Running River Dairy Goats

Ultrasounds of the last 4 does this morning. A few are videos, just fun to watch.

Kenai is CONFIRMED bred via AI to Jacob's Pride Jame- Kid(s) are retained. One for sure with a possible 2nd. She has 2 "voids" one for sure occupied, the second was either sitting further back or possibly empty

Ferra is carrying a single, She was bred by a Nanuq son, Olive Ridley.

Shadow and Nickle are both carrying 2+, bred to Cutter, our Boer buck kid.

The latest new lambs, Born Sunday and Monday.

Frida had a single Ram lamb. Frida is very much a pet and not a production ewe. She does get credit for having 2 sets of lambs this year(April and December).

Clove had twin ram lambs (red and white) on Monday. These two will also be wethered. Clove is a good, solid ewe but we don't offer many rams.

With such a wonderful turn out this weekend at Linn County we are taking a break for a few days (from soap things- never farming).

We do have our final event for the season coming up this weekend at Ashbrook Independent School in Corvallis. There will also be a play on Saturday at 2 and a community band concert on Sunday at 2.

4044 SW Research Way, Corvallis OR.

Ready for day two!

Town & Country Christmas Bazaar
Today 10-6
Sunday 10-4

FINALLY Booth pictures. 😔

All set up at Town & Country Christmas Bazaar at the Linn County Fairgrounds. We have been in the same booth for years(on the wall), but this year we moved! We are in the second row now and further down. I added some arrows for how to find us!

This is a 3 day event.
Friday 10-6
Saturday 10-6
Sunday 10-4.

Our Ewe lamb streak is broken. Twin Ram lambs for Ginger. A nice pair of Chocolate/ Dark cinnamon. They are still a little soggy. the lighter eared boy made a dramatic entrance at 530 this morning, trying to be born 3 legs at once. No worries, I'm a decent hand at sorting out body parts to get lambs or kids out the right direction.

Ginger is a ewe we purchased with lambs at her side in 2020(Cocoa and Clove!) She a is a big, deep well built ewe who raises awesome lambs every year. She is unregistered but is sired by a KRK ram. I've never sold a daughter out of her, they are all kept. Twin rams from a ewe of her caliber means we WILL be evaluating these two as ram prospects. If i didn't have so many sisters we'd be keeping one ourselves. They are of course, sired by our own KRK 18561.

Another set of twin ewe lambs today. This time a little color! This little girl will probably be a dark cinnamon color.

These 2 are out of 3 year old Apple, another Delilah daughter, half sister to Fiona. We kept a full sibling these ewe lambs too! (Pippen)

More lambs born this afternoon while we were away having brunch with my family celebrating my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday DAD!)

Twin ewe lambs again! These 2 girls are very similar but one has a naturally stubbed tail. These two are our of our percentage Dorper/Katahdin ewe Fiona. Fiona is out of our foundation ewe, Delilah (who will be 12 in February!). Sire is of course, our KRK Katahdin ram. One of these days we might get around to naming him something besides 18561.

These 2 ewe lambs will make a solid addition to someone's flock after weaning. We retained a full sibling from her last lambing.

First lambs for the season born this morning. Twin ewe lambs for Beth, our East Friesian Dairy ewe. The little girl with black spots was born first.

These 2 were sired by our registered Katahdin ram and will be available when weaned. We will start saving any milk the lambs don't eat between milkings to start making more sheep milk soap! Pretty soon these girls will catch up with her production and they will get all the milk before we do.

We did Ultrasounds on the next 4 does tonight. Not quite as much good news as we hoped.

Nanuq- OPEN. No Kastdemur's Extraordinaire kids on the way.
Katmai- at least 2 kids on the way.
Fancy- single kid
Friendly- 1, with a possible second. There was a second pocket but i couldn't get a clear view if there was another kid.

Coming up this weekend! Out at Polk County Fairgrounds.

Yep, Black friday and Small Business Saturday.

https://fb.me/e/19zHzLKhA

Yes, we post a lot this time of year, its one of the busiest times for us, there is a lot going on every day.

Today, the "Lump of Coal" is packed and ready to head to the upcoming fair this weekend.

What the heck is lump of coal soap? Its a little bit of everything. All the bits and pieces trimmed off of every batch, the crumbs, some of the end cuts and sometimes just soap that turned out ugly. Its all melted down(this takes several hours in a non food crock pot) and activated charcoal mixed in to give it the "coal" black. Just a fun thing for the Holiday's for those folks on your list that have been a little naughty and need to "clean up their act".

Charcoal soap does lather gray, and has some grit to it. It makes a great hand or body soap. There are a limited number available.

Milk test results from this weekend.

Nanuq is our first doe, and a homebred doe. To milk over 3,000 pounds on 305 days. She is a second freshener.

Piper will be giving her a run for her money next time she is bred(currently milking through). She milked over 2,900 pounds as a FF.

It's wonderful to see the years of breeding fall into place.

The dairy goats always get top billing, but the sheep are as much an integral part of our farm. They excel at pasture management and hay "recycling". They happily eat the alfalfa stems the goats would otherwise waste.

We are just a few weeks away from the start of lambing, and I went out to walk the herd today, just to check the girls over.

While we are still waiting for Nanuq to be far enough along to confirm via ultrasound she is 23 days past her AI so I tnink we can share the planned breeding!

Running River Denali's Nanuq was AI bred to Kastdemur's Extraordinaire. She is due March 13th. We are tentatively retaining one kid, to be determined which gender, probably a doe kid. Other kids will be available!

https://adgagenetics.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=N001563737&DamNum=N002108771

Picture of Temerity(Right) is a screen shot from Kastdemur's!

Our first Holiday Craft fair this weekend in Philomath, OR!

The craft events we attend are the perfect opportunity to check out all the fragrances we have in stock. Stop in, say "Hi", meet the herds-woman and soap maker behind our herd. And as always, feel free to bring your goat questions!

The last couple batches of soap wrapped for the Holiday Craft Fair at Philomath Elementary this weekend.

The newest fragrances aren't ready quite yet!

This can never be shared enough.

This is of course, not a set of hard and fast rules, but a thought exercise to really delve into the justifications of why a buck is being left intact. There is always a surplus of "buck prospects".

Packaged and labeled yesterday and today:
-Meyer Lemon
-Winter Spruce
-Peppermint
-Sweet Pea
-Sandalwood Rose
-Honey Oatmeal

Slowly maing a dent in getting restocks done!

I was reminded today that i needed to share our upcoming events. Here's a list of where we will be and when. There will be some new fragrances coming out along the way. I will try and post when those are ready, what fairs they will be at. We hope to see you out there!

Upcoming Craft Fairs and Events:
November 4th & 5th- Philomath Frolic Holiday Craft Fair.
Philomath Elementary School
Saturday 9am- 5pm
Sunday 10am-3pm.

November 17th & 18th - North Albany Community Church Craft Fair,
1273 NW Thornton Lake Drive, Albany, OR.
Friday 4pm-8pm, $10 Admission with Free Appetizers and beverages.
Saturday: 9am - 4pm- Free Admission- Food and drink available for sale.

November 24th & 25th- Polk County Fairgrounds- Hand Crafted Christmas.
Friday: 9am - 5pm.
Saturday 9am - 3pm
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December 1st, 2nd & 3rd- Linn County Fairgrounds- Town & Country Christmas Bazaar.
Friday: 10am - 6pm.
Saturday 10am - 6pm.
Sunday 10am - 4pm

December 9th & 10th- Ashbrook Independent School, Corvallis, OR.
Saturday 9am- 5pm.
Sunday 9am- 5pm

Today the bottle kid pen became a photo studio (for a few hours).

Lights! Camera! Action!

These are a few of our dry yearlings, and 2023 kids. each picture is labeled who they are and current herd status.

Packaged and labeled today:

Sheep Milk Soap:
-In The Dark (Orange, Cedar, Anise and Lavender)
-Flouish (Rosemary, Litsea Cubeba and Lavander)

Goat Milk:
-Rainforest
-Lilac

Our soap is made in small batches, normally 22 bars at a time, sometimes 33. Each batch takes around 45 minutes to make, 6 weeks to cure and another 30-45 minutes to package and label.

The bars are all individually packaged in biolefin, a biodegradable heat shrink wrapping. This keeps the bar from picking up and debris being moved to craft fairs and being handled by folks. It also keeps the soap from leaving crumbs behind wherever it is stored(or on your hands when shopping!) The labels were designed by and printed by... Me!

Getting more soap packaged and labeled today.

-Gardenia
-Cedar & Amber
-Black O***m
-Clover & Aloe

A few more ultrasounds tonight. We do all of our own ultrasounds (and I do my own stunts- 😆)

McKinley- a least 1- AI bred to Boer. 41 days bred.
Valencia-at least 1- Live covered to Stilton Blue. 42 days bred
Dryad - 2 on board. Bred to Olive Ridley. 45 Days bred
Astrid- Still 1. Bred to Olive Ridley. 53 Days bred
Andromeda- 2 on board. Bred to Armani. 45 days bred
Cassiopeia- 2. Bred to Armani. 40 days bred.

We will continue to check on these girls o make sure the kids seen are still developing, so we can adjust their nutrition as need when we approach kidding. Too many extra calories will make big single kids!

Planned pedigrees are posted under each picture.

When you've been raising goats for any period of time, you figure out what works and what doesn't. For those who are new to goats, they may be unaware of the dress code required.

1. If you have long hair, wear it tied up high. Goats see your hair as fine dining hay and will chew it up when your back is turned, leaving slimy cud filled broken hair chunks matted up in your remaining hair.

2. Do not wear anything with dangling strings or fringes, or they will suffer the same fate as loose hair. It's best to think of a goat's mouth as a PTO on a tractor.

3. No open toed shoes. It may seem inoccuous, but inevitably your heaviest goat will see your bare toes and assume they are pink caterpillars that need smashing.

4. Crocs are great barn wear...until they aren't. If mud or snow or birth fluids or urine will be a concern, its best to stick to boots. Never, never, never wear your good shoes to the barn. You will inevitably forget you wore them to the barn the next time you head into town, and there will be a hay-filled poo clump stuck to the bottom that will turn heads.

5. Have a barn jacket. This will become a sacred clothing article, as its pockets will become like Mary Poppins' carpet bag, possessing every instrument you will need in a pinch. It will possess syringes, medication bottles, thermometers, weight tapes, fence staples, pocket knives, baling twine, flashlights, and the buttons your goats have probably chewed off of this sacred jacket.

Beyond this list, express yourself in your individual fashion, but be aware that whatever you wear to the barn will ultimately belong to the goats and not you. The barn will snag you, the goats will shed on you, milk will spill on you, etc. Eventually, you will become one with the barn, like Davy Jones' crew to his ship. Its okay. You are in good company 🐐

A different task today. Something we do every 6 weeks. Filling the nitrogen tanks! When you maintain a "bucksicle" herd to maximize your genetics, they neednto be cared for too.

Why every 6 weeks? Doesn't that tank hold longer?
- We top off the tanks every 6 weeks to keep the levels higher. The nitrogen doesn't evaporate as quickly in filled tank as it does in a half filled tank as there is less air space to chill. It also helps prevent the tanks from being "forgotten" and going dry.

In true goat crazy fashion, the tanks are kept in our living room, where we see them EVERY day. If a tank ever showed signs of failing, we should catch it before the (irreplaceable) inventory is lost.

Wrapping and labeling the soaps that are finished curing today. I like to cure for 6 weeks before packaging when i can. Soaps are completely fine to use at 4 weeks but the bar can still be a little soft.

I really like when the bars are cured for a full year. Here's a few tips to get the most from your bars:
- Rotate your stash! When you bring home(or have me ship them!) Put the newest bars in the back, this gives those new bars more time to cure out into harder, nicer bars.
- Don't store your extra bars in the bathroom(higher humidity), store them in linen closets or dresser drawers where they can also add that lovely fragrance to your clothes/towels!

Back in stock today:
- Coconut Citrus
- Ginger Ale
- Fresh Snow
- Summer Peach

Our first craft fair is coming up the First Weekend of November in Philomath!

Fingers crossed for luck. 🤞

An "Extraordinaire" AI tonight.

I won't tempt the fates by posting a planned pedigree until we see if she settles.

Milk test results from this weekend!

Piper is the highest production first freshener we have ever had with 2810 pounds at 291 days in milk. We are planning to keep milking her through if she is willing.

Several of the does are starting dry off now as they are bred back. These does should be dry by next month:
Ferra
McKinley
Valencia
Sky
Sahara
Lucy

It's that time of year! The first ultrasounds on the first does bred.

Sahara, 41 days bred- looks like 3 on Board! (in pictures)
Lucy, 45 days bred- 2 for sure. (in pictures)
Astrid- 41 days bred, first freshener so carrying high- one seen but a note to recheck.
McKinley- A really early check at 30 days- I'm comfortable saying "bred" with a recheck in 2 weeks.

We own our own ultrasound, and I check our does- so these are just my opinions!

It's been a while since the last soap making update. Don't worry, soap is still being made!

Made in the last 2 weeks:
Jasmine (Made today)
Frankincense and Myrrh (made today)
Apple Bourbon
Chamomile
Bluberry Jam
Autumn Fig
Raspberry Vanilla
Lavender
Tea Tree Mint & Green Clay
Frosted Fir
Midnight Violet
Energy
Honey Oatmeal
Sandalwood Rose (back after a hiatus)
Sweet Pea
Oatmeal, Milk and Honey(different fragrance)
Hickory & Suede
Meyer Lemon
Clove
Yacht Club

SHEEP milk soap:
Orange, Litsea and Clay
Lavender Patchouli

Today we said goodbye to senior buck Pennyroyal Paloma's Padron. He was 9 1/2. Padron was our first high production buck. Son of Top Ten doe Pennyroyal Paloma. He was a big gentle soul. Never hard to work with. He leaves a legacy behind him. And he IS collected for future use.

Daughters in our herd:
Running River Clone's Shadow
Running River Misty's Bluebird
Running River Denali's Tango
Running River Denali’s Katmai

Son's in the current herd:
Running River Veintidós
Running River Olive Ridley

Grandaughters in the milking herd:
Running River Birds Sandpiper
Running River Katmai's Poppy

Freshening in 2024:
Running River Denali's Pika

There are more Grandaughters in the kid herd....

What else goes on around here besides soap making and goats? Joe has been out working on the fencelines. Moving one fence over so our "old man" bucks can have access to the old horse barn for the winter. And replacing a corner post that had leaned in, adding some support posts so it won't tip again.

More fun today, Joe is doing some work on our kitchen drain. Adding a clean out to either end, and removing an un-needed extra P-trap that is for a dishwasher(no thanks, that dishwasher is coming out). That extra P-trap had no plug, and our main drainline plugged(as kitchen sinks do sometimes, especially when someone makes soap) resulting in a kitchen-sink-water pond under our house. Fun times.

Another interesting breeding, blending 2 nice production lines. Yearling doe, Pika, a Nanuq Daughter and full sibling to Olive Ridley (Turtle) was bred to Armani, a Ferragamo son, sired by Arsenio.

https://adgagenetics.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=N002333539&DamNum=N002252454

Bluebird, originally bred AI, cycled back today. So we live covered to Stilton Blue. Kids will need to be G6S tested, and we are hoping for a normal buck kid as an option for a replacement for Blue. Blue is an AI kid and a carrier, as is his sire, Jacobs Pride Jame. We are hoping to AI Blue's dam back the same way this year also.

This breeding is not an total outcross, but will help us bring in some different genetics through Jame.

https://adgagenetics.org/PlannedPedigreePrint.aspx?SireNum=N002254100&DamNum=N001845833