YAG Blog
When we first started raising goats, we spent alot of time with local farmers who raise goats to learn the ins and the outs. I remember saying to one of our farmer friends how excited we were about kidding season and was positively filled with anticipation and excitement in my voice as I talked to her. She turned to me and said, "Believe me kid, you'll be happy when it's over". The interaction took the wind out of my sails. Now, in the thick of our 7th kidding season since we started raising goats, I am reminded, yet again, of her infinite wisdom.
A few weeks ago we wrote about our first two kids that were born this season. As I write this we now have 9 happy kids in the barn jumping around (one who is slightly less happy with a goopy eye) and 2 sitting on my lap as I write this. There are many mothers that have yet to kid and we are thankful for this brief break in between kid crops! The low temps have been hard on the kids and the moms, but we keep moving forward. We brought the 2 kids that are on my lap into the house last night and this morning as it was becoming clearer by the minute that they were not drinking enough and needed some help. After a warm bath, some time by the fire and some warm milk, they are perking up, running around the living room and creating anxiety in our dogs - a good sign! This is one of the happy stories!
As with most seasons though, there are always sad stories to tell as well. Yesterday, a sad story presented itself at a very inconvenient time- reminding all of us that no matter how romantic farming can be, it can sometimes slap you in the face too. One of our very loyal customers and friends stopped by for a planned visit to see the kids. She was with her sister and brother in law and they had a Christmas tree to donate to the goat feed pile and wanted to meet the babies. Slightly before their arrival, I had noticed one of the mothers struggling with labor. By the time our visitors had arrived I was becoming convinced that maybe she was experiencing prolapse, but we hadn't seen that condition in years since we stopped feeding grain and I was baffled. Shortly after we headed into the barn, it was clear she was having trouble pushing. So, I got our visitors all set up with some kids to hold and play with and tried to keep a close eye on the mom. At some point, I realized she was giving birth to a stillborn and she needed help. So, as all good goat midwives do, I got one knee down on the barn floor and started to help her pull out the kid while she pushed. It was clear that the goat was also baffled. She wasn't crying and I could sense she just wanted it all to be over. When the kid came out, I immediatley wrapped it up in a blanket and let it lay by her side. Sometimes when we remove the kids too quickly (for whatever reason) it causes alot of stress to the mothers. She stood silent for a little while and we thought maybe she had another kid in her. After a short while, she sniffed at her kid and then she shook it off and headed out to the hay bin for a meal. T'is the life of a goat.
And so it goes, and so it goes and so it goes. I could tell that our visitors felt the sadness just as much as I and the goats and the dogs did, but we all just moved on from it for the sake of the afternoon. In some ways, it was nice not to be alone throughout it all as it is always sad to lose part of our goat family and although we were silently mourning this without discussing it, it is always nice not to mourn alone. On the other hand, I was sad they had to see that when they were likely expecting a much more entertaining afternoon. Not to mention, seeing a live birth is truly a wonderful thing to be a part of and it's too bad it turned out the way it did. Alas, these are the downs that balance out the wonderful ups of farming. I was relaying the situation to a good friend who is a dairy farmer that stopped by later that afternoon and how horrible I had felt that it happened in front of our guests. He said, "You know the old saying...When you have livestock, you have deadstock". And however hard it is, he's right. It's a reality - a harsh one, but a reality nonetheless. As it should, I always feel affected by a situation like this, but overall each time we have a loss, we become a little wiser.
And so, we started out this day on a hard note as we pondered the events of yesterday and then we spent this afternoon looking for a little inspiration! We cleaned the kidding pens and we finally got the kids tagged (ID tag in their ear) and let them out of the pens. Within minutes, they were jumping around the barn (the scene I had written about in November - an experience that can right any bad day...the experience our visitors were looking for one day late) and we took another step forward in our goat lives.
To our visitors, thanks for being a part of our farm yesterday and for being understanding that sometimes downs are part of the bigger picture. We owe you one!
Enjoy the snow everyone!
Laura and Jay Young
Young American Growers
Good evening everyone!!!
We're writing to let you know that the kids have arrived...well, two of them have! Sante Fe (daughter of Martha), one of our stellar breeding does born on our farm in 2007, kidded around 10am this morning. Despite the frigid temps today, the kids are doing quite well and Sante Fe is being a good dam (goat mom).
As you may recall from one of our previous newsletters, the goats instinctually breed during a time of the year that will produce kids 5 months later in colder temps. In colder temps, the kids have less parasitic challenges (since many parasites are dead or inactive at low temps) and it helps to give them a good solid start.
The does typically begin to go into labor during sudden changes in barometric pressure like we saw between yesterday and today. We have also noticed that once one mother kids, there is a hormonal switch that seems to trigger with the other goats that are bred and they soon go into labor. Today's birth no doubt starts that clock for all of our goats and for our watchful eyes as well. During temps like we've seen today, we have to keep a close eye on the mothers that are not smart enough to kid in a protected area. On a night like tonight, kids can turn hypothermic really quickly, as we know all too well. Saving them from hypothermia is not always successful. Depending on the conditions of the mothers before we go to bed, sometimes we have to do a barn check in the middle of the night.
The attached picture you see here is Laura holding the two new kids. The goat that has the white blaze on its head is a buck (boy) and the one with the chocolate brown head without the white blaze is a doe (girl). You can also see Sante Fe popping her head up to see what is going on with her screaming kids. She is always a great mother.
These kids born this winter will be with us for the next year or so depending on their quality as it relates to the breed standard and how they grow. In the spring, they will be sorted. The bucks will be castrated and/or separated from the does and they will go to a separate grazing/browsing site to prevent any unwanted pregnancies. Historically, our breeding bucks have often thrown a 50/50 buck to doe percentange. It will be interesting to see how our new buck faired this year.
We will continue to update you on our kidding season as we are able! If anyone wants to visit the farm to see the kids, we will be happy to be available to show you around!
Jay and Laura Young
Young American Growers
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
We arrived home tonight after candlelight service at church to all of the goats laid out in the far end of the barn where the cows usually are. We had left the lights on and so it looked a bit romantic. Like proud parents we just watched them peacefully resting - a good night to peacefully rest under a bright sky and crisp air. The mothers are heavy bred and we are expecting kids any day now. The wreath orders are all done and as we look ahead to busier days with the kids jumping around and a bit of chaos in the barn, we are thankful for this brief rest and reflect on a productive and successful year on our little farm and are thankful for your business, friendships and the relationships we've formed with all of you.
In lieu of being able to hug you or shake your hand at the market, please know we are thinking of all of you tonight and hope that you are having a restful and Merry Christmas. Enjoy your families! Enjoy the goodness of today! Enjoy each other! We have alot to be thankful for!
As the kids arrive, we'll be sure to send updates and pictures as we are able.
With Thanks and Love,
Laura and Jay Young
Young American Growers
MISSING THE MARKET SCENE
Good morning everyone! We have missed writing to you about goats and seeing you at the farmers market every week. Please remember that there are two indoor farmers markets in town. One is the Boalsburg Farmers Market which is held on Tuesdays from 2pm-6pm at the Boalsburg Fire Hall. The other is the Old Gregg Farmers Market held on Saturdays from 10am-1pm at the Old Gregg School in Spring Mills. The more support that the winter markets get, the more reason there will be to have them more often and for farmers to work harder to bring more goods to the market. Please consider supporting these markets!
NEW WEBSITE
Our new website is now done. I hope you will take some time to check it out at www.youngamericangrowers.com. It is more comprehensive than our old site in that it refers to the multi facets of our business rather than just the nursery component. Your subscription to this email list can now be managed by YOU! Up until now, we have just maintained an email list at home. Please see the home page of our site on the right margin for mailing list information. Also, please refer the site to others who may be interested in receiving updates from us!
THE GOATS ARE HOME
We are happy to report that all of our goats are home from their various summer browsing sites. We are very much enjoying having them in our backyard again and are steadily preparing for kids to arrive in the next month or so. We'll be sure to keep you updated with all of the happenings and updates as they come.
YAG AT THE 3RD ANNUAL LEMONT CHRISTMAS MARKET TODAY AND TOMORROW
Lastly, tonight from 5pm-8pm and tomorrow from 11am-5pm we will be vendors at the 3rd Annual Christmas Market in Lemont. This is a relatively new market and its organizers are trying to create an old fashioned german market experience. It was very well attended last year and we would love to see you there! We will be selling our Christmas wreaths which are all hand made from locally harvested greens and carefully and lovingly decorated. Prices range from $25-$50.
GOAT MEAT
If you are interested in goat meat between now and when the market reopens in May, please just send us an email and we will be happy to collect orders from individuals until we have enough to slaughter a goat to meet the orders. For those of you that have already contacted us about whole or half goats, we will be getting back to you shortly.
We hope that you had a safe and restful Thanksgiving and that you took some time to be thankful for all of the wonderful things in your lives. We continue to be thankful to get to know all of you.
Up to our necks in wreaths greens,
Laura and Jay Young - Young American Growers
After several months of working on a new site, we are live! Our old website only referenced our nursery business but not information about the goats, wreaths or other activities. We felt that this site better represented the diversity of our business. We express many thanks to Jack Pollack, Frank Pacelli and Sam Sabolchick (Laura's brother!) for their tireless work and creativity on our old site. Many thanks are also due to Small Farm Central - to Simon Huntley and Shannon for their assistance in getting up the new site. We would recommend Small Farm Central to anyone!
As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, we obviously have so much to be thankful for with under year of business under our belts with our heads still above water, however minimally! Thank you to all of our customers, friends and family who help us to live our passions every day.
Travel safe and we hope your turkey is local!! :)
Laura and Jay
