** I See Stars! **

Congrats are in order! :) These are the official numbers for 2014. Keep in mind I dried off a few early due to my carpal tunnel flaring up, but beyond that, everyone did really well, especially with me working and not always being able to milk on schedule as necessary. I had one doe that was .10 off from getting a star. If I would have realized she was that close, I would have kept milking her. Oh well... :( Everyone else got theirs! I am thrilled. :)

NC PromisedLand Z Bella 2*M (AGS pending)
NC PROMISEDLAND Z BELLA               
D1518506       2*M       
PTA           34M    1F    1P       
DEV            0     0     0
PTA$                 4     4        
PTA%  11R 12/14   -.05   .00       
DHIR AGE  DIM  MILK   %  FAT   %  PRT DCR TTP
     4-00  271   840  5.4  45  4.0  34  101  20
  LIFE       271   840  5.4  45  4.0  34


On Firestone Creek P Palisade 2*M 5*D  (earned her Superior Genetics this year)
SG ON FIRESTONE CREEK P PALISADE         
D1524330       2*M    SG PTI 37 -5
 03-04 89 VVEE
PTA           23M    2F    1P  -.20T
DEV          113     7     7
PTA$                 4     6     35R
PTA%  45R 12/14    .06   .03  11/14
DHIR AGE  DIM  MILK   %  FAT   %  PRT DCR TTP
     2-00   68   240  7.1  17  3.8   9   62  20
     3-01  208   580  5.3  31  4.1  24   95  20
     4-01  226   680  5.4  37  3.8  26   99  20
  LIFE       502  1500  5.7  85  3.9  59


On Firestone Creek H Jody Girl  1*M 1*D (pending)
Jody was doing really well this year. I think she might have a chance at breed leader for next year! This year, production dropped due to a move and my carpal tunnel. Milk machine is on order! 
ON FIRESTONE CREEK H JODY GIRL        
D1541837       1*M       
PTA            5M    0F    1P       
DEV          113     0     8
PTA$                 0     3        
PTA%  21R 12/14   -.03   .06       
DHIR AGE  DIM  MILK   %  FAT   %  PRT DCR TTP
     4-01  266   910  4.4  40  4.4  40  -  20
  LIFE       266   910  4.4  40  4.4  40

On Firestone Creek R Minnie Me 3*M 6*D(pending)  Owned/Tested by John Bane  (Way to go, Minnie!)
ON FIRESTONE CREEK R MINNIE ME        
D1571217       3*M       PTI 2 -11
 03-00 88 VVVE
PTA           11M    0F    1P  -.10T
DEV          -50    -5    -3
PTA$                 1     2     30R
PTA%  30R 12/14   -.02   .02  11/14
DHIR AGE  DIM  MILK   %  FAT   %  PRT DCR TTP
     2-08      296   730  5.2  38    4.4  32  102  20
     LIFE       296   730  5.2  38  4.4  32

On Firestone Creek R Palabra 3*M   (Sold) 
ON FIRESTONE CREEK R PALABRA          
D1571221       3*M       
PTA           14M    1F    1P       
DEV          -24    -1    -3
PTA$                 2     3        
PTA%  30R 12/14    .01   .01       
DHIR AGE  DIM  MILK   %  FAT   %  PRT DCR TTP
     2-09      210   490  5.5  27  4.1    20   96  20
    LIFE       210   490  5.5  27  4.1  20


On Firestone Creek Sunnee Day will be earning her stars, too, but I don't have the official data yet. I will post it when I have it! :) 

By the way, congrats are in order to John Bane and Robin Tupper, who were in my group for testing. John (Run Joey Run) earned the following and is responsible for milking Jody Girl during the majority of her lactation, thus earning her her star:

• On Firestone Creek R Minnie Me 3*M 6*D(pending)  (See above)

• Congrats to Mia, who is a first freshener out of On Firestone Creek UP Sonic Boom *S and  ON FIRESTONE CREEK H JODY GIRL D1541837 1*M. 

RUN JOEY RUN SB MIA                   
D1644279       2*M       
 01-01 83 VVV+
PTA                            -.50T
PTA$                      26R
PTA%                          11/14
DHIR AGE  DIM  MILK   %  FAT   %  PRT DCR TTP
     0-09  289   500  5.6  28  4.0  20  -  20
  LIFE       289   500  5.6  28  4.0  20 

• Congrats to Bayby...

PROCTOR HILL FARM BAYBY RUTH                   Pretty sure, Bayby should be a *M, too and the files just haven't updated yet.   She met                                                                            all amounts, I do believe.
D1625888                 PTI 9 -78
 02-01 85 +VE+
PTA           24M    2F    1P  -.70T
DEV           23    11    -1
PTA$                 5     5     29R
PTA%  28R 12/14    .09  -.01  11/14


Congrats to Robin Tupper, too, at Weeds 'n Whimsy farm. Her doe,ONE WILLOW BC LA LIGHT - D001680353 , also earned her stars. :) 

It was a good year--2014. Thanks, Robin and John, for participating, and I am looking forward to this year! 

Time for Kudos and Applause for the girls!

 

www.freewebs.com/firestone-creek-farms

I have to share news and congrats on a few of our lovely girls. First, we'll start with some of our 'firsts' here at Firestone Creek. 

First fresh udder Jody

On Firestone Creek HWD Jody Girl, has now earned both of her stars-- AGS and ADGA and is actually in line for possibly meeting top 10 requirements (holding my breath!) for protein and for production for 2014. Hoping she can hold her own and make it to the top. She deserves it for all of the work she's been doing! 

Palisade

Next, our 'star' doe--On Firestone Creek Palisade has surprised us by becoming our first Superior Genetics doe here at Firestone Creek! We were thrilled to receive the notice in the mail saying she had reached that designation as a SG doe. We have several of her daughters and a granddaughter here, so we hope to continue following that path with production, quality, and transmitting ability.

We do have a Palisade daughter (in milk) available for sale-- Palabra, in addition to a doeling out of the Palisade X NC PromisedLand Bolero cross available for sale. See website or contact for more information.

Minnie Me

Additionally, it looks like Palisade's daughter, Minnie, will also be earning her stars, and so far NC PromisedLand Z Bella has

Bella

earned her star with AGS and should have it soon with ADGA. Beyond that, I have my fingers crossed that a few others will earn theirs, too. 

PS Other News: 
It looks like Pistachio and Joy may be bred

Joy:
Palisade X Rosasharn TL Challenger

for late Nov/Dec. Joy is a Palisade daughter. Joy's would not have been an intentional breeding, and I will be doing DNA on all kids if she does freshen. I had no clue she was in heat, and the only hint I have now is that she hasn't had a heat and is getting a little chubby. If she is pregnant, the kids could belong to either Jacub, Sol, or Rumor. I will be doing DNA if she happens to kid.

Jacub

Rumor

CG Sol

I do separate boys from the girls at a little over 2 months, but this time, we had to finish their pasture first, and before it was completed, I had a few partially extending. I witnessed Sol breeding Pistachio. At first, I thought it was just 'practice.' Bucklings do this all of the time. However, I feel that at that point he did fully extend, and I do believe he is now breeding

M Pistachio

successfully, so with that said, Pistachio could be bred, too, by no one else except my spoiled rotten Sol or 'sun.' I like this breeding; those will be some gorgeous babies-- type-wise AND color-wise, pulling in Rosasharn, NC PromisedLand, and Firestone Creek genetics. I know, I know... blue eyes? moonspots? But yes, possible moonspots AND blue eyes, even though I didn't breed for them on purpose. Sometimes things just happen. By the way, Pistachio is a daughter of Nutmeg, niece of Acorn, and niece of Jody Girl (see above). Mesa was her father. 

Panir -- Paneer -- Queso Fresco -- Whatever you want to call it!

Fresh Cheese

Panir, Paneer, Queso Frescho-- No Matter how you say it, it is Fresh Cheese and one of the easiest things you can make with fresh goat's milk. Many recipes will call for using lemon or vinegar for making fresh cheese, but I've found that using freshly made (or cultured) buttermilk and/or kefir works quite well and makes for a very flavorful cheese. Additionally, you can use fruit juices and even yogurt. Your goal is to raise the acidity of the milk after heating it. For fresh cheese, you heat to the boiling point but DO NOT BOIL. The best temp is around 195-200 F. 



Here's a simple recipe that can also be found on my website at Firestone Creek farm. If you have questions, feel free to ask me here in the comments or you can always add Firestone Creek Farm on Facebook and message me there.

Paneer

Ingredients:

• 1 quart full-cream goat's milk 
• buttermilk and/or Kefir (use what you have)
• **1/2 cup buttermilk AND 1/2 cup kefir 
• OR 3/4 cup buttermilk 
• OR 3/4 cup kefir
• *you may also use yogurt (1/2 buttermilk and 1/2 yogurt)
• *you can use lemon juice or vinegar, but it tastes differently and the end result isn't as sweet

****When using buttermilk, I always get a much higher yield than when using lemon juice or vinegar.****

Preparation:

• Pour the milk into a heavy pan that will not allow the milk to scorch while heating. Stir often.
  
• As the milk is readied, measure the buttermilk and/or kefir.
  
  You can use store bought buttermilk, but I prefer to make my own. 
  
  
• Watch the milk closely, stirring to keep it from sticking.
• When the milk comes to a boil, add the buttermilk/kefir.
• Reduce the heat and stir.The milk should change colors and begin to separate. Cheese curds will form, leaving a yellowish-greenish colored whey behind. 
  
• Stir continuously until the milk is completely curdled.
• Remove from the heat when the separation of the curds and yellowish whey is complete

• Pour contents of pot into a strainer lined with clean muslin cloth

 

• Wrap the muslin tightly, tie it, and squeeze out excess whey,
  
  holding it under cold water for approximately a minute to help rinse it clean. 

• Hang the cheese for 15-20 minutes so that all the whey is drained out.

SAVE YOUR WHEY FOR THE CHICKENS: They love it.

• To form a block or circle , sit it into a round cheese strainer and place it under something heavy.
• After 20+ minutes, remove from muslin, lightly salt, and cut into chunks. 

You are now ready to use your fresh cheese!!! 

Variations: I make a few. I've made salsa cheese, garlic cheese, pineapple cheese, jalapeno cheese and more. Experiment and have fun! 

The Results of the SNIFF TEST!

At the beginning of kidding season, we decided to have a 'sniff' of all of the does that were due to kid. Why? Because there's a theory that a doe that smells bucky will have bucklings, and a doe that smells like hay will have doelings. 

Following is our results for the 2014 breeding season at Firestone Creek farm.

Doe (Dam)	Buck (Sire)	Smell / Gestation time	# of doelings/bucklings
Muddy Creek B2 Panama	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	Panama's head smells 'bucky' on 2/14; she is due on 2/21. She is pregnant with multiples--looks like three or more. She has a history of having bucklings, so maybe there is a doeling or two in there.	1/2 Kidded on Feb 24th with one small doeling and two bucklings, one on the big side! She did have a bucky smell, so I'd say this one was a 'positive.' POSITIVE RESULT
On Firestone Creek HWD Acorn	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	Acorn smelled like hay on 2/14; she is due on 2/15. She has a history of having doelings. She looks like she may be pregnant with one or two kids.	Well, she smelled like hay, and she had one doeling, so we are at 100% right now! :) POSITIVE RESULT
NC PromisedLand Z Bella	On Firestone Creek HWD Bo Peeps	Bella smelled like hay on 2/14; she is due on 2/15. She has a history of having doelings.	Bella kidded 2/22 with TWO bucklings. So this is 100% contrary to how she smelled, which was like hay with no bucky smell at all! I'd say this is -100% NEGATIVE RESULT
On Firestone Creek Palisade 2*M 5*D	*B NC PromisedLand RB Bolero *S	On 2/14 Palisade smelled a little bucky. She is not due until 5/15. She has a history of twins and triplets; the triplets are usually bucklings and doelings.	Palisade kidded with THREE doelings, which is quite contrary to the bucky smell she had in February. I'd say this was a big -100%, too, unless maybe I smelled her a bit too early. NEGATIVE RESULT
On Firestone Creek BJ Kukarabisha	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	On 2/14 Kuka smelled like hay. She is due on 2/20.	Argh! Kuka smelled like hay but delivered two healthy bucklings on 2/24. This result is another negative--strong one, just like Bella. NEGATIVE RESULT
On Firestone Creek R Palabra	Proctor Hill Farm B Cuervo Gold *S	On 2/14, Palabra smelled a little bucky. Due on 3/13.	Buckling and a doeling. This would be a positive, I suppose, since she did smell just a little bucky. POSITIVE RESULT
On Firestone Creek UP Sunnee Day	Proctor Hill Farm B Cuervo Gold *S	Will smell again next week. She could tell I was up to something and didn't want to be sniffed. Perhaps she thought I was going to nibble her or make her wear deodorant. Who knows! :) NO RESULT

RESULTS:

While we did have bucklings out of some of the girls that smelled bucky, we also had THREE (3) --yes, you heard right-- THREE doelings out of a doe that smelled a bit bucky! I would say that was a big NEGATIVE. We also had one doe that smelled like hay that had only bucklings, which is also a big resounding NEGATIVE result. Essentially, I have to say:

SORRY, FOLKS! The sniff test doesn't seem to work 100% of the time. In fact, the results were sketchy at best. Oh well... we are talking about goats after all. You didn't think they would make it THAT easy for us, did you? Guess we'll have keep playing the waiting game...

Let's Talk about Udders!

Let's Talk UDDERS!

So you like this one?

<--

But maybe not this one? 
 





           

Why not? What's the difference? Obviously, the second doe has more fill on the left side, and her teats are not perfectly plumb. She is not symmetrical either with teat position, and the trained eye would see that her attachments are not perfect. She is also a few years older than the first doe, probably had kids nursing on her (who tugged and pulled and changed the udder structure a bit), and has a 'clip' job that is not as nice as the first doe. All of those things come together to make one wonder whether she's getting the bad side of the deal here. Maybe she is as nice as the doe on the left and just hasn't had the opportunities to prove it? Maybe not?

Over the next few weeks, I want to take the time to break down the parts of the udder and examine them, not only to further educate myself, but to help anyone else out there who is interested in learning about it. I want to start with information I've been collecting over the past two years on two important topics-- teat diameter and teat length in Nigerian dwarfs. We'll start in this article by discussing diameter.

Teat Diameter

Teat diameter is the circumference of the teat where it attaches to the udder. Diameter is important, obviously, because 1) if a person is handmilking, the diameter will affect how the hand is positioned and how much effort it takes to extract milk from the udder; 2) if a person is machine milking, size could call for the use of various size inflations and possible teat damage if using improper sizes. A doe with small diameter, even if she has larger orifices, will take longer to milk--hand or machine--because not as much milk fills the teat at each expression. Is this a buying/selling point for owners? It can be, especially if you own a dairy or your main goal is to have a productive (and fast) milker. 

Teat Length

Teat length is the length of tissue beginning where the udder joins with the teat and ending at the orifice. Again, like diameter, it is important for comfort for the handmilker, for more 'fill' and faster expression of the milk into the pail with each expression, and importantly, for protection from invasive bacteria and bacteria already in the udder. Anyone who has ever tried to milk a goat with tiny teats knows how difficult it can be, especially if you are a man or if you are a woman with larger hands. Sometimes a Henry milker or some other milking device or machine must be used because handmilking can become painful. At the same time, longer teats mean that more milk (especially with larger diameter) is able to fill the teat and re-fill quickly with every milking stroke. This enables the udder to be emptied much faster than smaller teats. Lastly, during milking (and kids nursing), bacteria can easily enter the orifice into the udder. If there is already bacteria present, it usually settles into the lower portion of the teat; this is why it is advisable to milk out a few test 'squirts', check for blood, etc, and then continue milking. If teats are short, it seems that less distance would make it easier for bacteria to attain access into the udder tissue or settle into the udder, possibly making the animal more susceptible to infections, including mastitis. 

So, we want diameter, and we want length! However, we are talking Nigerians here, not Alpines, LaManchas, Saanen, or Obies. Everything about a Nigerian is little, right? Especially in first fresheners. And the teats don't really grow, do they? Hmmmm.... 

--> 

Come back for MORE to come in the next article! 

First day of DHIR ... WHEW! And Hooray!

So Firestone Creek Farm had its first DHIR milk test on March 21. Anyone who knows milk testing rules will know that does are judged by their age (in years and months) and by how many pounds of milk they produce in a 24 hour period, in addition to the protein and butterfat content of the milk. Several of my girls tested haven't freshened many times because--well, I've had them since 2010, and the year that my late husband passed away, 2011, Firestone Creek did not breed many goats for 2011 or 2012 kiddings. We had a few (like Palabra), but breeding stalled at that time, so some of the girls--Bella and Sunnee, weren't bred or freshened until they were a bit older. This means it is more of a 'feat' for them to catch up with girls of their age that have freshened more times and therefore have more capacity. No matter, they did it! I'm proud of them!

We tested three does, those to kid thus far, which means we tested:

• NC PromisedLand Z Bella
• On Firestone Creek HWD Lil Acorn
• On Firestone Creek Sunnee Day 

On Firestone Creek Palabra and On Firestone Creek Palisade will be added to this list when they kid (Palabra, this week; Palisade, in May;)

Results thus far:

Side udder 2 weeks fresh

NC PromisedLand Z Bella

Sire: NC Promisedland RC Zohan *S

Dam:  NC Promisedland L Zodiac *M  

This is Bella's second freshening, and she was 4 weeks fresh on test day.

First milking 3.3 lbs

Rear udder 2 weeks fresh;
it's a bit lopsided from
 2 kids nursing unequally

Second milking 3.3 lbs

6.6 lbs total 
Bella is 4.1 yrs old and a spoiled brat. She loves the milkstand, mainly because there's food there.

Woohoo! So proud of you my Bella-Boo! :) 

________________________________

Rear udder 3 days fresh

On Firestone Creek Sunnee Day 

Sire: Rosasharn HNC Uproar +*S
Dam: Anbonjo SS Spun Gold

This is Sunnee's second freshening; she was 1 week and 1 day fresh on test day.

AM milking: 1.4 lbs
             PM milking: 1.6 lbs

side udder 3 days fresh

Total: 3 lbs 
She is measured at 3.4 yrs old.

Not too shabby for a little girl that is only 1 week fresh! :) I would like to see more rear udder height, but she has developed more since this photo was taken and her milk supply has really started coming in. Sunnee is a sweetheart, very refined, and well-loved around here.

_______________________________________

On Firestone Creek Lil Acorn

Sire: Gateway Hollywood Nights

Dam:  Plum Rotten BC Lady Ophelia

This is Acorn's third freshening, and poor girl, she still did really good on test day considering that her 4 week old daughter still got to her, nursed through the fence, and made her a bit lopsided for the test. She's been nursing her niece, too, who is almost a year old! I had to pen her up to keep her away from Auntie Acorn. 

This is Acorn's third freshening, and she was almost 5 weeks fresh on test day. 

AM milking: 2.0 lbs

PM milking: 2.1 lbs

Total: 4.1 lbs 

She is measured at 4.2 yrs old. 

____________________________________

So far all of the girls met their goals for a one day test when it comes to weights, so we'll see how they do on the protein and butterfat when it comes back! 

Now I am off to the barn to check on Palabra, who is about to freshen any day now. Cross your fingers for girls! :) 

Angie

More babies and another update to the Sniff Test!

Panama and her new babies

Hi all! So we have more babies this morning! Kuka kidded with twin bucklings, and then Panama followed about 10 minutes behind her with triplets. I was racing from one pen to the next, trying to help out. Lots of fun!! And now I can update The Sniff Test further, and the results aren't looking too great, everyone. See the new additions to the chart below.

To summarize the current results in the table, we are having a 'buck' year so far--lots of 'blue.' Out of 8 kids, we only have 2 doelings so far. We are finished kidding until mid-March when Palabra and Sunnee deliver first, and then we will be waiting again until early summer for Palisade to kid. At this moment though, it seems that the sniff test is not a reliable way to predict kidding. Actually, the results seem to be about 50/50; Acorn's smell was correct, as was Panama's. However, Bella and Kuka's results were contrary to their 'smell.' I'd say that so far the Sniff Test works half of the time. I guess we'll see if the results continue to fit this percentage as the season progresses. 

Table 1. The Sniff Chart

Doe (Dam)	Buck (Sire)	Smell / Gestation time	# of doelings/bucklings
Muddy Creek B2 Panama	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	Panama's head smells 'bucky' on 2/14; she is due on 2/21. She is pregnant with multiples--looks like three or more. She has a history of having bucklings, so maybe there is a doeling or two in there.	1/2 Kidded on Feb 24th with one small doeling and two bucklings, one on the big side! She did have a bucky smell, so I'd say this one was a 'positive.'
On Firestone Creek HWD Acorn	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	Acorn smelled like hay on 2/14; she is due on 2/15. She has a history of having doelings. She looks like she may be pregnant with one or two kids.	Well, she smelled like hay, and she had one doeling, so we are at 100% right now! :)
NC PromisedLand Z Bella	On Firestone Creek HWD Bo Peeps	Bella smelled like hay on 2/14; she is due on 2/15. She has a history of having doelings.	Bella kidded 2/22 with TWO bucklings. So this is 100% contrary to how she smelled, which was like hay with no bucky smell at all! I'd say this is -100%
On Firestone Creek Palisade 2*M 5*D	*B NC PromisedLand RB Bolero *S	On 2/14 Palisade smelled a little bucky. She is not due until 5/15. She has a history of twins and triplets; the triplets are usually bucklings and doelings.
On Firestone Creek BJ Kukarabisha	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	On 2/14 Kuka smelled like hay. She is due on 2/20.	Argh! Kuka smelled like hay but delivered two healthy bucklings on 2/24. This result is another negative--strong one, just like Bella.
On Firestone Creek R Palabra	Proctor Hill Farm B Cuervo Gold *S	On 2/14, Palabra smelled a little bucky. Due on 3/13.
On Firestone Creek UP Sunnee Day	Proctor Hill Farm B Cuervo Gold *S	Will smell again next week. She could tell I was up to something and didn't want to be sniffed. Perhaps she thought I was going to nibble her or make her wear deodorant. Who knows! :)

Sniff test update! Bella kidded

Well, just a quick post to update the sniff test. Before today, we were at 100% correct when it came to 'hay' smell, but now we are 200% to the contrary. Actually it's more like 1:2 I guess since Bella kidded with two bucklings about an hour ago. She smelled like hay, too! Does this prove the theory wrong? It would seem so, but we'll gather all results just to see what happens. 

Corrected table below. Kuka is in the kidding pen, so more results shortly. :) 

Table 1. The Sniff Chart

Doe (Dam)	Buck (Sire)	Smell / Gestation time	# of doelings/bucklings
Muddy Creek B2 Panama	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	Panama's head smells 'bucky' on 2/14; she is due on 2/21. She is pregnant with multiples--looks like three or more. She has a history of having bucklings, so maybe there is a doeling or two in there.
On Firestone Creek HWD Acorn	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	Acorn smelled like hay on 2/14; she is due on 2/15. She has a history of having doelings. She looks like she may be pregnant with one or two kids.	Well, she smelled like hay, and she had one doeling, so we are at 100% right now! :)
NC PromisedLand Z Bella	On Firestone Creek HWD Bo Peeps	Bella smelled like hay on 2/14; she is due on 2/15. She has a history of having doelings.	Bella kidded 2/22 with TWO bucklings. So this is 100% contrary to how she smelled, which was like hay with no bucky smell at all! I'd say this is -100%
On Firestone Creek Palisade 2*M 5*D	*B NC PromisedLand RB Bolero *S	On 2/14 Palisade smelled a little bucky. She is not due until 5/15. She has a history of twins and triplets; the triplets are usually bucklings and doelings.
On Firestone Creek BJ Kukarabisha	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	On 2/14 Kuka smelled like hay. She is due on 2/20.
On Firestone Creek R Palabra	Proctor Hill Farm B Cuervo Gold *S	On 2/14, Palabra smelled a little bucky. Due on 3/13.
On Firestone Creek UP Sunnee Day	Proctor Hill Farm B Cuervo Gold *S	Will smell again next week. She could tell I was up to something and didn't want to be sniffed. Perhaps she thought I was going to nibble her or make her wear deodorant. Who knows! :)

Standlee Alfalfa... GMO or Non-GMO? Which do you prefer?

When you want this...

to make this... 

Do you prefer non-GMO (no genetic modification) to GMO? I belong to a group on Facebook that uses only natural products, and of course, a conversation struck up recently about GMO (genetically modified) and non-GMO products for goats, including alfalfa, which is a staple for people with dairy goats. Alfalfa offers extra protein and fiber and helps to boost milk production in does. It is a necessity.

I usually purchase my alfalfa pellets and compressed hay from Standlee Forage until I realized they were selling GMO alfalfa. I would prefer to find another source OR in this case, encourage Standlee to return to non-GMO or at least offer non-GMO products. Genetically modified products require engineering, so this cost is passed on to the customer. I just want natural products to feed to my animals, minus the extra cost and who knows what side effects to my animals. :) How about you? 

Want to share your opinion?

Someone on the Totally Natural Goats forum added the following info, and so as many people as possible can vote on this, I decided to pass it on:

Standlee has created a Forage/Feed Survey and would like your feedback regarding what animals you feed, what products you feed and your standpoint regarding feeding GMO (genetically-modified) products. 

Please go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/standleefeedsurvey to start the short survey.

We thank you for your time and appreciate your input.

So everyone, please dive in and vote! (PS and we shouldn't have to pay more for a 'natural' product than one that has been engineered.)

On Firestone Creek HWD Acorn kids with a single doeling: SNIFF CHART UPDATE

DRUMROLL, PLEASE!!!

15 minutes old

The Kidding Season is Underway! 

Acorn kidded with a beautiful doeling that is black with extensive white overlay. She has blue eyes like mom, and she looks like she is wearing eye liner--adorable! Her name is Karuka. As of right now, she is being retained, but if you are interested, contact me. As the kidding season progresses, I may be persuaded to sell her. I can't keep them all even if I want to!


Update to The Sniff Chart! :) 

Table 1. The Sniff Chart

Doe (Dam)	Buck (Sire)	Smell / Gestation time	# of doelings/bucklings
Muddy Creek B2 Panama	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	Panama's head smells 'bucky' on 2/14; she is due on 2/21. She is pregnant with multiples--looks like three or more. She has a history of having bucklings, so maybe there is a doeling or two in there.
On Firestone Creek HWD Acorn	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	Acorn smelled like hay on 2/14; she is due on 2/15. She has a history of having doelings. She looks like she may be pregnant with one or two kids.	Well, she smelled like hay, and she had one doeling, so we are at 100% right now! :)
NC PromisedLand Z Bella	On Firestone Creek HWD Bo Peeps	Bella smelled like hay on 2/14; she is due on 2/15. She has a history of having doelings.
On Firestone Creek Palisade 2*M 5*D	*B NC PromisedLand RB Bolero *S	On 2/14 Palisade smelled a little bucky. She is not due until 5/15. She has a history of twins and triplets; the triplets are usually bucklings and doelings.
On Firestone Creek BJ Kukarabisha	On Firestone Creek AA Mesa (history of producing high % of doelings)	On 2/14 Kuka smelled like hay. She is due on 2/20.
On Firestone Creek R Palabra	Proctor Hill Farm B Cuervo Gold *S	On 2/14, Palabra smelled a little bucky. Due on 3/13.
On Firestone Creek UP Sunnee Day	Proctor Hill Farm B Cuervo Gold *S	Will smell again next week. She could tell I was up to something and didn't want to be sniffed. Perhaps she thought I was going to nibble her or make her wear deodorant. Who knows! :)

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