Surprise!

On Tuesday (Dec. 22), I heard a strange noise emanating from the barn as I left for work at 3:30 a.m. I was tempted to just ignore it but my conscience got the better of me and I went to check it out. (Before going to the barn I had to find a flashlight because the electricity to the barn is currently out. It went out on Monday, Dec. 21. The last time the power cut out in the barn was just before lambing season...) I found a flashlight, wandered out to the barn and discovered that Moya (Hannah's goat) had given birth to twins at some point in the night... I got Grace and Hannah up and they took care of Moya and her offspring while I went to work.

The fact that Moya had kids wasn't the surprise part. Hannah had bought her as a bred doe (not "bread dough" (stupid spell checker)). We knew we had a pregnant doe on our hands, we just thought her due date was late January. Surprise!

We were woefully unprepared to begin milking. Thankfully, we had milked before and this was not Moya's first freshening either. She is an awesome milker! Very cooperative, patient and a good producer. The girls had to milk her while she stood on the ground since we had gotten rid of all of our milking equipment about four years ago.

I downloaded milk stand plans, Grace picked up the necessary lumber and our bedroom addition was temporarily transformed into a work shop. I finished it off in a couple of days and now it's ready for action. It could use a coat of paint but the girls are more anxious to be able to milk a little more comfortably.