May 5th, our very temperamental  dairy goat Touche, gave birth to triplets. They were born in our pasture in the early afternoon on a gorgeous day. Touche dropped her kids with ease and the assistance of my sister-in-law, Kathryn.  The first was colored like her half sister, Ellie. The second was shiny black with white spots on her ears and a pronounced overbite. The last kid was the biggest and mostly white with brown markings. We had to help them at first with nursing, but they seemed to catch on real quick!! They have all thrived in the past months, they love being in the pasture.

In fact, they love being in the pasture so much they were nearly impossible to contain while still very young. They never seemed to plan their escapes on purpose, but somehow they always managed to end up on the greener side of the fence. Straining their necks through the open boards around their pen to reach some lush looking weeds, they would innocently push right through the boards and end up in the pasture! They would climb up on the fence, looking at the sky above and -ooops!!- the slim boards would slip right out of place and they were in the pasture once again. We were never able to make the fence completely ‘kid-proof’, so we became quite used to hearing my little brothers remark, “Oh,the kids are out of the pen!” Someone would then walk out (rushing not being necessary since they were in the pasture and therefore content to stay put) and recapture the vagabond doelings.

Now, they are contained (in the pasture) within an electric fence that they dare not prove, unless of course, it’s off!

Touche continues to give milk for our all natural goat milk  soap. It is the only generous thing she does, for the rest of her days are spent bossing around Ellie. We love her dearly, even though her personality can be a bit interesting at times! We know that God put it in goats to have a very firm sense of order among themselves. Touche does an excellent job living up to her calling as Queen of the goats here at Little Valley Farm!

Ellie is enjoying the sun!

Until next time,

The Moores at Garland Goat Soap of Vermont

Most of all, though, we have always just enjoyed our goats! When we were younger (and had the time!), my sister and I would often spend hours playing with our goats, observing them, teaching them tricks, and often taking them for walks! If you’ve never had a goat, you don’t know what friendly, personable, and unique pets they are! Most people who haven’t owned goats have been educated about them via myths portraying them as dirty, smelly animals that eat anything and produce bad-tasting milk. In reality, a properly cared for goat is friendly, very fastidious about what she eats, clean, intelligent, and produces delicious, sweet, creamy milk (again, provided that it’s cared for in the proper manner.)

Currently, our small goat herd consists of five registered Alpine does (the correct term for a female goat): Showgirl, Little Meggy, Tatty, Wales, and Touché.

Showgirl is a flashy black and white doe, very proud and lofty, with a dignified friendliness.

Meggy, mostly black with a few distinct white markings, is a very sweet and friendly doe who loves to be scratched. She is an excellant milk producer!

Dark bay Tatty is the most mischievous and rambunctious, yet endearing in her own way because of those very traits.

One of the best milk producers, Wales also loves attention, and won’t leave the milkstand after milking until she has had her scratches.

As the youngest, Touché is a graceful, deep brown and black doe, very shy with strangers, but quite friendly with those she knows. Milking time for our adult does is twice daily, five o’clock in the morning, and five o’clock in the evening. Anyone want to come by and help with the morning milking?!

Time for a walk!

Four young ladies spent the past week with me for the opportunity to experience first hand taking care of all the goat kids and pitching in with the milking chores. Jessica, Julia, Sarah, and Hannah worked willingly and proved an excellent help…from bottle-feeding the kids, to milking the does, from washing soap molds to wrapping and labeling soap.

The Girls and Kids

On their last day here, the balmy temperatures and sunny blue skies beckoned us all to spend the day outdoors, and we unanimously agreed it was the perfect day to wash all the goats. Every spring, with the arrival of moderate weather, we give all our goats a thorough bath to rid them of their winter fuzz and dust. Not only is it a satisfying feeling to see them resplendent in their shinning clean coats, it is also an excellent way to avoid potential skin and hair problems in our goat herd.

Jess and Julia washing "Tatty."

For some years before we made our own soap, we would go searching at our local feed stores for animal shampoos that would thoroughly clean our goats, without the use of multiple chemicals and harsh detergents. When we did find a shampoo that fit the bill, it was often beyond our budget. With the creation of our own goat milk bar soap, however,our shampoo search was over! I quickly discovered a simple way to turn the goat milk soap into a shampoo that works wonderfully on both our goats and our dogs, leaving their coats shinning and sleek, and their skin smooth and supple.

Lots of soap suds = clean goats!

Perhaps you also have animals you’d like to treat to a spring bath. Here’s my Animal Shampoo Recipe in case you’re interested in trying it:

Grate 1 bar of Garland Goat Soap, any scent (my favorites are lemongrass, rosemary or tea tree for the animal shampoo) into fine shavings.

Add 2 cups of boiling water to the grated soap and mix thoroughly with a whisk to dissolve the soap shavings. Allow to cool before using. Enjoy!

At first, this shampoo will be quite liquidy, but will thicken as it cools. I usually mix it up right before I need it. Let me know how this shampoo works for your pets!

The Triplets

Thank you to all you participated in our Garland Goat Soap Kid Guess Contest! We hope you had as much fun guessing as we had reading your guesses! We are delighted to announce that Kim O’Brien, with her correct guess that Wales would have triplets, two bucks and one doe, is the winner of our Garland Goat Soap Kid Guess Contest!! Congratulations, Kim! Enjoy your soap!

Daisy

Wales triplets are quite a trio! “Ruger,” the firstborn, weighed a whopping 13 pounds at birth, setting a record for the largest kid born in our herd! (A normal kid weight is 7-8 lbs.) Ruger is the goofiest looking kid I’ve ever seen; he’s so long and gangly, and a major overbite gives his face a most comical expression. “Daisy” followed Ruger, presenting quite a contrast by her tiny, petite size, and sweet, snuggly personality. Last, but not least, “Remington” arrived, hungry, and ready for a meal!

All our does have kidded now, and a total of six kids are bouncing around in their big box stall. We’ve been quite busy with a barn full of new kids to care for and bottle-feed. It hasn’t left much time for soapmaking right now… but somehow, we’ve managed to find some time to bring all the kids out and enjoy the welcoming spring sunshine outdoors. I hope you have too!

It’s kidding season here at Garland Goat Soap of Maine – one of our favorite times of the year! We love when all the kids (that’s the term for baby goats) are born. Have you ever enjoyed a baby goat? If not, you don’t know how cute they are! Our doe “Touché” kidded yesterday morning. We had a whole crowd of excited spectators for the wonderful event…from grandparents to toddlers! Though I have witnessed many goat deliveries, the whole miracle of birth never ceases to amaze me! The display of God’s incredible creation is truly shown forth at every birth!

Buckwheat - only minutes old and not yet dry!

Touché handled the whole situation quite calmly and after a short while delighted us by delivering twins, a buck and doe! “Buckwheat” and “Spring” are absolutely adorable!

Spring - snuggled up and enjoying the sunshine just several hours after birth.

Touche is a very good mama!

Would you like to be part of the fun of this kidding season – and have an opportunity to win a FREE bar of Garland Goat Soap’s great goat milk soap?! Why not? Here’s how:

Garland Goat Soap Kid Guess Contest

“Wales” is our next goat due to kid. She is looking VERY large. (For those of you unfamiliar with goats, it’s quite common for them to have a single kid, twins, or triplets. Sometimes they even have quadruplets!)

We want you to take a guess:

1.) How many kid(s) you think Wales will have.
2.) How many buck(s) (male goat) and/or doe(s) Wales will have.

If your guess is correct, or comes closest to being correct, you’ll win a free bar of our soap! If we have more than one correct guess, we’ll send out more than one free bar of soap!

So put on your thinking cap, take a guess, join the fun and email us at: garlandgoatsoap@gmail.com with your guesses! Please put “Kid Guess” in the subject line.

Or, simply leave a comment here on the blog with your guess. Please include your email address.

When “Wales” kids (has her babies), we’ll let you know the winner(s) of our Garland Goat Soap Kid Guess Contest! Perhaps you’ll be the one to enjoy that free bar of soap!

Last year, my family and I moved from our small, lovely farm in Connecticut to the beautiful, rural farming community of Garland, Maine. It has always been our desire to have more land for our farming pursuits, and last year we purchased twenty-five acres of beautiful farm land here in Garland. We love it here! While we work together to build our home, we are renting a house just a few miles away from our property, complete with a lovely barn for our goats! It had been a disappointment for me to leave behind our small but very tidy, efficient, and snug goat barn when we moved, so I was especially delighted with this barn for our goats!

It is a very new building in excellent condition, originally build as a horse barn with five deluxe, large box stalls opening into several different paddocks. We easily converted one of these stalls into a milk room, and two others into snug, cozy stalls for our little herd of goats. It hasn’t taken long for the goats to adjust, and they are thoroughly enjoying their roomy box stalls and large pasture. That’s a good thing, because in this pleasant environment, they will continue to produce lots of the wonderful, creamy milk that goes into all our soap!

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