Seriously though....I can't believe it has been over two years since I "blogged" or posted anything here! It seems I "learned" how to use FaceBook and that took over where my blogging had been....and I'm not sure if that is good or bad.... for those who maybe aren't on FaceBook or just haven't seen it my soapy-goaty-farm-related-adventures can be seen on NadaLottaRanch Bath Works so feel free to join us there as well if you haven't! I also picked up some "insta-skills" on instagram and you can follow me there @ nlrsoaps too! Really proud of that one since it's not "my thing" to do tech-type-stuffs haha!
I'm taking a break from farm stuff outside to sit down and update things online - it's been on my mind and I need to "get 'er done" to shake it so I can focus. Just an update for those who do follow along....
In 2014/2015 we switched focus with the poultry to more heritage type breeds. Jersey Giant chickens, Silver Appleyard ducks, and we already had the Cotton Patch geese (and still do FYI...). This took some time out of the day and kept me busy.....
I also took a much more critical eye to my goats and the quality of the herd in terms of conformation and production....thinned the herd and focused on things besides my love for them....made my heart listen to my head...it was HARD but it's something I needed to do and I am still working on....watch for changes to come there in a very good way soon!
In 2016 there will be antics, and adventures, and so so much!
Showing posts with label goats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goats. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2016
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Milk Test, Round TWO!
Yup - it's that time again haha! ROUND TWO of milk testing...don't worry, I won't blog needlessly and aimlessly about every test date in detail...But, I had realized I hadn't really finalized everything with the last test.
There is my "fancy pants scale" with it's sticker on there to show it has been checked for calibration....
So, pretty basically, your get all your paper work together. This would be 2 VERY simple sheets, and 2 simple yet tedious sheets to fill out. One just states which does are coming into milk and which have been dried off. One is like your invoice - which you fill out since you know how many does and thus how many samples you are sending in. Don't forget your money order or check with it LOL.
The DMS213 or your "herd form" is one of the tedious ones - at least the first time ever, and then after that whenever you add does....it's where your address, times you milked, and your supervisors signature go AND any does you transfer in from other herds or just plain new does in milk from your own herd that have never been on test have to be entered in. THERE is the tedious bit - lots of little spaces to be filled in with numbers :P
After that you have your DMS201 or "supervisors barn sheet" - another form that CAN be a bit tedious. Once again, when adding does to the milking string, lots of little spaces wanting registration numbers and what not to be filled in :P BUT, once you are on a roll with the same does as last month, not bad. DO NOT forget to put the milk weights in! This is the one where your weights go - kinda crucial right? Also, any changes in reproductive type stuff - like if a doe is in heat, or if she has been bred, these things go on that form too!
Don't forget to make and save copies....you just never know when a box might get crushed and have milk spill all over stuff, or even lost in the mail. At least even if your samples are lost you will have you info on weights and what not saved so that part can count on your test day data!
After that you wait about 2 - 3 weeks and you will get an email back from Eva at Langston (if that is who you use) with all of this preprinted for next time and a receipt of sorts AND Your test results!!! That was a super cool day, and really nice to see how my does were doing in the butterfat and protein department too!
So, here we are at round two, time for another monthly test....Last night there was a milking and a weigh out....this morning there was a milking, weights taken AND samples! That's the other part - the MILK SAMPLES! VERY easy! Your supervisor just uses your little DHIA approved dipper to fill the vial about half full in the a.m. and again half full in the p.m. - per Eva at Langston you want half and half from each milking to fully and accurately represent what that doe is making in a 24 hour period right? Don't forget to label the vials with a BLACK permanent marker....and bring them in the house. They do NOT need to be refrigerated (that little tiny tablet preserves them just fine), but leaving them outside can be risky on several levels - if something gets into your vials and destroys your samples you don't want to start over :(
Here mine are waiting for the p.m. milking:
After the evening milking I will box this up with the $$$ (all of $10.46 - easily pulled out of the farm funds lol) and in the morning off it will go to Oklahoma and Langston University :) Next time we test it will be a "verification test" - no big deal but it will involve one more person.
Also...don't forget to send in your "Herd Code" to ADGA....Your herd code will come in that email with you first set of test results, pre printed on the form for next time and ADGA will need that to track your records to apply it to THEIR records LOL. You can mail back the little slip they send you OR you can even email it to them! SUPER easy to do! I emailed mine the second I got it from one place off to the next :)
So....big excitement and highlight of my day, milk test :) Who knew tests could be so exciting I said!
So, pretty basically, your get all your paper work together. This would be 2 VERY simple sheets, and 2 simple yet tedious sheets to fill out. One just states which does are coming into milk and which have been dried off. One is like your invoice - which you fill out since you know how many does and thus how many samples you are sending in. Don't forget your money order or check with it LOL.
The DMS213 or your "herd form" is one of the tedious ones - at least the first time ever, and then after that whenever you add does....it's where your address, times you milked, and your supervisors signature go AND any does you transfer in from other herds or just plain new does in milk from your own herd that have never been on test have to be entered in. THERE is the tedious bit - lots of little spaces to be filled in with numbers :P
After that you have your DMS201 or "supervisors barn sheet" - another form that CAN be a bit tedious. Once again, when adding does to the milking string, lots of little spaces wanting registration numbers and what not to be filled in :P BUT, once you are on a roll with the same does as last month, not bad. DO NOT forget to put the milk weights in! This is the one where your weights go - kinda crucial right? Also, any changes in reproductive type stuff - like if a doe is in heat, or if she has been bred, these things go on that form too!
Don't forget to make and save copies....you just never know when a box might get crushed and have milk spill all over stuff, or even lost in the mail. At least even if your samples are lost you will have you info on weights and what not saved so that part can count on your test day data!
After that you wait about 2 - 3 weeks and you will get an email back from Eva at Langston (if that is who you use) with all of this preprinted for next time and a receipt of sorts AND Your test results!!! That was a super cool day, and really nice to see how my does were doing in the butterfat and protein department too!
So, here we are at round two, time for another monthly test....Last night there was a milking and a weigh out....this morning there was a milking, weights taken AND samples! That's the other part - the MILK SAMPLES! VERY easy! Your supervisor just uses your little DHIA approved dipper to fill the vial about half full in the a.m. and again half full in the p.m. - per Eva at Langston you want half and half from each milking to fully and accurately represent what that doe is making in a 24 hour period right? Don't forget to label the vials with a BLACK permanent marker....and bring them in the house. They do NOT need to be refrigerated (that little tiny tablet preserves them just fine), but leaving them outside can be risky on several levels - if something gets into your vials and destroys your samples you don't want to start over :(
Here mine are waiting for the p.m. milking:
Also...don't forget to send in your "Herd Code" to ADGA....Your herd code will come in that email with you first set of test results, pre printed on the form for next time and ADGA will need that to track your records to apply it to THEIR records LOL. You can mail back the little slip they send you OR you can even email it to them! SUPER easy to do! I emailed mine the second I got it from one place off to the next :)
So....big excitement and highlight of my day, milk test :) Who knew tests could be so exciting I said!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
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....
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....
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....
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Checking Calibration before You Begin....
All scales must be checked for calibration before going on test - even brand new scales - and then once a year after that. Where in the heck are you gonna get that done right? How far do you have to go? What do you need to get after that? Okay - this sounds REALLY hard right? Not so, it can be VERY easy.....but the simple fact is no matter what, if you are on milk test, your scale will need to be calibrated once a year. THEN proof of that will have to be on file with your DRPC.....it's pretty simple I tell you.
ALLEGEDLY some post offices will do this for you. I called the nearest 4 within an hour or so from me - they all thought I was a loon. BUT...if you can find somewhere to do it for you, they will need to write you a note saying who they are, what company they are with, what kind of scales you have, what poundage they checked it at, the date they checked it, and your name. Pretty simple.
Now, what if you can't find somewhere? NO FEAR - at least for my herd, since we are using Langston University, THEY will do this for me! BEAUTIFUL! They check the calibration on my scale, and handle the records for it.
Now...what does this cost? $15 - THAT IS IT! Well...you have to ship it to them...that cost me like $12 for priority shipping with the post office (plus insurance...because it is a brand new scale after all right?). But, that's not bad - for less then $30 my scale is checked for calibration and the post office picked it up from the door for shipping so I didn't even have to put on shoes LOL! The best part is my DRPC is handling it so I KNOW I will have the right paperwork in place with them :)
You want to send it to: Langston University, ATTN: EVA, PO BOX 730, Langston, OK, 73050 Don't forget your $15 check or money order! That pays for it to be shipped back to you insured!
So...now we wait...my scale was sent today to be checked for it's calibration, my supervisors have all submitted their tests, my application has been mailed off to ADGA, my dipper came :)
Isn't that the biggest joke as far as packaging goes??? ALL that for one TINY little dipper! HA! Cracked me up! Also, my "sample kit" has arrived:
I have enough vials for 20 goats....this should last me a while haha! Look inside, I find this part super fascinating:
See that teeny tiny little pill? THAT is the magic pill that keeps the milk from spoiling for about 7 days - REALLY tiny! I was expecting something the size of a Tylenol at least in there, but nope, just that itty bitty little red dot...that's the magic that allows milk to be shipped!
So...now we REALLY wait to "go on test"...I'm excited, just have to get the last of everything finalized and we are all set for our first test day!
ALLEGEDLY some post offices will do this for you. I called the nearest 4 within an hour or so from me - they all thought I was a loon. BUT...if you can find somewhere to do it for you, they will need to write you a note saying who they are, what company they are with, what kind of scales you have, what poundage they checked it at, the date they checked it, and your name. Pretty simple.
Now, what if you can't find somewhere? NO FEAR - at least for my herd, since we are using Langston University, THEY will do this for me! BEAUTIFUL! They check the calibration on my scale, and handle the records for it.
Now...what does this cost? $15 - THAT IS IT! Well...you have to ship it to them...that cost me like $12 for priority shipping with the post office (plus insurance...because it is a brand new scale after all right?). But, that's not bad - for less then $30 my scale is checked for calibration and the post office picked it up from the door for shipping so I didn't even have to put on shoes LOL! The best part is my DRPC is handling it so I KNOW I will have the right paperwork in place with them :)
You want to send it to: Langston University, ATTN: EVA, PO BOX 730, Langston, OK, 73050 Don't forget your $15 check or money order! That pays for it to be shipped back to you insured!
So...now we wait...my scale was sent today to be checked for it's calibration, my supervisors have all submitted their tests, my application has been mailed off to ADGA, my dipper came :)
So...now we REALLY wait to "go on test"...I'm excited, just have to get the last of everything finalized and we are all set for our first test day!
Monday, June 10, 2013
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!
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!
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!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Ridin' in Comfort :)
Don't worry, I cleaned it all out the next day - shiny sparkling clean again - but I had driven through rain at one point and was getting reports of VERY bad weather at the house. Who makes a young goat ride in that unless they are in the cab just like you? Not me - so in the cab they go :)
Of course, the best part was coming home late that night to a PITCH BLACK DARK POWER OUT house! Mr Farmer was out of town for work - OOGA BOOGA CREEPY I say! Always with the baby goats and the power outages here :P
So, Happy Bleats Darlene is home, Happy Bleats Levi left on the final leg of his journey to his forever home today, and all is well in the herd :) We ride in style though...no need for a big ol' trailer for 2 medium sized goats :)
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
CIDRs and more rain :(
Yup - more rain. Seems to be we missed all the "April showers" but they showed up in time for May. Can't REALLY complain because rain = hay growing = good news around here right? Still...I'm not real excited about another soggy wet day...especially since I have CIDRs to get in place with 5 goats today! (ALL DONE NOW :) Started this before I headed out...anyways....)
CIDRs? What's that? Well, it's a Controlled Internal Drug Release of the hormone progesterone. Tricks the goats into coming into estrus, or heat, once it is removed. Like a tampon of sorts for goats, you can guess where they gotta go - oh yeah, I will be spending my morning at the back end of the girls...some I will be milking and SOME will be getting their CIDR...woo fun huh? (Really wasn't that bad and went pretty fast...except Willow...kicky thing that one...)
In 21 days, the five to be bred will get a shot of PG600, another hormone, to trick them into ovulating. See, not ALL goats come into estrus all year, and mine fall into that category for the most part...the CIDR helps to prep the body, the PG600 tells the ovaries NOW with the eggs ya'll! And then the buck is introduced to do his thing. I SHOULD God willing have kids born right at the first of November - a little earlier than last year - but thereby avoiding Christmas (which is a very busy and slightly colder month).
So...off to prep and then out I go...not the most exciting job, but a pretty exciting day when you realize I should be getting babies again in less than 6 months :)
NOTE: I am done and it wasn't all that bad haha! One extra kicky goat, but she always is with this kind of stuff...now we wait 3 weeks and then play the cheesy 70's adult film music because my bucks have a date with my does!
CIDRs? What's that? Well, it's a Controlled Internal Drug Release of the hormone progesterone. Tricks the goats into coming into estrus, or heat, once it is removed. Like a tampon of sorts for goats, you can guess where they gotta go - oh yeah, I will be spending my morning at the back end of the girls...some I will be milking and SOME will be getting their CIDR...woo fun huh? (Really wasn't that bad and went pretty fast...except Willow...kicky thing that one...)
In 21 days, the five to be bred will get a shot of PG600, another hormone, to trick them into ovulating. See, not ALL goats come into estrus all year, and mine fall into that category for the most part...the CIDR helps to prep the body, the PG600 tells the ovaries NOW with the eggs ya'll! And then the buck is introduced to do his thing. I SHOULD God willing have kids born right at the first of November - a little earlier than last year - but thereby avoiding Christmas (which is a very busy and slightly colder month).
So...off to prep and then out I go...not the most exciting job, but a pretty exciting day when you realize I should be getting babies again in less than 6 months :)
NOTE: I am done and it wasn't all that bad haha! One extra kicky goat, but she always is with this kind of stuff...now we wait 3 weeks and then play the cheesy 70's adult film music because my bucks have a date with my does!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Dear Mother Nature....
WHAT I SAID AS ENOUGH ALREADY!!!! No really....where have I been you ask? Why no blog posts recently you say?? Because it was DARK again! Oh yeah baby, you heard me - Thursday night the lights went out and we didn't get them back until Saturday! Yeah, sure, we had a TEASE when they came on for AN HOUR Friday night - and then went back out again! SHEESH! What else right?????
So, what had happened was: THE STORM OF THE CENTURY CAME THROUGH! I am pretty sure I saw Dorothy's house fly by and was in a tornado for a minute - silly me took the new baby goat to see her new mama (long story, but I went to them since it was easier on me to travel). AND I GOT STUCK IN IT COMING HOME when the storm let loose! UGH!!!! Complete with hail and so bad I had to pull over for a few minutes...yup...I KNEW we were in for a whopper of a doozy!
Came home to this:
That would be "Lake NadaLotta places for all this water to go" - it was just running down the road in sheets we got so much all at once!
And then this:
The Great Oak said "Take that ugly broken down fridge!" Yeah, I know, I feel that way too! But still....it was a LOT of work getting that one moved to the burn pile days later!
It was VERY dark outside that night with no lights...and the hubby was stuck in Houston...so look who got to bunk with mama:
See her sticking her head up from the pile of blankets? Yup, BOTH of the babies got to sleep with me - if only so I wasn't alone all night :(
AND THEN...the next day I had to go into Trinity for a few things...look closely:
Why I do believe that WAS someone's carport!
And here:
You gotta blow that one up a bit...which I think I did...oh yeah, the WHOLE ROOF off of someone's giant barn was flipped off like the lid on a tuna can! And I was complaining about a big limb right? Yeah, I take it back - I am VERY grateful that was all I had to deal with was a few limbs!
So...where have I been: I have been having baby goats, in the dark, and THEN cleaning up and THEN at the market with the soaps...SUPER busy week or 2 ahead of us here at the farm - but totally worth it!
So, what had happened was: THE STORM OF THE CENTURY CAME THROUGH! I am pretty sure I saw Dorothy's house fly by and was in a tornado for a minute - silly me took the new baby goat to see her new mama (long story, but I went to them since it was easier on me to travel). AND I GOT STUCK IN IT COMING HOME when the storm let loose! UGH!!!! Complete with hail and so bad I had to pull over for a few minutes...yup...I KNEW we were in for a whopper of a doozy!
Came home to this:
And then this:
It was VERY dark outside that night with no lights...and the hubby was stuck in Houston...so look who got to bunk with mama:
AND THEN...the next day I had to go into Trinity for a few things...look closely:
Why I do believe that WAS someone's carport!
And here:
So...where have I been: I have been having baby goats, in the dark, and THEN cleaning up and THEN at the market with the soaps...SUPER busy week or 2 ahead of us here at the farm - but totally worth it!
NadaLottaRanch Diamond Bar has arrived!
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!
Friday, May 3, 2013
No baby goats yet...
But ALREADY my sleep schedule is messed up! UGH! I am DRAINED already!
I don't know WHY exactly, but for some odd reason, whenever I have does due, from like day 140 until all the kids have finally arrived I cannot sleep right! I am up until 3 am and then back awake early (for me) between 7 and 9 am!
Is it the excitement? The stress? The worry? The anticipation? I have NO earthly idea but it really wears me out that's for sure!
I was tired like crazy at 10pm then outta nowhere wide awake again and here it is after 2 in the morning already before I am even THINKING about sleeping and I KNOW I will be wide awake too early in the morning after this! CRAZY I tell you!
Oh well...kidding kit is all prepped at least and the does look ready to go any minute.
Pom is doing the disappearing reappearing ligament thing - VERY soft (but still there) one minute and an hour later back again...not getting much fetal movement on either doe (kids usually kinda stop RIGHT before they are born as at that point they are moving into the birth canal)...LOTS of star gazing and stretching going on in both does, and Lucy continues to INSIST I rub her back everytime I go out there (and scratch behind her ears)....
Here's hoping for babies after breakfast again - let's keep THAT little winning streak up! Oh yes, the last 3 does to kid ALL waited until just after breakfast to kid. Sure that was WAY back in December and these 2 may not have gotten the memo - but I like that. Kids come, get everyone all set up and going, and I can relax the rest of the day until it's time to feed again and snuggle with the new babies after a little quality time with the mama! MUCH better than last spring! Last spring it was "kid in the afternoon, so she has to do ALL that work and THEN run around and do dinner for the rest of the farm and THEM dinner for the people in the house and THEN she can rest" - oh yes, that little routine they had me going on was the PITS I tell you!
So...fingers crossed for babies tomorrow at 11am :) (A farmer wife can hope right????)
I don't know WHY exactly, but for some odd reason, whenever I have does due, from like day 140 until all the kids have finally arrived I cannot sleep right! I am up until 3 am and then back awake early (for me) between 7 and 9 am!
Is it the excitement? The stress? The worry? The anticipation? I have NO earthly idea but it really wears me out that's for sure!
I was tired like crazy at 10pm then outta nowhere wide awake again and here it is after 2 in the morning already before I am even THINKING about sleeping and I KNOW I will be wide awake too early in the morning after this! CRAZY I tell you!
Oh well...kidding kit is all prepped at least and the does look ready to go any minute.
Pom is doing the disappearing reappearing ligament thing - VERY soft (but still there) one minute and an hour later back again...not getting much fetal movement on either doe (kids usually kinda stop RIGHT before they are born as at that point they are moving into the birth canal)...LOTS of star gazing and stretching going on in both does, and Lucy continues to INSIST I rub her back everytime I go out there (and scratch behind her ears)....
Here's hoping for babies after breakfast again - let's keep THAT little winning streak up! Oh yes, the last 3 does to kid ALL waited until just after breakfast to kid. Sure that was WAY back in December and these 2 may not have gotten the memo - but I like that. Kids come, get everyone all set up and going, and I can relax the rest of the day until it's time to feed again and snuggle with the new babies after a little quality time with the mama! MUCH better than last spring! Last spring it was "kid in the afternoon, so she has to do ALL that work and THEN run around and do dinner for the rest of the farm and THEM dinner for the people in the house and THEN she can rest" - oh yes, that little routine they had me going on was the PITS I tell you!
So...fingers crossed for babies tomorrow at 11am :) (A farmer wife can hope right????)
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Goat Midwifery 101
Alright - so I am not an "expert" (as in I have no formal college training) BUT I would say I have attended enough births of baby goats (and other critters and even a few people with some of my closer friends) that at this point I have a decent set of midwife skills under my belt. I'm confident, I am prepared and even if I wasn't I have baby goats due again any day so I don't have an option but to be ready!
Enter the "birthing kit" as pictured above.....the big green rubber maid tub has been sterilized and filled with pine shavings (just a few inches worth). Since we pull at birth and bottle raise all of our kids here following CAE prevention practices (even as a CAE negative herd it helps to keep up these practices "just in case"...adds a sense of security for buyers and my own soul) I need to have a place to put them as they are born. It keeps the kids in a clean spot until I can dip those umbilical cords in iodine, keeps them from getting stepped on by an anxious new mom, and makes it easy to carry them in to clean them up if I get more than one! Yes, a bucket full of babies is easier to cart around than several kids in my arms if I get more than one LOL! Plus if I am REALLY lucky they will stay put in there for the first 24 hours...making it easy to keep an eye on them and get that colostrum in them in small, frequent bottles - right by my side. Over protective much? Not me...noooo.....
Under that black deal but still inside my tub there is a box full of clean towels and "wee pads/doggy training pads". I use the disposable pads to place under my dams so I can catch as much as the "goop/juice" from birth as possible - makes it super easy to roll them up and toss them and VOILA clean pen post birth. It also provides a nice clean spot for the babies to land on and something to give them a quick rub down with to remove all the "ick" before I towel them off. LOVE that disposable stuff! Still...nothing is like a nice fluffy towel to get them REALLY clean and dried off...so I have those too :)
Then, on top of that is ALL the "bonus stuff" - CMPK, BoSe gel, iodine, something to dip umbilical cords with, lube, chlorexidine wash and spray, a scale to weigh kids with, a marker and pens for notes if I need to make any, just all sorts of stuff....made a video actually...it's easier to take about everything I keep on hand "just in case":
So I would say we are ready - any minute now...well, maybe not that soon, but with any luck before the weekend is over I will have baby goats running around again :) I'm almost giddy now waiting on them to get here!
Under that black deal but still inside my tub there is a box full of clean towels and "wee pads/doggy training pads". I use the disposable pads to place under my dams so I can catch as much as the "goop/juice" from birth as possible - makes it super easy to roll them up and toss them and VOILA clean pen post birth. It also provides a nice clean spot for the babies to land on and something to give them a quick rub down with to remove all the "ick" before I towel them off. LOVE that disposable stuff! Still...nothing is like a nice fluffy towel to get them REALLY clean and dried off...so I have those too :)
Then, on top of that is ALL the "bonus stuff" - CMPK, BoSe gel, iodine, something to dip umbilical cords with, lube, chlorexidine wash and spray, a scale to weigh kids with, a marker and pens for notes if I need to make any, just all sorts of stuff....made a video actually...it's easier to take about everything I keep on hand "just in case":
People Really Amaze me....
So, for kicks, I was trolling craigslist this evening - seriously, the amount of bull I see on there is amazing and NO I am NOT talking about cattle for sale! I mean the line of crap in 50% of the ads! Take this one:
"Did you know that a Saanen does not have to be rebred in order to continue to produce"
Quoted directly from the ad - SERIOUSLY???? Um NO! They ALL have to be bred again at some point - sure, SOME goats will stay in milk forever without needing to breed again. But not Forever Forever - like for a year or even 2 if you are lucky. But that is IT. I've never ever in my life heard of not one single doe that was bred once and stayed in milk the rest of her life. They ALL dry up at some point!
Another one that cracked me up: "Goats for sale, 2 toddlers and one adult" Really? I know they call them "kids" and we tease about them being "teenagers" when they get a little older and act badly, but you are SERIOUSLY marketing something incorrectly and waiting on people to bring you money huh? Yes, some other inexperienced person will eventually be suckered in and buy that goat. But jeez-louise at least learn the correct and proper terminology to market what you have!
That's just a few things...I could go on for hours. It sounds mean I know, but my husband and I really do sit here and laugh over some of this. Most just amaze me. Please, REALLY I mean it, don't buy something from someone who doesn't even know what they have! Do your research first and have half a clue before you go shopping - ESPECIALLY for living things like farm animals! $5 says if they lie about how long a goat can produce milk then they lie about everything else...and you may just bring home a sick goat if you aren't careful!
"Did you know that a Saanen does not have to be rebred in order to continue to produce"
Quoted directly from the ad - SERIOUSLY???? Um NO! They ALL have to be bred again at some point - sure, SOME goats will stay in milk forever without needing to breed again. But not Forever Forever - like for a year or even 2 if you are lucky. But that is IT. I've never ever in my life heard of not one single doe that was bred once and stayed in milk the rest of her life. They ALL dry up at some point!
Another one that cracked me up: "Goats for sale, 2 toddlers and one adult" Really? I know they call them "kids" and we tease about them being "teenagers" when they get a little older and act badly, but you are SERIOUSLY marketing something incorrectly and waiting on people to bring you money huh? Yes, some other inexperienced person will eventually be suckered in and buy that goat. But jeez-louise at least learn the correct and proper terminology to market what you have!
That's just a few things...I could go on for hours. It sounds mean I know, but my husband and I really do sit here and laugh over some of this. Most just amaze me. Please, REALLY I mean it, don't buy something from someone who doesn't even know what they have! Do your research first and have half a clue before you go shopping - ESPECIALLY for living things like farm animals! $5 says if they lie about how long a goat can produce milk then they lie about everything else...and you may just bring home a sick goat if you aren't careful!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
2 outta 3 ain't bad....
It seems I am having a "2 outta 3" kind of week. First, I am driving on 2 out of 3 new tires because Mr Farmhand thought he was being clever hiding one on the spare....THEN I got 2 out of 3 goat pens all mucked out and cleaned for the spring time today - which is a whole other post to come....THEN I got 2 out of 3 pictures taken well when I was doing the girls "pregnancy photos" today...oh well, I will be okay with 2 out of 3. Like, for example, if I get 3 kids when the goats pop next month and 2 out of 3 are girls, I will be happy :)
What? When the goats pop? What's all that about you ask??? Well, my saanen does Pomegranate and Lucy are due May 4th to kid!!! Oh yes, SOOOO excited! Lucy is bred to Starmaker for cross babies (part nubian) and Pom is bred to Crisco for all saanen kids! I am REALLY hoping for one girl AT LEAST from each as they both gave me BOYS last year!
First, Pomegranate:
From the side it's not too bad huh? Now look at a birds eye view of that gut!
Yup, she is one wide load! Got good fetal movement and udder building going on and I am getting excited! Then, we have Lucy, my Lu Goose, my sweet girl (who is actually a mega bitch when she is bred!)
Of course she has perfected the art of laying on the side where the babies are at - but she's still pretty big!
With a face that sweet you would never guess in a million years she has been out there tossing the nubians around for weeks now! She won't let any other goats get near me - so jealous! She was like that last year too...it's always a good sign she is bred when she gets SUPER mean since she is normally very laid back! Also, see that dirt on her shoulder? She was helping me clean the pen today by knocking stuff like my rake over - what a peach right? But I love her Sooooo much!
So yes, excitement is starting to build, babies are on the way! Just a few short weeks and they will be here! Usually I have names all picked out by now, but I have fallen behind :( I've been so busy making and naming SOAP that I haven't gotten to goat names yet! Hmmmm....it's a "D" year - AGDA thing, I'll explain later when I remember haha! Anyways, I name kids using the year is for ADGA...so "D" names...someone toss a few my way!
What? When the goats pop? What's all that about you ask??? Well, my saanen does Pomegranate and Lucy are due May 4th to kid!!! Oh yes, SOOOO excited! Lucy is bred to Starmaker for cross babies (part nubian) and Pom is bred to Crisco for all saanen kids! I am REALLY hoping for one girl AT LEAST from each as they both gave me BOYS last year!
First, Pomegranate:
So yes, excitement is starting to build, babies are on the way! Just a few short weeks and they will be here! Usually I have names all picked out by now, but I have fallen behind :( I've been so busy making and naming SOAP that I haven't gotten to goat names yet! Hmmmm....it's a "D" year - AGDA thing, I'll explain later when I remember haha! Anyways, I name kids using the year is for ADGA...so "D" names...someone toss a few my way!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Goat People = My Favorite kind!
Got a call from another goat herder tonight - one I had never really talked to before besides online - and spent THREE HOURS on the phone! No really - three hours chatting herds, and goats and gardens and fodder and everything with a total stranger!
Goat people really are my favorite people - better than horse people even! It's crazy the stuff you can pick up from one phone call. There's so much to share and learn and I just love them!
Add another "friend" to the list - someone to call when you can't figure things out (because goats are like that...sometimes not even the best vet has the answers, but ask another goat person). Someone to call when you're looking for just the right goat...just someone else to call :)
I love my goat people and that is all I have to say tonight!
Goat people really are my favorite people - better than horse people even! It's crazy the stuff you can pick up from one phone call. There's so much to share and learn and I just love them!
Add another "friend" to the list - someone to call when you can't figure things out (because goats are like that...sometimes not even the best vet has the answers, but ask another goat person). Someone to call when you're looking for just the right goat...just someone else to call :)
I love my goat people and that is all I have to say tonight!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
It's a Small World, After All...
So...I promised this story, didn't I? Why the "goat world" is a small world and people really should be on their best behavior...part 1. Ok, see, what had happened was..................
As we all know (if you read along) I went to the market this weekend. Ended up doing both days and pretty good bit of sales too! Nice, encouraging, spirit lifting - MOSTLY. However, I bumped into someone that ran me hot livid mad on Saturday.
Now, without naming names and such here's the deal. I sold a goat to lady whom is now a friend of sorts. No one I know very well, but well enough. Seems SHE had bought some goats from a woman who A) sold her sick goats and B) sold one with what appears to be FORGED PAPERS!!! OMG!!! Alert, watch out, watch you backs right??? Crazy sheisters are out there, they abound these days. There's way more to the story than all that, it actually touched my life in a few ways. But to keep it simple, that's all for now. So...then months later I am at the flea market and over wanders another "vendor" to check out my wares...
This little skeezy thing - no really, skeezy - proceeds to tell me her aunt has goats and is starting to make soap. Oh joy :( Not only have I had to listen to her "white trash stories of glory" all morning already (no really, total piece of work - talking non-stop about how much money they make and blah blah blah - just trashy all around), but now she wants to be my friend...and then it hits me! The aunts name, location, and ownership of goats all match the lady who sells sick goat with forged papers! So, to clarify, I ask for a last name...yup...same one :(
I had a really hard time staying civil at that point - I am, after all, NOT the "goat police" right? PLUS I am stuck in one spot, don't need to make a scene, DO need to sell my soaps quietly...so I just kinda blow her off...ignore her...and fight the temptation to trip her each time she struts past me.
Let's just say this. The goat world is a very small one. Sure, a million people may own goats, but somehow some way we are all linked together at some point! Paths cross, names become known, and be careful because your reputation proceeds you. Don't do shady things, be fair, and be kind. Just saying...you never know who else knows what you have been up to...
As we all know (if you read along) I went to the market this weekend. Ended up doing both days and pretty good bit of sales too! Nice, encouraging, spirit lifting - MOSTLY. However, I bumped into someone that ran me hot livid mad on Saturday.
Now, without naming names and such here's the deal. I sold a goat to lady whom is now a friend of sorts. No one I know very well, but well enough. Seems SHE had bought some goats from a woman who A) sold her sick goats and B) sold one with what appears to be FORGED PAPERS!!! OMG!!! Alert, watch out, watch you backs right??? Crazy sheisters are out there, they abound these days. There's way more to the story than all that, it actually touched my life in a few ways. But to keep it simple, that's all for now. So...then months later I am at the flea market and over wanders another "vendor" to check out my wares...
This little skeezy thing - no really, skeezy - proceeds to tell me her aunt has goats and is starting to make soap. Oh joy :( Not only have I had to listen to her "white trash stories of glory" all morning already (no really, total piece of work - talking non-stop about how much money they make and blah blah blah - just trashy all around), but now she wants to be my friend...and then it hits me! The aunts name, location, and ownership of goats all match the lady who sells sick goat with forged papers! So, to clarify, I ask for a last name...yup...same one :(
I had a really hard time staying civil at that point - I am, after all, NOT the "goat police" right? PLUS I am stuck in one spot, don't need to make a scene, DO need to sell my soaps quietly...so I just kinda blow her off...ignore her...and fight the temptation to trip her each time she struts past me.
Let's just say this. The goat world is a very small one. Sure, a million people may own goats, but somehow some way we are all linked together at some point! Paths cross, names become known, and be careful because your reputation proceeds you. Don't do shady things, be fair, and be kind. Just saying...you never know who else knows what you have been up to...
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Bio What????
Bio - Available: the extent to which a nutrient or medication can be used by the body.
In this case the "nutrient" in mind is fodder in general. Barley, wheat, doesn't matter what you sprout. Just know that by sprouting it you change it's "bio-availability" and make it easier to digest for your livestock and that fact was a big part of the switch for us. The way I picture this concept in my mind, though a bit gross, is to think of corn and do some comparing...
All fodder starts as a seed...let's use wheat fodder because that is what I grow...Now, wheat berries and kernels of corn are both seeds and are both edible. I've never chewed on "wheat on the cob" because it doesn't exist. But I HAVE eaten corn on the cob. Guess what...if it goes in it has to come back out and kernels of corn often return as those same kernels don't they? Yuck, yes, but the blatant honest truth isn't it? I imagine if I were to go boil some wheat and choke it down I'd get wheat back on down the line too...I don't know for sure...but I'm guessing this is what would happen.
Clearly, whole seeds are not the most bio-available form of what they contain if they return as seeds still right? Okay...so we grind them up and make flour out of them. Whole wheat bread AND corn bread both go in as bread and come back out as...well...you can't tell it was ever bread! But you would think that since it is more bio-available in that form it's the best one for us right? And thusly, if whole seeds are hard to digest, then we should grind them up and make them into pellets for our livestock just as we make breads out of these ground seeds for ourselves right? WRONG!!!!
See, here's the thing....when any seed sprouts, it turns into a plant. Livestock, in general, are plant eaters. Horses, goats, cattle...they eat grass and green things not breads and muffins (they shouldn't at least). Their bodies are meant to chew, grind, and in the case of ruminants they ruminate that green stuff into nutrients their body can use. Sure, they can survive and thrive on pelleted feed (which is like the livestock version of humans bread I guess). But it isn't what they are meant to be eating. Even ground up, it's harder for their bodies to get at the proteins and vitamins in there...now, turn it into greenery which they ARE designed for and you get a different result. It is easy for them to break down into the vital bits and pieces they need to thrive and grow and produce.
Heck, if you think about, breads in high amounts aren't really all that great for humans either. If I eat a diet heavy in bread I gain unhealthy pounds of chub-a-dub-iness that's for sure...so when I finally grasped the fact that sprouting wheat into grass made the stuff in it my critters needed to be healthy available to them it made even more sense to switch to fodder. Then I realized I myself needed to eat more veggies and less bagels, but that's another story isn't it? Basically, by growing fodder I am providing a diet with fresh veggies for my livestock instead of dingdongs and pretzels...hmmm....which way of eating is healthier? The veggies I believe...
Needless to say once I had pondered this, I knew I wanted to give fodder a go. I wasn't sure if it would fit in with our farm, and I was having a heck of a time finding the so highly revered barley seeds everyone speaks of using in their fodder systems...so the next step was locating something to sprout and seeing if I could handle it...plants tend to get forgotten around here. They just don't cry for help when they need a drink of water like the pig does when he tips his bucket over ya know? But I was armed with some basic knowledge and ready to give it a try...once I found that dang barley!
Ahhh....fodder...the saga continues....tomorrow....:)
In this case the "nutrient" in mind is fodder in general. Barley, wheat, doesn't matter what you sprout. Just know that by sprouting it you change it's "bio-availability" and make it easier to digest for your livestock and that fact was a big part of the switch for us. The way I picture this concept in my mind, though a bit gross, is to think of corn and do some comparing...
All fodder starts as a seed...let's use wheat fodder because that is what I grow...Now, wheat berries and kernels of corn are both seeds and are both edible. I've never chewed on "wheat on the cob" because it doesn't exist. But I HAVE eaten corn on the cob. Guess what...if it goes in it has to come back out and kernels of corn often return as those same kernels don't they? Yuck, yes, but the blatant honest truth isn't it? I imagine if I were to go boil some wheat and choke it down I'd get wheat back on down the line too...I don't know for sure...but I'm guessing this is what would happen.
Clearly, whole seeds are not the most bio-available form of what they contain if they return as seeds still right? Okay...so we grind them up and make flour out of them. Whole wheat bread AND corn bread both go in as bread and come back out as...well...you can't tell it was ever bread! But you would think that since it is more bio-available in that form it's the best one for us right? And thusly, if whole seeds are hard to digest, then we should grind them up and make them into pellets for our livestock just as we make breads out of these ground seeds for ourselves right? WRONG!!!!
See, here's the thing....when any seed sprouts, it turns into a plant. Livestock, in general, are plant eaters. Horses, goats, cattle...they eat grass and green things not breads and muffins (they shouldn't at least). Their bodies are meant to chew, grind, and in the case of ruminants they ruminate that green stuff into nutrients their body can use. Sure, they can survive and thrive on pelleted feed (which is like the livestock version of humans bread I guess). But it isn't what they are meant to be eating. Even ground up, it's harder for their bodies to get at the proteins and vitamins in there...now, turn it into greenery which they ARE designed for and you get a different result. It is easy for them to break down into the vital bits and pieces they need to thrive and grow and produce.
Heck, if you think about, breads in high amounts aren't really all that great for humans either. If I eat a diet heavy in bread I gain unhealthy pounds of chub-a-dub-iness that's for sure...so when I finally grasped the fact that sprouting wheat into grass made the stuff in it my critters needed to be healthy available to them it made even more sense to switch to fodder. Then I realized I myself needed to eat more veggies and less bagels, but that's another story isn't it? Basically, by growing fodder I am providing a diet with fresh veggies for my livestock instead of dingdongs and pretzels...hmmm....which way of eating is healthier? The veggies I believe...
Needless to say once I had pondered this, I knew I wanted to give fodder a go. I wasn't sure if it would fit in with our farm, and I was having a heck of a time finding the so highly revered barley seeds everyone speaks of using in their fodder systems...so the next step was locating something to sprout and seeing if I could handle it...plants tend to get forgotten around here. They just don't cry for help when they need a drink of water like the pig does when he tips his bucket over ya know? But I was armed with some basic knowledge and ready to give it a try...once I found that dang barley!
Ahhh....fodder...the saga continues....tomorrow....:)
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Speaking of feet and eyelids...
Today is the day - I'm actually behind on this, I try to hit it at the first of the month. But with everything I have had going on with the kitchen and such I let March get away from me...
Today I have been outside trimming hooves and checking eyelids...woo fun right? Doing a little worming inbetween too...trying to get the goats who are due to kid in May all set and the others just caught up in general...
The FAMACHA test is a good place to start with your goats to determine if they need to be wormed - but it is NOT the end all be all guide!!! It only helps detect a few of the little blood suckers...so be sure to either get a fecal done by your vet at least occasionally...OR...learn to do them yourself.
I need a microscope...I keep saying I am going to get one...but it hasn't happened yet...
Until then, I either run a few samples to the vet OR I use this lab which is SUPER cheap to mail my samples in to. They do all sorts of critters from goats to horses to cattle, it's cheap I said, and the post office IS closer than the vet for me at least! I try to send in a sample in the spring (i.e. NOW) and one in the fall to be sure what I am doing is working and keeping everyone parasite free. Well, at least they have less parasites than some others I suppose...nothing that lives outside in hot, humid, muggy, damp East Texas id EVER really "parasite free" ya know???
I know some people do the whole organic all natural thing with their herds. For us, where we live, it does NOT work! Nope, no can do....maybe it's the fact that this place used to be an ucky mucky hog farm...or the climate...or the fact that we live in soggy river bottom...who knows? It's probably a combo of things. But natural herbal stuff is merely a minor way to keep things down between times when I pull out the "big guns" so to speak. Today, my go to is cydectin - yes, it is stinky harsh stuff - but it WORKS! I bring it out 3 or 4 times a year if that and everyone is fine. The worms here laugh at other products. No really, I can hear them chuckling if they see me with SafeGuard. That ones a big waste of my money...totally useless per fecal testing at the vet...
So...if you have critters and the weather permits, take a minute to get out there and give them a good once over. It's what I am up to today. The fodder saga shall continue tomorrow perhaps...until then I am off to go spend the afternoon with the herd :)
Today I have been outside trimming hooves and checking eyelids...woo fun right? Doing a little worming inbetween too...trying to get the goats who are due to kid in May all set and the others just caught up in general...
The FAMACHA test is a good place to start with your goats to determine if they need to be wormed - but it is NOT the end all be all guide!!! It only helps detect a few of the little blood suckers...so be sure to either get a fecal done by your vet at least occasionally...OR...learn to do them yourself.
I need a microscope...I keep saying I am going to get one...but it hasn't happened yet...
Until then, I either run a few samples to the vet OR I use this lab which is SUPER cheap to mail my samples in to. They do all sorts of critters from goats to horses to cattle, it's cheap I said, and the post office IS closer than the vet for me at least! I try to send in a sample in the spring (i.e. NOW) and one in the fall to be sure what I am doing is working and keeping everyone parasite free. Well, at least they have less parasites than some others I suppose...nothing that lives outside in hot, humid, muggy, damp East Texas id EVER really "parasite free" ya know???
I know some people do the whole organic all natural thing with their herds. For us, where we live, it does NOT work! Nope, no can do....maybe it's the fact that this place used to be an ucky mucky hog farm...or the climate...or the fact that we live in soggy river bottom...who knows? It's probably a combo of things. But natural herbal stuff is merely a minor way to keep things down between times when I pull out the "big guns" so to speak. Today, my go to is cydectin - yes, it is stinky harsh stuff - but it WORKS! I bring it out 3 or 4 times a year if that and everyone is fine. The worms here laugh at other products. No really, I can hear them chuckling if they see me with SafeGuard. That ones a big waste of my money...totally useless per fecal testing at the vet...
So...if you have critters and the weather permits, take a minute to get out there and give them a good once over. It's what I am up to today. The fodder saga shall continue tomorrow perhaps...until then I am off to go spend the afternoon with the herd :)
Friday, March 15, 2013
Thinning the Herd Part 2...and laying the Fodder Foundations...
So...Just before Christmas - actually just before the goats started kidding - I had found FODDER!!! Oh yes...a miracle of sorts. It would take nearly all of my need for bagged, processed, pelleted feeds out of the equation. BUT...it would also require some time and effort...and I was still running low on that...
I sat down, and I looked at things long and hard. I had spent the prior year building my herd of goats up. We had saanens, nubians, mini-nubians, and a small group of boers who had been painstakingly searched out and located to be CAE negative (which is hard to do around here with boer goats)....I also have a close friend and neighbor down the road half a mile whose herd seriously came from mine...and it was about to grow...
She had a good portion of our original dwarf goats, she also became headquarters for the mini-nubians. Shuffle shuffle, goats to her place...that way we keep our husbands guessing as to how many goats we each really and truly have right? But what that did in reality was put the herd into groups by size. Big goats here, littler goats there. So much easier than dealing with the size difference daily here...adjusting stuff like the milk stand and what not...plus she already had the mini-buck...cool deal...a little easier...
Next came the boer goats...I had bottle raised all three, driven to El Campo for 2, patiently waited the birth of one, and I REALLY had to think about this...I had gotten them under the pretense of raising kids for meat. Nothing else right? But really...it's harder to do, they aren't as meaty that's for sure...but really I say...why was I raising a separate breed for meat again when I knew good and well my dairy goats would give me edible buck kids? UGH! It was my heart...I have a hard time contemplating eating a dairy kid...
We put the cross bred bucks in the freezer - notice the fellow with the horns? Yup, I had left them on purpose because I KNEW it would drive me nuts having one with horns around and it did...so the decision was made. All goat bound for Camp Kenmore would keep their horns...now, see the other fellow? Yup...Jack, Chrissy, and Janet (the Three's Company Boer Trio) were listed and sold....
It was hard - but now I had the extra time I was looking for. I spend a good few hours each day doing health checks and such. The old routine was one breed a day each day of the week - saanen, nubian, mini-nubian, boer, horses, other stuff....eyelids checked for bright red healthy color, hoofs checked for funky issues and picked clean, pens mucked and so on...Now I had 3 full days of no health checks I could devote to research!
I started reading on line, found a group on facebook devoted to fodder and found another few places I hope to share tomorrow where I gathered a wealth of info as well. Now that we are 2 full months into the fodder program, it doesn't add as much time to my day as it did at first. Remember, in the beginning, there is research to be done and questions to be asked in a much greater volume than as time goes on. That takes up a huge portion of your day! Then you have the initial trials and test runs and system set up and such...I can't tell you how many hours I spent just staring at it willing it to grow LOL....Lots of hours go into staring at it to see what it's doing...LOTS!
To have a good foundation under you when switching to fodder you need to know what it is, how to produce it, how to feed it, be ready for the challenges that come with it (and there are challenges that will come your way) and how to make it work for YOU! The last part is the most important - fodder is not for everyone. It takes a certain amount of human involvement beyond scooping feed from a bag each day. Plan to spend at least an hour extra a day, each day, for the first few weeks tweaking things. Maybe even more - if you are like me and have the constant need to go pet it and encourage plan to spend several hours a day watching it grow...
So, stay tuned once again...tomorrow we will begin the fodder journey for real!
I sat down, and I looked at things long and hard. I had spent the prior year building my herd of goats up. We had saanens, nubians, mini-nubians, and a small group of boers who had been painstakingly searched out and located to be CAE negative (which is hard to do around here with boer goats)....I also have a close friend and neighbor down the road half a mile whose herd seriously came from mine...and it was about to grow...
She had a good portion of our original dwarf goats, she also became headquarters for the mini-nubians. Shuffle shuffle, goats to her place...that way we keep our husbands guessing as to how many goats we each really and truly have right? But what that did in reality was put the herd into groups by size. Big goats here, littler goats there. So much easier than dealing with the size difference daily here...adjusting stuff like the milk stand and what not...plus she already had the mini-buck...cool deal...a little easier...
Next came the boer goats...I had bottle raised all three, driven to El Campo for 2, patiently waited the birth of one, and I REALLY had to think about this...I had gotten them under the pretense of raising kids for meat. Nothing else right? But really...it's harder to do, they aren't as meaty that's for sure...but really I say...why was I raising a separate breed for meat again when I knew good and well my dairy goats would give me edible buck kids? UGH! It was my heart...I have a hard time contemplating eating a dairy kid...
I started reading on line, found a group on facebook devoted to fodder and found another few places I hope to share tomorrow where I gathered a wealth of info as well. Now that we are 2 full months into the fodder program, it doesn't add as much time to my day as it did at first. Remember, in the beginning, there is research to be done and questions to be asked in a much greater volume than as time goes on. That takes up a huge portion of your day! Then you have the initial trials and test runs and system set up and such...I can't tell you how many hours I spent just staring at it willing it to grow LOL....Lots of hours go into staring at it to see what it's doing...LOTS!
To have a good foundation under you when switching to fodder you need to know what it is, how to produce it, how to feed it, be ready for the challenges that come with it (and there are challenges that will come your way) and how to make it work for YOU! The last part is the most important - fodder is not for everyone. It takes a certain amount of human involvement beyond scooping feed from a bag each day. Plan to spend at least an hour extra a day, each day, for the first few weeks tweaking things. Maybe even more - if you are like me and have the constant need to go pet it and encourage plan to spend several hours a day watching it grow...
So, stay tuned once again...tomorrow we will begin the fodder journey for real!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
The thining of the herd....Part 1
Back around the holidays between money being tight and the weather being so cold I was stuck inside...I found myself researching different ways to lower our feed bill. With 2 horses and at that time 15 goats and 4 pigs and a half a dozen older chickens and another dozen meat rabbits of varying ages we had a pretty hefty feed bill. Not to mention the fact that I had brought home some chicken starter crumbles a few months before as I HAD (had being the key word) some replacement laying hens which were about a month old still in the brooder....after serving them that bag of feed they literally half dropped dead in an hour and the other half wilted and wasted away over the course of a week...the dealer claimed up and down it wasn't them...I doubt it though...
I made a resolution well before the New Year arrived that I would do 2 things. One - I would find a better way of feeding my animals, something healthier and sustainable for us. Two - I needed to thin things out a bit. It was just too time consuming to be caring for a yard full of critters AND try to make this place better than it already was...feeding and watering and such sucks up a LOT of time! That was time I could be spending improving things around here...so I began to thin the herd...
First I went through the easy stuff - small animals. The rabbits were either getting up there in age or young fryer sized and to be honest we already had (and still have) quite a bit of rabbit meat in the freezer. I sold some of the younger ones, stock that would be suitable for breeding as just that, and then I culled the rest for freezer camp. I knew I had several does due to kid, projects a plenty to tackle, and I wouldn't have the time for rabbits for a while. It was tough to do, as I enjoyed them and all of the fresh meat they brought to our table raised in a healthy fashion...but with the rabbits out the feed bill dropped a bit...
Then came the pigs...we had a freezer full of pork products, and these were just pot belly pigs....not like I was loosing whole hams here. So I sold all except one. He was retained to do my garden tilling in the spring. The others got the boot. That wasn't so hard to do, except by the time the family that bought them found the house is was well after dark and took a little creativity in parking to shine headlight just so as to be able to find them...but that was another way to massively lower the bills...
Next came the chickens...and that was much harder than either the rabbits or the pigs! Some of these birds were my original chickens and some were not. I had a strange emotional attachment to poultry that I didn't have with the pigs or rabbits...but still, the job had to be done. The younger group was sold to a friend and the older birds were quietly culled. In all seriousness now, the older birds weren't hardly laying any longer and had not been for some time - the egg factory had dried up so to speak. The younger ones were okay layers...but they had been given to me by another lady who was just hatching and raising backyard type birds. They were nothing fancy and not overly productive anyways. I had already decided months prior that for my flock I wanted productive, strong layers. I will admit, I miss my fresh eggs. But it's been a nice break not having to mess with poultry these last few months and when I jump back in I will hopefully have everything set up just right and perfectly for them versus the half baked deal we were working with after our move....
So now I was down to just one pig, the horses and the goats...I debated for a while letting my mare go. I love her, but to be honest the horses have become the red headed step children of the farm. There was a time pre-goat where the horses were bathed once a week, ridden at least 3 times a week, and in general they were overly spoiled. Now they are lucky to be ridden once a week, bathed 3 times a year, and they a get a fraction of the attention that the goats receive. I decided against it though - Smokey is my love and even if I don't give her the attention I used to she is still a one person type of horse and very attached to me and me alone. And let's not even go their with Rocket. First of all he is older and when I took him on it was decided this would be his permanent forever family - he had been through enough changing of hands in his life. Not to mention that he is my husbands horse and I really do think Mr Homesteader would have a fit if I got rid of HIS horse...That left the goats...a story we shall save for tomorrow or the next day, but needless to say we dropped down to 10 goats as well....
So, anyways, back to the point being that I had time on my hands now that there were less critters to deal with, research to do, and a problem to solve. I was tired of feeding overly processed mostly gmo corn based molasses filled pelleted feeds to everything with the added factor of the mysteriously dropping dead baby chicks...yeah, I'm still bitter about that (but that's another blog post entirely). Anyways...Dr. Google solved it for me in the form of FODDER!!!
Stay tuned...the saga continues tomorrow....
I made a resolution well before the New Year arrived that I would do 2 things. One - I would find a better way of feeding my animals, something healthier and sustainable for us. Two - I needed to thin things out a bit. It was just too time consuming to be caring for a yard full of critters AND try to make this place better than it already was...feeding and watering and such sucks up a LOT of time! That was time I could be spending improving things around here...so I began to thin the herd...
First I went through the easy stuff - small animals. The rabbits were either getting up there in age or young fryer sized and to be honest we already had (and still have) quite a bit of rabbit meat in the freezer. I sold some of the younger ones, stock that would be suitable for breeding as just that, and then I culled the rest for freezer camp. I knew I had several does due to kid, projects a plenty to tackle, and I wouldn't have the time for rabbits for a while. It was tough to do, as I enjoyed them and all of the fresh meat they brought to our table raised in a healthy fashion...but with the rabbits out the feed bill dropped a bit...
Then came the pigs...we had a freezer full of pork products, and these were just pot belly pigs....not like I was loosing whole hams here. So I sold all except one. He was retained to do my garden tilling in the spring. The others got the boot. That wasn't so hard to do, except by the time the family that bought them found the house is was well after dark and took a little creativity in parking to shine headlight just so as to be able to find them...but that was another way to massively lower the bills...
Next came the chickens...and that was much harder than either the rabbits or the pigs! Some of these birds were my original chickens and some were not. I had a strange emotional attachment to poultry that I didn't have with the pigs or rabbits...but still, the job had to be done. The younger group was sold to a friend and the older birds were quietly culled. In all seriousness now, the older birds weren't hardly laying any longer and had not been for some time - the egg factory had dried up so to speak. The younger ones were okay layers...but they had been given to me by another lady who was just hatching and raising backyard type birds. They were nothing fancy and not overly productive anyways. I had already decided months prior that for my flock I wanted productive, strong layers. I will admit, I miss my fresh eggs. But it's been a nice break not having to mess with poultry these last few months and when I jump back in I will hopefully have everything set up just right and perfectly for them versus the half baked deal we were working with after our move....
So, anyways, back to the point being that I had time on my hands now that there were less critters to deal with, research to do, and a problem to solve. I was tired of feeding overly processed mostly gmo corn based molasses filled pelleted feeds to everything with the added factor of the mysteriously dropping dead baby chicks...yeah, I'm still bitter about that (but that's another blog post entirely). Anyways...Dr. Google solved it for me in the form of FODDER!!!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Boo to daylight savings time!
Yeah, that's right, you heard me. I said BOO! UGH! YUCK! But we get an extra hour of daylight you say, why do you hate the time change you say....Because in reality we do NOT get an extra hour of daylight - it's all a scam meant to mess up my schedule!
Yup...a scam, a sham, a flim flam floosy way of messing with my head. The sun still rises and sets as it pleases. Heck, in Arizona and Hawaii they don't even recognize daylight savings or have to change their clocks...why should I change mine? Really, stop and think about it ya'll...
Yesterday, my critters were all ready half an hour before sunset to be fed. It's the way we roll around here. I wait until the last possible minute to get out there and feed since I am not an early riser anyways. I promise you, the horses did not care about the time change. Their internal clocks know when I will be out with dinner by the position of the sun. However, when it comes to people stuff this is a pain!
I had a load of hay delivered yesterday - and I woke up all in a tizzy at 10a.m. (the old 9a.m.) thinking I had missed it! Thank you daylight savings time for giving me a minor heart attack. Thankfully, I did not miss my hay guy calling and heading over. But still...can you see how it affects my dealings with people? Never mind that I was seriously up all night until 3a.m. because I couldn't sleep which would only have been 2a.m. a few nights before...yup...daylight savings sucks in my opinion...
Now, while you're all excited about that extra hour of daylight, I want you to find a farmers almanac or google this. Actually, here's the link to the farmers almanac website: sunrise and sunset times by city Look up sunset and sunrise for Saturday (before the time change) and count how many hours of daylight there were. Now look it up for Sunday (after the time change)....hmmmm....where's the extra hour now? Can't find it can you? See...it's all a sham I say! There is no extra hour of daylight, just an unnecessary need to readjust our own clocks as well as our own biological clocks! Crazy madness for no dang reason...
Now I am finally headed out to make the rounds and get stuff settled for the day - it should only be 11:30 but it's after noon now...and nothing anyone can say will make me appreciate the falseness of an imagined extra hour of daylight today...I'm all backwards and running later than usual. Thanks a bunch daylight savings time...NOT!!!!
Yup, what he said....
Yup...a scam, a sham, a flim flam floosy way of messing with my head. The sun still rises and sets as it pleases. Heck, in Arizona and Hawaii they don't even recognize daylight savings or have to change their clocks...why should I change mine? Really, stop and think about it ya'll...
Yesterday, my critters were all ready half an hour before sunset to be fed. It's the way we roll around here. I wait until the last possible minute to get out there and feed since I am not an early riser anyways. I promise you, the horses did not care about the time change. Their internal clocks know when I will be out with dinner by the position of the sun. However, when it comes to people stuff this is a pain!
I had a load of hay delivered yesterday - and I woke up all in a tizzy at 10a.m. (the old 9a.m.) thinking I had missed it! Thank you daylight savings time for giving me a minor heart attack. Thankfully, I did not miss my hay guy calling and heading over. But still...can you see how it affects my dealings with people? Never mind that I was seriously up all night until 3a.m. because I couldn't sleep which would only have been 2a.m. a few nights before...yup...daylight savings sucks in my opinion...
Now, while you're all excited about that extra hour of daylight, I want you to find a farmers almanac or google this. Actually, here's the link to the farmers almanac website: sunrise and sunset times by city Look up sunset and sunrise for Saturday (before the time change) and count how many hours of daylight there were. Now look it up for Sunday (after the time change)....hmmmm....where's the extra hour now? Can't find it can you? See...it's all a sham I say! There is no extra hour of daylight, just an unnecessary need to readjust our own clocks as well as our own biological clocks! Crazy madness for no dang reason...
Now I am finally headed out to make the rounds and get stuff settled for the day - it should only be 11:30 but it's after noon now...and nothing anyone can say will make me appreciate the falseness of an imagined extra hour of daylight today...I'm all backwards and running later than usual. Thanks a bunch daylight savings time...NOT!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)