We’re excited to say that, yes—kidding season 2025 is officially wrapped up! But apparently… the snow didn’t get the memo.
Hello, Spring? Are you out there? It’s still beautiful, sure—but it would’ve been perfect in December. Now we’re just over here dreaming of daffodils and tulips, while the weather insists it’s day 100 of winter. Come on, Mother Nature, we’re ready for mud season and blooms already! So, back to kids!
We’re happy to report that all the babies and their mamas are doing great! Honestly, things couldn’t have gone more smoothly. I assisted with two deliveries—but just a little. I’m pretty sure I went into more detail about that in the last post, so I won’t ramble on again.
In total, we’ve added eight—EIGHT!—kids to the herd. 5 girls or doelings and 3 boys or bucklings. They’ve already nearly tripled in size since birth, which means their mamas are doing a stellar job feeding them. Huge relief, because let’s be real… eight bottle babies in the house? That would’ve been pure chaos!
Here are some sweet shots of Mandy snuggling with the little ones.
Like I said—these little kids are growing so fast! It’s only been a couple of weeks, and they’ve already developed strong personalities and big attitudes. Let’s go through the Who’s Who with some adorable, cuddly baby goat photos! 🐐💛
March 25th – First up, we have June, who was the first mama to give birth. She brought a beautiful little doeling into the world, and we’ve named her Blossom. It is Spring (supposedly… though someone clearly didn’t tell the weather), and she was our firstborn, so the name just felt right.
Later that same day, Tessy gave birth to TWINS—a buckling and a doeling! Mandy had to lend a hand with the buckling’s delivery because, well… he was a unit. Honestly, both of them are on the larger side.
The doeling is almost entirely white, with striking baby blue eyes. The buckling—white with bold black eye patches—was quickly named Goliath (for very obvious reasons 😅). His sister was named Gwenivere—Gwen for short. Her name is a twofold tribute: Mandy’s a big fan of Gwen from No Doubt, and I’ve always had a soft spot for Arthurian legends. Bonus fun fact: the name Gwenivere has Welsh roots—gwen meaning “white,” “fair,” or “blessed,” and hwyfar meaning “smooth” or “soft.” That feels extra special to us, since my dad is Welsh.
Both Goliath and Gwen have beautiful blue eyes. Personality-wise, they’re on the shy side. When they’re out for playtime, they tend to stick close to their mom rather than the humans—but we’re sure they’ll come around soon enough.
March 26th – Missy was next up and—yep, you guessed it—twins again! These two are the friendliest little goofballs. They want to play, climb, and cuddle at every opportunity. Total social butterflies… or, more accurately, social goats.
We named the buckling Hercules (he’s the cream-and-tan kid with black-brown markings), and his sister Megara—Meg for short (she’s the white one with black eye patches and little black “socks”). And yes, while their names definitely echo a certain Disney couple, don’t be fooled—they’re just ridiculously adorable siblings with larger-than-life personalities.
These two are the mischief-makers, the ringleaders of the whole gang. They race, jump, spin, and stir up fun wherever they go—and everyone else follows right along! It’s chaos in the cutest possible way. We’re obsessed.
That exact moment—just after Missy had delivered Hercules—Stella decided it was her turn! She gave birth to a single doeling, and we named her Peach. Here’s the story behind her name…
We noticed pretty quickly that Stella’s baby had figured out how to sneak out through a small opening beside their pen door. Clever girl. The problem? She had no idea how to get back in. Classic.
One morning, I was grabbing some materials to block off the gap when I heard Stella’s panicked cries—and a tiny goat bleating in distress. I sprinted up the driveway, toolbox in hand, and just as I reached the goat area door, I saw it happen: Cosmo rammed Stella’s baby into the air. She went flying—literal midair cartwheels—and landed on her side. My heart stopped for a second… but before I could even react, she popped back up and charged Cosmo like a tiny warrior. This little goat, maybe two pounds soaking wet, went after him again. (Cosmo is a 60 LB wether. ) I finally opened the gate to their stall, tools flying, and found Cosmo cornered in the pen while this tiny ball of fury was lining up another attack!
I broke up the fight fast and sealed the opening right away with scrap wood. After seeing that bravery and sass in such a tiny package, the name Peach just felt right—Princess Peach style. Sweet on the outside, total firecracker underneath. Not to mention, she’s a golden peach color and so fuzzy! It fits.
Lastly, Ally gave birth, and much to our surprise—twins! (Mandy totally called it, by the way!) They haven’t been named yet, but they’re healthy, adorable, and full of life. Just like the others, she had a little buckling and a doeling. The buckling definitely takes after his mama with those long, floppy ears—and all legs! The doeling, however, has her dad’s ears (more Saanen/ND) and is the brave one of the two.
Ally is a first freshener, meaning it’s her first time giving birth. Like Stella, she’s still getting the hang of being a mom. She’s not aggressive toward the kids but is definitely eager to get out of the stall. Ally’s also been a little grumpy with us, especially when food is involved! She’s currently in a smaller stall, close to her kids, and we’re checking them daily to make sure they’re getting enough milk. So far, they seem to have full tummies in the morning, which is a good sign. At a little over a week old now, they’re definitely bigger, but not growing as fast as the others, so we’ll continue to monitor them closely.
Along with the new babies on the property, there’s still plenty to tackle for Spring—even if Mother Nature isn’t quite ready to give in.
Ever wonder what it costs in feed on the Funny Farm? Well, I made a trip into Fredericton to stock up on feed for all the animals here on the Funny Farm. First, I stopped at Feeds N’ Needs for dairy goat minerals, a supplement we give to the dairy goats while they’re in milk. Then I headed to our local Co-Op Country Feed Store for everything else: chicken layer pellets, duck and goose pellets, game bird crumble, rabbit pellets, and two bales of pine shavings. All in all, it was about $240. That doesn’t include the hay, which runs about $180 per month for 30 bales—but thankfully, some of the feed lasts a bit longer. We typically go through the grain every 5-6 weeks.
I also stopped by Costco for black oil sunflower seeds. They’re a great source of energy and minerals for all the animals, including the goats. Costco has the best price at $20-$28 per bag, while feed stores sell the same bags for nearly $49!
Another solid investment was metal garbage cans to store the feed. We’ve got mice in the feed shed (thankfully no rats!), and the galvanized steel cans make it nearly impossible for rodents to get to the feed. Each can holds two bags of 25kg feed, with room for a leftover bag or two on top. We can’t fill them too much, though, or it gets tricky to close.
We upgraded the locks and closures for the doors on the yard and stalls, and added an adjustable chain to close the headlock on the stanchion—it was definitely time! The bungee cords and carabiners on the welded wire fence were no match for the goats. Each stall now has its own water bucket, with fun, bright colors like blue, green, black, red, and pink. With each of the mamas and their babies secured in their pens for the time being, feeding time has become so much easier… unless, of course, we decide to let all the goats out at once! Soon, we’ll be transitioning to milking once in the morning to share the milk. We’ll need to come up with a new routine, as we’re currently using the stanchion area as a stall. But that’s a problem for future us!
We finally had a couple of days above freezing, so I took full advantage and cleaned out the Duckie Bunkie. It was in dire need of a cleanout—full of straw, wood shavings, and, of course, duck poop! The poor goose had barely enough room to move around with all the buildup, but now, with a fresh start, there’s plenty of headspace for everyone. Ducks are messy little creatures, but they are hilarious and have been our best layers this spring! We’ve got some big plans for expanding and improving our duck setup this year, and we’re excited to see how it all comes together.
I liked the burger from the Snooty Fox so much, that I had to take Mandy there for a little date. I had a similar burger with the same pretzel bun and maple bacon called the “Fire Daddy.” We also managed to get the truck in for a wash. It had been some time, but I don’t think the carwash was strong enough to get off the thick country road mud off the running bars.
The goat babies had their first visitors from off the farm! Constance and Skye came by to meet the little ones and got in some much-needed goat cuddles. The babies were bouncing around, playing in the light snow, and Skye seemed to have the best time at our little goat kid petting zoo. It was a blast watching them interact with the kids—it’s always fun to share the joy of the farm with friends!
It’s been a busy two weeks on the farm with kidding season wrapping up, the babies growing fast and settling in. Preparations for spring are underway—despite winter’s lingering presence. We’ve had some great moments, from goat cuddles to enjoying a lunch date in Fredericton. Larger projects are on hold waiting for the ground to thaw, so we’re on the lookout for signs of spring. Thanks for reading this far and following along! We’ll be back with more in a few weeks!