Farm Life – Goat House Farm

If you are short of trouble, take a goat. ~Finnish Proverb

Instagram post 18022681753726496

Josie is showed out. ❤️

Huge thank you to all of our parents, friends, and supporters who came out to visit the kids or cheer them on! It meant so much to them and to us!

We have more photos coming! Huge thanks to Amanda @_phoenixfarm_ for coming out and taking professional photos of our club kids at @northfloridafair ! Meanwhile here are some pictures from our amazing parents! The kids did so well and, while I am sure they are completely exhausted today, I'm so proud of them!

This is a difficult post. Saturday afternoon we had to make the difficult decision to euthanize Kaira as her pain increased and was no longer controlled with pain meds. We still did not have a diagnosis and are amazed at how quickly her illness manifested. Yesterday our vet at UF, Dr. Holbrook called us with some news from pathology. While still officially inconclusive, the pathologist is leaning toward carcinomatosis with peritonitis. This is a rare disease in humans and dogs and one they have never seen in large animals. We have taken solace in knowing Kaira’s case will educate the veterinary world with a future publication. We are deeply grateful for the compassion and care of her veterinary team at UF and the genuine concern and follow up from Dr. Beevis. We also so much appreciate the prayers, well wishes, and donations from all of you. Once we have the final report, we would be happy to share it with anyone interested. It is always heartbreaking to helplessly see one of our animals suffer and frustrating to wait for a diagnosis especially with the potential of contagious or genetic issues (of which this is neither). Kaira was one of our 3 Lee’s girls and it compounded our pain to bear the burden of wondering if we could have prevented her illness, but sometimes these things happen and we are so relieved that her diagnosis does not point to our husbandry or nutrition. I did not want to post until we had something to report. If not for the dedication and endless curiosity of Dr Holbrook and his team, we would be left without answers. We are so fortunate to have the resources of UF.Today we will load up some of our girls to go to North Florida Fair without our Kaira. Our 4-H youth who was working with her, Rosalynn, will be taking Poonachi in her stead. We hope you will come and visit us in the show barn this weekend! RIP, our sweet Kaira, we miss you terribly. We are going to continue our fundraiser for Kaira’s medical bills, with a balance of $1161.55. We appreciate your support. Again, you can donate here on FB or IG, text “Kaira” to 44-321, you can also give securely through our donation page at: https://tinyurl.com/ghfkaira

The goats want to send a huge thank you to Ms Susanna and the kids at Roberts Elementary School for the trick-or-treat bags they made!#happygoats

Our Get Goating club did such an amazing job today prepping for decorating their tack pens! Congratulations to Lilly for winning the theme for the season: Goats are a Gift! Four days until @northfloridafair ! #4hdairygoats #4hyouth #4hprojects #4hdairygoats

Update on Kaira: We are still waiting for more tests, but she is alert and comfortable. She will stay admitted at least through the weekend where they can manage her fluids and pain. Tests show some evidence that we may be dealing with white muscle disease (which is what we initially thought and is treatable), but it doesn't explain some of her other symptoms that led the team to believe lymphoma. We are reaching out to ask for tax deductible donations toward her care. You can text to give by texting "KAIRA" to 44-321, or if you would like to send your donation directly to UF please call their financial office at (352) 294-4720 and out client ID is #349495. You can also give through our donation page at: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/goat-house-farm/kaira-s-medical-care-at-uf

With a heavy heart, we'd like to ask you all to send your prayers and well wishes to sweet Kaira who was admitted to UF Large Animal Hospital with suspected lymphoma.

Instagram post 18068540419432871

This photo that Maureen took really shows why I don't like showing Nigerians, especially the little ones! My back is too old for nigis! 😁🐐#nigeriandwarfgoats #dairygoatsofinstagram

#dairygoatshow #georgianationalfair

Show Day!! #georgianationalfair #dairygoatsofinstagram

Goat Project Families (and farm volunteers): The vet will be out Friday October 6th at 3:00 p.m. to do certificates of veterinary inspection for our fall show string. If you are available, we could use your hands to lead and hold the girls so that we can be considerate of his time. Thank you, @grau_veterinary_services for working with us! #dairygoatproject

Thank you to everyone who came out to our clipping clinic! Even though our schedule got a little chaotic, we still got a lot done and hopefully the kids enjoyed pulling blood and learning to clip! I'm so proud of them all!

We have about six weeks left before our youth show their goats at the North Florida Fair! We are all so excited and hope you will come out to see them! As we gear up for the next round of camps, we'd like to reach out and ask your help to support our youth programs. Your support can make a real impact:🌿 Help young individuals gain valuable knowledge about dairy goats and sustainable farming practices.🧡 Foster a passion for agriculture and dairy goat education.🤝 Contribute to the growth of our educational programs and scholarships.Ready to make a difference? It's easy! Just text the code "GHFYOUTH" to 44-321 to donate. 📱 No donation is too small, and every contribution goes directly toward funding the camp and supporting our aspiring dairy goat enthusiasts.You can also donate directly here: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/goat-house-farm/goat-house-farm-youth-goat-project

Some saturday goat fecal trivia. What is this? Look closely, may not be what you think it is! #dairygoatsofinstagram #goatpoop #goatfecal

Instagram post 18007504798810941

I love riding with this girl! She's so easy and will always spend the whole time just looking out my window and tossing me the occasional kiss. My sweet Josephine Rose! Thank you to everyone who came out to 4-H open house today! What an awesome turnout it was! We're so excited to start a new year!#dairygoatsofinstagram

We can't wait to see you today! @tally4h615 Paul Russell Rd, Tallahassee#youthinag #dairygoatproject

Farm Life

It is tough to find time to blog. I can barely keep our Facebook and Instagram accounts up to date!! I’m always a tad jealous of other farmers who manage to find the time to blog or vlog every day! I am lucky if I have time to eat lunch! If you are looking for goat or farm life that is more up to date than I am, here are some suggestions of folks I like to follow when I have some down time:

The Rare Blog Posts

Recent Posts

Farming with the Monster

June 20, 2019

This post has sat in my drafts for a while. It wasn’t so tough for me to write as it is...

Morning Routine

January 30, 2019

So, last summer someone suggested I start blogging about life on the farm. I said I would, but knowing I am...

Post Milking Routine

May 11, 2018

After finally gaining some confidence in milking (and being kinder to my hand), I really needed to get organized with all...

The Goat Who Made Me Cry

May 10, 2018

I have wanted a dairy goat almost since the day I bought the farm. I had such romantic ideals of waking...

Social Media

Subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter

Contact Us

Hours

If you are short of trouble, take a goat.

~ Finnish Proverb