Applegarth Farm: A curious thing

Monday, September 26, 2011

A curious thing

Joon our black nigerian dwarf goat is getting white spots all over! She's 2 and a half years old, and I think she's always been solid black, until now, you can see a few spots in this picture, but up close, she's getting them all over. I'm not sure what's causing it, but we're kind of watching her new look unfold as more and more appear.

She seems healthy and is eating alfalfa hay, some grass hay, and lots of salmon berry greens. I give her dry cob at feedings, with a sprinkling of black sunflower seeds, along with a handful of alfalfa pellets. All the goats have loose minerals to eat any time they want to. I'm milking her once a day and have been for the last couple months, she seems happy and frisky. We're planning to have her bred the first part of October for kids to be due next March. It will be interesting to see if her spots stay or disappear.

3 comments:

goatgirl said...: That is a curious thing. I've never seen that but you know I like spots:); September 28, 2011 at 4:42 PM
goatgirl said...: BTW I saw Joon's momma at the fair and fell in love with her. When helping Melissa load goats to go home I tried to take her to my car instead. Didn't work:( She was reserve champion and a very lovely doe.; September 28, 2011 at 6:32 PM
Jewel said...: Hi Goatgirl, I like her spots too! I am so happy to hear that her mom Extra Pennies was reserve champion. She is tiny, beautiful, and has such a nice personality, plus she has a real nice udder:)
(Only goat people would talk like that.) I'm hoping for the good gentetics to follow in her grandaughters.; September 29, 2011 at 9:28 PM

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Our goal here at Applegarth Farm is to raise children that play in the woods and gardens, and know where their food comes from. To feed the animals and care for their young, to gather eggs, and milk goats, to eat fruit off of trees, and berries from the bushes that we grow, and to eat from the gardens. We are working towards, and teaching them to be as self sufficient as best we can.

With the economy in the state it is, our plan has become even more important. Being able to live on less is one of our goals. Working from home, or close to home is another goal, and growing and harvesting most of our food is a big goal we've been working towards.

We live in a handbuilt home, our heat comes from the firewood we cut, and cooking is often done right on our woodstove. We grow a lot of our own food, and are building our home slowly with cash for materials, and the time to work on it. All of the buildings have been built over the years by my husband from trees grown and milled right on our farm, or from salvaged lumber.

The beginning years started here with no electricity or running water, and were lived in a small cabin, slowy building and clearing land. We are still trying to live as self sufficiently as we can. I am a homemaker and work part time in the nursery (plants and trees) business. We are raising children, tending animals, gardening and cooking from scratch.

Some of the topics you will hear about are; gardening, cooking, beekeeping, chickens, rabbits, building and timberframing. Along with some of my adventures in soapmaking, candlemaking, animal husbandry, plus the everyday of what's going on around the farm. Future building projects include a goat barn, a root cellar, and a pizza/bread wood fired oven. Come learn along with us, and share homesteading skills you are learning. I'm looking forward to meeting others that share a similar path that we're on, or simply others who dream of homesteading.