The Farm Has Grown

Meet our two newest additions to the farm: Betty and Bess!

Betty

Bess

We just got them last Sunday!  Actually, they are Isaac's goats so perhaps I should not say "we".  Mom and Dad paid for one of them for his birthday and the other he bought with his own money.  We are so excited to have them!  Isaac spends a lot of time out there with them, and when he's inside doing school he wishes he were outside instead.  :)  They are Alpine goats, which give the largest quantity of milk out of any milk goat.  We are expecting to have about two gallons of milk each day when they are both milking!  Bess is a really sweet, curious doe.  She is only a year old.  Betty is a little less friendly, because she was not bottle-fed. (Bottle-feeding kid goats makes them bond with the feeder and therefore much more friendly to humans.)  She is getting better though, and is learning to like Isaac since he brings her a carrot every day.  They are both pregnant, so we are eagerly awaiting baby goats in the spring!  We are also greatly looking forward to the fresh supply of milk that will follow, and can't wait to make our own cheeses, soaps, etc.

Bess was very curious about the camera as you can see from both the picture above and the one below.

Oh!  That's Orangie!  He is one of the three barn cats that came with our place.  He decided to join us while we were with the goats.  I guess since I'm on the subject I'll go ahead and introduce you to the other cats as well.

That's Brother.

And this is Sister! (By the way, I know that the names are very original.  :)  They were actually named by our landlord's daughter, who was only 2 at the time.)

Oh, look at how big our chickens are getting!

Dad and Isaac fenced in a small section outside of the actual coop, as you can see above.  They worked on it for a very long time and built it like a fortress!  Daddy says that if anything manages to get in there, it deserves to eat every last chicken!  :)

~Kiah