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 :)

Spiders - my frenemies...

It seems that on a farm or living "out in the country" one is bound to have more issues with pests and bugs than the average "city slicker".  Or maybe it's just me, who knows for sure.  But I will say this much, since moving to the country we absolutely have more spiders than ever before! I know part of this is the fly factor - farm animals make poo, poo is breeding grounds for flies, and flies are a fine feast for any spider! Even with all the good they do by eating flies, I think I am over trying to protect the spiders....

I have spent the better part of my afternoon sweeping up their icky sticky webs and evicting a few and even squashing particularly unlucky fellow who happened to be as big around as a nickle or bigger and crawling my way! I HATE spiders!  I LOATHE them!  I don't run away in fear, I grab a shoe or a broom or some spray and dispense with them! Thank goodness they don't leave me terrified and shaking while I search for someone else to handle it...because if that were the case I think I'd need to move!

For real, I am pretty sure our home was the place where they filmed that move "Arachnophobia"...not positive..just pretty sure about it.  We have a spider for every corner, nook, and cranny of this house and outside too!

The picture is in the living room...that IS as big as it looks, I PROMISE it is!  That one's lucky...being 12 feet up he MAY survive the massacre! 

Now, I know everyone says they naturally control the population of many other things - flies, mosquitoes, what have you...I dunno...I may have to go on a killing spree pretty soon population control be damned!  I just can't handle all the ucky webs when I'm trying to clean...or stuff as big as my thumb jumping out at me.  I hate to be the one to break the news, but the spiders don't pay the rent and therefor are NOT allowed to act like they own the place.  I feel as though a mass murder may be coming on....even for all the good they do, I just cannot share my humble abode with them any longer.

So I say to the organic type, those who don't mind a few spiders this:  "Come on down with a jar, poke some holes in the lid, and take home as many spiders as you please!" But do it before I find the bug spray...because at least a few of them have got to go!