Spring has arrived at Sunny Acres!

Spring!

It doesn't matter if it snows... if the wind is frigid and from the north.... if the grass still isn't really greening. Spring has come to Sunny Acres! Without further ado, I give you the proof of my statement:

Playing in the sunshine-- pretty doeling

Coffee break! Curious little kid discovered my mug.

Surviving twin of a complicated delivery. Colorful Kiko buck... future herd sire?

Flying lessons... reindeer games....

One of our oldest and favorite does serving her time as nursery nanny

Little tough guy testing his strength...

Push! (He eventually got pushed off the block...)

The Doe who had a difficult delivery- good to see her up and about

Content Mama

Almost kidding time!!

We're closing in on kidding season here at Sunny Acres....only about two weeks to go before the first of our does is due to kid.  We have 41 does that were exposed.  They were bred in three separate groups.....the largest group was with our purebred Kiko buck, PJM Survivor, five of our older does were with ECR Donkey Odie (the first Kiko buck we brought here a number of years ago), and the third group was a herd of ten doelings being bred for the first time, who ran with our newest Kiko buck brought in last summer from Tennessee.  We're anxious to see the results of these three groups, should prove interesting as we compare the kids' performance over the course of the next few months.

For now, the does have the luxury of lounging about and taking it easy while they wait.  They are all on a diet of high protein second-cutting hay, along with the occasional "Christmas" tree or cedar tree that we cut for them.  Believe it or not, these trees are very high in nutrition, and, as evidenced in the photos below, the goat love them!

Check back in a few weeks....as time permits we'll post updates on how the season is going.

Breeding season is well underway

We separated our breeding does into three groups this year, and put them with the bucks the first week in October.  After reading all the pros and cons of early vs. late kidding, barn vs. pasture kidding, we decided to move the season here at Sunny Acres back a bit, by about a month.  Although March kidding here in the northeast means no pasture kidding, we've read that those earlier kids are more ready to take advantage of the lush early pasture than newborns can.  (Again, all part of the grand experiment to find just the right plan for our herd....)  Since our herd has been transitioned to a forage-only herd, we need kids that can hit those pastures running and make good gains by mid-fall.

One small herd this year consists of ten doelings averaging 18 months of age, with the young buck we recently purchased from Dr. Peischel's herd in Tennessee.  Part of their pasture for the fall includes a field planted during the summer to tillage radishes, which they are enjoying immensely!

A second herd consists of just six older does, who are on a pasture with our original Kiko buck.  Donkey Odie has been sold, but the new owners aren't ready for him yet, and agreed to let us use him with a few does until he leaves our farm.  He's definitely happier than if he'd been left in a bachelor pad until they pick him up!  And we're happy to have an opportunity to hopefully add another couple of his daughters to our herd.                                                                    

The third and largest herd is made up of our other sire, Survivor, and 26 does.  These are a mix of Boer/Kiko cross, high percentage Kiko, and a few purebred Kiko does.  They are currently pasturing on the regrowth of a field of "Summer Feast" that consists of millet and forage brassicas, which had been grazed earlier this summer, and then rested for a couple of months while it grew back and headed out.  When they first went onto that field, it was hard to find the goats, the millet had grown so tall and rank!  They come up to their secure paddock every night with nice round bellies, and seem to be doing extremely well this fall.

The young doelings from this year look on, but will have to wait another year to get acquainted with one of the bucks.  We don't breed doelings until their second fall.

Every day as we walk among the three herds, we get more and more excited by the prospects of what March will bring!   Something to look forward to as we head deeper into fall and on into winter!

Making it easier to find us.....

Our new farm sign has been put up!  Hopefully this will help visitors to the farm locate us a bit easier.  We're very pleased with the way it came out, created for us by our (ok, we're a bragging a bit here....)  talented daughter!  

New Kids on the Block

 
It has been a very busy summer here at Sunny Acres.  While the weather has at times been quite challenging, including two major hail storms that severely set back both our gardens and an annual pasture seeding, we still managed to put up more 1st and 2nd cutting hay than in years past.   We battled parasites in our herd of young kids, no doubt due to some very wet and warm weather throughout the spring and summer.  (Ironic, when you see all the reports of drought, but here in Athens we really didn't have prolonged dry spells.)  The kids were set back some due to the parasite issue, but are now rebounding well and are thriving on rotational pastures of regrowth grasses, clover, and trefoil. 

About a month ago, we took delivery of ten new kids....purebred Kikos....from Tennessee.  They come from "Goats Unlimited", the herd of Dr. An Peischel.  Anyone who studies the Kiko breed will recognize this herd, and Dr. Peischel, as a leading authority on Kikos.  She has an outstanding reputation for selecting and breeding excellent goats, through diligent culling and performance testing.  We were fortunate to be able to purchase a combination of purebred registered and purebred commercial doelings, along with a new purebred registered buckling to become part of our expanding Kiko herd.  These new doelings will not be bred until Fall 2013, as is the recommendation of Dr. Peischel, but the new buckling will be used against a small number of our current yearling does.  It is our hope that in the near future, we will be able to offer quality, purebred Kiko breeding stock to interested buyers, along with commercial and crossbred Kikos.

As always in farming, despite setbacks, we look to the future for better things to come.

Kiko Buck for Sale

Looking for a buck that is ready to go to work breeding your does and can introduce parasite resistance into your herd?

We have just the one for you!  Offering for sale a purebred, AKGA registered Kiko buck.  A proven sire, Donkey Odie is a 4-1/2 yr. old, dark gray buck who has produced many daughters that we've kept in our herd, so now it is time to bring in a new buck.  Originally brought to Sunny Acres to breed our commercial Boer and Boer-cross does to add parasite resistance, he's done a tremendous job of that!  He has only been dewormed once (when we brought him home over three years ago), and his kids have shown wonderful resistance to parasites.  Some of them have not yet needed to be dewormed at all.  He also throws lots of color in his kids.  Some of his first doelings kidded this year, and they are producing kids that show the same positive characteristics.

See photos below of Donkey Odie and some of his offspring. You can contact us through our website if you'd like more information regarding this buck.   www.sunnyacresgoats.com

What's a "Typical Day"?

We were asked recently, "What's a typical day like on Sunny Acres Farm"?  After a slight chuckle at the idea of a "typical day" on any farm, the Goatfarmer gave the interviewer a general synopsis of his day, THAT day.  The particular day he was questioned, he was running flat out from sunrise to sunset, because along with the normal activities, there was hay to bale and get into the barn before a coming storm.

Saturday was another very busy day, but not at all like the one mentioned above.  Yes, the goats still had to be tended, and moved to their new paddocks.  That's about the only thing that really doesn't change, so I guess that would make it part of a routine or "typical" day.  However, for the three hours prior to taking them to pasture, both the Goatfarmer and Farmwife were working together evaluating the kids that were weaned last month, giving CD/T shots where needed, weighing them, doing Famacha scoring on each one, and deworming where absolutely necessary as dictated by their score.  We have worked out a pretty good system together, which involves running them into a chute for the individual scoring and any needed shots, etc., onto a scale, and out to a holding paddock.  Every score and weight is recorded (and later compared to their previous evaluation, done at weaning).  We've found that doing this every few weeks, often as frequently as every two weeks if we are seeing low scores, helps us catch problems before they get out of hand.  Though its a lot of work, it has paid off....last year we only lost one kid to apparent parasite problems, and (knock on wood!) this year all 50+ are doing very well so far! 

Since we are always seeking to learn new ways to better manage our herd, we decided to try something new yesterday, which we'd just recently heard from a very experienced producer.  We selected two of our yearling does who have not yet kidded, along with an old doe who no longer kids (yes, we do keep the occasional "pet" goat that no one can bear to part with!) and added them to the weaned kid group.  The paddock they are currently grazing is part of a 6-acre field, seeded this spring, of annuals...millet and forage brassicas (turnips).  This is a new forage mix we wanted to experiment with this year.  The kids are very unfamiliar with the new selections, and seem to be eating mainly the millet, which is high in energy, but not the brassicas, where the kids would get the most protein, needed for growth.  The idea here is that the older animals, experts at foraging and trying new things, will teach the kids to eat more of the turnips as well.  We'll watch them closely for a couple of days, and if need be, will add the entire doe herd to the group, hoping the kids will learn from their mothers.  Since they've been separated for over a month, there is less chance of  kids trying to nurse off their dams again.  The field will still be divided into small paddocks, with the herd being moved to fresh feed every few days.  The doe herd is currently enjoying browsing off a small area of overgrown field with lots of brush in it.

After finishing in the barn and grabbing some lunch, the Goatfarmer then took off to finish preparing another field for planting.  (See photo below.)  Today he's drilling in tillage radishes.  These will serve two purposes - providing the weather cooperates and they grow well, they'll be fall forage for the breeding herds.  And, because of their heavy and long roots, they'll nicely break up the soil as they grow, helping to loosen it up for a planting next spring, probably of another summer annual.  Eventually, the field will be planted to a perennial forage. This particular field is very heavy clay soil and needs to have this additional organic matter added to allow for a better long-term planting in the future.

But, it's not all work and no play.....after a long, hot day, we enjoyed a very pleasant evening with another couple, enjoying an evening swim and quiet conversation on our deck, gazing at the star-filled sky.  The night sounds of countless insects, along with the munching of the goats that were grazing in a nearby paddock are very peaceful and relaxing. We truly love living here on this farm, even with all the hard work and long days.  I guess that's why its been in the family for six generations now!