1005856 - BANDITO
12/20/21 - BANDITO was born at the end of December, but we'll be includng him in the 2022 family.
His mom is all white and his dad is black, but he has a stunning white blaze running down the middle of his litte face - will be fun to watch if it changes as he grows up!!
1005789 - LITTLE PRINCE
01/02/22 - THE LITTLE PRINCE was born on January 2, and as almost all of our babies, his mom did everything on her own.
Cashmere goats are hardy and self-sufficient in most every way, so we nearly always find babies already on their feet and nursing
The mother will lick her baby dry and if one of guardian dogs is there, they will eat the placenta so there is less materail around that could attract predators
Mother nature knows her stuff!!
Butterscotch - MAPLE SYRUP
12/23/21 - MAPLE SYRUP. (Couldn't help myself) . she's exactly that color - a beautiful mahogany with blond highlights
MAPLE's mom is not the best mother we've had...the first few days after birth she had no milk but MAPLE refused to drink from a bottle, and it took a bit for her to catch up compared to her siblings. Now she is fat and sassy and I occasioally bring mother and daughter out to graze with the other goats; last week they jumped through the stream under our farm and MAPLE almost didn't make it to the other side !!
I expect there will be a lot of drama watching MAPLE grow up!
1007654 - JOLENE
02/02/22 - JOLENE
Born on February 2, her photo will be ready tomorrow
1003478 - SUNDANCE
04/19/20 - Sundance has had a bit of bad luck since he was born on April 19 - first of all, his mom decided to give birth at the very far end of a very big pasture, on a day when a cold wind was blowing down from the mountains. By the time I found her and her baby, he was still wet, and shivering
So, we automatically went into emergency mode: dry him off, warm him up until he's warm enough to eat, and then bottle feed him his first meal of colostrum, to get him going. The next day, his mom unexpectantly died, so the next step in these cases is to keep the baby under a heat lamp so he maintains his core temperature, followed by frequent bottle feedings of fresh goat's milk from another momma
Some babies just hate a bottle, and others are good at 'getting' it early on, so Sundance is now back with his siblings, comes running for his bottle four times a day, and is going to be just fine!
88 - JOE B
01/20/21 - On a very cold, sunny morning, January 20, 2021, a very special event took place in the world, and at the same time this little white baby was born to mark the event
He has leapt into his role as the first kid of the season, and considers himself the boss of the pasture, it seems
His mom is very protective but he is also pretty independent, so it is amusing to watch their interactions - he is definitely one to follow up!
96 - BATGIRL
04/24/20 - I had a much more romantic idea for naming this kid, but her arrival was so FORCEFUL, I figured she needed a different sort of descriotion.....as she was giving birth, her crazy mom started trotting across the ield (followed ny her sisters) and bascially catapulted BATGIRL onto the ground.
Hardly a gentle way to greet the world, but noone was worse for the wear, and not only is she fine, but her little white foot is adorable
Still a wild momma,, though, so I don't get many chances to take good pix. Tak a look at this link to see the whole story
87 - VOODOO
05/16/21 - As the saying goes, like mother like daughter . this little one is a little bit crazy. it will be interesting to see if she gets tamer as she grows up
99 - Stella and Luna
11/30/99 - Born the night of the full moon..........identical!!
Both little girls were born while the moon was still in the sky! We had a group of guests here for lunch, and low and behold, when we got up from lunch mamma 'Witchcraft' had given birth to them in the pasture below our little shop. Such an exciting advenbture for eveyone!!
Not only do they have identicakl stars on their foreheads, but they both have a white marking on their side; it'll be pretty difficult to tell them apart as they grow up, that's for sure!
85 - CHESTNUT
05/14/21 - If past experience teaches us anything, if he takes after his mom Cioccolat, little CHESTNUT will be a winner
84 - VELVET RABBIT
05/13/21 - This little guy is going to be a beauty - his mom is one of our cappuccino colored does, and his father is jet black colors are always a surorise!
This guy was born out in the pasture with his mom and the other goats, and we found him already on his feet . all dried off by our LGD (Livestick Guardian Dogs - this is one of thier 'jobs')....not ony do they guard the goats, but they act as efficient mid-wives when necessary!
90 - FERRAGOSTO
11/30/99 - We have a lot of goats, they each have their own personality, and some of them are sweet and some others are less so, but FERRAGOSTO'S mom is one of the 'crazier' ones - takes three people to hold onto her when she has to be combed, and once he is out to summer pasture, yiu can't get near her............so. she had this little black kid on August 15th, with the help of our LGD (Livestock Guardian dogs)
He is now big enough to be with his make siblings, and has a gorgeous jet black coat, with lighter colored cashmere fiber underneath.can't wait to comb him this spring!
94 - PEPPERMINT
06/10/19 - Just in time for a photo shoot! Our friend Michelle came along just in time to cuddle this little silver-coated, blue-eyed baby
Together with his siblings, he spent the first three months with his mother, and thne was transferred to the 'boys' section. Believe it or not, a make kid can breed (incuding his mother nad his femae sibings) as early as 3-4 months, so, while the liltle irls get to stay with their moms, the boys are separated before they can get into trouble, and grow up with the other males
.....a real 'mens' club !
At about 12 months, each goat is combed for the first time and we take a fiber sample to test the quality of the cashmere they are producing, and then they become part of out 'breeding' herd - only the best 10% meet the standard!
I think this little guy will be a winner!
95 - BLOSSOM
04/17/20 - Like most of our moms, Blossom's mother found herself a niche against a stone wall to give birth to her baby, and the dogs kept watch over both of them until we brought them in for the night
Like all of her siblings this eason, Blossom is a mini-me version of her dad,The Lion King!
Itwill be interesting to see how all of these little beauties develop over the next few months
98 - BUTTERSCOTCH
04/07/20 -
The third of our 'quarantine babies' born yesterday. #BUTTERSCOTCH
99 - APRIL FOOL
04/01/20 - What better way to start our ADOPT A KID promotion than with our little bitty girl born just in time for the start of April !
Her coal-black mom decided to give birth on a leafy spot in the woods - near enough to the house and the safety of our guard dogs, and far enough from other animals to have her privacy......exquisite, pure white and just too huggable for words. You'll be abe to follow her antics over the course of this coming year, and when you can finally get back to visit, she'll be all grown up!!
100 - PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
05/02/19 - Phantom of the Opera is my favorite kid this seaosn. Her mom is Snow White, one of our two oldest goats, who died at the age of 16 when Phantom was just two months old
Snow White was one of our origianal white goats, and regularly produced a dark grey kid every year! Phantom is by far the prettiest
Since then she has grown up with her siblings into a BEAUTIFUL grey-haired little girl, absolutely covered with cream colored cashmere......can't wait to comb her this spring!
She'll stay here on the farm for the summer season instead of going to another property for summer pasture she's just too cute to not have her around, so be sure to come a say hello when you re finally able to travel to Tuscany again!!
101 - BUTTERCUP
03/12/20 - Every goat has a story, but this one beats a lot of them from the get - go !
Sweet Laila last year had a baby that she lost (ie she had discharge form an obvious birth, but we couldn't find and sign of a baby goat).
On the same day one of my CRAZY goats (her name is Wild Thing for a reason) also had a baby which she pretty much abandoned............she was at summer pasture with the other goats for the summer, so after hoursof trying to coax her to acceot her new baby, I reluctantly brought her baby back home, planning to have to bottle feed her until she was old enought to eat by herself
As luck would have it, Laila took her under her wing and made her her own....and we named her ... Vixen
On March 12, THIS year, Laila had ANOTHER baby, assisted by her daughter Vixen, and decided to take care of them both at once, so they have become our extended family: Laila, the single mom, Vixen the adopted baby, and Buttercup, the 'birth' daughter, who seems to be in charge, trotting around with mom and sister trying to keep up!!!!
Stay tuned to follow her as she and her half.sister Vixen, grow up over the coming year!
103 - THE LION KING
11/30/99 -
THE LION KING
Here on our #CASHMEREGOATFARM we breed for quality cashmere but we also breed for color and this lovely guy is the first son of our famous #Cappuccino, who died last year at the ripe old age of 16 and who produced a lovely shade of fiber called 'red' or 'apricot'
The #LIONKING tested well on his fiber tests, and even more importanty, is a sweet- tempered guy who is a pleasure tp have around
So we used him for breeding two seasons ago, and on the last day of mating season I found him with a hind leg broken in several places, and dangling from the knee down. #emergency !
My pickup had just broken down, and I had no way to get him to the nearest large animal clinic at the Universita di Perugia...and along came Arianna and Alessio from #km0tours to save the day!!!!!!
They just happened to have a little car they could lend me, so we lined the back with straw, lifted #LIONKING up and got him settled and I took off for the 2,5 hour ride to the Clinic
These are only some of the picks. He had multiple fractures of his hind leg, and my colleague asked me if i wanted to put him down, and I said NO!
So his leg was amputated at the 'knee', and he stayed at the clinic for a week of observation.
I was worried he would really be our #specialneeds goat forever, but after about three months he got his balance back, and was our go-to breeder this season, successfully breeding 15 females, and transmitting his lovely color to almost all of them!
So, thanks to my colleagues at the Clinca Veterinaria dell Università di Perugia , and to my friends at #km0tours, #LIONKING is an important part of our #cashmeregoatfarm
By adopting him, yo will help us maintain him as well as we possibly can - just another 'special needs' goat !
