Well, technically September is still a couple of days off, but I wanted to share what’s happening at the farm while I’m sitting at the computer.
First off, let’s talk goats! We still have a few 2019 kids available for sale (see the Kids 2019 page). I am really pleased with our first kidding season. It was definitely a learning experience. We had one premature kid born that had to be raised in the house for several weeks with a lot of special care from us, our neighbors and our wonderful veterinarian. We call him “Tiny” because he was a mere 1.6 lbs at birth. He is thriving now, and will be a life-long resident of Wise Acre Farm.
All of the 2019 kids are healthy and growing, and sweet as can be. We make a point of spending a lot of time with the goats to keep them friendly and easy to handle. Out of eight kids total born this year, we only had two cases of Coccidia both of which were immediately remedied. Other than that, and getting Tiny on his hooves, there have been no health issues with the goats this year (knocking on wood).
The ultimate goal for breeding our goats is milk production. This year, I milked my first goats and made some pretty darn good cheeses with the milk. I’ve got more to learn in this area, and I’m super excited about the possibilities!
I am planning this year’s breedings now – planning to breed in October for March babies. I’m looking into markets for the kids before deciding how many and which does to breed this year. It has been surprisingly difficult to find buyers for the kids this year.
The other main happening on the farm is a cleaning up and retooling of the Farm Stand (see the Farm Stand page for more info). As we head into fall, we are adding fall-inspired merchandise along with our usual farm products. We also have brought in 50 new pullets that will start laying eggs in November so we will have plenty of eggs for our customers soon. Pumpkins will be coming soon too! We love this time of year!!
Wishing you a happy harvest season as we move into September!