Goats are perpetually smiling.

Luigi shows off his impressively long tail hairs. It leaves some of the other goats envious.

There is one more negative degree night tonight. But the warm weather is flowing in. With highs in the 40’s! The goats are EXCITED!

In the stockpiled hay there are two different cuttings of hay. The second cutting is farm more appealing to the goats and they eat it up more quickly than the first cutting.

The temperature dropped one more degree to -29 this morning. Yikes! Now that is COLD!

Maldita often looks perptually grumpers. She showed up on the old farm as an abandoned kitten. Very feral, but had a big chunk of flesh tore out the back of her neck. She mended nicely. Though she still hides when we have visitors, she has mellowed in her old age.

It may be cold but the sun felt very nice.

The first load of hay is dwindling. Thankfully I have another 200 bales in another space!

We are in for another cold spell. Bob and I heat the house with only our wood stove. Ashes are a regular by product of our love to heat with a wood stove.

Good morning from the EB Ranch Farmstead.

For what it’s worth, happy Valentine’s Day. I’m lucky enough to help out friends with animal chores while they were gone for a few hours. Those sheep sure know how to smile.

Out of all 6 cats we had at the farmstead, the original two are all that remain. Thulsa Doom and Maldita are roughly 14-15 years old.

We are having a NORMAL-ISH winter! A scene out our back door. Bob has enjoyed going cross country skiing again!

Having multiple hay feeders is key to making sure all goats get to eat safely. Goats have a hierarchy, and can bully other goats away from food sources.

During the especially cold winter days the San Clemente Island goat herd has unlimited hay. This helps to keep their rumens happy and bodies warm. Plus many of the does are pregnant, and they have less room in their rumens to ruminate. And need to keep more often in smaller quantities.

The goats don’t mind being out in snow like this. It’s warm, and they have a cozy shelter to dry off in. Though they have hay offered inside the goat building as well.

We are getting an actual snow day, hooray! I love Wisconsin as it offers ALL the weather. Not having much snow the last few years has made me feel off. But with 6+ inches coming in, with high teen temps. It’s a real winter wonderland.

Kasimer was having a blast following me around in the snow. Darting between my legs and being a goof.

Some of the boys line up to get kissed by the sun. I love the size difference in all these handsome bucks.

Living in a small valley means it takes a bit longer for the sun to pop up over the hills. This time of year, the sun starts hitting the winter paddocks around 9:30 AM. And the goats line up to catch that warmth.

We have a number of broken water tubs we turned into goat cubbies. Yrsa pokes her head out as I bring hay inside. Each tub has holes drilled along the upper side to allow for ventilation. The downfall of huts like this is that hair can condense on the top making for unhealthy moisture collection.

At the EB Ranch Farmstead, we heat our house exclusively with a wood stove. Gathering kindling is a job Bob loves to do. Small pine branches are perfect for getting a roaring fire started in the morning.

I have found that personalities change in goats over time, or because of hormones. Yrsa is an example of a doe that will become affectionate in later term pregnancy. Otherwise she would never approach me unless I had grain.

Jasper certainly shows off his buck stuff with that wide stance at the hay feeder.

This fall and winter I made a choice to start giving grain to my goats on a daily basis. In the past I have only offered protein tubs to supplement nutritional needs. With a smaller herd of goats, feeding grain is easy. Look forward to a blog discussing management choices and tip toeing into food labeling. Hint, labels and certifications can hold a lot or little meaning.

Hello February 1st! The sunrise was vivid this morning.

Storm is enjoying the last crumbs of her breakfast grain. Though I caught her blowing a raspberry at the camera.

Uff-Da says GOOD MORNING!! Hey may be a big boy, but his temperment is very sweet.

Hygge has been my jogging buddy since November. My goal is to jog for three miles. I’m building back up to jogging 1 ½ miles after being dormant through the -33 degree temps.

There is a weather warm up creeping in. And by warm up I mean 30-40 degree temps. Which is a bit abnormal for this time of year, but I'll take it. That means water won't freeze into solid blocks of ice. As you can see there is a nice sized pile of water tub ice chunks piling up.

-18 degrees this morning. Frosty, but we are heading into a warm up.

Yrsa poses nicely with a stunning sunset behind her.

Kasimer is also grateful that we are out of polar vortex like temperatures. It’s always nice to have him snuggle on my lap.

Beautiful blues of the early winter morning. It’s an extra special morning as it is now longer -33 but a balm 12 degrees. Woohoo!

From -33 to 12 degrees. What a change in 24 hours.

Another YIKES! Finally reset the time on here so it's up to date. I can't wait for this cold spell to break.

New buck Jasper hangs out with Storm in the corrugated metal building. Even though the main herd has access to the hoop house building. They enjoy this shed quite a bit.

Yikes!

-20 is bad enough. These temperatures can be dangerous. I have yet to do chores, and it's 8 AM. But I will be going out shortly.

Welcome Brierwood Jasper to the EB Ranch Farmstead. He is a rare cream and black variation of the usual black and tan SCI goat color.

Even though we are going through a cold spell. The SCI goat herd are hardy enough to get through it. These goats have a dense cashmere undercoat that keeps them insulated. Plus lots of hay and cozy places to stay warm.

-20 is nothing new, but it certainly takes your breath away. Living in western WI means you get ALL the weather. From extreme heat to crispy cold.

Elvis AKA Coltrane was my first San Clemente Island Goat. I didn't know that this solid black or "self-black" was uncommon at the time. But I do now! While I no longer have any offspring from Elvis, I now own two of these beautiful self-black SCI goats.