The Freckled Farm Soap Company

Category: What’s up Wednesday

  • What’s up Wednesday – March 18th

    Another week has gone by and Hillary is still pregnant! Thank goodness! As of today she reached what is considered “viability” for the kids. Any kids born now will have a higher probability of survival, since their lungs have had an opportunity to develop. If we can make it to next Monday their chance of survival is very good, and I think there is a good possibility that she will make it until then. Last week she dropped, so instead of holding the babies up high and being very wide her stomach is now really low. When she dropped I could once again feel her ligaments. They aren’t incredibly strong, but they are most definitely there! We are still being very gentle with her and doing our best to keep her from stressing out, however she is not a fan of being treated with kid gloves. She wants to eat on the milk stand like everyone else! I swear she is rolling her eyes at us. She will kid sometime next week… Check back to hear all about it.

    Our 2015 garden is starting to coming together. We have finished prepping last year’s beds for this year’s plants. We are going to till the new garden space hopefully later this week. We aren’t happy that we are having to till, but it’s very necessary this year. Next year, and hopefully with every year that follows, we will be able to avoid tilling. It feels so good to have warm weather back and to be able to spend the day working outside… oh my goodness I love spring.

    Yesterday we debuted our laundry detergent on the our website. We are so proud of this product and can’t wait for everyone to try it!

    What I busy week it has been… I think the “slow” part of our year is officially over!

  • What’s up Wednesday – March 11th

    Oh what a week it has been! In the last week we have had 2 kiddings, resulting in 5 kids. 2 kiddings down – 2 to go!

    On Thursday morning Sonia kidded. Her kidding went beautifully. She had 2 perfect kids, a buck and a doe! They both look exactly like their mom. She milked great right after and has been producing the same amount of milk that our does last year were producing in the height of production. She’s a rock star.

    On Monday, 4 days before her due date, Ruth kidded. Why so early?… Because she had triplets! Generally kiddings with more than 2 come a little early. The kids were a great size though. Only one of them, the doe, looks like a premie. Ruth had 2 bucks and 1 doe. When Sonia gave us as much milk as she did I was shocked, when I saw what Ruth was producing I was BLOWN AWAY! At her first milking she gave us a half of gallon of milk. This wouldn’t be unusual for a second freshener (a doe who has had a previous kidding) but for a first freshener (this was her first pregnancy) this is outstanding. A half a quart to a quart is more normal for a very first milking (right after they kid) in my experience. The production increases over the next 2 months then levels off. Our first fresheners last year were giving us a little over a half a gallon A DAY in the height of production. Ruth gave us half a gallon in one milking. I can’t imagine what she is going to be giving us in 2 months when she reaches the peak of production. Even now that we have her on a schedule she is giving us 3/4 of a gallon a day. Her utter is huge and beautiful.

    Now on to Hillary… She’s giving us a bit of a scare. She is a second freshener and isn’t due until the 28th. Hillary came from a kidding of 6, which is extremely, extremely rare. Tina was in the same kidding. Since there is a possibility that she, like her dam, could carry a large number of kids we ultrasound her at 45 days pregnant. At her ultrasound the vet saw one kid with a heartbeat and the potential for two other water bags, which means we could have 1-3 kids. Goat ultrasounds are not as clear as human ones, and rarely tell you the exact number of kids… so far every ultrasound has underestimated by one kid. We were expecting Sonia to have 1 (she had 2) and Ruth to have 2 (she had 3). Hillary always looks huge when pregnant, even last year when she was carrying 2, but this year she is enormous. You have heard me talk about ligaments a lot. These are the best way to tell if a goat is about to kid. When they disappear the kids will soon make their appearance. On Monday while Ruth was kidding we put the other goats and llamas in the back pasture so Ruth could have a quiet, peaceful environment to kid. Hours later when Ruth was done, cleaned up, and milked we let everyone back into the front pasture. Hillary was following far behind everyone else, walking slowly with her back legs spread. I checked her ligament and I couldn’t find them. She didn’t have any other symptoms but this was very concerning. I called the vet and she said there isn’t much we could do, to just keep her calm and comfortable. If kids are born before 10 days from the due date they will likely not survive. In an effort not to upset her and stress her out I have not been checking her ligaments a lot. I’ll go and peak in on her here and there and listen to the monitor very closely. We need to get her to next Wednesday to have the kids be viable. All of this leads me to believe that she has more than 3 kids or the kids are huge. She is already larger than Ruth was when she kidded her three… but like humans, goats all carry differently and comparing one goat to another will get you nowhere. Please send good vibes our way that Hillary will last until at least next Wednesday but preferably until next Saturday or later!

    Kidding is full of excitement and worries. I love the anticipation and watching new life come into this world. I am always so proud of my girls.

    Hopefully there will be no new kiddings to report with next week’s What’s up Wednesday.

    More details, pictures, and even video for each kidding coming soon!

  • What’s up Wednesday – March 4th

    It’s the start of kidding season!!! Sonia is due any day now! Her due date is actually Friday but she has been showing signs of labor for days now. Her ligaments are almost completely gone and she has had some discharge. By Tuesday afternoon it became obvious that she had “dropped,” she’s been leaning against me and her sister quite a bit as well… all are signs that kidding is near. On Sunday I thought for sure she was going to go into labor. She was pacing around, she had all the signs of labor, and you could see in her face that something was going on. We spend a lot of time with our goats, so the littlest change is noticed and this was a blaring change to her personality! This wasn’t her time however. She settled down before bedtime and just moaned through the night. Given her current state I would say it is highly unlikely that she will make it to her due date. I have a very hard time believing that she she will go beyond Thursday. Considering I write these “What’s up Wednesday” blog posts throughout the day on Tuesday it’s possible that by the time this posts Wednesday morning that she has already kidded… Although I am still guessing Thursday. Check out our Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter to see more timely updates.

    During Sonia’s ultrasound we were told that she likely has one kid. As you can see in the picture she isn’t very large. The picture was taken Saturday, but there hasn’t been a significant change to her size since then. Sonia is the goat in the front with the green collar.

    Sonia - The Freckled Farm - 2015 KiddingThe first kidding of the season is always the one that makes me the most anxious. There is all this build up for baby goats and the excitement of watching new life come into the world. There is also the fear that you have forgotten something or something might go wrong. While this fear doesn’t come close to trumping the excitement it’s still in the back of my mind. Maybe it will go away when I have years upon years of experience under my belt… however I have had friends who have been working with goats for decades and still feel the anxiousness of the start of kidding season. It’s the unknown! What are the babies going to look like? How many does and bucks will we get? What will their personalities be like? How well will our girls do? Will we miss it? What if we miss it and something goes wrong? I am feeling especially anxious this year because last year we ended the season with Tina’s awful kidding! If we had not come in while Tina was experiencing her problems it could have had a terrible outcome. I know though that as soon as Sonia kids that I will be in the grove and the anxiousness will go away (for the most part)… at least until Tina’s kidding in June.

    Once Sonia kids her sister Ruth will not be far behind! Stay tuned for lots of precious baby goat pictures!

  • What’s up Wednesday – February 25th

    We are in the final stretch before the start of kidding season! Sonia only has a week and a half left. She has received all of her vaccinations (CDT and BoSe) and we continue to increase her feed to prepare her for milk production. She is a first freshener and they tend to bag up (their udders grow) over the course of the last week or two but hers hasn’t started to grow yet, however that is not an indication of how close she is as she could potentially bag up right before she kids. One indication of how close she is to kidding are her ligaments. They are about the size and thickness of a pencil and are on either side of the doe’s tail, as they get closer to their due date the ligaments soften until they eventually disappear, at which point labor is imminent. Sonia’s ligaments are quite soft! She is most definitely going to keep us on our toes! Ruth is a little over two weeks away and will be getting her BoSe shot this Friday. Her ligaments are also softening. Hillary has a little bit longer to go with a little over 4 weeks left. She is already huge though! I have a feeling she will go at least a little before her due date. Then of course there is Tina… who isn’t due until June. Between the 3 girls who are due in March we will likely get 5-6 kids. My current guess is we will get 3 does and 2-3 bucks. I hope I am right!! We will soon find out!

    On Tuesday morning we put in the monitor in the barn. This monitor allows us to hear everything that is going on in there and helps us catch when the girls go into labor. It keeps us from having to constantly go out and check on them. It’s great during the day, and is helpful at night however it keeps me up most of the night since I am a really light sleeper.

    Yesterday our packaging for the laundry detergent came in! Isn’t it cute! This jar is the largest size. There will also be a refill size and a sample size. It won’t be long until we are able to debut it!

    Laundry Packaging - The Freckled Farm Soap Company

  • What’s Up Wednesday – February 18th

    On Monday evening we got around 8 inches of snow. It was the biggest snow storm that we have gotten this winter. The farm looks beautiful. While I do enjoy one big snow, now that it has happened I am ready to move on and have spring move in. We are looking at extremely low temperatures the rest of the week, including a low of -8 Thursday night. I’ve said it a million times… I’m not built for cold.

    Monday we received word that we have been accepted to the Thursday evening Powhatan Farmers Market. I am loving watching our spring and summer schedule come together. We are in for an amazing year! In the next few weeks our schedule should be finalized and I will post everything on a blog. I’m waiting an “official” confirmation from two markets.

    The countdown to kidding season continues:

    • Sonia – 2 weeks and 2 days until due date
    • Ruth – 3 weeks and 2 days until due date
    • Hillary – 5 weeks and 3 days until due date
    • Tina – Due in June

     

     

  • What’s Up Wednesday – February 11th

    In the last week we have continued to work on our goat milk soap laundry detergent. We have worked hard perfecting the amount of essential oil for each scent. I think we finally reached an amount that we are happy with. We are hoping to be able to start offering the detergent sometime in March.

    In the past week we received our acceptance to the West End Farmers Market on Saturdays and the Mid-Week Farmers Market at Aw Shucks. Kevin will likely be the one manning the booth at both of these locations. Our spring and summer is starting to come together!

    This weekend we worked on getting the soap room together. We have been building it for almost a year at this point and haven’t had a chance with our busy schedule to put any real time into it in the last 6 months or so. The soap company has lived in several rooms in our house. A large portion of our home has been cut off to our family for far too long! This weekend we got the room painted and within the next few days the floor is going in and cabinets are going up. It won’t be long until we will be moving in and we can have our house back!

    The count down continues to the start of kidding season! Sonia now has a little over 3 weeks, Ruth has a little over 4, and Hillary has about 6 weeks. Tina is not due until June, so we are not considering her in this countdown. Hillary is already huge and is getting quite uncomfortable. I can’t wait to see how many she has!

     

  • What’s Up Wednesday – Feb 4th

    This has been the week of figuring out what our spring and summer is going to look like. We’ve been applying to farmers markets. Our plan going into the year was to be at five markets throughout the week and so far we have applied to a total of five. I have one more that I am considering. I should have a better idea what our farmers market schedule will look like in a few weeks and I will update the “Where to Buy” section of the website! We are also applying to several late winter and spring festivals.

    Kidding season will soon be here! Sonia is due first, in a little over 4 weeks! Ruth is next, followed by Hillary later in the month. Tina is not due until June (assuming she is pregnant, we only bred her a week and a half ago). We will be starting to slowly increase their feed over the next few weeks to help prepare them for milk production. They will also be getting their CDT booster shots.

    This is the time of year that things really start to pick up around the farm! The days are getting longer, egg production is picking up, the countdown to kidding has started, and we are getting days that are at least somewhat warm! The winter funk is starting to thaw!

  • What’s Up Wednesday – January 28th

    It has been a very busy week. We are still very much in the adjustment period since Kevin left his day job, but we are finally starting to form some sort of routine. I am in the middle of wedding booking season for the photography business, we are working on our new goat milk soap laundry detergent, contacting stores about carrying our products, building up our soap supply, and taking care of the farm. Busy, busy, busy, but we are loving working together full time.

    Last Wednesday we took Tina to have her hooves reshaped. She foundered this past Summer and we spent months controlling the crazy growth and lowering her grain intake to slow it down. I finally felt like we got her back to (somewhat) normal, so we took her to a farm in Culpeper who were going to use a grinder to get her feet back to the correct shape. We didn’t breed her in the fall because we were dealing with getting her feet comfortable again. We honestly were debating whether we were breed her again at all because we weren’t sure if it would be too hard on her, but the farmers in Culpeper didn’t think that her case was anywhere near as bad as others that they had seen and she was cleared to breed again. She went into heat on Monday and was bred to Warner. Her due date will be June 25th, much later than we are used to, but it could set us up for a year round milking schedule. It would be nice to not have periods of the year where we are without fresh milk coming in… We have two chest freezers of frozen milk for soap (it must be frozen to be used in the soap making process), but it’s not the same when it comes to drinking.

  • What’s Up Wednesday – Jan 21st

    The last two weeks since Kevin left his “day job” have been an adjustment. For the last two years we have lived in survival mode. Kevin was pulling in at least 60 hours a week at work and every other second of the day was stacked with things that needed to be done for the businesses and farm. Late nights and extremely early mornings were how we lived. Now that the 60 hours of work outside of our businesses are gone we are trying to figure out what our new schedule looks like. We no longer have to live with the mindset that if we have a second it needs to be filled with something because who knows how much time we are going to have later. We are working on balancing everything and actually giving ourselves time to just relax… what a concept. I have actually had to set myself a set of tasks that need to be completed that day, and once I am done I am allowed to relax. Otherwise I will just move on to one of other five hundred tasks on my to do list…

    One of our big projects this week is working on our new goat milk soap laundry detergent. We are officially in the research and development phase! So far so good! We plan to sell them in three sizes; a nice large reusable glass container with a wooden scoop, refill bags, and finally a sample size for 2-4 washes. We are currently planning on 4 scents; Sunrise Citrus, Lavender, Tea Tree (for strong odors caused by bacteria – body odor and stinky socks), and Unscented. Look for these detergents to join our market booths and website in the late winter or early spring.

    We do have a little bit of sad news from this week. We lost one of our free ranging chickens to a hawk. Her name was Sophia and she was one of our original chickens. In fact she gave us our very first egg! We retired to her to the pasture last spring where she, and several of her sisters, had the run of both pastures and the barn. We knew this was a possibility. Chickens are very vulnerable to predators, especially when they are free ranging, but that doesn’t make it any easier when it happens. I am extremely tender-hearted and we love our animals. In the meantime we have moved the few other free rangers into the big closed coop until we can figure out a safer option for them. Our fear is now that the hawk knows where the food is he will just keep coming back.

    Check back next week for even more updates!! There is so much in the works!

     

  • What’s Up Wednesday – Jan 7th

    Happy Birthday Kevin!! … Not only is it Kevin’s birthday, but it is also his first day as a full time farmer. Yesterday was his last day at his “day job.” I am so excited to finally be in entering into this new chapter. I now get to work side by side with my favorite person every day! We have been working our butts off to get to this point.

    The next few months are going to be an adjustment as we try to get into a routine. Hopefully we won’t be pulling super late nights anymore… or maybe just less of them. I am extremely excited about all of the projects that we will have time to do, now that Kevin will be home and extra 60+ hours a week, like building the green house, greatly expanding our garden (by a quarter of an acre!), and so much more. It’s also going to be so nice knowing Kevin will be around during kidding time in March. The next year is going to be an awesome adventure.