Welcome Ginger!
This weekend we welcomed home Ginger!
Ginger is our Nubian goat, which we got from the wonderful Copper Tail Farm, a local creamery that specializes in goat milk sweets. It's also the farm where we found the sire for Sweet Pea and Tater's forthcoming kids.
Our triplets are all Nigerian Dwarf goats, but Ginger is a Nubian. This type of goat will grow to be twice the size of our current three, and is known for their loud voices, excellent milk production, and occasionally sassy attitude.
We are still relatively new to goats and so part of the reason for adding a Nubian was to see how she fit into our farm routine, and if that might be a breed we would want more of later on. We will potentially breed her with either another Nubian, or a Nigerian Dwarf for mini-Nubians next year.
Meanwhile, Ginger had to meet the rest of the herd. The girls, Sweet Pea and Tater, were non-plussed by the new addition but Mr Jones has taken some time to get used to her presence. Perhaps feeling he has to protect his sisters or else jealous of the cuddles that Ginger receives, he's been bossing her around whenever he gets the chance.
We love her, though. She is all about snuggles and is a virtual shadow when you're doing barn chores. Even her piercing scream of a "bleat" is quite charming. She's had her first adventures outside in the pasture space and loves nibbling on twigs.
For those of you keeping track, our herd will be expanding again at the beginning of June and again in July. Sweet Pea's kids are due June 11, although I think she may be earlier. From my very vaguest guesses, I am hoping to see 1-2 kids from her. We'll be keeping a close eye on her for the next few weeks to be ready when she kids.
After that, Tater is due on July 3 - a patriotic baby! Because she's gained so much weight I am wondering if she'll have 3-4, but I am not at all sure.
So by the end of the summer we'll be milking our two girls regularly and our herd will be at least a few goats larger. We plan to keep any girls and at least one boy, so we could see quite a few goats keeping our barn warm this winter.
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