Our Lab Samples are IN.  After complications from kidding season, our quality control on the milk is updated to the first of June. All our girls are now on the milk line. I will be sending lab samples biweekly to check on my goats for health checks on their milk, and once a month for bacteria checks as well.    

SOOOO, if you wish raw unpasturized goat milk, please complete the form on the link listed below. I simply cannot remember who is coming unless I receive an email via the order form. Customers may call to confirm arrival to pickup milk AFTER completing the order form online and receive a confirmation email.  All inquires made via phone will be directed to the website to complete the form.   

Thanks to all who have already discovered the form and have been ordering their milk. We hope all future customers will benefit from our product as well. 

Although chaos hit Tuesday, we are grateful that all babies have arrived safely.  I just left the garage.  All new babies are quiet, fed, and growing. Mommies are healthy and calm.  All goats has a space with water, hay and are clean.  Gracie appears calm with few labor signs, our last mommy to kid. 

I expected a chaotic week; however I was gratefully surprised to have so many people participate in it. My main help after David was my mentor Deborah Niemann-Boehle of Antiquity Oaks Farm. Both Abby and Starry Night birthed twins, male and female from Midnight on Wednesday (Starry Night) to the afternoon of the same day (Abby). I was not present at either birth, arriving as the babies began to stand.   The complications came after.  Starry Night had a rough kidding alone, she behaved like a millennial Mom: she did not lick and clean her babies completely, but laid down to rest.  She made no effort to bring them close; yet was talking with them. All voice and no action.  She did not realize she had to provide milk. I waited till 5 am when the situation became critical.  Goat babies need colostrum by 6 hours old. Praise God for Deborah Neimann of Antiquity Oaks who took my calls since Wednesday early morning to provide a plan of action.   We had to put Starry Night on the milking stand, milk her and feed the babies by bottle or attach them on the teat.  She learned unwillingly to cooperate being bribed to get on the stand with apples and carrots.  The babies were not latching onto her teat, they needed her to stand still to figure how.  Starry Night continued to be nervous until tonight when she calmly received both twins at the same time. 

While all this was happening, Abby had her kids like a pro at 3 pm.  I did not notice her udder to abnormally swollen.  At 6 p.m. last night Thursday,  she received her evening grain and I found all her udder rubber hard to the touch.  Once again I had to contact Deborah Neimann to help me understand what I was observing.  California Mastitis Test confirmed the mastitis is acute.  We had no medication to respond to this situation.  At 7:30 David and I  left for a three hour road trip to  Romeoville the nearest source of help at Blaine's Farm and Fleet.  Praise God it closes at 9 p.m.  Abby was producing less and less milk as the infection took over her udder.  Medication was administered by 10:15pm Thursday night. As of today, she is still separate from her babies with three treatments;  however she is producing more milk after each 12 hour injection. 

Continual rain did not help.  We could not get the goats to the field Wednesday due to the kiddings. We had two hours in the Waller Street pasture before the rain hit again on Thursday at noon.  Last night Abby was separated from her babies, resulting in bottle feeding them every three hours. Slowly training Starry Night to nurse every three hours has had an effect. She is much calmer and quieter as she is locked in a pen with them.  Esther came into critical labor today at noon with three abnormal deliveries of her triplets, two boys and a girl, together weighed 26 pounds, big babies.  Two were born butt first and one with legs back, which can be dangerous, but certainly painful to the mom to push them out.  We still have complications with these three as they are not progressing.  The rain continued till two this afternoon and again tonight.

 Our urban farm operates in community and this week the community walked with us with great kindness.   People showed up miraculously.  When we went to the field on Thursday, Lorel Jankiszewski surprised us with a visit and walked three groups back to our Midway Park property as yet another storm hit.  Other folk literally walked into our lives and supported us in the moments that we needed.  Roman our ESL student from Belgium cleaned pots and pans late at night, when I was practically living in the garage with the laboring nannies.  Kari our Air BNB guest showed up at 7 a.m. to help weigh babies and re arrange spaces to accommodate the increased population.  Ali Kushki cleaned floors and hauled supplies at 10 in the night and helped with medicating Abby.  The craziest moment was this morning when two women walked up to me to introduce themselves as the owners of the Oak Park Brewing Company on  Lake and Austin. AnnMarie and Kristen provided support as Esther labored over her triplets, running into the house for more towels and finding gloves while I was on the floor of the pen with Esther.  As a reward, they could name a goat.  So Esther's first boy of 2019 was named Stout.   We  gratefully take this time to give a shout out to those who helped us in our time of need. 

To date we have two goats in labor in the garage.  Starry Night and Abby are due today.  Both are uncomfortable and with contractions.  We cleaned and cleaned the pens to help the process.  It will be an interrupted night as I take a few hours to sleep and then check as their labors progress.  More tomorrow.....

Raw unpasturized goat milk will become more available after May 20.  I reviewed our birth dates with the breeder information.  Hopefully we will be completely finished with kidding season by Friday May 17.  After arrival of kids,  we set up our milk line operations.  I found another article about raw milk that could be interesting to review
https://chriskresser.com/raw-milk-reality-is-raw-milk-dangerous/

Please review our website area called "Get Milk" to order milk after May 20.

​Earth Fest
Apr 27, 2019 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Public Works Center 201 South Blvd., Oak Park, Illinois
GlennArt Goats will be available to receive snacks from the public!
The event focuses on green neighborhoods, sustainable lifestyles and best practices. Highlights include eco-friendly vendors, local chefs and restaurants, games and activities for children, items for sale, and entertainment. In addition, recycling booths will be available for eyeglasses, sun glasses, hearing aids, rechargeable batteries, cell phones and old blue jeans.

Event Cost: Free

Event times: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Checkin with our website at this link:
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Memo, our metal goat is ready for Spring.  He will come with me to the Good Food Expo on March 23.  I will be providing a lecture on urban goat keeping.  Please join us at 1:15 at the UIC Forum. The button above will provide you with the full schedule of lectures.   See you there!

arch 10 was a shock when Emma our youngest bred goat cried to me as I came to feed the girls their grain.  She did not want to eat, which was very strange.  I finally noticed the amniotic sack hanging from her behind. After speaking with my mentor, I decided that she was miscarrying.  I had to finish a task with visiting consultants, and I returned to the garage and found Emma in heavy labor with a full term baby coming out.  The race began as we quickly prepped for what appeared to be a large white kid. Emma had a struggle because the birth was a bit abnormal.  She was exhausted when the baby girl slid out ten minutes after I returned to the garage.  She could not move.  Yet she had the energy to push out a second kid, all black and a boy.  I moved both to her face to lick as seen above.   Mia and My Shadow, appropriately named, have gained a quarter pound in two days.   They are happily jumping and napping in the garage. 

After the surprise, we are so excited to have them.   We also determined that they are the progeny of little Dodger, our last buckling to leave in October.  Six month Dodger and five month Emma created quite a youth romance and babies.  Now we are checking the other two doelings, Twist and Ophelia,  avoid any future surprises.

Join us at the Southside Occupational Academy on February 9.   We will be bringing Ophelia and Twist to receive all visitors.  Deborah Neimann-Boehle of Antiquity Oaks will be speaking on nutrition in goats.  My focus will be about city goats and intense management practices required to keep them healthy.  We will have a session in Spanish.  We look forward to visiting with  you there. 

Glennart Farm like all farms in Illinois has been preparing for the arctic weather this week.  We stuff straw in holes in the eaves of the garage roof area, secure the windows, and close and seal the chicken door at night.  The record HIGH tomorrow is expected to be -14. 

All the girls will stay inside that day.  The hens will be  released to eat inside the garage to prevent frostbite on their claws.  The deep litter of the hay in the garage brings the temperature up 10 degrees. Hay and water will need to be checked with the goats. It appears we have an interloper alley cat sleeping in the 10 foot high bales of hay.  He/She has been eating the food and using the garage litter box. 

Today we woke to 5 degrees which is slowly falling with the increased wind to zero.  Our side pen is secure from wind.  The goats were happy to be in the sunlight for some hours.   We humans are unrecognizable as we bundle up with layer upon layer of pants, shirts, hats, socks,  and scarves.  Goats and chickens seem to be fine, we pray for the humans to be safe.