Pumping by hand?

When I first started milking Princess, it was a disaster! She did not want me under there, and would just lay right down on my arms and the milk bucket. NOTHING would convince her to stand up and let me milk! And believe me, I tried everything! We even tried hoisting her up in a sling, but no good. Why bother? Well, my Lucy can only digest the raw goat milk, so if she wants milk, I have to milk...and my only goats in milk right now are Princess and Gidget. That's right, my two wildest goats, lol! Now, Gidget is really, really shy. So shy that after two months of milking, she still runs away from me. But once she's on the stand she is one of the most well-behaved goats I have ever milked! Her udder is nice and smooth and easy to milk. But Princess...what was I going to do? I needed her milk! Suddenly I was hit with a stroke of inspiration. I still have a breast pump (non-electric) which I barely used....would it work with goats? Yes!! It took some fiddling to get it in just the right spot, and definitely needed the extra-suction valve, but once I got going it worked like a charm. Princess stood quietly while I pumped away, she even stopped squatting. It was really slow, only one teat at a time, so it took almost 10 minutes to milk her out, but well worth it. And after about two weeks, we were able to transition to hand milking in to the pail again. She still thinks about laying down on me every now and then, but a few gentle bumps up and she's standing straight again. Yay!

Goat Birth

____Warning!!___These are graphic pictures of a goat giving birth!

Our little blue-eyed Bamboo Acres BP Princess Cruz had her first kidding Tuesday April 28th. She was very cooperative with the photo taking, so we thought we would share...

11:17 a.m.

"Hey! I'm having my babies today!"

The morning started out with lots of crying and laying down, getting back up, pawing...

11:37 a.m.

" I really think I need to push!"

11:41 a.m.

"Look! Isn't that the bubble?"

No, sweetie! It's just goo...we've still got a ways to go...


11:50 a.m.

"Whew! This is taking a long time. I think I need some comforting! Ahhh....Thanks Elsa!"

1:12 p.m.

"Ok, now it's serious! That is the bubble!!"

1:12 p.m.

The bubble bursts - the water breaks...


1:13 p.m.
Here it comes! Two little hooves and the tiny nose (see that little pink tongue?) But the legs are out a little too far so the shoulders are trying to come out with the head...and it doesn't fit! Poor Princess was crying for help so at this point I pushed the little hooves back a bit and helped ease the head out.



1:14 p.m.

The head makes it out...

1:15 p.m.

The first kid is born! A little black and brown doeling....

But wait! What is this?


1:16 p.m.

Another is right on the tail of the first!


1:17 p.m.
And number 2 is born! Wow! Two kids in two minutes. It's the fastest I've ever seen. The second kid is a black and white doeling.


1:24 p.m.
Nine minutes old and the first baby is already trying to stand. Her rear half is still covered in the amniotic sac, but she's not waiting for anything! She did get right up on all fours...and dropped back down again!


1:29 p.m.

Doeling one rests after her first big stand, mom is licking off number two.



1:52 p.m.

"Aren't my babies smart! Only 37 minutes old and they are both standing up and looking for the udder!"

Yes, Princess. They are lovely babies and you did a fine job with your first kidding!

Princess & Gidget

After our success at the county fair in 2008, Jill and I got very excited about developing a nice little herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats. We began searching for a good buck, and came across these two lovely blue-eyed does. Both have strong breeding, and Gidget (the chamoisee) was bred to Princess's sire for May babies. These two does have amazingly wide escutcheons and are refined and elegant.