My how they GROW!

Last week I had to catch up hoof trims and shots and what not and I weighed both of the "little girls" - who are NOT so little anymore! Remember Darlene?  Who was 3 months old and 50lbs when I brought her home?  Well now she is 5 1/2 months old (at the time) and weighed this much:

Yup - that says 87lbs! And I'd believe it, she is one side little load of goat! She does so well getting on the stand already for her hoof trims, and behaves too!

Then there is Dixie Chicken - my "little bit of shit" as I call her because she is always into something! Remember her?  She wasn't even 8lbs when she was born, on May 6th, and she was so itty bitty sweetie petitie!

And now here she is, just read THAT weigh tape!

Oh yes, every bit of 63 lbs already! Also very good at hopping on the stand and behaving while I mess with her....she's trouble at times, but still very sweet and mild mannered over all (she's just a slightly spoiled baby). I can't believe she was just barely 3 months old when I got that weight and pic of her!  She's gonna be a BIG girl, I know it!

So...that's the most recent goaty update....I hadn't realized I had forgotten about it till just now!

Culling again....

It's getting close to fall, close to when most other people will be breeding their goats for the first time this year, and not just myself, but many other breeders will be culling the herd. When it gets close to "breeding season" you start noticing all the flaws in your goats more so, mostly because you are looking to see what buck will compliment what doe and so on.

Well, I have decided I have one runty one that has to go - she's well built structurally, just tiny and a hard keeper to boot. I don't want anymore hard keepers that's number one. The fact that she just refuses to grow is number 2. I don't know what it is, maybe she is anorexic, but dammit, she just WILL NOT eat! She never wanted to finish a bottle as a baby, she never shows much interest in ANY food - just hangs out with the others, playing and goofing off while they chow down!

So, TC has been benched if you will....

She isn't gone yet - oh no - I have someone ALLEGEDLY placing a deposit on her and wanting to come in 2 weeks to get her....we will see. I never really believe it until I see it with stuff like that. But she is on her way out at least.

Also...I have 3 milkers that are good milkers, pretty decent BUT:  One has bad feet, the other has small teats, and the last one is just a rotten turd. IF they are not bred and come back open when I send off for bloodwork and pregnancy tests in another week or 2, then THEY are out too! I REALLY wanted to retain kids from them, as I know structurally and personality wise I get improvements in their kids with my bucks...BUT...the plan is all 3 MUST go eventually. If they come back open and not bred, then that means I must wait another 5 - 6 months before they kid...right now we are about 3 1/2 months out from kidding.  I can do 3 1/2 months...I dunno if I can do twice that much time. SO....we will see with them.

Needless to say, the "market" will have some decent goats on it soon - not super top of the line awesome, but not totally bad or sickly either...just kind of a pain in my butt and not right for me....

Hooray For Fencing!

Actually....building fencing kinda sucks.  No matter what, the weather will be NOT in my favor, there's all sorts of biting, stinging, angry bugs looking to accost me the minute I walk out the door with a project in mind, and many a time a hammer will miss a nail and find, instead, my tender fingers.....Yes, the act of fencing is NOT one of my favorite jobs!

I will admit, cheerfully no less, that I DO enjoy seeing it completed! I haven't built anything outside in a LONG time plus I really wanted to be able to be gone on the weekends and not feel bad about not walking the goats those days! I enjoy seeing my less than perfect little fence job - remember, city girl here :P I'm not a master fence builder by any means - I'm just capable of building things strong enough (once the goats show me where they are weak) to keep the goats in!

Fifty feet long by 25 feet wide - no, it's not the most amazing biggest longest fence built ever - BUT IT FEELS LIKE IT haha! Eventually I will expand - slowly - to include more of the "yard" for them....maybe one day I will be brave enough to run them an adjoining pasture through those woods in the background. The girls would REALLY love that! Goats are browsers - not grazers - and they prefer to eat weeds, brushy things, and trees nor grass.  But they get plenty of hay and feed - so the grassy area is really more for them to be able to run and move around in.

Yes, we will still go on grazing walks - or "property grooming excursions" so they can eat all the poison oak, ivy and sumac they want around here (and we have a TON of it out here!) but at least now I can leave them on lock down and not feel bad about it.  When I have to leave, when company comes and we need to keep their cars safe, any time they should be on lockdown I don't feel bad any more :)

I don't know what I want my next project to be....I have several in mind....do I want to relocate the pig housing and build her a nice little spot right up here by the house? Do I want to renovate the chicken coop? I keep saying we are going to fence in the front of the property and get that done so the horses can be loose more...do I want to tackle that? I dunno....I think I want to get all of the little stuff out of the way first and that last one is a BIG job that will involve more than just myself! Oh yes....I got the neighbors son to help me unroll the fence along the posts, and I conned my husband into putting the clips on at the t-posts as I always spend way too long fighting with those stupid things - but everything else there was all me :) Took the better part of the last 5 days too LOL - but remember I start and end my days with a few hours of work so my days are not ALL fence related!

I dunno....I have a few things to think on and a day off (or two) to take AND I need to clean this house - I let it go 2 weeks ago when we had a flood (story to follow)....so while I rest and recover from my outside duties I will think on it and plot and plan....But I am happy to finally see the goats able to run and play and use their cable spool thing I brought home a year ago!

PG600....AKA "Pimp Juice"...Has Arrived :)

So...a little over 3 weeks ago CIDRs went into 5 of the girls here....last week my "Pimp Juice" came!

I know - the bottle speaks of pigs - but in the dairy goat world we use it in conjunction with CIDRs to get the girls to come into heat.  Sooo....everyone got their 1.5cc shot (IM) on Wednesday. Hooves were trimmed through the whole herd, a few not being bred were wormed, and then that evening CIDRs were pulled. Next day BAM! Willow was in first...then Champagne, then Fajita and Penelope and lastly Charyzma. HOPEFULLY everyone takes....well....actually I'd be happy with 3...but all 5 would be great too :)

I have my doubts on a few...Charyzma being one as she was the last to come in and not that amused with the entire process....we will see in 45 days or so when I pull blood to send off for pregnancy tests through Biotracking....

It's been a busy few weeks - what with the arrival of the Pimp Juice, a water heater melt down I have yet to blog about, breeding, working on a new yard for the ladies, blood draws for my herd and 2 others for their annual CAE testing...oh yes...been a little hectic! But it's nice to have several girls exposed and the hopes of winter milk on the way.

Please note this also....I am seeing a herd I PERSONALLY not only drove almost 2 hours one way out to last July But also I PERSONALLY gave their does shots of the PG600 (since the husband was working and the wife doesn't do shots) anyways...point being I am seeing them telling people they bred last season USING CIDRs ALONE AND THAT IS A FALSE STATEMENT! Be cautious when you take advice from people...I admit I myself do not know everything, with goats you learn something new once a week, it's how they work! BUT....to be blatantly lying...well....it REALLY eats at me. Perhaps they don't know, perhaps they forgot....BUT THEY DID use the PG600 last year! I have already hit on one herd who took their statement for fact only to be let down when does did NOT come into heat with the removal of CIDRS and NO PG600 was given.  It was kinda sad to see someone have to start over on that long wait to breeding! Now, IN SEASON (as most goats tend to be "seasonal breeders") MAYBE it works without the Pimp Juice....I don't know....never tried it without....BUT OUT OF SEASON I am pretty sure after hearing that YOU NEED THE PIMP JUICE!  The CIDRs prep the goats to ovulate, the Pimp Juice makes them ovulate...it's a process followed by those that do AI...so even with live cover from a buck it works.

Also...with the "Pimp Juice"...please note: IT is SUPPOSED to be mixed and used FRESH! Not kept refrigerated between breedings. THERE IS A RUMOR that you can mix it and freeze it by dose and thaw as needed...I DO NOT KNOW IF IT WORKS, lord knows I am NOT a vet...but since you can only get one huge vial (enough for 5 pigs or 15 goats)...it is worth a try I suppose! I have a cohort working on this theory now - she took the rest, did a few shots that same day and has frozen the left over...when I hear back what she has to say I will report on it!

Needless to say, a little time and money has gone into this effort.  The supplies and days spent doing this DOES add up - BUT - it is worth it! It makes my year so much more manageable to be able to be on a schedule I set! I am happy with it, and I can't wait to see who comes back open and who comes back bred! Watch for updates...more news to come!

Oh...what breeds will we be getting you ask? I bred saanens, nubians, and a few crosses....so we will see who comes back bred :)

Paperwork - Who Knew???

Oh yes, goats come with a LOT of paperwork LOL! Kinda like a birth certificate, a registered goat comes with papers that must be finalized and transferred into your name as the owner.  I'm only familiar with a small handful of registries - though there are many out there for different breeds and types of goats.  MDGA - the miniature dairy goat registry (just one of several out there - but by far the most popular I feel). Then there is ADGA - American Dairy Goat Association.  Being a member of both each comes with it's benefits and down side....

Down side being you have to keep up with it haha!  Remembering to renew your membership and pay your dues on time yearly - which is really not that much (usually less than $30) - but still...got to remember to do it! I'm usually pretty good about getting it done on time, last minute, but in before the deadline so to speak...

Benefits being a discounted fee for registrations and transfers of goats - which is NICE and hefty!  It adds up sending stuff through as a non-member! With ADGA if you are NOT a member, just to register one doe kid (as bucks cost more than does) and transfer her into your name it is over $30!!!! Crazy right???  BUT....to do so as a member is less than $15 (and even cheaper if done online with a kid born into your herd!)....so if you are raising goats it's almost a given that being a member is nice and saves money in the long run!

Also, while any goat purchased outside of your herd has to be handled through the mail, you CAN register goats born into your herd online!  SUPER easy, super fast, cheaper still with the online discount and did I mention how fast those papers come?  Like in a week or 2!  VERY nice!

I seriously recommend to anyone even with a handful of goats to become a member of the appropriate and corresponding association for their herd.  Raising minis? Join MDGA...raising full sized breeds?  Join ADGA...the money it saves over time is nice, the convenience of doing your registrations online is SUPER nice, and there are a few other little benefits for members here and there as well...Very much so worth a piddly sum of $30 yearly...in the grand scheme of life it's not much!

So...I FINALLY sent in the papers on TC and Ryz that have been kicking around here a while the other day and I JUST sent Darlenes - the new babies I did online and theirs have been done and final and in my hot little hands for a week now :) It really only takes a minute to fill things out and get them ready to go - I always make copies of EVERYTHING and I, being a member of ADGA, always pay ahead online so I don't even have to worry about that!  But still...it does require REMEMBERING to do it LOL :)  Been sidetracked several times along the way with getting TC and Ryz finished - so while I was on a roll I knocked out Darlene's as well!

Officially, EVERY goat in my herd is registered and done with for now!  NEXT the saga of the yearly blood draws :(  One other bit of paperwork as well....sure, it also has hands on outside work involved...BUT getting the forms and tubes labeled and ready is always a PITA haha! Nice to have a fresh, negative, CAE test back each year though! Really can't be beat as far as the awesome feeling that comes with it :)

Soooo...off to prep for a weekend at the market and then blood draws right behind it :) Also...your daily dose of cuteness from the girls:

When the ear ain't right...TAPE IT!

See, what had happened was...one of the "new kids on the block" (Nugget to be exact) had one ear that just was NOT falling right!  It wasn't popping into place over time, just not hanging and falling like the other one...

Now, over all this is really no big deal.  I mean, she's a DAIRY goat - and you do NOT milk ears LOL :) But still....if the ear ain't right, out comes the duct tape!

Nugget got white duct tape in hopes her herd mates would notice it less and leave it be - so far it is working.  Well, okay, the other goats are leaving it alone - we don't know yet if it is working to correct the ear.  Probably should have gone after it sooner....but we were kinda hoping her head would grow into the base of that ear and it would fall....alas, no luck chuck on that.

Here is Nugget, in all her glory, with her ear freshly taped in place:

Looks like she has panties on her head doesn't it?  She ACTED like we had wrapped her head in underwear of some sort - less than pleased and very undignified!

The kicker here - I did this with a freshly stung leg due to a wild wasp!  Oh yes...I went out to do ONE LAST thing in the yard and BAM!  Nasty bugger got me! So of course I came in angry as heck because it needed killing of course, and sent my husband out to handle it with a can of spray while we worked on the patient here...

For a mini - nubian of middle of the road generation she has LOVELY ears!  Well, ONE lovely ear and one we are waiting on now haha!  We will see....

See there how it just ain't quite right?  A piece of cardboard wasn't really gonna cut it - the problem was getting that fold to squish flat AND against her head some....

So...now we wait...I'll post an update when we take the tape off - and YES I know how to tape stuff JUST right...I had a few prom type dressers that required I MYSELF was literally taped in when I was younger....trust me, I got the hang of it :P

NadaLottaRanch Diamond Bar has arrived!

And we shall call her "Lilly" for short LOL :) She is a saanen nubian cross with some GREAT stuff behind her and already has a home! TOTALLY awesome build on this little (BIG) girl!  Born weighing 8lbs 14oz on Wednesday morning to our Lucy and Starmaker she is one HEFTY gal already!  Loves her bottles and doing GREAT!  And check out those ears!  They have a nice little fold in them and she has a nubian air to her face...but BOY can she wing them out when she gets mad at her "sissy"!

She is a LOVELY pale gold color with white markings underneath - and did I mention how well built she is?  So excited to get her too!  Now we have until NOVEMBER before we get any more baby goats!  Kinda nice to have a good long break though...babies are a TON of work!