30 Kids in 5 Days, Plus New Digs for the Pigs, November Grass Growth & More!

I took almost no pictures of the other animals and the rest of the farm this week because my brain (and camera lens) was most consumed with kidding season!

We had our most condensed kidding season ever this year with 32 kids born from Saturday morning, November 9th until Friday midday, November 15th. After the two born Saturday morning, the rest were born in a very short span of time from Monday night through Friday morning, showing just how much the does sync up their cycles and get bred at the same time!

When the bucks broke out of their isolated area in June, I wasn’t sure how many of the does actually went into heat immediately and how many would cycle later for January or February kids. Answer? All but five of the does that kidded in January kidded again this past week.

My beloved Uma is one of the ones that didn’t kid again, along with four first timers. Of the spring kidders, one kidded again this week and the other seven (including both of Uma’s daughters) didn’t. We expect the 12 of them to be bred for February and April kids, based on my breeding notes, plus some percentage of 12 yearlings we kept from January and April kiddings may kid for the first time then, as well.

Last Saturday morning we kicked off with the twins I wrote about last week and then Penny had the next kid on Monday night. She’s never had a single before. At not even four years old, she’s already had two sets of twins and triplets, so I can totally respect that she needed a break and had a nice beautiful buckling.

Then three does had twins on Tuesday, four more does has twins on Wednesday and four more does had twins on Thursday.

The only real drama came Thursday afternoon when I was on the Southshore and Grant came to do his afternoon check. He found Nutmeg, an old pro, with four kids with her and she was licking them all and letting them all nurse.

A few feet away was one of her daughters, Macey, who was born in December 2022 and kidded for the first time in April.

It was clear she had given birth, too, so I told Grant over the phone that she probably had twins and Nutmeg had twins and Nutmeg was just claiming them all. I would imagine the smells would be confusing for both of them!

Grant gave two kids to Macey and she claimed one but not the other. He tried the other two kids, as well, but she kept just claiming the one. So the best we can tell, Nutmeg had triplets and Macey had a single.

Grant then separated Macey and her kid from Nutmeg and her trio as far as he could. When I got home a few hours later, Nutmeg once again had all four with her, claiming them all.

I once again gave Macey back her kid and fortunately, all has been well since then!

Then after Thursday’s drama and 12 total kids born that day, Whitney had a single and Dottie had twins late morning and that wrapped it up for fall kidding season!

Fun facts: does and kids take about 48 hours to learn each other’s specific voice. So many does try to keep their kids separate from the rest of the herd at first, I think because they rely only on smell and they just want to be sure they take care of their own kids and not get mixed up.

So a lot of kids just stayed with their twin in little grass and hay nests for the first two days. Mandi and her mother Clementine kidded in the same spot a day apart, so they immediately combined forces and let their kids comingle. At a certain point, Clementine kicked Shiloh and her kids out of that hay bale. Clementine is one of the oldest does in the herd, high in the hierarchy and tends to get her way!

By last night and this morning, as everyone is now past the 48 hour mark, we’re seeing lots more running and jumping around.

We don’t have the herd in the hoop house this round because the does need to be far enough away from the market bucks that they don’t cycle into rut. So for the incoming storms, we gave them several more hay bales and they have a flat bed trailer for the kids to crawl under for shelter. I am hoping that even though the does could fit under there is they really wanted to, they will just get wet and let the kids snuggle under there.

Thankfully Grant and the farm staff kept everything else rolling this week even as I was focused entirely on the goats.

The feeder pigs got a lovely new year with coffee compost to root through, hay bales and pumpkins! They are romping around through it all, finding acorns and generally loving life. It’s been quite warm for November, so I am sure they will enjoy the coming rain and cold front that will follow.

Meanwhile the cattle made a big loop from the back of the farm so we could get four loaded up to take to the processor this morning. So more plain ground beef, filet, patties, sliders and more will be ready in 2-3 weeks.

In the field that they’re currently in with Flock 2, I couldn’t help but notice the lush thatch layer of grass we have now after working this field for more than 8 years.

At the beginning it was nothing but goldenrod and wild asters and blackberry vines, spaced apart with bare clay pan “soil” showing through, along with some patches of invasive cogon grass.

Now after years of rotating pigs, chickens, goats and cattle, plus spreading compost and coffee ground, actual grasses have taken hold and the cattle are eating very well this week, especially for November. It’s a gratifying thing to behold! And not to mention, healthier soil and more robust plant growth sequesters more carbon.

And the chickens are plugging along on their rotations until the winter rain storms start in earnest or the grass growth really slows down even more.

We usually park them in the winter with upwards of 20 yards of compost to spread so that it gives the fields a break and time to grow rye grass for the ruminants.

But we take it week by week every year to determine when the stopping point is, if at all. This year if we do park them, I am hoping to get a system down for growing fodder for them to eat in addition to all the bugs they find in the compost.

Flock 1 is making another rotation through some crab shell compost this week, so they are certainly delighted by all the treats they’re finding!