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 :)

Garden - Round 2

Let's be honest - very, very honest - I SUCK at gardening.  There's no way to phrase that delicately and still encompass how horrid I truly am at the whole concept.  I've bought and read books on the subject, joined and conversed on forums dedicated to it, heck you name it and I've tried it.  Anything that can help make me a better gardener I have tried.  Thus far, not much success has been mine.

Years ago, BG (before goats - heck BF 'before farm') I had a few happy little potted plants on my balcony.  Way back when, in the apartment living days, I could do decently by the potted plants.  Not great mind you, but decently.  Of course, back then, I didn't really have anything else to worry about.  Those plants got a LOT of attention that future gardening attempts did not get to see....

Then, we made the move to country life.  I put off gardening as I was preoccupied by things like poultry and goats.  FINALLY, the year I decided to do a REAL garden....THERE WAS A DROUGHT! Seriously?? For real??? Why yes, seriously.  Basically, between he wicked heat and lack of water from the sky and my own neglect I got like 3 little peppers and one sad tomato...yup...plus we ended up moving here that year. 

First year here I attempted a small - TINY - little winter garden of sorts.  I got enough turnip greens for ONE pot of greens...like a small 2 serving side dish worth.  But hey, that's the best I had ever done right? Never mind that my mother could grow the most amazing gardens when I was a kid, never mind that I spent many hours assisting in aforementioned gardens as a child, oh no...none of that green thumb passed my way it seems.  Anyways...what I was saying was...that first little starter garden went "so so eh okay" and I was encouraged...course life popped up, other things happened and FINALLY just this year I have gotten back into gardening right?

We won't discuss my sad little tomato and pepper starts...they are still starting as it were....I've been waiting on them to do SOMETHING amazing with themselves since, oh, FEBRUARY....Ok...then there were the greens and broccoli.  Oh yes, sad bit that, got run over, stepped on, run over some more, and finally the pig layed smack dab right in the middle of them and took a nap one afternoon...ok, well, once again I CAN at least grow greens.

So it was time to start the "spring/summer" garden - I moved it to a new location (one less likely to be driven over due to it's proximity to the septic tank).  And WEEKS ago we planted squash and pumpkin seeds.  Out of all that we planted THIS is what we have so far:

Now - don't ask me what is what - I was just taking pictures and forgot to mentally label squash versus pumpkin.  But I figure if I can keep these things a-going a while longer I may get a pan full of squash, a pumpkin pie and maybe some pumpkin left over for soap LOL...I'm proud of my little survivors here.  My husband refers to the garden as "The Graveyard" since it is where plants go to die....maybe this year I will finally prove him wrong...if I can remember to water it :(

I never set out to be a farmer...

What I was trying to do was "be self sufficient"....HAHA to that!  I mean yeah, sure, I do a LOT of "homemade, handmade, DIY" type stuff.  But I am far from "off grid" as they say.  I wasn't even really going for off grid though.  I just wanted to produce what I could "for us".  And here I am....

I had a lovely day - visiting with soapy/goaty friends, waiting on baby goats (STILL not here) and you know...when I think about it... I am VERY glad I am a "farmer".  Well...more of a goat breeder, soap maker and homesteader....but still...farmer is easier and shorter to type LOL :)

I get to work from home - in my "comfy clothes" mostly - and I like that (dressing up is fun once in a while, but for me at least it got old fast on a daily basis).  I get to choose who my "customers, clients, associates" are and if people are sucky jerks I can tell them where to go - which is somewhere else.  Usually I don't have that issue...but still, it's nice that it is an option!  I get to do what I have grown to love - GOATS!  Also, horses and other farm critters...but you get my drift...soap, cheese, milk and animals...it really is a passion for me.  I get to connect with other people of a similar mindset - people that enjoy living simply and off of the land, people that are less concerned about the "popular" stuff but more worried about where their food comes from and getting by day to day without any high drama, and of course goat and soap people are just awesome haha!  There's just so much I really enjoy about this new life we have slowly forged for ourselves and it all came on by accident.

I just wanted a few goats for milk for the house...and now I have fancy pants dairy goats and my milk travels all over the country in the form of bath and body products and soaps and lotions via the postal service...off to other showers in far away lands!  I just wanted to be able to make a bowl of cereal without running to the store for a gallon of milk and NOW I have enough milk to make cheeses and yogurts AND the knowledge and skills to do so and it's always just out there in the yard waiting for me to go and get more of it.  I love it - even if it was not what I intended.

Sure, some days are long and hard, some days I wonder what in the hell was I thinking??? But...when all is said and done, even if I didn't start out to be a farmer I am now and I LOVE IT!

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 :)