to dry off. I'm sure everyone has their own method of drying off, and no one ever specifically taught us what to do, but over the past few years, we've figured out what we like and what the does like. The main idea in our drying off process is that we try to mimic the natural process that the nursing kids would follow if they were nursing. When kids are growing, they start nibbling on hay and grain surprisingly early. Over time, they start eating more and more "big goat" food, and drinking less and less milk. The doe needs to adjust to this change, and she does so by making less milk in response to the full udder she is hauling around. While our does do not nurse their babies, we try to do what the babies would do when they would be weaning. This is our rough weekly schedule for drying off:

Week 1: Don't Milk All the Way Out. In general, during peak production, we milk the does dry twice daily, meaning, we take all the milk they can make. During the first week of drying off, we leave some milk in the udder, while still milking twice a day.

Week 2-3: Milk Once a Day. At the start of the second week, we stop milking in the evening. This is a hard step for some ladies who like to make a lot of milk! We still milk in the mornings. The week typically starts off with more milk, and then I try to refrain from taking so much milk by the week's end to encourage the girls to slow down.

Week 3-4: Milk Every Other Day. Somewhere around the third week, I slow down even more and go to milking every other day. Again, with this switch, at first, I will have to take more milk from the full udders as they adjust to less milk being taken. I gradually take less and less milk until I feel comfortable stopping.

After we stop milking regularly, we still keep a close eye on everyone's udders and do a visual and tactile assessment at least daily. Drying off is a stress on the udder that can lead to mastitis if one is not careful. We have tried to develop a process of drying off that is easy on the udder, and we have not had any problems so far!

Drying off is an adjustment for the goats, but for us humans too! Adjusting to milking less is kind of strange, to be perfectly honest. I always rather enjoy milking, and particularly hand milking. I enjoy the quiet time in the morning, sitting next to whichever lady on the stand, listening to her chew her meal and relieving her of her full udder. We've also found that hand milking is an excellent way to keep tabs on the health of each doe. Subtle changes in the feel of her udder, volume of milk produced or attitude on the stand help to alert us humans if something could be up. But the girls can't milk forever, though we have heard of some positive experiences with the extended lactation practice. We typically stop milking for around the same amount of time as the does' gestation period, five months, so that all of the energy going towards milk production can instead go towards making healthy babies!

We're coming into the fourth week of drying off right now, and should be completely finished by December first. We had hoped to be finished by Thanksgiving, but as usual, take our cues from the goats and what they need. It just means another couple batches of cheese!

Get to Know Your Goat: Vinnie & Theo

2011-11-22T20:52:00.001-05:00

Vinnie and Theo are Bea's babies from this spring. They came into the world with impeccable, typical, goat birth timing.

After raising goats for a couple of years, one comes to expect that the does will choose the most inconvenient time possible to deliver. There is even a "Does' Secret Code of Honor." (Also just found an entertaining video version here.)

I might add to this list: "Your owner must have a chemistry exam the next day and desperately need to study."

Despite the impeccable timing, Bea had a smooth delivery. (And I believe I somehow managed to pull off an "A" on my exam...) As I mentioned previously, the boys don't typically get names right off, so Vinnie and Theo had to wait a bit.

The inspiration for these boys' names came from Vinnie's goofy ear.

As you can see, Vinnie's right ear is folded over in a weird banana shape. This sometimes occurs when the ears are not adequately dried after the babies are born, but Vinnie's ear just had a mind of its own! For at least three or four weeks after he was born, Vinnie's ears were perfect, flat, floppy Nubian ears.

Photographic proof of Vinnie's normal ears. That's him on the left and Theo on the right.

At some point, Vinnie's right ear just decided that it was going to fold over, no matter what we thought it should do. Typical procedure for a folded ear is to tape a kind of splint onto it to hold it flat until it is trained to stay that way. I tried I don't know how many times to get something to stay on that goat's ear, but nothing I fashioned would stay on for more than a night, so we finally threw up our hands and let his ear be goofy.

At some point in the beginning of this ear goofiness, Devin said that he was like Vincent Van Gogh with his wonky ear. The name Vinnie was born. Van Gogh also had a brother, Theodorus. And we had the other boy's name.

Naming the Kids: Part 1 of 2.

2011-11-19T14:52:00.001-05:00

With our weekly "Get to Know Your Goat" feature, we've had some questions regarding the name origin of our herd members. With me (Cara) taking back over the blogging duties since Ari departed for new (read: warmer) pastures last week, I am going to take a moment today to address the general naming of our goats, with specifics pertaining to the guys and gals already featured in GTKYG to follow in Part 2. As I add new faces to the GTKYG library, I will be sure to discuss the origin of their name.

Part 1: Naming in General.

Naming things in general is nearly impossible for me. I hem and haw and spend weeks trying to decide. Our beloved Rupert was "puppy" for at least two weeks before Devin put his foot down.

I've had to get over some of my naming anxiety with the arrival of larger and larger numbers of kids each year. One of my strategies is to have a list with me, on my phone or laptop, at all times where I can add girl names that I like. Whenever I hear a name that I like, I add it. I'm less concerned with boy names, to be brutally honest. The boys inevitably end up with names, because it just takes too long to describe each one according to his mother each time, but seldom do boys get names straight out of the womb.

On some occasions, I choose a name completely out of the blue. Norah, for example, was born shortly after Devin and I had watched "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," and I decided I liked the name. (I don't think Devin knew that at the time....) "Norah" had not been on the list of names prior to her birth. But sometimes, the name of a doe might be predestined. For example, when we were still hoping for babies out of Ruthie, I would joke about two does, named Elanor Rigby and Penny Lane, in keeping with our Beatles theme this year.

Which brings me to the topic of Naming Conventions. Nope, not a party where we think of all kinds of names, this is more of convention as in "norm." This year, I convinced Devin that naming conventions would help us keep track of who was born which year as our herd grows. The American Dairy Goat Association actually promotes this idea in a different way. Every year, the animals who are born are assigned a tattoo number based on their year and birth order on their farm. The tattoo number consists of a single letter designating the year, and the number, the birth order. ADGA also likes it if goats born in the year assigned "T" for example, to all have names beginning with "T." While this certainly helps keep track of everyone and their ages and birth years, it is definitely not as fun as Beatles' song names, or Fraggles, or assorted other themes I've thrown out to Devin since the end of kidding season last spring. Even with the naming convention, sometimes it might take a couple of hours to decide which name to give a new baby. Sadie, for example, took a little bit, but as soon as she was showing off her sassy, independent self, we knew that Sexy Sadie had to be it.

In the next Naming the Kids post, I will discuss the origins of the names of the GTKYG hall of famers inducted so far... stay tuned. Also to come, this week's GTKYG will be a double: Vinnie and Theo...

This morning on the farm....

2011-11-13T10:09:00.001-05:00

The leaves have finally let go of the trees...

But everyone is still eager to get out!

And not afraid to tell me all about it!

Boys first...

Out to eat some tasty hemlock fronds!

Baby Igor keeps an eye out.

A straggler got left behind in the barn.

Now the girls' turn

Everyone out to enjoy the sun while it lasts...

Get to Know Your Goat: Ruth

2011-11-08T16:07:00.004-05:00

Ruthie Mae came to Flying Goat Farm practically before it was called Flying Goat Farm. She was the second doe we brought into our barn, shortly after our horse, Petey, passed away in 2008. Quickly dubbed "Ruth," her registered name is "Shady Lady," which has far too many syllables for daily use.

Ruth is Devin's favorite doe because of her rugged nature and her productive, easy-to-milk udder. When she freshened for the first time in 2010, she quickly became the favorite on the stand because she would easily produce over a gallon a day and seemed to love the whole process. Some does can be a little finicky about their routine, especially when first establishing it, but Ruthie took to being milked like an old pro. This could possibly have something to do with the fact she's a bit of a chow hound, too.

Last summer, Ruth kidded for the first time, giving birth to Evey Marie and another buckling without a hitch. This year, however, she was something of a mystery! If you follow us here in the Chronicles, or possibly on facebook, you may have seen references to waiting for Ruth to kid. To make a long story short, she fooled us all this year!

Back around May, we expected to be finished with kidding, but still had no signs of babies from Ruth. We had our veterinarian come out to check on her and do an ultrasound. While we didn't see any images of babies, we did see plenty of fluid located in her uterus. The image looked good; on the ultrasound, you look for black areas that indicate fluid, and any cloudiness might indicate infection or other problems. Ruth's fluid looked perfect. No reason to worry.

Come August, still no babies. We had out vet out again to do annual vaccines for the herd and Ruthie had another ultrasound. Everything still looked fine. At that point, we figured we'd give her the benefit of the doubt as much as possible and wait until October before getting really worried. The reasoning behind the timing was that goats' gestation period is five months. We figured that if she had somehow managed to get pregnant without us knowing (not uncommon with goats!), the latest it could have been was in May, the same month as the first ultrasound.

Well, October has come and gone, and we're kind of bummed that Ruthie fooled us all! It appears that she had a false pregnancy! This possibility had not been discussed a whole lot, because typically, goats with false pregnancies still develop a productive udder, and Ruthie's had not filled up at all! We had our veterinarian out again a couple of weeks ago, this time, she took some x-rays, figuring that if there were kids, we'd see the bone development by now. Nothing. We made the decision to give her a shot of progesterone hormone which would stimulate her to start cycling again, and expel the fluid she was holding.

Ruth's personality is usually pretty outgoing and sassy, but she had seemed a little subdued for about a week after ending the false pregnancy. Of course, I am always paranoid whenever anything is slightly out of the ordinary with the goats, and monitored her temperature, eating, and eliminating habits carefully. We generally avoid using hormones in our animals, but in this case, the benefits outweighed our aversion to them. We will probably never know what caused this strange anomaly, but Ruth has pretty much returned to her normal, sassy, pushy, chow-hound-y self. She has already been acting like she's interested in Mr Nostradamus, but we're going to hold out for a couple of months and possibly breed her in December for the Spring of 2012.

Get to Know Your Goat: Ringo

2011-11-03T10:05:00.000-04:00

So I am hoping we all remember Sadie our beloved little doe from last week's "Get to know your Goat" post because this week I am writing about the peanut butter to Sadie's jelly, Ringo. I mentioned last week that Sadie had a best friend that was born on the same day, though of different mothers. Well, here he is. Our biggest and sometimes silliest wether-kid in the barn.

Ringo was born this last spring of Dorothy along with another doe who's soft-palate was not fully formed and as a result passed away shortly after her birth. Ringo is a real goofball and can get a little pushy due to his size relative to the other kids in the pen. He was one of the earliest kids and so he had a couple extra weeks to grow over wethers like Desmond. You can see the comparison in the picture below. Ringo, most obviously, was named after the Beatle along with most of the other kids in this year's group.

My favorite thing about Ringo is he is an amazing acrobat in the air. When he is first let outside of the barn to graze each morning, he runs full speed and does some serious jumps in the air twisting is torso back and forth. He would be an excellent candidate were they hiring a "goat character" in the Cirque du Solei, although I worry about his ability to hold a job. While, the hilarity of his movements are hard describe, whenever I watch him spazzing around, the relevancy of the name of this farm is instantly solidified. Sometimes goats really do look like the are flying!

Artificial Insemination

2011-10-31T11:16:00.003-04:00

It is breeding season here at Flying Goat Farm and this time we decided to try something a little different. In the past we've toted our girls up to Ram's Goat Farm in Denmark, ME to introduce them to the buck of their dreams or let them breed with our buck Nostradamus. However, last spring Cara in her ceaseless effort to learn more about ruminant health took a workshop on artificial insemination. This year she was eager to try it out. Our hope is to get a buck from one of our artificially inseminated does so we can improve and more solidly establish our Flying Goat Farm line of pure bred Nubian goats.

We selected our semen straws by looking through catalogs of handsome bucks and purchased a few straws from two of our favorites. They aren't cheap so we ordered modestly and are hoping that everything goes well. We ordered them online and then they were shipped to us in a special nitrogen cooling tank. The tank had only enough nitrogen for 2 days worth of cooling so we needed to find a tank to store the straws until our girls came into heat. We'd monitoring them very closely and estimated it to be an additional three to five days before the first of the does to be artificially inseminated would be ready. Luckily, a neighbor of ours who breeds cows had a large cooling tank that had some room which he so graciously allowed us to use.

Nitrogen tank in which the semen straws must be stored

The handling of goat semen is a very delicate process. It has to be stored in nitrogen cooled tanks until the moment you are about to insert it into the doe. This means we've been schlepping the cooling tank back and forth from our neighbors house every time a doe is ready.

We decided the best candidates for artificial insemination this breeding season were: Beatrix, Elaine, and Rain. We chose these girls not only for their physical characteristics but also because of their track record with birthing as well as our ability to determine their ovulation period. It is pretty amazing, but there is no real foolproof scientific way for goat farmers to determine whether their does are in heat or not. The best test, is to put them near a buck and see if they exhibit the typical signs.

And each doe is different. When Bea is in heat, she runs around in circles in her stall and bleats her head off which surprisingly enough is a typical for our most neurotic goat. Rain, on the other hand, who never says a peep, let's out a very quiet bleat and becomes noticeably more active. You get the idea, each does is different and it is up to us to figure it out.

Once you have identified that a doe is in heat, the process begins. I took some pictures Cara and Devin artificially inseminating Rain. I find it to be very impressive the breadth of Cara and Devin's knowledge of goat reproductive health and I wanted to share how serious they are about breeding season with all of our blog readers.

Sterlized tools, the semen thawing vessel, and a microscope to examine the semen for movement.

Cara preparing the instruments needed for the procedure.

Using a small led light Cara must locate Rain's cervix and carefully insert the semen therein


Removing the speculum after the job is done.

The success rate for artificial insemination in Goats is extremely low so we are valuing this experience as a learning process rather than putting all of our hope in it. The worse case scenario is that if the attempts do not work, we will have Nostradamus breed them the next time they cycle. We have already inseminated Bea and Rain once and neither attempt was a success which we noticed this week when both does were exhibiting their classic signs of coming into heat. We are giving it another try this week and will hopefully have more success. Wish us luck this time around, it would certainly be a serious confidence builder for the Flying Goat Team!

Cider Pressing

2011-10-28T03:03:00.001-04:00

Devin is a man with a thousand hats. He is an excellent chef, a passionate boat builder, and a burgeoning brew master. This is his apple-season brainchild: The Flying Goat Team makes 30 gallons of cider before November 1st.

Last year the Flying Goat Team made a few gallons of hard cider which were given to friends and relatives as part of Christmas basket of homemade goodies. When the bottles were opened and then quickly drained, the word on the street was that the Flying Goat Farm should be doing this more often. As a result this year, we've began the process of brewing nearly 50 gallons of hard cider in several different styles and flavors. Devin was particularly meticulous about tracking his brew process this year so if all goes well, the Flying Goat Farm could someday soon be boasting not only Flying Goat Cheese but Shepard's Cider as well.

I'd never pressed cider before so the whole process was a new one for me. First, the locating of a cider press--a giant thank you to the Holbrook's for letting us usurp theirs for the past week--then the buying of the brew buckets, then of course the turkey deep fryer to pasteurize the cider, then finally the chopping and pressing of the apples.

We picked a lovely Sunday to go grab drops from good friends down the road at Kelly's Orchard. We picked Jonagold, Golden Delcious, and Crispins as well. Each apple was pressed separately so that will be the primary segregation of the hard ciders when all is brewed and ready. We invited some good friends over to help with the washing, chopping, turning, mashing, dumping, boiling, straining, and pouring of the cider which made the whole process go so much faster. In just three hours we were able to press more than 24 gallons of cider, which put us about halfway through our goal but totally out of apples. So, we went back for another truckload of apples and will be pressing again in no time.

Here are some delightful pictures from the process:

Chopped Apples go in...

Mashed apples come out...

Along with the cider!

A serious operation going on.

This is an abstract sculpture Cara made after we cleaned the press the first time.


Back to the orchard for a snack and more apples!

Truly, there is never a dull moment at the Flying Goat Farm!

Get to Know Your Goat: Sadie

2011-10-25T14:14:00.005-04:00

Sadie is one of two does from this last spring's kidding season. We decided to go with Beatles names this spring ( Kite, Ringo, Jude, etc.) and thus Sexy Sadie. Sadie, much like Dorothy Gayle is a furry little thing and we can't wait for winter to see her coat get even thicker. Right now, she has the most elegant curls on the ridge of her back. Please forgive the photos on this post, Sadie is a little hard to photograph as she moves incessantly.

My favorite thing about Sadie is her relationship with another one of our wether kids, Ringo. I have yet to feature Ringo but aim to do so next week. Sadie and Ringo were born of different mothers however they were both born on the same day, within minutes of each other. As a result, they've formed an unbreakable bond. They currently share a stall (with the rest of the kids) and are often seen cuddling together in the corner or sharing a feed bucket at grain-time.

Ringo (green collar) and Sadie (purple collar) sharing dinner together

On Open Creamery Day some of you may have noticed that all the goats in the barn were girls except for one. Yup, you guessed it- when we separated the two (boys outside and girls inside for the day) Sadie would not stop bleating. So in order to keep our most precious members of the Flying Goat Farm happy, we brought Ringo in to spend the day with Prudence and Sadie in the kids stall.

This interconnected relationship Sadie shares with Ringo is a little bit unexpected due to the fact that she is by far (even at only around 7 months old) one of the most independent does in the barn. She is very strong-willed and very dramatic when you are trying to assert your will over her, as sometimes is necessary. For example, when trying to lead Sadie from a day outside munching on foliage back to her stall in the barn, if you try to lead her by her collar, she will pretend to be choking and stop abruptly. It seems the collar is more of a blow to her pride than to her neck.

Grazing in the tall grass

I can't wait for her to grow over the winter and be bred next year. I have a feeling she will be a real feisty doe by that time and improve the strong character of our herd for years to come!

Get to Know Your Goat: Dorthy Gayle

2011-10-20T12:07:00.004-04:00

Flying Goat Farm fans and friends, I introduce to you Ms. Dorothy Gayle. Dorothy has been with us for a little over a year now and is one of only 2 brown does in the herd (Rain is the other). However, Dorothy's color, more properly described as auburn, is a much richer redder brown than that of Rain. She also has some interesting fur patterns which give her coat and even richer look. She's a real beauty although, consider yourselves warned, not nearly as photogenic as some of her herdmates.

Shiny, beautiful coat

Dorothy Gayle is originally from Valley View Farm and has been a really great addition to our herd the last few years. She shares a stall with another Valley View transplant--Elaine, and our beloved Beatrix.

She should model for a Pantene-Pro V commercial for goats!

While she is not a grain hog by any means she certainly can be wooed from her incessant explorations with the rattle of a feed bucket, unlike her stallmates who are a bit less curious. Though extremely mild mannered, Dorothy is a real explorer and loves to sneak out of her stall while the other girls are being milked to explore the under-discovered corners of the barn.

Ms. Dorothy is third in the milking line-up and while that is no indication of her milking ability it is certainly a reflection of her consistency and temperament. She is never fussy on the stand and unlike many of our other milkers her moods rarely change which can be a tough characteristic during breeding season. Plus, she's got a real furry udder which can be a nice change mid-lineup.

Look at the fur!

Another thing about Dorothy is she loves scratching her furry coat along fences, walls, and even the people and animals around her. I suppose when you have long hair it is always nice to get a scratch, right?

Dorothy really getting into fence-scratch

Dorothy is yet another beautiful Nubian goat we are happy to have here at the Flying Goat Farm!

The Truth about Pigs

2011-10-19T10:18:00.005-04:00

DISCLAIMER: This Post contains themes and photos that might not be suitable for vegans, vegetarians or non-meat loving omnivores. While there are no graphic photos this post does summarize the life cycle of our pigs, a subject which may not be enjoyable for non-meat eating humans. Read with care.

Before I came to Flying Goat Farm I knew very little about raising animals for slaughter. In fact, it would have been a pub quiz point lost if someone asked me, "When do most of the Northeast's pigs go to slaughter?" Now I have a more finely tuned radar of which animals are being born and which animals are being eaten. I could say the same about vegetables too, but at the end of a vegetables life you don't have to coax it into the back of trailer and drop it off at a stranger's stainless steel house.

Well, October is a popular time to slaughter Pigs. So popular in fact that we had to make our pig slaughtering appointment months ago. We do not currently slaughter our own animals because we sell most of the meat and we are not USDA certified, so we send our animals to the nearest trustworthy butcher in Windham.

This last weekend the pigs left us and so soon our wethers will follow. It takes a lot of time and energy to raise an animal healthily with the love, care and attention it deserves and I think here on the Flying Goat Farm, that is our number one priority. Our pigs had the endless opportunity to roam and root; we moved their fence every three days. They sipped tasty buckets of whey each night and gobbled down beets, kale, and all the leftovers we could find. As Pigs go, I think ours had it pretty good- but in the end to the butcher they went.

This part of the Pig's life, I didn't mind so much considering it meant not having to chase them around with a pig stick yelling "Pig! Pig! Pig! Pig!" when they maliciously (and always) decided to barge through the electric fence and roam free on MY watch. I am no longer considering a career in Pig herding or husbandry.

I admit it was easier for me to say goodbye to the Pigs because I never got to see the Pigs when they were piglets, but from the pictures I've seen it was certainly the month or two to grow the seeds of love them. Their tiny little pink noses exploring their ever-changing home looking for tasty new roots. But then they got big. In the end 1400lbs total.

A tribute to their little piggie lives in photos:

Our first picture of the little piggies enjoying their new home

Back in the Days when they all fit in their house


About 5 months later, getting to be quite large

Enjoying a late night tomato and cucumber salad

Voraciously eating tomatoes!

As they are now...

Ready to eat

And be sold to our friends and family.

Devin, Cara, and I were sitting around over dinner, talking about how it is always hard to see your animals slaughtered for meat. And it is, but in my opinion if more people had to deal with the reality of raising and then slaughtering their own meat, more people would refrain from eating meat in the first place. Here are the Flying Goat Farm, we love what we eat and we eat what we love. We respect the life-cycle and don't deny the dirty details in between.

You Can't Forget the Pumpkins!

2011-10-18T14:57:00.001-04:00

This is a mostly photographic post.

Pumpkins Galore!

So a few weeks ago (or is it months?) I posted about our pumpkins being just about ready to harvest but I failed to post the gorgeous pictures of our late night harvest. We planted a whole variety of seeds that we saved from pumpkins we ate last year so none of us were really sure what was going to grow. Low and behold we got a beautiful mix great for decorating and even better for eating. Take a look!

So many different colors and shapes!

Devin starting to unload the first wheelbarrow load

We got some gorgeous Cinderellas this year

These will soon be some tasty pumpkin soup, curry, and maybe a few Jack-o-lanterns

Our favorite thing to do with the pumpkins is to roast and puree them and the freeze that puree. That way we can enjoy delicious pumpkin dishes all year round our at least until the first big storm hits and we lose our electricity for a week.

Get to Know Your Goat: Rain

2011-10-11T09:55:00.002-04:00

Meet Rain!

Rain enjoy a nice winter snack in the winter of 2011

Rain is one of three goats which we refer to as "The Big Girls". Grace is another one of the trio and Ruthie Mae (who I am waiting until she finally kids- to feature) is the other. These three does have been with the Flying Goat Farm longer than the others and for the most part keep the rest of the herd in check.

Rain is a great, mild-tempered milker, who I am particularly partial to because she is one of only 2 brown does in the whole herd. She is known to throw her grain around when she is on the milking stand but other than that little hiccup, she is a real joy.


You can see in this picture that Rain only has one teat hanging

Another special thing about Rain is that after a nasty bout of mastitis before she came to join us at the Flying Goat farm, she was left with only one functional teat and mammary. Despite this set back, Rain remains in the top three as far as milk production and milkability is concerned. She is a resilient goat indeed and just another example of the A-game always represented here at the Flying Goat Farm.

A Huge Success!

2011-10-10T10:32:00.000-04:00

Well another Open Creamery has come and gone and this year was even bigger and better than before. Open Creamery Day 2011 at the Flying Goat Farm was a huge success! We had nearly 100 visitors, sold all the cheese and yogurt we had, and shared our passion for keeping happy healthy nubian goats with all of our visitors. Thanks for your enthusiasm and encouragement for the work we do here at Flying Goat Farm. We hope you will all keep an eye on us as we grow and change in the coming years.

Thanks for taking time out of your day, and a beautiful day it was, to come share and enjoy life on the farm. We had a lovely time showing all our visitors around the farm, introducing you to all of our goats, and offering samples of our delicious cheeses.

One visitor petting some of the boys in the paddock

Two of our Angora Bunnies enjoying the beautiful day and all the attention from our visitors

Even Satchmo made some new friends!

The Viszlas had to take a moment to relax, all the stimulation made two very tired dogs

Devin and some brave souls hanging out in the paddock with our Buck and the wethers

Ari, Vinnie, and Theo guarding the paddock door while a curious visitor gets a feel of the goats first hand

Desmond enjoying all of the happy people who came to visit

Devin explain some of the mysteries of the Farm.

We hope you all had as memorable a day as we did!

Get to Know Your Goat: Special Bea

2011-10-06T08:42:00.007-04:00

My Favorite Picture of Special Bea- by far

Beatrix or more affectionately referred to as Special Bea is one seriously special goat.

She is one of our best milkers with an impressively capacious udder but is a little particular when it comes to her daily routine. Most of the Flying Goat Farm's milking does are extremely easy to work with. They have no trouble getting on and off the milking stand and are quite content to chomp on some grain while they are being milked out. Bea on the other hand is a real spaz. She is easily traumatized by a disruption in the normal daily pattern and can be a real pain to get back on track. Don't get me wrong, she isn't violent or moody, she is just a little old fashioned and enjoys her life to be comfortably predictable.

Ms. Beatrix appreciates a set schedule that follows a consistent routine. She is the first doe in the milking lineup and unless she is precisely the first milker let out of stall, she gets completely and utterly confused. Stray from the norm and you will literally have to lift her onto the milking stand if you can get her up there at all. That having been said, Bea is probably our best looking goat and is definitely of ADGA show Goat quality. She's a real Bea-uty.

A picture of Bea in her younger years

Bea has been with us at the farm since she was a kid. She came to us from in Ram's farm Denmark, Maine the daughter of some seriously impressive show Goats. While we have never shown Bea (and most probably never will) her lineage is largely to account for her great milking abilities and perhaps her general strangeness. Purebred animals, as many of you may know, have a tendency to be a little kooky. Eitherway, we still love her!

Bea hamming it up with the Sanford Moose at a Farmer's Market in 2009

Closing her eyes to REALLY concentrate on chewing

Bea grazing with Sadie, her purple collared protege

We recently had our first attempt with the process of Artificial Insemination this week with Bea and we are really hoping that not only did the A.I. take but that Bea will bear us a beautiful buck come this spring. Keep your fingers crossed that Special Bea will make the Flying Goat Farm even more special than it already is.

Open Creamery Day: October 9th, 2011

2011-10-05T08:27:00.003-04:00

Sure enough, it is that time of year again! The time when Devin, Cara, and Ari open their doors and arms to welcome you to the Flying Goat Farm's Open Creamery Day! We will be here all day to answer your goat dairy questions as well as offer you farm tours, and all our cheeses for sampling and purchasing. We will be doing the drawing for our 1st Annual Goat Gear Giveaway and we will even be unveiling some exciting news about our upcoming plans to expand the farm and cheese making operation. Please come and don't forget to bring your children and a camera to capture all the fun at the Flying Goat Farm's Open Creamery Day!

Open Creamery Day is scheduled for October 9th, 2011, 11:00am-3:00pm

Here are some photos from last year's Open Creamery Day which was a huge success with more than 100 visitors!

We are hoping for another beautiful day!

Goats to Pet!

Devin preparing the sample table

Pictures to take!

Delicious Cheese to Sample!

Goats to Feed!

Check the Maine Cheese Guild Website for a list of all participants and make a Dairy Good day of supporting your local hardworking Dairy Farmers! And if you can't make it please go on our blog and fill out our Flying Goat Giveaway Survey so we can hear your comments on how we are doing here at the Flying Goat Farm!

Flying Goat Farm goes to the Fryeburg Fair!

2011-10-03T15:45:00.004-04:00

All work and no play makes the Flying Goat Farmers...well, perhaps a little cranky- but hey, we are used to it! Today, however, we took a few hours off from the farm work that haunts our days and nights to go enjoy ourselves, footloose and fancy-free at the Fryeburg Fair.

We made the 1 hour drive to Fairgrounds and do the fact that it was a semi-rainy Monday, we had no problems with traffic or looking for parking. Upon our arrival we met up with another friend of ours and made a B-line to the extra-super-mongous-Donut and Coffee Line! Having refueled with sugar and caffeine. We were ready to go see all that we could see!

On our way to the goat barn we meandered through the Swine Barn. Devin has been really enthusiastic about our Pigs this year and is even more excited for raising another round of Piglets next year. While there were none of the rare heritage breeds (Large black, Tamworth, Hereford, Mangalitsa, Berkshire) represented at the Fair, which we all agreed are the best investment morally, socially, as well as financially for the Flying Goat Farm, there were some impressively large Duroc swine along with Duroc mixes. And of course, the piglets were as adorable as ever.

We checked out the Christmas tree displays, the fiber tents, the dairy cows (especially the Jerseys), caught an Oxen pulling competition and even had time to take a look at the milking parlor set up by Oakhurst, right at milking time.

After our eyes were filled with Fryeburg wonders, we trotted over to the dairy goat where we located some of goats from the up and coming Flying Goat line. Ram's Farm was there in full force which is the source of many of our older milking does. It was exciting to see beautiful Nubian goats showing off in the ADGA ring.


Milking yearling class

Ari, Devin, and Cara enjoying the Nubian ADGA show, perhaps disproportionately so.

2nd year milking class

In addition to nubians the Fryeburg Fair also had Lamancha and Alpine goats showing too. In fact one of the Alpines sitting right in front of us, perhaps feeling as though she did not get the recognition she deserved in her judging class, grabbed a ribbon from a nearby competitor. I suppose, you've got to do what you've got to do.

Cheeky Alpine say cheese for the camera

Caught in the Act: Taking Matters into Her own Hooves.

After a few hours watching the ADGA showing we decided to grab some waffle cones and hit the road, just in time to stack some wood and get ready for our evening barn chores. It is easy to think sometimes as we go out into the world be it Wal*Mart or the Apple Store that running a Goat Dairy is an insane venture, but then when we take a little time off, go and visit an agricultural fair and see all the other people who are equally, if not more excited about Dairy goats than we are- we all feel a little less crazy about the work we put in to the Flying Goat Farm.

Flying Goat Gear is In!

2011-09-30T08:15:00.000-04:00

The harvest season is here and there is simply no finer way to celebrate your favorite Farm in the fall than with some great new Flying Goat Gear! We've got T-Shirts, Long Sleeve Shirts in great fall colors as well as Cozy Sweatshirts for those crisp fall mornings and of course Flying Goat Canvas Market Bags to take home all of your farmer's market goodies.

One of these items will be given away in our 1st Annual Flying Goat Gear Giveaway. Just Take our survey, give us your email address and enter to win.

In an effort to ensure the utmost of quality in all of our products we entreated the services of our lead Quality Control officer, Elaine, to test the quality of our Flying Goat Market Bags. After rigorous inspection the bag's construction, Elaine was pleased to report that everything is up to our impeccable Flying Goat standards.

Testing Phase 1: Smell and Taste test

Testing Phase 2: Rigorous Shake Test

Quality Control Office Elaine consulting with Cara about the benefits of 100% cotton canvas.

Elaine returning the bag to Cara very much impressed with the quality and style of the Flying Goat Market Bag!

Ari, Cara, and Theo discussing new ideas for next seasons Flying Goat Gear options.

Get your Flying Goat Gear before it is gone at either of our Farmer's Market stands in North Berwick (Friday 3-6) or Sanford (Saturday 8-Noon). But get it while it lasts as it is selling even faster than our infamous Bloomy Goats! Feel free to email us at flyinggoatfarm@gmail.com if you can't make it to our markets and we are also happy to mail gear to friends and family wherever they may be!

Get to Know Your Goat: Mr. Tumnus

2011-09-27T12:37:00.008-04:00

Meet Mr. Tumnus.

Tumnus is the oldest wether in the herd as well as the biggest goat around. He was born 2.5 years ago to none other than Grace. Most of the time we send our wethers off after one season but not Mr. T. We have big plans for this big goat. We are hoping one day to leverage his size and strength to help us with some of the work around the farm. Devin and Cara are currently drafting design plans for a goat lead plow and rolling truck. Thus, meet Mr. Tumnus- the working goat.

On the other side of our big plans for this particular goat's work ridden future, we often joke about the ridiculousness of the idea. You see, it could be argued that Mr. T lacks initiative. He is a hard goat to move and is mostly content to stay in one place. He's generally the least eager goat to leave the confines of his stall and to frolic freely in woods each day.

T and Nos hanging out in the barn

T begrudgingly walking into the paddock

T, another nickname for him, is a real homebody and is happiest when he has the chance to hang out in the barn, eat hay, and take the occasional lick from the Himalayan salt block. He is truly the most docile member of the Flying Goat Herd.

Get to Know Your Goat: Norah Brontosaura

2011-09-23T13:27:00.005-04:00

Norah B. Mugshot

Ms. Norah Brontosaura or for short Norah B. I write this "Get to Know your Goat" description as more of an expose than one of the flowery introductions to my favorite farmyard friends you may have come to expect from the chronicles. Norah B. is a real hellion.

Ms. Brontosaura hiding her face from the press.

In fact, I consider her to be the underground leader of a recently identified collective of yearlings in our herd I refer to as "The Quatrain of Destruction". The four goats are often plotting escapes, grain storage break-ins, and of course jolting in the woods when it is time to go back in the barn. The neer-do-wellish group are bleating constantly a sort of four line chorus, hence the terminology Quatrain of Destruction. You can hear them coming one bleat at a time.

Holding a secret meeting with Abby another member of the Q.O.D.

As I was looking back through past Flying Goat Chronicle Posts, I spotted a picture of baby Norah nuzzling with Mr. Tumnus, looking so sweet and innocent. Man, have the times changed. As I mentioned, Nora is now disobedient, destructive, and generally disregarding of any human authority here at the Flying Goat Farm. She certainly got her hard-headedness from her mother, Grace, but may have added a couple extra tons to her attitude. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that when she freshens this spring, she will mellow out a little- being a mother can usually help with that.

Baby Nora and T looking so sweet and innocent, little did we know.

I guess the lesson learned is that all kids grow up here at the Flying Goat Farm and you never know what they will turn out like in the end. We can only hope that Norah somehow turns her life around.

The 1st Annual Flying Goat Gear Giveaway!

2011-09-22T15:19:00.000-04:00

In an effort to learn more about our blog readers, our loyal customers, and cheese fans in general we are launching the 1st Annual Flying Goat Gear Giveaway! To enter, please fill out the survey below anytime before Open Creamery Day 2012, October 9th, and let us know how we are doing.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

All of your feedback helps us get to know you better.
Thanks and hopefully we will see you at Open Creamery Day this October 9th!

A Culinary Dichotomy

2011-09-20T14:26:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine once suggested to me the idea that all food could be classified into the two distinct categories ogre food or birthday cake. The theory took a little getting used to and I still get stuck on how to classify some certain dishes but for the most part, I believe the dichotomy to be sound. Allow me to explain with some further definitions and examples of each.

Ogre food has the following necessary qualities:

it must require no additional assembly with the exception of adding grated cheese
it must be eaten with either the hands or alternatively a spoon or spork
it must be served in a single bowl (or plate)
all ingredients must be cooked at once

Some popular examples may include: chili, stew, sloppy joes, coleslaw, granola, apple crisp, crock pot anything etc.

Coleslaw

Goulash


Crockpot Stew

Birthday Cake on the other hand:

must be presented with aesthetics in mind
must have more than one separately prepared elements
sometimes requires additional assembly
can be eaten with more than one utensil (fork, knife, spoon, chopsticks, etc.)
can be served on more than one plate or bowl
can be cooked in several different stages

Examples include: Birthday cake, flat bread pizza, fancy tacos, Devin's fancy Thai concoctions, Flying Goat Cheeses, etc.

Birthday Cake

Fancy Tacos

Flatbread Pizza

________________________________________________________________________________

As the summer turns into fall, here at the Flying Goat Farm, our meals trend away from birthday cake and toward ogre food. That having been said ogre food happens to be my personal preference.

Today I prepared the first crock pot of the season to slow cook some Spicy Blackberry Chicken.

For the Spicy Rub:

4 teaspoons chili powder
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
2 slabs baby back pork ribs (about 2 pounds)

For the Blackberry Glaze:

2 1/2 cups fresh blackberries or frozen, thawed
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce

First rub the chicken then glaze the chicken, then put it in the crock pot on high for 6-8 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes and some steamed kale or chard. Deliciously warm and toasty on a cold rainy day!

The Flying Goat Dictionary

2011-09-16T18:49:00.006-04:00

As I was browsing through the past Flying Goat Chronicle posts, I realized that only after spending some time on the farm am I able to understand some of what was going on. Like any strange and new world one stumbles into, there is some serious lingo that comes with living and working at the Flying Goat Farm. In an effort to dissolve some confusion and clear up some misty meanings, I've decided to consolidate a list of "Goat Lingo" that may be valuable to fans of the Chronicles.

Freshen: to start giving milk after kidding. Our yearlings will freshen this spring.

Kidding: the process of birthing a baby goat or a kid. We are still waiting patiently for Ruth to kid.

Keets: a young guinea fowl. This summer our guinea fowl hen had 14 keets.

Milkers: an goat that gives milk. We use the term milker to refer to the goats that are or have been milked.

Ruminant: a cud-chewing quadraped. Goats and sheep are ruminants.

Wether: a male castrated goat (or sheep). Most of the male goats at Flying Goat Farm are wethers.

Yearling: a goat in its 2nd year. Right now we have four female yearlings in the herd.

I will continue to update the Flying Goat Dictionary as more words come along. Everyday is a day for learning new things at the Flying Goat Farm.

Get to Know Your Goat: Desmond

2011-09-14T08:35:00.002-04:00

This week's goat feature is another one of the younger residents at the Flying Goat Farm. He may even be the littlest kid on our block. It is with great pleasure, I introduce our dear friend, Desmond.

Desmond was born this last Spring to Rain, our biggest brown doe, as part of litter of triplet bucks. Although markedly smaller in size at this point than his mother, (as well as his two brothers Ringo and Jude) Des certainly inherited her beautiful brown color. He, very much like Lil P, is a genuine kind hearted soul; usually the first wether to come over and wish you a good morning with a few licks and a bleat.

I really came to love Desmond this last weekend when Cara and I were trimming hooves. Des was an absolute riot. He was by far the goofiest goat we trimmed. I guess it should have been expected considering I've often seen him jumping around in the woods eating pine needles and hemlock bark like a banshee. The thing about Desmond is that no matter what endeavor he's busying himself with, he will always take a moment from his munching to run over and say hi whenever someone passes near the fence.

You'll also notice he's quite photogenic as well.

Grazing in the woods

Smiling for the Camera

Yet another happy goat at the Flying Goat Farm!

this weekend in pictures (mostly)

2011-09-11T19:03:00.000-04:00

The rain stopped and the goats were happy to get out.

Rain loves to be out in the sun.

I love this picture of Bea.

Abigail and Elaine.

Ruth

Sadie. I realized I hardly ever get pictures of her because she's always off doing her own thing. I made a conscious effort to get some of her today.

Tomato-Cheddar Pie from Bon Appetit magazine.

Calder and Satchmo having a tug of war first thing in the morning.

Ari and I went to Portsmouth to check out the farmers' market and saw Mike and Frank from "American Pickers" driving through town! We yelled and waved and I hung out of the car like a crazy head to take a picture.

Piggies catching a snooze this afternoon. They're getting HUGE! I'm amazed they still fit in that house.

Went for a walk with Devin and the dogs to look for mushrooms. Found some great spots with tons of chanterelles.

We've tried to teach Rupert to hunt for mushrooms, but he's more interested in running around the woods like a maniac.

Also found some great spots for black trumpets!

Tired vizslas at the end of the day...

Pumpkins just around the corner

2011-09-10T15:07:00.002-04:00

This year at the Flying Goat Farm we chose to focus our farming efforts on nurturing a fantastic herb garden and using the remaining space to grow an amazing pumpkin patch. The herb garden has done us well, all season, supplying us with countless bunches of dill, chives, mint, lemon basil, and garlic scapes for our Flying Goat Cheeses. But as the nights get a little colder and the fall starts setting in, the herbs are fading and the pumpkin patch is taking center stage.

We planted a large variety of pumpkins (Jarrahdale, Blue Hubbards, Jack-O-Lanterns, White Pumpkin) in the patch and most varieties have already began to grow impressively. Here are some photos of the pumpkins in their beginning stages.

Stay tuned for more Pumpkin Pictures this fall!

Get to Know Your Goat: Nostradamus

2011-09-09T13:55:00.003-04:00

At this point you may be wondering, "Are there any bucks at the Flying Goat Farm?"; why yes, there are. This week's spotlight is on our proverbial "Man of the House", Nostradamus.

Although arguably a little smelly, Nos is about as handsome and virile as they come. He is quite the ladies man too, creating a real draw for our does when they are in heat. In fact, Nos was looking so good to our does that in an effort to calm them down until we are ready to breed them in October, we recently sent Nostradamus to cool off for a few weeks at the Crooked-Well Farm. He and his stall-mate Mr. Tumnus (stay tuned for Mr. Tumnus) will be helping Ferdinand and Mr. Frosty clear brush and be enjoying a much needed vacation from the girls.

Before taking him over to Crooked-Well he was in desperate need of a bath. As I mentioned in an effort to be as appealing as possible Nos was getting pretty musky. So, before moving him Devin and Cara broke out the hose and some shampoo and gave Nostradamus possibly the first scrub down of his life.

He was remarkably well-behaved, giving Devin some appreciative licks during the lathering phase and it seemed as though in no time he was looking as squeaky clean as he may have been on the day his mother licked him off straight out of the womb.

Nostradamus, The Flying Goat Farm's # 1 Stud-muffin.

Warm Cookies on a Rainy Day

2011-09-07T15:03:00.002-04:00

Everybody knows there's nothing better than some fresh cookies on a rainy day, so a few days ago when the weather was less than cooperative, Cara and I took to the internet in search of some soul-warming cookie recipes. Calder, the youngest Viszla at the Flying Goat Farm loves hanging around the kitchen when it's cookie making time.

Normally, at the Flying Goat Farm, when we have a hankering for amazing recipes we go straight to Tastespotting. It's a great resource that compiles mouth-watering recipes from food blogs all over the place. It basically does all the internet footwork for you and allows you to enter ingredients or finished dishes and pulls up the most beautiful recipes around.

For this particular baking project, we located two drool-worthy cookie recipes on opposite ends of the spectrum. On one side we decided on a Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Fudgy Cookies featured on Picky-Palate .com and on the other a Chewy Ginger Cookie from Form V Artisan.

Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Fudgy Cookies hot out of the oven


Chewy Ginger Cookies cooling

Thanks Tastespotting for inspiring our culinary endeavors time and time again!

Get to Know Your Goat: Prudence

2011-09-03T12:53:00.003-04:00

From the top all the way down to the bottom. This week I will be spotlighting my favorite little doe at the Flying Goat Farm, Prudence more effectionately referred to as "Lil P".

Prudence arrived on at the Flying Goat Farm last March as one of three kids Grace delivered. Prudence was the only doe in the litter with two strong and healthy brothers, Ferdinand and Mr. Frosty who have been biding their time munching branches with our friends over at the Crooked-Well Farm in Lebanon, ME. Based Ms. P's slight stature, I imagine Lil P probably got bullied around in the womb before her arrival but now that her brothers aren't around, P is as bold as ever.

Taking after her mother, Prudence is a real sweetheart. She's always the first kid in the herd to trot over for an ear-scratch or a nose-rub and on several occasions, I've seen Lil P offering comforting licks to other kids in the pen when they are feeling a little under the weather.

Furthermore, P remains our most camera-friendly goat. Believe it or not, photographing Goats turns out to be not as easy as you imagine. Their constant body motion and their inability to make a solid 3 secs of eye-contact makes snapping these lovely animals quite the endeavor. Prudence on the other hand was born, camera-ready. Not only will she come over right over to you when you bring the camera out but she immediately starts posing, holding still in a single position just long enough to grab a great shot. Lil P is definitely a diva in training!

Prudence has at least another year before we are able to incorporate her milk into our cheese-making, but until then she will continue to be a crowd favorite bringing smiles to her barn-mates and posing for the camera every chance she gets.

Canning Mania!

2011-09-02T13:19:00.000-04:00

Introducing The Flying Goat Farm Pickle Pantry!

When we aren't milking, making cheese, or caring for the animals, we like to get together and preserve great local produce so we can enjoy it all winter long. There is nothing better than cracking open a jar of heirloom veggie salsa for nachos during a snowstorm, spreading some tasty Blueberry preserve on toast for breakfast, or snapping into a pickle on a toasty grilled cheese sandwich on chilly day.

This is a seriously great book for recipes of just about anything you can fit in a Ball Jar

I have very little experience with pickling but am a huge fan of learning new things and especially new things dealing with tasty food. As I was not entirely sure how any of the pickling/canning process went, I picked up a book in the Flying Goat Farm's library of food books and made my way through the recipes.


Prepping heirloom tomatoes and peppers for Salsa

This year we've canned a couple of different concoctions including blackberry jam, blueberry-lime jam, strawberry-vanilla jam, heirloom veggie salsa, deli dill pickles, and of course a crowd-favorite pickled garlic.

Deli Dills ready for the cupboard

Blueberry Lime Jam canned and dated

Heirloom Salsa just waiting for the right time

We are really looking forward to the impending apple season when it will time for pressing cider and making hard cider!

Get to Know Your Goat: Grace

2011-08-27T11:25:00.000-04:00

As Cara mentioned in a previous post, I'm Ari, the newest member of the Flying Goat Farm. I've recently arrived after finishing my Peace Corps service in Ghana and been put straight to work helping the Flying Goat Farm in anyway I can. Although Cara and Devin make it easy as ever to join in on the fun, the ones I really have been trying to win over are the Goats! In an effort to provide a new perspective on some of the furrier residents at the Flying Goat Farm, I've resolved to post a weekly personality profile of one of the goats as I come to know and love them as much as Devin and Cara do.

I figured I'd start at the top with the doe that initially put the "Goat" in "Flying Goat Farm".

Meet Grace!

Grace is what we like to call "The Queen of the Castle". She's been here at the Flying Goat Farm since day one and is the main reason we got into cheese-making from the start. Don't be deceived by her goofy underbite, Grace is a serious Alpha-goat. She can often be seen laying down the law for some of the younger goats and always grabs the best branch for herself. She a ravenously huge fan of fir trees and is happiest when she is roaming freely through the woods munching the bark off hemlocks and gobbling down pine needles fresh from the trees.

Grace is a great milker and is as patient as they come for those who are new to milking, like myself. Before August 1st, I had never milked an excuse, let alone a goat. Grace was as calm and easy-going as ever unlike some of our more temperamental goats, which will be featured in further "Get to Know Your Goat" posts.

Grace has brought numerous happy healthy kids to the farm and hopefully will continue to do so for years to come.

Freed from the O-Chem Vortex.

2011-08-21T15:10:00.000-04:00

Apologies for not updating for about a month. I blame the Organic Chemistry Vortex. Organic Chemistry II turned out to be way more of an epic time suck than Organic Chemistry I. I would start doing homework problem sets and slip into the O-Chem Vortex. Upon emerging, generally in a at least slightly cranky mood, I would find that even though it felt like about 45 minutes had passed, in fact, it had been four hours.

Somehow, I survived a semester's worth of O Chem II and managed an A-. An now it's over, I have a week of "break" from classes and start Biochem, Physics and my O Chem Lab a week from tomorrow.

As usual, we've been busy on the farm. Last month, we sold some goats for the first time. Frosty and Ferdinand, two of Grace's kids from this year moved down to Lebanon.

We drove them down in the back of the wagon.

Getting accustomed to their new home.

And their new family.

Frosty and Ferdinand are helping out with clearing back the edges of the field at their new home. We've got our boys working on that as well.

I didn't get an "after" shot of this exact location yet, but the boys are serious about clearing brush. We almost can't move the fence fast enough to keep up with them! After the goats are finished in an area, we've started to move the pigs onto it to let them root everything up. We started by cutting down the trees that the goats couldn't reach, but in the latest move, we're going to try putting some corn down holes staked in near the bases of the saplings to see how much rooting up the pigs will do to get the corn.

I've had a little bit of time to work on actualizing my dream (i.e. working on the outdoor bathtub/shower).

After placing the concrete pour frame, we filled it with rocks to help lessen the amount of concrete needed.

Mixing and filling the frame.

The base of the tub, filled with concrete and rocks.

The next step was to frame up and pour the concrete for the firebox. I built the frame. Luckily, Devin wasn't around or else he would have been dismayed by my ghetto style framing. While I was working on this part, I was looking at the illustration of the guy on the "Quickrete" concrete bag:

He's got his safety glasses and leveling board and little shims holding his form in place. I am not this guy.

Checking to see if the frame will line up correctly with the feet on the tub. Measuring tape? Nah.

Placing and pouring the firebox. I had hoped that I would be able to place the tub onto the firebox today, but the concrete is still a little green, so it will have to wait. A google search told me that concrete continues to harden for years. I learned something.

Another new and exciting and important development in Flying Goat news is the arrival of our first ever apprentice/business organizer/friend. Ari, a friend of Devin's and mine from high school recently finished her service in the Peace Corps in Ghana. After decompressing for a couple of weeks and visiting family, she came down to the farm. The arrival of another set of hands is extremely welcome. We've actually been eating real dinner on a fairly regular basis since her arrival, which has basically been unheard of this summer.

Makin' dinner

Milkin' goats

Makin' cheese

Makin' pickles

Yay Ari!

During our team meeting today, we talked about Ari doing some posting on this blog to help keep things flowing. Expect to hear from her soon...

toasty.

2011-07-22T16:36:00.000-04:00

So the top end of the thermometer outside the kitchen window is flexing muscles it didn't even know it had today.

Many people retreat to the beach or lake or to an air conditioned mall or movie theatre when the temps spike this high. Not the case for us... The priority for us when the heat and humidity hit this hard are keeping the animals comfortable as best as we can...

The piggies got their kiddie pool today.

The goats also got two new fans going in the barn, and the big girls are getting spritzed with a water spray bottle every so often.

Everyone is laying low and trying to conserve energy. Well, maybe not Calder, who is kind of like what I imagine a hot, cranky toddler would be like- pestering everyone, then just laying down and dozing.

The little goats seem to take the heat a little better than the big girls. Maybe something to do with their volume to surface area ratio...

Poor Satchmo takes it the worst of all, though. Even with a cool dip in the outdoor tub (not finished, but still able to hold water from the hose!), the poor guy is just laying wherever he can find a semi-cool spot...

The temps are supposed to break Saturday night or Sunday, the last I heard. I look forward to being able to sleep in my own bed again, instead of the basement....

The Outdoor Bathroom Part I: We always get way more serious about projects than I expect.

2011-07-10T17:28:00.006-04:00

For a good long while, I have dreamed of a fabulous outdoor bathing facility. I hope to make those dreams a reality this summer. Like I needed something else to do.

The impetus for this project came in the form of an ad on craigslist for a free cast iron bath tub. Unfortunately, someone beat me to the free one, but I did manage to get one from another fellow who delivered the thing all the way from Portland. It's pretty

sweet:

Devin was finally somewhat on board with this project since he didn't have to move the tub. We also have our old hot water heater tank that was replaced by the instant propane one last fall which will serve as the solar heated water source for the tub and shower. The tub will also be alternatively heated by a wood fire in colder weather.

I am way excited about the outdoor shower, and even Devin is starting to say, after a day of farm work and throwing hay, "Outdoor Shooowwweeerrrr!" I will try to take more photos as our work progresses, but here's what we've got so far.

This is the location of the Future Outdoor Shower:

It's near to the corner of our deck. This photo was taken after I had started to dump a bunch of rocks from the garden and dump them in there for drainage, and also cut back the forsythia and evergreen shrubs.

After throwing some rocks around and building the frame for the concrete pour for the base of the tub. The tub will be placed to the left side of the rectangle in this photo, and the firebox and chimney will be an extension of the rock wall behind it. The hot water heater tank will be hoisted into the tree, painted black and plumbed into the shower head and possibly the tub as well from the hose tap at the rear of the house. Everything will be set up to drain out for the winter. Once the masonry and tank are in place, the final touches will be some kind of wooden decking around the tub and shower area, and perhaps some plants and solar powered christmas lights....

mostly photographic update.

2011-07-10T17:05:00.005-04:00

The big boys and all the kids out to work at clearing brush.

It's really interesting. We've never had kids with such huge (and I mean HUGE), active rumens so early in their lives before. I can only suppose it's because they are eating what goats are meant to eat- forage from the woods. They love it, too, and yell at us a lot if we can't get them out exactly when they want to go.

The pigs are also doing their share of brush clearing. They're also getting plenty big, and quite pushy when it' dinner time.

The pumpkin patch has picked up a lot in the past week or so. This is kind of an old picture. I think we're going to have lots of crazy pumpkins this year! And remember what this looked like a month or two ago after the pigs were on it? Crazy.

My rockin' herb garden.

A rainy day update.

2011-06-23T08:20:00.003-04:00

I have an unexpected day "off." Here's what's been going on:

1) The goats have been put to work. We got another fence set up similar to what the piggies have and the goats are getting to work on fending off the thick growth of the woods. It's pretty great. Right now, the fence is set up with a little area out on the edge of the yard and most of it going into the trees. There are times when you can look out at the fence and not see any goats at all, but as soon as they hear you, they all come running out of the trees. When they're working on the trees, you can see the tops move around as they pull on the branches underneath. It reminds me of Jurassic Park, it's pretty fabulous. I've been trying to get a video of them coming out of the woods, but it's really hard to sneak up on them...

2) Last weekend, we had to move a tree that had fallen over into the area we wanted to move the pigs onto. Devin fired up the chainsaw and sawed the trunk into manageable pieces and we started to move them. I looked up to the pig run and saw that they had blasted through the fence and taken off. Scared by the chainsaw. Devin freaked out and went directly into the woods calling, "pig pig pig!" I, having probably had more experience "catching" escaped animals, set the fence back up (where was he going to put them if he did get them back?) and went to the barn to get some grain. I walked into the woods and just over a little hill were the pigs all next to each other. When they saw me and heard the grain, they started making their little "barrumm" noises and followed me back to their home. I have to say, though, I did have visions of not being able to get them back and them terrorizing Acton and destroying peoples' gardens, etc.

3) The Summer of O-Chem is interesting. The final for the first "semester" of o-chem is less than a week away. It's not so bad, really, I kind of like the material, but the instructor is not entirely transparent with her grading policy. Vague statements like, "I'll just scale everyone's final grade," are not comforting to someone like me.

4) My herb garden is rocking this year! I have been meaning to take some pics, and when the sun comes back out I will. The pumpkin patch (the area formerly known as the pig run) is also up and going with a variety of pumpkins. We saved some seeds from some fancy varieties that we picked up at a farm stand last year, and they're growing! I'm so excited for Jarrahdale pumpkins.

5) Broiler chicks are gross. They were cute and fluffy like Easter a few weeks ago, but they are huge and partially feathered out now. I've learned that birds just freak me out. These guys are weird. They just want to eat and lay down and eat while laying down. I guess that's what they're made for- growing fast, but they still freak me out.

yep. So that's what's up. Probably more than that, actually, but that's what I've got right now!

Keeping the pigs in.

2011-06-03T16:41:00.005-04:00

So the rain stopped and the sun's been out. As promised, here's a little more info on our pigs' enclosure.

As far as I know, many people don't keep pigs in this way. The typical thing, from what I gather, is to put them in a pen and feed them grain until they go to freezer camp.

Our piggies have a more interesting life than that.

This is what used to be our vegetable garden, what was the pig yard for about a week, and what will become the pumpkin patch probably tomorrow. You can see the "pig-click" fence and the solar charger in this photo. The fence is a large opening net with the posts attached. You stick it in the ground, plug it in and it's done. Pretty much rocks. The pigs respect it and I still am amazed at the little solar suitcase that zaps.

This is the little suitcase. It has two clips, the red one you can see attached to the fence, and the black one that you can kind of see above the charger attached to the ground rod. This is what's inside:

I don't know how it works. But it does. It's like magic that keeps the pigs in.

This picture was taken shortly before we moved the fence this afternoon. The piggies had pretty much rototilled the whole garden and were starting to get bored. You can tell if they're bored, because when they see you, they come over and start squawking. We shut them in their little pig hut and moved the fence to the area behind the garden. There's some old compost pile and old manure pile back there. It's like piggie Disney Land, apparently.

My experience is that busy animals are happy animals. These guys take their work very seriously. It has been really cool watching them learn how to root around and dig stuff up. I'm sure they were born in some mass-production barn somewhere in Canada, and had probably never been on dirt for any length of time. They have learned how to root up the acorns and chow down on the vegetation. They get their forage supplemented with organic grain and plenty of whey from our cheesemaking. I think they're pretty happy.

wow. what happened? (in a good way)

2011-05-19T16:04:00.002-04:00

This is a probably slightly silly, rambling, semi-introspective/reflective post. You've been warned.

So yesterday, I went to pick up the newest additions to the farm. (I feel like I say that a lot lately.) Four piggies are out in the garden. We've been planning on getting them for a while, because they are an ideal receptacle for whey and experimental cheeses gone awry all going towards the ultimate goal of Christmas brunch. I drove the trailer (a first for me) and deposited the pigs in their pen, an easily movable electric net fence with attached poles and a self contained solar charger. It's a pretty sweet set up, I think. I'll do pictures someday when it stops raining and the blackflies are over. I went into the barn for something and had a sudden moment of "Wait a second. What? There are pigs now? This is seriously crazy. How did this happen?" All in a good way of course.

I never would have predicted the way things are right now. 20-something goats in the barn? Yummy cheese and milk? Delivering little baby goats? Goats, period? Using livestock as land management? I'm lucky enough to experience all of this? How come? I guess I'll take it and enjoy it.

This spring has been completely insane with kids coming, and working, and taking classes, and starting new farmers' market, and making crazy decisions like getting four pigs when we never have had them before and know nothing about them, and having 7 hours of sleep be the generous side of normal, and working and being on the go from 5:00AM to 8:00 or 9:00 or 10:00PM lately. There have been days when Devin and I have both been exhausted and just going, "Why? Why are we doing this again? No one in their right mind does this."

But then there are days like today, when things are good, even if it's been raining. The goats are happy and healthy and making lots of milk. Ruth's pregnancy was checked and confirmed by the vet this afternoon. (We'd been worried that she was late, but now have it figured out.) The pigs are learning how to be pigs and root around in the dirt and eat everything. The female guinea hen is sitting on her nest. The dogs make me laugh. I had the day to catch up on stuff. And I feel amazingly thankful for all of this. Stressful moments and all.

Rainy's kidding

2011-05-15T11:08:00.002-04:00

Rainy was a rock star this year. Even if she did give us three bucks.

Still waiting on Ruth....

it's only 9:00AM

2011-05-08T09:06:00.006-04:00

and I get to see all this. feeling very full of thanks this morning.

a rather stressful past couple of weeks...

2011-04-30T17:26:00.005-04:00

... and I'm glad they are over.

Today is the first day in the past couple of weeks I've had to regroup and feel like I have a second to catch up on stuff I haven't had a chance to get to. Like writing an update!

The major stress in the past 10-14 days has been worrying about Gracie. She seemed to be doing well after kidding, but a few days in, she popped up a high temperature. I started her on a round of penicillin and checked in with our goat vet who said to give her a little bit to see if it was helping and call if it didn't seem to be. I was on the phone with her the next day because Gracie's temp was still in the uncomfortably high range. After talking with the doctor, I gave her some pain medication to make her more comfortable, and said that either Devin or I would come down to pick up a different antibiotic. Of course, this same evening, I had been planning on studying for a chemistry exam the next morning. That I would get any studying done seemed increasingly unlikely as right after evening chores, Beatrix went into active labor.

Bea did a great job. I helped her a little bit with the first guy who had both feet sticking out, but one elbow bent backwards next

to his head, making it a very tight squeeze out for mom. The next little feet poked out almost immediately. I was a little worried because the feet sticking out were rear feet, but Bea pushed the second buckling out on her own and immediately started cleaning him up.

I was very relieved that her labor was relatively quick and straightforward and that she had beautiful healthy babies. After her kids last year were premature and didn't make it, I was happy for her to clean her little guys up and see that they were fine.

Devin picked up the antibiotics and we administered them that night. Graces temp began to fall and she started eating and drinking normally.

Due to some confusion about drug instructions, though, we didn't give Grace the full run of antibiotics at first. This had me back on the phone with a very patient and helpful Dr Mailhot who said to keep watching her and worry and call again if she stopped eating and drinking and making a ton of milk, all of which she was doing despite her higher than normal temperature. Grace finished the full run of antibiotics a couple of days ago, and seems to be doing well.

And as though we didn't have enough going on, Devin and I added another member to the household this past week. Last Saturday I picked up our new dog, another vizsla. Devin took one look at him and immediately named him Calder. (<- Google image search link to help with the name.) It's definitely an adjustment to have another dog, and it's been fun this week to see him get used to his new home and family and extended family in the barn. He is a smarty-pants, fearless, and hilarious.

Today we had our last farmers' market meeting before the start of the market next week. We also located and reserved some piglets, cleaned the barn, Devin replaced the vacuum pump on the wagon, and talked with another farmers' market vendor about going in on some broiler chickens.

The female guinea hen has begun to lay eggs in the coop and seems to be getting ready to sit on them! Hopefully we might have some little keets soon.

It turned out to be a beautiful day.

today in pictures

2011-04-17T17:19:00.007-04:00

yay! I got a camera!

Gracie's triplets. She surprised me again! The light brown kid and the little guy facing left with the white belt are both bucks and the little black doe is on the left, Prudence. Devin has started calling the brown guy Mr Frosty. I told him that sounds like a bad comic book villain.

Sadie and Dorothy's bucking, who we've started calling Ringo, are pretty hard to take photos of as they never stop bouncing around! They are hilarious!

Very glad to report that Rupert's histology report was fine.

Started making cheese yesterday. Here's this season's first round of feta!

On a walk with all the boys....

Satchmo is a happy guy.

Go Spring Go!

2011-04-10T10:29:00.003-04:00

I'm starting to feel slightly optimistic that spring might actually be here. When we had a sudden snow storm with 8 inches of wet heavy snow a little over a week ago, lost power for a little while, and the plow truck started acting possessed, I was getting ready to tear my hair out.

But this week looks promising! The patch of exposed grass in front of the house is getting a little bigger each day, the garden is peeking out from under the snow and the volunteer herbs are trying to grow. The guinea fowl are venturing about and picking the exposed bits of ground and probably eating bugs before they even get to stretch their wings. Kids are on the ground- Dorothy and Elaine gave birth to one buckling and one doeling, respectively, on March 29th. It will be easy to remember the birthday of Flying Goat Farm's Sexy Sadie because she shares it with me! Her mom, Elaine, has turned out to be a stellar dairy doe- she's got the routine down, has a beautiful, productive udder and is right back to her sassy self.

Gracie's due date is Thursday this week. She's ready to have her belly lightened, and I expect Bea to kid within a week or ten days as well. Not sure about Ruth... She's going to surprise us again, I think. Very excited that all kidding will be finished before the end of May this year!

We're also getting ready for another new addition to the farm: a vizsla puppy from Busch Farms. This is the same place that Rupert came from. Rupert just turned 8 about a week ago, it's hard to believe. He also had a relatively minimal surgery last week for removal of a lump with some suspicious cells in it. He is recovering well, and we should expect to see the histology repost in the next week or so. I'm hoping that we'll get a good report.... Rupert is a good, Good Dog, and we expect him to train his new little brother to be the same.

Devin has hopes to bird hunt with the new pup. Neither of us knows much about bird hunting, but we have started doing our homework. It's pretty interesting to read the training articles. It has made us think that Rupert will probably pick up a lot of this stuff too!

Farmers' markets will be starting up next month! Where does the time go?! In addition to the Sanford Farmers' Market, this year, we have been invited to join the North Berwick Farmers' Market. We have heard nothing but good things about the NBFM, which is on Friday afternoons at the North Berwick Town Hall, so we are excited to join them.

Also in the works this spring are plans to run some pigs. We plan to use them, in conjunction with our goats to work on some land management stuff around the farm, as well as a nice receptacle for all of our whey. Very excited for whey- and acorn-fed pork to grace our table at the end of the season.

I've felt like a bit of a slacker with the updating of the blog and facebook lately, and have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it's because my camera died last fall.... I will plan to replace it this week and be less irresponsible about updates. Plus, pictures just make these posts more interesting.

Sounds like this time last year.... The Waiting Game....

2011-03-18T17:51:00.002-04:00

Waiting For Kids: The Game.

Though, I must say, I am very glad Elaine decided to wait until after my rush of exams were over this week... So I'm guessing maybe she'll decide Sunday is a good day, because our presence is requested at a family get together....

Other thoughts today:

~ At work on Tuesday, I was working "in the front." Answering the phone, taking the money, getting rabies certificates, etc. A client called, and told me about what was up with his dog. I told him that the best thing would be to get her in the next day, and she would need to stay the day. He needed to leave for work earlier than we were open, so he said he would call back if he could figure out how to get her in. I was not terribly optimistic that the dog would be in. But! I found out today that she came in on Wednesday and got everything taken care of! I was so glad to hear! Good feeling.

~ The snow is rapidly disappearing. This is very very very exciting to me. While there is still a solid foot just on the lawn, the giant banks along our driveway and to the sides of the barn are getting smaller and smaller.

~ This past week of exams went ok, I think. I know I made one really stupid mistake on my chem test, and I'm pretty annoyed at myself about it.... My calc test came back at an 88, which still has me with an A- average in there, and I feel pretty good about my bio lab and lecture exams. I nailed the essay question about fungi. ;^)

I'm on "Spring Break" this coming week. So, basically, my week will consist of Kid Watch 2011, and catching up on online calculus lectures.

Yep. We're ready for Spring now.

2011-03-10T18:27:00.002-05:00

So I just dumped it on the ice while carrying buckets out to the goats. I'm pretty well set with winter now, thanks. Bring on the warm, please.

Goat News:

Elaine should kid within the next week. Over the past week or so, her body has completely changed shape, it's crazy. I'm hoping for little kids all lined up to dive right out.

We're planning on getting a camera in the barn that we can access online as well for kidding season. This will be private for Devin and I until the kids come, then we might see about setting up a live "Kid Cam" that will be public online to see what the little buggers are up to.

Put in 100 bales of primo second cut last weekend. The goats are loving it.

School News:

I got my GRE done over February break, and just got my scores today, 1230 on math/verbal and 4.5 on analytical writing. Not bad, in the "acceptable" range, from what I'm getting comparing my scores to other vet school applicants online. I will debate taking it over, maybe once I see how organic chemistry goes this summer...

Class grades right now are still in the "A" range, though my second Calc B test may have knocked me down a little- I'm definitely not a fan of the number e and improper integrals. This coming week I have a Chemistry exam (thermodynamics=cake), and two Biology exams- one in lab and one in lecture on fungi and plants. I can't wait to get into animals in Bio- mollusks, arthropods, annelids. Rock.

Farm News:

First farmers' market meeting was last weekend. Hoping for an awesome season, and feeling better about how there won't be kids in July this year, we should have ample stock of cheese all set to go by the time market gets going.

A tentative plan for this season is to not grow a garden (except some herbs) and grow pigs instead. Nom nom nom.

Okay? So Snow, time to get outta here!

Guinea Fowl are Dumb in Winter.

2011-02-16T19:37:00.004-05:00

Some may recall that a few years back, we had some insane guinea fowl who spent close to three weeks in the trees during a substantial snow storm and sub zero temperatures. We eventually gave those birds away because they would not stop harassing Lucy and Igor, but it seems like there's always one that feels the need to spend some time in the trees in the middle of winter.

This time it was just one bird by itself- one of the younger ones we got as chicks in the summer of '09. We learned from our first guinea-fowl-not-coming-down-from-trees experience that there's nothing we can do. Harassing them and trying to get them down will just make them fly higher. They are rugged birds and will stay up there till they are either ready to come down, or too exhausted to stay up there any longer. So this guy had been up in the trees since at least two weeks ago, we think.

Devin was taking the trash out after dinner tonight and called me to come help right now. I freaked out a little and rushed over. The poor guinea bird was slowly hobbling around the driveway towards the barn. We donned our boots and coats and went out to help. We caught him in the barn and put him back in the cook with the other guineas, but not before noticing a blood trail and feathers in the driveway. When we caught him, the source of the blood was the neck, but appeared to have stopped flowing. When we put him in the coop, the other birds immediately started harassing him. This always blows my mind about birds- they are so mean to each other! I'm not sure if the blood was getting them riled up, but since it's goat bedtime, we opted to let the recovering bird stay in the hayloft tonight with its own water and food. We're just glad he's safe in the barn now.

In retrospect, Satchmo may have been trying to tell us that a predator was around earlier this evening. Satchmo is not a barker, but went off twice earlier tonight. We've got to learn to pay better attention to our boys sometimes!

the winter calm part ii: school etc update.

2011-01-12T10:19:00.003-05:00

So fall term ended in mid December, and spring classes start (for me) next Wednesday. This is kind of a long break for me, and it's difficult to slow down and try to relax a little, as one of the doctors at work said I should...

I rounded out the semester with A's in all my sciences and an A- in Calculus A. I was surprised as hell to pull of an A- in calc. I studied and practiced my butt off, though, so I guess it paid off. I have the same round of courses lined up for this coming term: Bio 2 with lab, Chem 2 and Chem 2 lab, and Calc B, which I will actually be taking online. I'm hoping that my schedule will be a little less stressful this term because all of my on campus classes are finished by 1:00 in the afternoon, and then I can come home. This will certainly help stress levels once kidding time comes.

Working at Great Brook is going well. I'm learning stuff every day, for sure, and starting to feel a little more confident with the newer stuff like drawing blood and monitoring surgeries. The surgery monitoring thing is kind of a big deal for me, in that the blood and guts factor is something that I thought might be an issue for me. It was the thing that always made me disregard the veterinary path possibility when I was in high school and undergrad for sure. Yesterday, there were three routine surgeries, a dog neuter, a dog spay, and a cat spay. (Or I suppose I should be better about using the terms: canine castration, canine OVH and feline OVH.) I helped to prep all of the animals and monitor the surgeries, and did so without feeling woozy. I was a little concerned about the cat OVH from the start, because when I lifted her to put her on the scale when admitting her in the morning, I thought her belly felt a little... pregnant... It turned out she was... kind of sad... but at the same time, it's definitely sad how many cats are in the shelter right now, too, and she doesn't need to add to that!

In other vet school prep news, I put in a volunteer application for the Marine Animal Research Center at the University of New England. I'm kind of excited about the prospect of assisting with the lab stuff there and possibly getting to see some baby seals close up! Being a little light about it, but I really hope to be able to put some time in there- it looks very cool!

I feel like there was other stuff I wanted to document, but that's all that's coming right now. I'm going to put in some work on the puppy book project that I started for GBAC. It's lookin' pretty good, if I do say so myself...

the winter calm part i: farm update

2011-01-12T09:13:00.002-05:00

(I'm actually going to split posts today into two separate ones- one about the farm, and one about other stuff- school etc)

Things finally got a little quieter right before Christmas. We milked for almost 2 months longer this year than we did last year. It's nice for everyone to have a break, I think!

All the girls have been dried off now, and all six ladies who are of age have been bred. We decided to dry off Ruth and Rain earlier than originally planned, and Rain was bred by our new buck Nostradamus. Ruth, just like last year, is being super mysterious. We never hand bred her, but she never showed outwards signs of heat either! Last year, it was very obvious when she was ready. But there was one day when we left Nos' out with the boys and all the ladies of age. At that point, we didn't think anyone was interested in being bred, but we weren't going to cry if they did. So we're guessing that maybe Ruth and Nos' took care of business that day. We'll be expecting the first rounds of babies in mid-March from Dorothy (who is getting bigger already!), Elaine (who is a little mysterious, too), and Bea (who didn't want to stop with the milking! She was the hardest to dry off for sure!).

A thought that is always present lately is where Flying Goat Farm is going to go over the next few years. If money were no object, we'd be taking steps to purchase some land behind our house (have already spoken with the owners about the possibility), and be looking at putting up a new barn that will eventually house a Grade A dairy facility. It is difficult to figure all this stuff out, with me being in school most of the time now, and not having nearly the income I was from teaching, and also knowing that in a couple of years, I will be gone to school full time amassing a huge gob of debt. This past year was great for the farm. Devin made great connections with local restaurants and developing and perfecting the Bloomy Goat cheese was huge. The restaurants loved it, and it could be a big thing for the future. Those are positive signs, but, probably at least partly because we are still new to this, it is so difficult to predict what the next year will bring...

A friend came over last weekend to take some photos of our cheeses so I can update the website. I will try to make some progress on that today since I'm snowed in...

Hey!- Hay!

2010-11-23T07:58:00.003-05:00

The goats of Flying Goat Farm (and the humans) would like to send a warm thank you to Great Brook Animal Care for sponsoring ten bales of hay! Thank you thank you thank you!

Great Brook Animal Care is located in Lebanon, Maine, and is where I've been working part time to learn as much vet stuff as I possibly can before taking the plunge and applying to vet school. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to work with such knowledgeable, experienced and supportive people!

Check out Great Brook on their website or add them on Facebook to keep up to date! Or if you're looking for a vet in the area, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them!

2010-11-14T12:42:00.002-05:00

I'm going to procrastinate just a little bit before I buckle down to do my calculus homework and write an update!

Last week, our veterinarian called to give the new goats a clean bill of health. Yesterday, new room arrangements were made; Bea is now in with the young buck, Nostradamus, and the two other yearlings. We're pretty sure that Nos has already taken care of Elaine and Dorothy (the other little girls) and Bea is due to be ready for breeding this week.

The advantages to having a nice little buck in the barn are more and more apparent the longer we keep him- and it's only been what, a month?! This morning when I was milking Grace, I noticed her tail looked a little wet- a sign she could be ovulating or getting ready to do so. But I knew that Nos would know for sure. Sure enough, we let the two out, and she stood right still for him and he couldn't leave her alone! Unfortunately for those two, Grace just took a quick trip up to Denmark for a breeding to Ram's Farm's Casablanca. She was definitely ready, fingers crossed we won't have to bring her back in three weeks. Right now, it's hilarious- Grace is back out in the paddock with the herd, and Nos is on the outside of the fence, desperate to get in. We can't let him in right now because of the little doelings and we also don't want to have to DNA test to see who's Gracie's babies belong to!

Nos just hangs out when the herd is in the paddock. He'll hang around the girls, then come over to see what we're up to, and stroll over to the woods to grab a snack of leaves or pine needles. He's a sweet little guy.

In other news, we're drying off Grace and Bea right now, and will continue to milk Rain and Ruth. Cheese has still been regularly going to restaurants. We're starting to communicate with the restaurants about our dry period which is coming up.

We've also been experimenting with cheesecake. Devin made a delicious pumpkin cheesecake with our chevre last week, and hopefully (when he finishes fixing the car!) he might have time to make some more this week. I will try to take pictures before we eat them. These will make great Thanksgiving or Christmas desserts, and we will be able to accept payment online via paypal and ship within the state.

Calculus calls.....

epic update.

2010-10-31T17:19:00.002-04:00

Due to the fact that life is crazy, this is an epic update, presented in list form because narrative would be too long and no one would ever want to read all that. I can't believe that tomorrow is November.

1) Flying Goat Farm wrapped up our farmers' market season on Columbus Day weekend. Thanks to all of our summer customers for making the Sanford Farmers' Market season awesome!

2) Also on Columbus Day weekend, we participated in the Maine Cheese Guild's Open Creamery Day for the first time. It was great to meet new people and talk goats and cheese all morning! I think we'll definitely be "in" for Creamery Day next year.

3) If you need a Flying Goat Cheese fix, our cheeses are now for sale at New Morning Natural Foods in Kennebunk, Maine. We're working on getting some more retail outlets with the farmers' market being done for the year. You can also contact us at flyinggoatfarm (at) gmail (dot) com with your cheese needs. We try to be as flexible as we can right now, and can ship within the state (preferably UPS as it will get there next day), or try to arrange pick up in southern Maine.

4) We plan to be making cheese through December this year. We'll be slowing down in the next few weeks from cheese every day to cheese every other day because we're drying off Grace and Bea to get ready for pregnancy. Some people continue to milk through the first month or two of pregnancy, but we feel better about all the energy going to the brand new baby goats! Rain and Ruth are still cranking a solid gallon each every day, so we will have fresh cheese, yogurt, etc for the holidays this year!

5) Also, if you're out and about for dinner in Southern Maine and New Hampshire, you can have a taste of Flying Goat Cheeses at Bandaloop, Federal Jack's, and the Cape Arundel Inn, all in Kennebunkport, Smooth-Ahh-Licious in Sanford, and coming this week to the Sea Dog Brew Pub in South Portland. In Portsmouth, NH, you can get some of our feta on the menu at Pesce Blue. It has been a pleasure to work with these chefs and share the passion for food and cheese with them. Federal Jack's put together an amazing seasonal local menu this fall, and it's very exciting to be part of it! Smooth-Ahh-Licious makes a mean smoothie and other yummy treats, and will be opening a new location in Kennebunkport in time for Prelude.

6) As I mentioned above, we will have fresh cheese through the holidays, so be sure to get in touch if you would like any Flying Goat Cheese or bread for your holiday festivities. We're working on some extra special holiday goodies which we will update on as soon as they're out of the oven. Totally in the experimental stage right now.

7) Goat update: Devin and I went out on a limb this fall and have purchased two yearling does and a young buck from Valley View Farm. The new goats are currently separated from our full herd pending some bloodwork. They've already been cleared for TB and Brucellosis, but we sent some blood out to check for CAE before allowing them contact with our other animals. Results should be in this week, I believe. The Valley View herd is a closed herd and she has been running a large herd of Nubians for almost twelve years, without any issues or positive results of CAE, so risk is minimal, but we like to be as sure as we can.

8) I have returned to school this fall, and am taking a full time course load (12.5 credits) at USM to complete my pre-reqs for veterinary school. Right now, I've got Bio and a Bio Lab, Chem and a Chem Lab, and Calc A. I have also resigned from the part time teaching position I had accepted at the beginning of the summer to return to Great Brook Animal Care. I was excited to return last week and the plan is to continue working there part time while fulfilling my pre-vet credits over the next couple of years.

9) Happy Halloween from Flying Goat Farm!!!

craziness.

2010-08-05T10:03:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it's August. The summer is/has been flying by. We have been ridiculously busy, and I really shouldn't be taking as long as I'm probably going to end up taking with writing this blog. There are errands to run and granola to make.

August always feels, to me, like summer is coming to an end. School will be starting in a few weeks. Ack! I will be teaching two days a week in SAD 55. It seems like another world right now. I have been so focused on the goats and animals and vet stuff this summer, the idea of teaching just seems surreal.

I have been working 20 or so hours per week at a small animal clinic not too far from home this summer. I have learned so much, and I'm so glad to have had the opportunity. I get excited just thinking about all the stuff I'm going to learn this fall going back to school! The doctors I've worked for this summer know so much stuff. I want to be that knowledgeable. ;^) And I'm excited for it. I can't wait to know all that stuff.

I'm also really kind of scared and freaked out. This is kind of a big deal. I spent a bunch of time and money and energy becoming a teacher. And now I'm going to spend a TON more time and energy and money doing something else? This is totally a big deal for me. Devin keeps telling me to not worry about it and we will make it work. I believe that. But I also believe it sure as hell is not going to be easy.

I have been talking with one of the doctors at work about vet school stuff over the past couple of days. She went to Tufts and has been telling me about her experience with applying and getting in, etc. It's intimidating. Just like looking at student profiles of the accepted class for this year is intimidating. I may be completely insane.

It's always nerve wracking when I start something new. I'm kind of worried about whether these classes I'm hoping to take this fall kick my butt or not. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Anyway. Sorry for the rambling. Must go get stuff done!

farm update.

2010-07-27T07:50:00.003-04:00

woooeee!

Have we been busy around here! Just a quick update and some photos right now- there are some bunnies in the barn that need a serious blowing and brushing!

The garden looks completely out of control, I know, but there are actually very few weeds, and, for the most part, everything is growing!

working on a dyeing job...

Norah Brontosaura is a hoot! She was trying to get everyone all riled up in the paddock this morning. I love putting the goats out all together and watching them interact. The triplets really seems to like going out.

Grace wants everyone to know she's still in charge, though...

Kidding Round Up.

2010-07-08T16:47:00.005-04:00

Kidding season has come to a close at Flying Goat Farm. Thank goodness. Everyone seems to be doing well.

Rain delivered triplets on the 4th of July to the sounds of lake parties and fireworks. We got two does and one buck from her. The does have been named Libby and Abby, short for Liberty and for Abigail Adams. We're calling the buck Indy, for Independence. Rain's delivery was a little bit hairy and I had to go on a fairly substantial fishing expedition to get the kids out in a safe way for mom. Abby was first, and she was crooked, backwards, and way down in the uterus. I had a moment of panic when I felt a kid part, but couldn't identify it to save my life. After freaking out for a few minutes, and a few minutes of Rain pushing the kid around inside her, I went in and maneuvered the rear end of the baby around so she could come out rear feet first. Indy came next. I'm always surprised by how much bigger the bucks are than the does, and it always kind of freaks me out when I feel how big their feet are. He was proper presentation and plopped right out. Libby was last, and she's the littlest of the bunch. She had her body facing forward, but her head was turned back facing her rear. I had to pull her head around to face the front so she could come out safely. Everyone was all tangled up! Rain is on a round of antibiotics to make sure that anything I introduced by fishing around inside her is not going to cause infection, and she is already making her standard gallon of milk per day.

Ruth kidded in the very early morning hours of July 7th. On the 6th, my mom was awesome enough to come down and help with the Goat Labor Vigil, as I started to refer to it as. Mom helped with the night checks and her first check was at 2:00AM. I had last been in the barn at 11:00PM. Mom woke Devin and I up at 2:00AM to tell us that there was a little goat next to Ruth! She had gotten the first kid out all on her own, and cleaned him up and everything! I was very impressed! I felt her belly and felt that there was likely another baby, so I checked her out a little bit and she gave us another doe! I was very impressed with Ruth because I have also been present at kidding her mother and grandmother. Both of them are ridiculous. Ruth's mom is known to sit on her bottom while in labor. Ruth's twins are big! I'm calling the doe Evey, and we haven't named the buck yet.

With a very late end to our kidding season, I am extremely relieved for it to be over! The plan is to milk Rain and Ruth through December or maybe even January, give them next spring and summer off and breed them again in the Fall of 2011. Bea and Grace will be bred as usual for Spring 2011. The four doe kids we got from the girls will be kept in the Flying Goat Farm herd and also bred in Fall 2011.

the Waiting Game...

2010-07-04T09:48:00.003-04:00

Happy Fourth of July!

It's been a hectic month or so, and I've been really bad about updating the blog. Sorry.

Devin and I are celebrating the Fourth by waiting for Rain and Ruth to squeeze out some kids. We are looking forward to having our extended kidding season be finished and hope to never have July kidding again! The current plan is to milk Rain and Ruth through December or possibly even January, then give them the spring and summer of 2011 off, with their next breeding being in fall 2011.

We've been enjoying going to the farmers' market every week and seeing new faces and familiar ones as well! We've had a fairly nice ratio of cheese produced to cheese sold at market since market started in May, but with the freshening of two more does, we will be looking forward to expanding the availability of Flying Goat Cheese within the next few weeks.

Expect updates shortly when the waiting game is over!

and the farm keeps on keepin' on.

2010-06-09T20:03:00.002-04:00

It has been a weird week.

One week ago, I was insanely stressed out because of Bea's premature labor signs. Last Wednesday night sucked, to put it bluntly.

But we keep on doing chores twice a day, and going to farmers' market once a week, and work and school and dog runs and all that stuff.

Bea is nearly back to what I would call normal. Well, normal for an insanely spoiled and typically vocal Nubian doe. And to look on the bright side of things, she freshened beautifully. Her milk output is getting a little bigger every day- I'm wondering if she'll out-produce Grace on her first freshening. Her udder is so soft, and despite her teeny first-freshening teats, it's fairly easy to milk her. She still hasn't mastered the jump onto the milking stand, but is getting a little better and more relaxed each time. She's eating like a champ now, and stands still for milking even if she finishes before I do. Her temperature has been normal for the past couple of days, and she's been off any antibiotics, extra B-vitamin complex and banamine since Sunday, I believe.

Roughly 25 days till Rain and Ruth are due.

It isn't always all sunshine and rainbows and kittens and unicorns.

2010-06-05T19:08:00.002-04:00

ugh. Sometimes having animals is super stressful.

To get right to the point, our youngest doe, Bea, kidded prematurely early Thursday morning. I noticed that her udder had bagged up really fast on Wednesday. After dinner, she was laying down, I noticed she had some goo. We checked her hourly that night, and ended up delivering two premature bucks around 2:00 in the morning on Thursday. When we decided that I should go in and check out what was going on, the water had already broken. The two little guys didn't make it.

We'll probably never know for sure what caused her to go into labor early. Something could have happened during the day that could have really stressed her out, Mr T could have been getting too rowdy with her. We just have no way of knowing. It kind of sucks.

But we have to go onwards. And as harsh as it sounds, it's slightly less sucky to lose bucks than does, and it's surely less sucky to lose the kids than the doe.

The past 60 or so hours have been stressful. Bea has been a nutcase. Her hormones have been in overdrive, and since Thursday, she has hardly stopped calling in her "mom voice." She had mostly lost her voice at one point. Last night, she had worked herself into a frenzy, and I think that contributed to her temperature spiking to 105. (I like to see goat temperature under 103.) I gave her some antibiotics and some banamine to help (hopefully) relax her and bring her temp down. It did bring her temp down, but she still didn't relax very much, though she did cut down on the screaming a bit. We managed to get some sleep last night, because there wasn't a screaming goat in the barn. Today, her temp was fairly normal until this afternoon, when it started to go back up. It hasn't gotten quite as high as last night, and has been coming back down since milking, but is still higher than I'd like. I also gave her some B vitamin complex this afternoon, and will give her some more this evening.

I am documenting this event partially to help me remember why I am interested in veterinary school. I hate not knowing the best thing to do for my animals. It's always harder when it's your own animal, too. I talked with Helen for a long time yesterday, and she said we did everything we should have done in this situation, and sometimes bad stuff just happens. It can't always be perfect.

photographic update.

2010-05-31T20:16:00.004-04:00

finished putting in the garden

baby herbs ~ cilantro and dill

Satchmo monitors herb growth

baby goats' new favorite game. run around in circles as fast as possible.

Norah is the leader of the pack.

guineas have a dust bath at the end of a productive day.

Why I Will Shoot the Fox if I Get the Chance. (Caution: This post contains semi-graphic content.)

2010-05-20T18:37:00.005-04:00

Caution: This post contains semi-graphic content. Meaning: I may swear, and there will be blood.

There has been some discussion amongst my family and friends about The Fox. There is a fox or two around in the woods where we live. I don't have a problem with The Fox. Until The Fox comes in and eats four of my guinea fowl including our beloved Lucy. And then proceeds to do some really cocky shit like eat sunflower seeds from the bird feeder not 20 feet away from our front door, and I see it strolling casually behind the house while I rinse my dishes in the morning. This is a Bold Fox. And a big one. And it looks like it's eating well.

The Fox has prevented us from free-ranging our guinea fowl unless we are present on the property. We like to free range our guinea fowl. That's why we have the ridiculous things: So we don't have to put insane chemicals on our house pets or worry as much about getting Lyme disease or any other particularly nasty tick-borne disease.

The dramatic reduction in guinea-free-ranging-hours has resulted in more ticks. More ticks on us, more ticks on the cats, and more ticks on the dogs. With Rupert, it's pretty easy to spot if he's got one of the little blighters on him- he's got hardly any fur at all. With Satchmo, it's a different story. Satchmo's coat is thick. Thick, thick, thick. He's shedding everywhere right now. It's amazing that so much fur can come off of one little dog. The thickness of his coat can sometimes prevent us from catching a tick.

Which brings us to our tale.

I was brining the feta this afternoon, and I left the cheese room to grab my camera and document the first feta of 2010. Satchmo was waiting for me outside the door to the cheese room, as he usually does. I looked down at him and he was covered with blood, all over his face and ear. My first thought was that Rupert bit him. As insane as that may sound to anyone who knows Rupert and Satchmo, that's all I could come up with. How else could he have so much blood on his face? Satchmo was doing the signature Satchmo look of "I did something wrong and I'm in trouble!" which furthered my suspicion that there had been an altercation with Rupert or one of the cats. I called Rupert, and he acted like he had done something wrong as well. (In retrospect, I realize that both dogs were reacting to the tone of my voice which was totally freaked out at finding my little Satchmo covered in blood.)

I took Satchmo up to the bathroom to inspect him and found an engorged tick on his neck right under/next to where his collar lies. It was really gross. I pulled it out. It pulled a piece of Satchmo's flesh with it, and a fair bit of blood started coming out of the hole in his neck. Now, I suppose that Satchmo's body has some kind of allergic reaction to the bite of a tick, because scar tissue had built up around the bite and it seems like the body was trying to get rid of the tick. I've never really seen a tick bite do that on another animal. The Moral of This Story Is: I care more about Satchmo than The Fox, and I will shoot at the damn thing every time I see it, until I don't see it anymore, and I can free-range my birds again.