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!

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!

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....

Pimp Juice - an update!

So, for those who are following along, earlier in the month we talked about breeding the goats, CIDRs and PG600 (aka "Pimp Juice").  Pimp Juice is the little miracle here I had mentioned - I had also mentioned that I would update on the frozen pimp juice.....

See, as you may recall, once you reconstitute PG600 you have to use it right away - that day - you aren't supposed to leave it out room temp OR lingering in the fridge for weeks and months....however....

You may also recall that there was rumor of being able to freeze it and thaw THEN use it....well.... IT WORKS!!!!!! Happy dance, happy dance IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yes, see my partner in crime this time - the one who found out that CIDRs alone do NOT work - well, I went to visit her yesterday and saw with my own eyes a doe who had been given the frozen and then thawed Pimp Juice - oh yes, she was in heat! Screaming for some lovin', tail flaggin', glad to see the buck HEAT! Estrus, breeding, ready to go in heat - all with frozen Pimp Juice!

So...update as promised, fozen pimp juice (PG 600 to be exact) DOES work! This is good to know, once again, as you may recall, the bottle is enough for almost 15 goats! But you don't always want to breed 15 goats at once, yet you can't just save it in the fridge....so what to do?? FREEZE THE PIMP JUICE!  Portion it out by dose, freeze it, and thaw when ready and BAM! She'll only want the buck with her pimp juice....so good to know :)

Guess next time I get a bottle I will be keeping it frozen in portions until I am ready to use them...makes perfect sense to me :) I'm a controlling mother I know...but we need a little order around here for things to work right...and frozen or fresh, "Pimp Juice" makes that happen!

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!

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!

DHIR....DHIA....Owner Sampler what? MILK TEST!!!!!!!!!!

Why yes...I do believe before the month is out our little herd here at NadaLottaRanch will be on milk test officially :)  Kind of exciting really - I have wanted to go official for YEARS in this fashion...but I have been scared away by the paperwork and how much it seemed like you needed to do. I had this vision in my head of needing to fill out a million forms each and every day at each and every milking...um NO! NOT THAT HARD!

First of all, why test you ask?  What's in it for the herd?  Well, very simply, your does can earn their "stars". I know...stars on yars...sounds like that book by Dr. Seuss about the Sneeches right? But stars are GOOD!  With dairy goats you want to see things like "star milkers" in their back ground. You want to know that a goat comes from genetics that produce MILK and LOTS of it LOL :)  Otherwise, WHY have a DAIRY goat?  I mean yeah, sure, showing can be fun and rewarding if you enjoy it.  But really...ultimately...to me at least, a dairy goat needs to make enough milk for my time and effort in caring for them and milking them to be WORTH it! A cup or 2 a day, even back when we had dwarf goats, does NOT cut it!  We need to see POUNDS of milk a flowing!

The other thing you find out by sending in samples of your does' milk is how much protein and butterfat they are putting out there. I would prefer to see a goat make a bit less milk with higher fat and protein than a doe who makes tons and tones but it's almost all water. When making things like cheese and yogurt, and even when just drinking it, you want a nice, sweet, rich milk. Not a watery milk.

I have a few more questions to call ADGA with....a few more to call Langston with (who my tests/samples will go to each month) and then after a few forms to fill out and I will be good to go :) I'm pretty excited - at this point I am drying up 3 of the 5 does in milk and I will only have 2 on test. To me, I want it to be simple the first year. I want to only have the potential of a few mistakes and not a whole herd worth if we screw up on papers haha, PLUS the other does have been in milk for 6 months now and I am ready for a break! After this, there will be no more breaks....starting with the next round of kidding we will be on test until I give up LOL...and I think as simple as this is I can stick with ti for a long time to come!

So...stay tuned....there will be more info on this to come so everyone can join in. It really is a valuable tool in making well informed decisions on what goats to buy and bring into your herd and such - remember, it costs the same to feed a crummy, low producing wompy looking goat as it does to feed a high producing well built goat! Might as well get the most bang for you buck when you buy right? 

Happy dance, happy dance - we are gonna be "official" lol :)

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 :)

Ridin' in Comfort :)

Why YES - there ARE 2 goat kids in my back seat :)  I went out to Gustine, TX to Happy Bleats Farm to see my friends the Salazar family and bring back a kid for me and one for another friend.  OF COURSE they road IN the truck!  They are young, and the weather was bad that evening :(

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 :)

A Tale of Two Udders

Well, not really a story, but LOOK AT THEM TEATS! Hahahaha...I just love saying that - it NEVER gets old!

First up, we have Lucy - lovely rear attachment, medial ligament could be a little stronger, but nice easy to manage teats, great orifice and steady stream when I milk and LOTS of milk - due to the power outage I haven't been tracking it precisely the last few days, but EASILY clearing the gallon as day mark!  I shall weigh in the morning :)

The there is Pomegranate - with the udder that won't quit I swear!  Took me FOREVER to get her dried up last year!  Yes, the rear attachment could be a little stronger - but REALLY nice to milk!  Buttery soft, good strong medial ligament, GREAT flow, and even more milk than Lucy and Pom is smaller than her!

And no - in real life she does not have one half all pink...I think I tweaked something funny on the camera on my phone...been getting odd, off photos the last day or two...but you get the general idea I believe :)

The best part is you really couldn't ask for better girls on the milk stand!  Oh yes, absolutely sweet hearts, well behaved, no hobbles needed :)  Actually, I haven't had to hobble a goat to milk in AGES!  Everyone has been good as gold for me - which I LOVE!

Once again I have tons of milk - YAY!  I had taken the other 3 girls down to once a day a few weeks ago so I myself could have a bit of a break - and while I was still getting plenty of milk, it's just not the same as having a TON of milk LOL :)  I plan to keep milking Willow, Penelope, and Fajita once a day for a while longer - it's easier on them too you know? - and of course milk these 2 twice a day.  But when every minute in your day counts you have to find a few for yourself here and there ya know? So, in order to have a bit more time in my mornings when I had all of the market/soap stuff going on pre-mothers day I cut out the a.m. milking with the 3 that were already in milk...it was nice to be able to feed in like 20 minutes in the mornings again for a while, I will admit....but now I am back to full swing mornings and that itself is nice too!

I also got 2 out of 3 "goat jails" cleaned today, a NEW FEEDER PIG came today (hooray for bacon in the fall!), and tomorrow I will be getting CIDRs in to the next round of goats to be bred!  Yup, it's that time already! This is going to be a BUSY week! Actually, May is going to be a busy month :P Preparations for more goat breeding, with any luck FENCING BONANZA shall be taking place, and several soap classes are already scheduled :) Now if only that silly laundry would hurry up so I can go to bed - gotta get the hubby all packed up to be off in the morning again and I am waiting on the dryer tonight :(

Oh yes - stay tuned ya'll!  Things should be picking up some on the farming front now that I have baby goats birthed and the last major "soap holiday" until Christmas out of the way!

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!

NadaLottaRanch Dixie Chicken has arrived!

Born Monday afternoon - DURING SOAP CLASS no less - "Dixie" is here!  A single doe kid, mama is our Pomegranate, daddy is our Crisco, a little full blown saanen ANGEL!  Weighing in at 7lbs 6oz she was a hefty little squirt!

We got her disbudded this evening...she is of course a bottle baby....and she is actualyl a spunky, bossy thing!  First doe kid of he year has arrived :)

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????)

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!

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!

Well I jinxed it.... :(

So, last night I FINALLY posted about the tree trimming soap opera that was last week for me right?  Guess what...at 10am this morning I was headed outside to feed and shuffle goats to get all prepped for the counted down to goat birthing and GUESS who was driving by! Yup...the tree trimmer people...

Too late, I already handled it.  I mean, ya know, they could have at least knocked on the door, told me they would be back...that sort of thing. OH well :( Like i said, at least it is over with.

But, on a brighter note, I got udders shaved on the 2 girls that are about to EXPLODE they are so big! AND I have gotten 10 sets of goaty hooves trimmed and that's looking good...mashed my finger doing it but at least I didn't cut my finger off or anything extreme...

Now I sit and wait - well, not really - I will be stuck waiting.  But I won't be doing much sitting as there is mega crazy happenings going on with the soaps and all!

So...away to the bat cave with me...gotta get the birthing kit prepped and set up next to the maternity ward :)

Any day now!!!!!

They don't look ALL that big in that pic - but it sure was a pretty day yesterday :) But yes, as you can see by the title ANY day now baby goats will be here!!!! I am SOOOO excited!  I have 2 saanen does, one bred for nubian cross kids and one bred for straight saanen kid due the 4th of May.  And to be honest, saanens TEND to kid a few days past "day 150"...so most likely it will be any day next week.  BUT...goats CAN kid from day 145-155 so we are now on baby watch officially! I of course am in a state of "almost ready but not really" - I still have some things I need to prep. My "kidding kit" is all ready pretty much together, moms to be are all set with everything THEY need (like cdt booster a month ago and so on) though I do still need to shave udders (clippers died though) and I do still need to shuffle them to the "maternity ward" and all...

Heck, it doesn't SOUND like I am ready does it?  But, I mostly am - after a few kiddings you stay in a state of perpetual readiness I think, like a midwife on call.  Tomorrow I will get everything finalized and prepped.  I just don't want to go getting all excited and have them drag it out until day 155 with me sitting here waiting and all you know?

 Took this pic a week or so ago at the end of the day - That's Pomegranate and she is not even the widest of the 2!

 One of the "baby daddy" photos - CriscoKid, my puffy gentle marshmallow goat :)

 Pomegranate was trying to nap while I was taking her "big belly pictures" - she was less then pleased with my interruption of her "me time"

 Lucy....

And Lucy's belly!  She has REALLY gotten pretty big the last week or so!  She gave me twins last year and only looked half as large, so I am really hoping for twins again this year - twin does would be my preference of course :P

So....I'm nervously anticipating kids any day now and all excited and a-flutter already! I have absolutely been scatter brained like CRAZY the last few weeks since I realized we were coming up on kidding again.  You know, that moment when it REALLY hits you that soon you will be crazy busy with your hands full and no time for anything else? The moment when you have a mild heart attack?  Yup...that was me like April 8th and I haven't really stopped moving since then!

Stay tuned for updates on the expectant mothers :)

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!

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 :)

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!