Playtime for Matthew and Jillian

It has been quite chilly lately and that tends to make us goats frisky. We run around to help warm us up. The other day Jillian and Matthew were running and jumping and butting like crazy goats.

Jillian started by running and leaping on to the spool and then off. The photo is fuzzy because she was moving so fast!

Then she decided to play with Matthew. The two of them often have fun together. They started by butting heads.

Then when Matthew got distracted Jillian bit him! Blue Guy was watching so he was a witness.

Look - you can see her nibbling.

Matthew didn't like this and he cried and Mallory came running.

She got between them and gave Jillian a maaaaing to.

Then Matthew decided to go graze and all was well with the goat world.

I hope you enjoyed watching the goats play.

Tomorrow:  Wordless Wednesday - Crow to the World

Milking Made Easy? Not So Much!

As you all know my rich milk goes into making Happy Goat Soap. It's what makes the soap so special.  Abby's milk goes into it too but if you ask me that's not that important. And now that Jillian and Mallory have milk they are also contributing to the production of the soap. I mean it's only fair; we get a great place to live we need to give something back, right?

Jillian, though, seems to have a bit of trouble with the milking concept. She starts out OK - in fact she looks quite lovely in the milking stand, doesn't she?

But then she does this.

Makes it a bit hard for the publicist to milk her.



She stays like that for a bit and then she stands up. The publicist reaches under her to milk again and then....

Boom, down she goes.


The publicist is frustrated to say the least. It's hard to milk a sitting goat! 
Any suggestions?


Tomorrow: It's AbbyDay!

What is Jillian Up To?

I was wandering around the goat pen and I heard a Maaaaaaaaaa! Hmmmm, I thought, what could that be about?  I followed the sound and I saw Jillian

She was by the mulch pile Maaaaaing away. At first I couldn't figure out why she was calling all of us but then I understood. Apples! Apples in the mulch pile.

Mmmmmm, apples. You know how much we goats love apples. 

The publicist has friends that bring here their windfall apples and some of them get a little too bruised so they have to go in the mulch pile. That doesn't mean we still don't find them yummy.

Jillian must have really wanted an apple that day. She was s t r e t c h i n g to reach those apples, wasn't she?

Well, she thought, maybe if I try this way?

She knew she was being a bad goat and when she felt little Jeffrey behind her she wisely pulled back so as to not teach him bad goat habits.

I think that shows she is a good nanny.

Tomorrow:  Wordless Wednesday

Baby Steps

The little ones are starting to explore the goat pen under the watchful eye of their mother. Jillian is nervous about letting them run around and I understand completely. The chickens are bigger than the kids! So far they haven't bothered the kids. The kids have tried to sniff the chickens but the chickens mostly run away squawking. Silly chickens!  Here you can see Blue Guy crowing about something while Jillian watches closely.

 She is always watching to make sure nothing will hurt the babies. Good nanny!

I have no idea what Jillian is doing here - it looks rather funny, doesn't it?

They are starting to hop and make little jumps but sometimes they go splat. The publicist hasn't gotten any splat photos yet but I am sure she will. It takes a while for their legs to get strong. But all of the exploring they did today will help that happen.

Tomorrow: The New Chicken House

The Kids First Day Out

Goatucation is postponed today because I am sure that you all just want to see more photos of Emily and Jeffrey. Goatucation will return next Monday.

Jillian finally brought the two babies out of the goat house for a walk in the sun. Of course their little legs are still a bit wobbly but they had fun.

I had to go over and check them out, of course. I love the smell of new kid. And of course I still miss my Kevin.

 Jillian is a very watchfull nanny. She doesn't let them wander very far from her yet. That will come in time. I tried to lick the babies but Jillian didn't like that too much.

Doesn't little Emily look like an Oreo cookie?

 

 It is definitely good to have kids on the Farm again. Everyone is happier and there are lots more smiles.  And I am sure you want to know who won the guessing contest!  There were four people who guessed correctly so I put their names in the grain bucket and picked one out. It was hard for me not to eat the paper, but I was good! The winner is:

Anne!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!

But we also have a special prize for AB Home Interiors for guessing that there would be two black and white goats! For indeed there were!

The publicist will be getting in touch with both winners so she can mail you your samples of my rich soap.  Thanks to everyone for playing.


Tomorrow - More kids, what else?!

Mystery Solved!

Yes indeed. The mystery of what exactly Jillian was carrying has been revealed:

 Aren't they just the cutest little kids? Well, I of course  think my Kevin is the cutest kid but these two are adorable.

They were born on September 11th at about 8PM MDT which the publicist and male person really appreciated. That way they weren't up too late waiting for kids.

This doe came first; her name is Emily.

Here is a close up of her little face all cleaned up. She is almost all black except for a white splotch on one side that leads to a ring of white all around her belly.

 

This buck came second; his name is Jeffrey.

 He looks remarkably like Abby's daughter Nora. Michael was Nora's father too.

(This is Nora - you can see Jeffrey more clearly in the photo at the top of the post. The publicist is holding him. He has the same white splotch on his head.)


 Jillian is proving to be a very good nanny. Don't they make a happy family?

Of course there will be lots of pictures in the coming days. And with Mallory due in the next couple of weeks we will be drowning in kids.


So there you have it; Jillian had TWINS - a doe and a buck. I will put all of the right guesses in the grain bucket and pick a winner. I will let you know who won tomorrow! Thanks for playing everyone.

Tomorrow - A winner is named and pictures of the new kids playing.

A Mystery - Is Jillian's Kid a Buck or a Doe Or Could She be Having More Than One Kid?

This is the big question around the Farm right now.  I sure don't know - I am not a fortune teller, I am a goat. Maybe I should ask Reese the cat. She is a ForTuna Teller so I think she can see into the future. Or maybe just into a can of tuna. I am not sure. But it might be a good idea. What do you think?


Jillian was acting a bit anxious yesterday. She was pacing around the pen and looking at the barn.
 

You can see how round she is...

 It can't be long now! Won't it be exciting to have a kid around again?

So I think I will have a little contest here on the blog! Everyone should guess buck or doe. Or even twins! Buck and doe, two bucks, or two does. I will put all of the right choices in the grain bucket and pick a winner. The winner will win a sample size of my rich soap. How about that? Do you think it's a good idea? If you do GUESS - BUCK or DOE. Obviously I will pick the winner after the kid is born and we don't know exactly when that will be!


Tomorrow - Goats of the Corn or New Kid on the Farm. You never know!

Goatucation

I can't believe it is Monday again and time for another Goatucation. But this is a holiday Monday so I want to make sure that all of us Happy Goats wish all of you humans in the US a Happy Labor Day.

So now for our question; it comes to us from The Daily Cute. Cute asks,"How long are goats pregnant for? How soon can we expect the next kid?"

Well, having been pregnant recently and several times before I consider myself an expert on Nigerian Dwarf gestation. Goats are pregnant for about 5 months - anywhere from 145 - 152 days.  I don't know how you humans stay pregnant for 9 whole months. It was hard enough for 5 with all those legs kicking me. And boy, when I had the twins and there were 8 legs kicking me, WHEW! I was glad to be done.

Now you all know that the paparazzi were here taking photos of me and calling me "wide load" when I was towards the end of my pregnancy.

I really don't think this was very nice.

Jillian is looking quite round these days but she should be. She will be having her kid any day now and a pregnant goat should be round.

I hope this answered your question, Cute.
The Daily Cute is teaming with me to have a giveaway of my rich soap! Be sure to head over there and check out the blog and enter the contest for three bars of my soap.

Tomorrow: News about Kevin and Harry

WHO is in The Chicken Tractor?

It was an exciting day on the Farm. Most days are exciting in one way or another but this day was particularly exciting.

It started with this...

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you! That is a rather large hole in the side of the chicken tractor. What could have caused such a thing. Certainly not one of us! We are such angelic goats, aren't we?

I think a closer inspection is necessary.

Oh my! That is not a chicken I see in there is it?
It is a goat.
A rather large goat.
A pregnant goat.
A Jillian goat. This is not good.

I don't think the chickens were too thrilled with this situation either. They took to clucking and dancing around on the outside of their home.

The male person decided he had to take quick action! Remember, there is GRAIN in the chicken tractor and too much grain is not good for us goats. SO HE CLIMBED INTO THE CHICKEN TRACTOR HIMSELF.

All I have to say to that is, "Ick."

He crawled along and erm, urged Jillian out ...

Little by little

Until she was finally back in the goat pen where she belonged.



What a baaaaaad goat!
The male person was not happy. Not happy AT ALL.

Come back tomorrow and see Harry learn to stealth graze.

Wordless Wednesday - Fence, What Fence?

The grass IS apparently greener on the other side of the fence.

A Happy Announcement

I am sure you remember the happy day that Jillian and Mallory arrived on the Farm.

We were thrilled - well mostly - to have them here after we learned that they were not being treated nicely at their old Farm. Goats should not be treated poorly! Goats have feelings! Goats need to have enough to eat - they should not have to scrounge for food. Jillian and Mallory are very happy here. They have learned what it is like to be spoiled goats and I think they like it.

They have had adventures here like battling over their goat house

and jumping on top of the big goat house. Battling again. Hmmmmm.....

You will also recall I am sure that Jillian had a date with Michael and danced the paso doble.

So you see that Jillian has had a lot of exciting adventures in her short time here on the Farm. I am now happy to report that we think her life is going to get even more exciting. We are pretty sure that Jillian is pregnant! Isn't that great?! More kids for the Farm. Just look at her in this photo; doesn't she look a little, well, round?

It is a little tricky to tell these things for sure with us goats as you can't go to the pharmacy and buy a pregnancy test but the publicist thinks she is indeed pregnant. If she is right there will be more little kids in September. Michael will be a daddy goat. Won't he be proud?

AbbyDay - Jillian is a Pain in My Neck

Happy Memorial Day!!!

I am not happy with these new goats around here! Why did we need to get new goats anyway? Weren't things just fine they way they were? There was me and Pricilla and the boys. We didn't need any other goats! OK, OK I know they weren't living the good life like we were and they sure were hungry when they got here but boy oh boy has it been a pain since they arrived.

I was just resting by the spools the other day, minding my own business. I know this is an odd position but I am very pregnant right now and it is hard to get comfortable.

I got myself up to move around a bit and Jillian, fresh from her battle with Pricilla for the top spool, decided to butt me. You saw this photo yesterday.

She butt me some more.

And then, then SHE BIT ME!

Can you imagine? She actually took a nibble on my shoulder! I am not a goat snack!

Then she tried to look nonchalant - that is a French word. I am a smart goat.

Since it is AbbyDay I end this post with a photo of well, ME! In all my goatly glory.