New Additions to the Herd

We bought 2 new female goats this week, since we lost several females a few months ago. We bought them from a local family that raises dairy cows and goats. Although they don't look like it, the new goats are sisters. Maegan is almost 2 years old, and she has beautiful coloring. She had her first kids last fall, and she is still in milk. Katie is the same age as Remus and Romulus (born last spring), and she looks like R&R too. We were assured that both Maegan and Katie have been bred, so we hope to be milking 4 goats this year. We'd like to increase our milk production so that we can make and sell more goat milk products.

Both Zella and Lily look very pregnant (and like to lie down a lot now). Lily is especially big, and we expect her to kid first this year - probably early next month. Zella and then Katie should not be too far behind, and Maegan should kid in either April or May. Hopefully we can start staggering the breeding more so that we don't have gaps in milking, since the does should be dried off 2 months before kidding. Pete bred Zella and Lily again this year, and a beautiful chestnut spotted buck named Boaz bred Maegan and Katie. We can't wait to see what this kidding season brings!

The human herd is expanding too. :-) I have reached the halfway mark in my pregnancy, and my belly is expanding fast. I gained 7 pounds last month with the help of all the good holiday food. I've been feeling the baby moving around a lot the past few weeks, and I recently discovered that I can feel some kicking from the outside too. Hopefully the baby will do some good kicking sometime soon when his papa is around to feel it too.

-Annie