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June has been a wonderful month for the goats - warm and sunny. They have been able to go outside into the fields virtually every day.

The food is plentiful - Ash is particularly bounteous at the moment - and a favourite of the goats. The Rosebay Willow Herb is also now out in flower so I’ll be gathering those plants this weekend.

The goat is an amazing animal for turning seemingly annoying weeds into a useful product. Their ability to devour large numbers of branches in a short space of time is fascinating to watch.

A number of my lettuces are getting a little old now but they will not be thrown on the compost heap - just into the mouths of the “girls”

The hens are also keen on pecking at lettuce so no leaves will be wasted. 

It is a pleasure to see that the seeds lovingly sown in the small window sill trays just a couple of months ago have grown into plants that can be utilised by both the family and also the animals.

This year we even have a good crop of raspberries - from bushes purchased last year at a local discount supermarket.

My herb plants are also thriving. Sage, parsley oregano, rosemary  and thyme are all so easy to grow and I would recommend anyone to buy a packet of seeds and get sowing.

My son was inspired to buy some chilli and sunflower seeds and they are also doing well.

The plants also make great gifts for family and friends without costing much money  - just a little care and attention (They need watering often during this dry spell)

Vegetable and herb growing also means that a shower of rain is appreciated as useful rather than just an inconvenience.    

In these recessionary times, a low cost food supply with the added benefit of lifting the mood  when those seeds initially emerge is “all good”.

Summer was a washout but I am a woman on a mission. The branches are starting to lose their leaves and that is not good since they are a free source of food for my greedy caprines.

Each morning I take the dogs for a walk and return armed with branches for the girls.

The Toggenburgs were watching me yesterday morning and all three stood in a line on the fence waiting for their breakfast.

Unfortunately as they have not learned to share - I don’t think it is a natural instinct of the goat - I get in some javelin practice directing some of the larger branches  over the heads of the eager Togs and towards two of the more reticent herd members.

My aim isn’t too bad but then again I get a lot of practice.

This wet weather over in Ireland is really not good for the goats’ feet. Three years now and they still haven’t spent too long out in the fields.

Perhaps September will be better.  Optimism always helps when living in this type of climate.

It is definitely not my imagination. I have seen the sun, and on more than one occasion this week.

The caprine girls are delighted; they run about, play fight and lie in the sun. 

The elder branches are showing lots of new leaves and each day during my early morning walk with  the dogs ( and Ben the cat) I try to break some off as a treat.

The girls love the succulent new leaves.

This morning they were in the field as I returned with some large branches and they immediately told me in their usual manner that I had been spotted. My mother and daughter Toggenburgs were at the head of the herd, their front legs situated well up the fence so as to get first pickings.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly goats can devour such large branches.

I have planted three fruit trees recently and if even one goat was able to get access to them, -well bye bye fruit.

I have also sown some lettuce seeds. They started off in two cold frames, admittedly those inexpensive hard plastic ones, but one blew away in the gale force winds. Hence one set of seedlings is now protected by a pallet.

An advantage of keeping goats is that if any of my sown or soon to be sown vegetables become a little “worse for wear”, the goats will enjoy them.

With the chickens as well, our vegetable peelings are well and truly recycled.

The rain has kept off so I think it’s time for another walk.

It has been a few weeks since I wrote and since that time the winter weather has really set in.

One reads how goats are meant to withstand the cold and wet weather but they are definitely not referring to our mollycoddled ladies.

At the first drop of rain, they huddle together  and start their complaining bleats which get louder until attention is taken and they are led back inside.

They have shelter out in the field and if the rain is just a light shower I ignore their bleating crescendo and let them stand under the shed roof for the duration of the downfall.

Obviously this is not to their liking but they are goats and can withstand such weather - particularly as they can avoid the rain altogether just by taking a few steps to the side of the field where the dry shed awaits them.

Unfortunately the damp ground is not great for their feet so often they remain indoors until the grassland dries out.

In their separate pens they are quite happy and at the moment they are being entertained by the labrador puppies.

Having grown with rapid speed over the last 8 weeks, the pups are ensconced in their own area close to the goat pens. They are let out every day to run around and generally get up to mischief and the goats regard them as an amusing distraction.

As a significant part of their diet, particularly in the early days of weaning, was goats milk it seems appropriate that they repay the favour by entertaining their caprine colleagues.

On a crisp frosty morning, with bright winter sun, the goats are let out to enjoy the  weather. Unfortunately rain often arrives in the afternoon but at least they have some fun running around for a few hours.

It is lovely to see the sun shine on their different coloured coats and watch them spar with each other.

The animals don’t understand the word “recession” and when I watch them I can also ignore its existence for a while.

We were perturbed recently to discover that our old labrador dog had become pregnant.

She had not had puppies since she was two and we had been careful to ensure that she kept away from potential suitors since that time. She is now nine and unfortunately has managed to do the deed with some male canine in the village.

Her puppies arrived on Sunday and Monday. Although unusual it is possible for whelping females to stop labour and this is what Tammy our labrador had done.

The first two puppies were born on Sunday morning and we were concerned as she was still large and there was a lump protruding from her side. She didn’t seem to be ill, was feeding her two new offspring and we made the decision to call the vet immediately on the Monday morning to check her out.

Early Monday she went back into labour and gave birth to two more puppies. The first was quite large. Both are very healthy. 

We have been lucky as Tammy is a very healthy dog but I would recommend all owners of dogs over seven who believe that their dog is “too old” to get caught to think again and get their dog spayed.

Tammy is going to the vet for the procedure at the earliest suitable time.

Feeding and Housing

I first became interested in goats at a young age. We lived on a farm in Northamptonshire and my mother decided to purchase two of these interesting animals.

One was a Saanen - white - her name escapes me at the moment. The other was an Anglo  Nubian named Becca.

The goats were handmilked and I remember that one of them hated the noise of the stainless steel bucket. Replacing it with a plastic one ensured that milking time was then much more harmonious.

Fast forward to the present day and I now live with my family in Ireland. We have eleven goats : two Anglo Nubians, two Toggenburgs, one Saanen and the remainder are Nubian crosses.

For the first two years the majority of the goats were kept outside. They had two communal sheds, both with a door that we would close after dark once they had settled in for the night.

Unfortunately the weather in Ireland is not the best, particularly the high level of rainfall. Our goats hate the rain and strong winds - a combination of the two left them huddled in the sheds, reluctant to venture out at all. From the looks on their faces, I knew they blamed us for the weather and expected us to sort it out.   

This we did by building a brick shed with individual pens. For the last 6 years, the goats have spent every night in their pens.

After milking in the mornings, they are let out into the field where freshly cut branches await them.

If the rain is falling, or it is extremely windy, they remain in their pens and the branches are brought to them. Admittedly if it is horrendous weather, they have to make do with hay as venturing out to get “browse” when it is “bucketing down” is not my  idea of fun.

Often the rain will stop at some point during the day and then I will go out armed with my branch cutters and bring them back some sycamore,ash or some other non-evergreen type of tree branch to keep them happy.

Goats are not efficient grass trimmers. They prefer food higher up in trees. They will gradually destroy hedges either by eating, leaning against them and pushing, or a combination of the two.  

Goats will quite happily devour brambles and to watch them carefully pick off a blackberry whilst avoiding the nearby thorns is a wonderful sight to see.

Our goats do not eat growing nettles, but if I cut them and allow them to dry to produce a sort of “nettle hay” they will consume them with pleasure.

Nettles are very nutritious so nettle hay is a healthy addition to their diet.

In Winter, and all year for the milking goats, we feed a dry coarse mix to ensure they are getting all the nutrients they require.

The mix can vary but will usually include maize, rolled oats and molasses.

Hay, and sometimes barley straw is available at all times for the goats to nibble. 

Lily, Lucy and Bella in their pens.

My youngest son has returned from England with a skin rash around his neck and dry scaly skin on his arm.

The arm was itching as he is allergic to some of the evergreen branches in the fileds surrounding our house.

Instead of leaving it to clear up with the help of the soap products that we have, he kept scratching it and whilst in England he did not use the soap and it has gotten worse.

Now back in Ireland, he is showering twice a day using our shower cream and shampoo - sometimes just the latter as it is made of natural oils which are good for the skin and the hair - and the skin is becoming more moisturised and should hopefully return to its normal state in the next week.

It is difficult though to stop the scratching. I lathered up a plain bar of goats milk soap this morning and applied the bubbles to his neck and this helped soothe the itch.

Th sun is shining here again today so I’m off again to collect more branches for the goats. After milking we’ll let them out in the field and they love to see the branches strewn around. It doesn’t take them long to eat them all. They get more at lunchtime and more are left in their pens for when they return in the late afternoon.

We like to think our goats are happy goats.

The sun is shining here in the South East of Ireland. The goats are out browsing and we are taking advantage of the weather by cleaning out another of the goat pens.

Only 4 left to do.

Tomorrow promises to be another dry day so hopefully we’ll get another cleared out.

I have been learning the best way to make a compost heap with layers of “brown” then “green”  

Yesterday the lawns were mowed and provided a “green” layer. Today it is the turn of “brown”.

This afternoon, I will probably amend my website to improve the picture quality. We have recently introduced liquid soaps and foam baths, all made using goats milk, and I would like the pictures to better reflect how good the bottles look.

Penny, our newest goat kid is still being bottle fed so we’ll have to make sure she gets her “tea”. She is eating leaves now although we have to make sure they are low enough for her to reach. It won’t be long before she is fully weaned.