Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Angel & Cloe

Angel and Cloe are the first livestock that we got for our homestead.  Both were born in the late winter/early spring of last year.  Angel is our Hampshire ewe, Cloe is a Dwarf Nubian doe.  In the picture, they are enjoying one of hteir favorite treats - stale homemade bread.

When we got Cloe, Joe was still truck driving and was out on the truck for one of his 4-week long trips.  A woman who bred the Dwarf Nubians asked me if I wanted a couple of the does to raise as milk goats.  I ended bringing them home in the back seat of our family car since we don't have anything to haul livestock in.  What a trip!  I got thirsty on the way home (it was a 2 hour drive) and I went to the drive-up window of a Wendy's fast food shop to get a drink.  The girl at the first window where you pay for your order was shocked to see a pair of 2 month old goats in the back seat of a car.  By the time I got to the 2nd window where you pick up your order, there were about 5-6 employees all trying to get a look out the window to see Belle and Cloe.  Belle was a preemie and failed to thrive despite our best efforts and died within 2 weeks of getting her.  Cloe on the other hand has done beautifully.  She is a very friendly goat and loves to get lots of attention.  Typical of goats, she is highly social and loves to be around us or Angel.

Angel is a funny ewe.  We bought her from a neighbor who breeds registered Hampshire sheep.  She and Cloe have been companions from the beginning.  We got them about a week apart.  Unlike Cloe, Angel is content to be away from Cloe.  Sometimes, I think she longs to be away when Cloe is in a playful mood and head bumps Angel.  They used to play alot together when they were young.  Now that Angel out-weighs Cloe and is much larger, Cloe has learned that it hurts when she head-bumps Angel in the head.

Both of them are grass-fed and receive only the occassional supplementing with grain.  In the winter when grazing is scarce, they are fed hay and grain.  This gives them the slimmer appearance.  Grain fed animals put on weight much faster than animals that are solely grazed.  The meat from grass-fed animals however is extremely lean, which is our goal with our sheep.

This spring, we got a young Hampshire ram for Angel.  He is only slightly shorter than Angel in height right now.  Full-grown, Angel weighs about 150 lbs. and Midas (the ram) will weigh about 250 lbs.  With luck, we will have our first lambs in the spring. 

We are having to find a new home for Cloe.  Next spring, we are wanting to get a pair of Alpine goats.  They Alpines are a large breed that is more than double the size of Cloe.  The does give much larger quantities of milk than Cloe would give and the milk is a very creamy quality.  Having 2 little ones, we would have to milk several goats like Cloe to get the quantity we would need each day.  Given the size difference of Cloe verses an Alpine, we can't risk the buck getting to Cloe and trying to breed.  It may not happen, but we can't take the risk.  If the breeding didn't badly injure Cloe, the pregnancy would kill her due to the size differences of the two breeds.  It will be odd not having Cloe around.  She is such a funny little doe.  We just can't take the chase of her being harmed by a larger breed buck.