About a week ago, Lulu kidded - she provided us with 3 lovely little girls! Over the week since we've had 10 girls kid - 4 sets of triplets (so far) and lots of twins. Thank goodness we haven't had quintuplets this year (poor TInky had 5 last year, only 2 this year, much to everyone's relief). And so far, 60% are girls. That's great news for us: we have a closed herd (we only get more goats through our own breeding program). We made the decision to have a closed herd policy very early on, as it means that we don't introduce animals infected with goat-specific diseases into our herd. It can be very difficult getting rid of some of these diseases from your herd, and goat health and happiness is our core business afterall. So more girls means more milk, and more cheese in the years to come.
The problem of being one of a triplet - there are only 2 teats!
Hamish gets up close to one of Tabby's kids.
Lulu's triplets hang out in the sunshine.
Phryngo with her 2 little boys.
For those of you who have had children. I'm sure you can empathise with poor Myffy here - I know we can!
Hamish starts the domestication process.
With all this new life, we've also had a death - our dear best mate, Georgie. George made it to 16 years of age (he was going to be 17 in 3 months time) after being rescued by Kate from the Lost Dog's Home in Tasmania in 2000. He was a kind, gentle dog who provided a lot of laughs and a lot of vet bills. One of his specialities was managing to need a trip to the vet for some expensive reason, the day before we would be going away. I swear he knew! He was the best listener and ally. He was also the Best Dog at our wedding in 2005, having chosen Iain from a series of suitors that courted Kate in the early 2000s. We miss him keenly, as does Sammy, our other dog, but we are so grateful to have had such a wonderful character in our lives who brought us so much joy.
Georgie loved to hang out on the beach while we kitesurfed.
George and Sam hanging out and helping with fencing.
Enjoying our local, Marion Bay Beach.
Helping Iain in the early days on the farm.