Honeybear
Honeybear is a little weary from the constant rain.
Since the drought during the spring and summer, it feels like it has not stopped raining this fall. We have enjoyed weeks of rain. The grass is all green, the ponds are filling up finally, and the mosquitoes are alive and unfortunately well. Following my own advice for the latter, we are spraying Listerine like crazy. If you don’t know what I am talking about, read “Anything Bugging You?”
We have two adult Nubian does. Their names are Windy and Honeybear. We did not name them; they came already adjusted to their names. When we purchased them, we thought that they were both bred. Both started swelling in their sides, but only Windy ever delivered any goats. A few more weeks passed as we patiently waited for the birth of Honeybear’s kids, but none ever came. It soon became apparent that she was not expecting.
Our philosophy on the farm is that animals must earn their keep. They are not pets and we cannot afford to feed all these mouths for no reason. I already have five children at home and one is a teenage boy; therefore, my husband and I have enough trouble feeding our own children.
We have been feeding Honeybear for too long now. However, I finally arranged for her to go back to the prior owner’s place to be bred. She will stay there for three weeks with a buck. We are excited!
Windy was separated from her mother at birth and bottle-fed. Therefore when she birthed triplets for us, she did not know how to mother her kids. On the other hand, Honeybear was raised naturally beside her mother. She mothered Windy’s kids for us. We cannot wait to watch her mother her very own. She is an excellent mother.
I will keep you up-to-date on Honeybear’s progress. The gestation time for a goat is about 5 months. So we should expect more kids in March. It is common for goats to deliver twins or to have a single birth. It is less common for them to have triplets.
We love raising our dairy goats. We drink their raw milk daily. We cook with it, drink it, and make great homemade ice cream. In addition, I make goat milk soap. We do not sell it to others. However, we bought both Windy and Honeybear from Swede Farm in Waller, Texas.
Tim and Leeanne Carlson, the owners of Swede Farm, have Nubian and La Mancha breeds. I think they have expanded to an alpine breed, but I am not positive. Swede Farm is a licensed goat milk dairy. They sell pasteurized goat milk and other dairy products. They sell their products at the local farmer’s markets. They also sell dairy goats. If anyone is interested in goat products or goats in general, they are a great source of information.
