Today it was time to move the little calf up with the rest.
It was also time to give the cows new balage. Even though the grass is coming on strong, they need to have lots to eat. Three of them will calf in July. They follow Gary on the tractor as he brings the bale in.
Once unwrapped and untied, the bale is ready to go inside its feeder. Meanwhile the cows have been eating it the whole time!
This is how a cow says "Thank you" to Gary!
Hank loves the cows.
He likes cow pies too. Mmmmm. Yeah, we think that's digusting too. :)
Down off the hill, away from the cows, Liddy runs around with Annie's kids.
The kids are playful and it's hard to get them to stay still for a picture.
Last Friday night, Annie had her kids. Two boys. After Liddy's adventure I was a little nervous. But everything was fine. Murphy was there for the whole birthing process, fanning his tail as he roosted on a stall wall. He has godfathered many many goat kids.
Annie. Is. Huge. After the first couple days, I will begin to milk her. When she was in labor I almost thought she was going to have triplets. The first kid was an effort to deliver, but kid #2 (the mostly white one) slid right out almost into my lap.
It took about a day for the boys to get a hang of it, but now they are old pros at this eating thing. They even nibble at grain at this young age!
Although it is a very nice day out, this is their first journey outside the barn, and they do not venture very far. Everyone, including this rooster, is very curious and wants to meet them.
Big Tom sticks around the barn too. That is where all the ladies have been hovering, playing in the hay and eating black oil sunflower seeds (their favorite treat).
Some muscovy ducks share a helping of black oil sunflower seeds with a turkey hen in the barn.
The turkeys started to lay their eggs this week. So far no one is showing signs of being broody.
Winter is receding here on the hill, and we are in the full stages of MUD SEASON. Some snow still remains up on the hill by the pig house, now boarded up.
The chickens are happy to have some grass to eat and scratch through.
After a month of trying, Gary gets the trailer up the hill to the pig pen. We will deliver them to the butcher later today.
Time for Liddy's stitches to come out. Gary held her while I snipped.
When they were all out, I covered the incision with Zinc Oxide. Her coat is taking a longer time to grow back than it is taking for her incision to heal.
Murphy supervised from outside the stall.
Annie, who shares the stall with Liddy, watched from the corner. According to my notes, she is due to kid this week. At this point, her bag is much larger than her belly!
I spotted a duck checking out nest sites under a toolbench in the barn. I never found an egg, but this shows they will be laying soon.
Turkey hens play on our homemade critter carrier (it fits in the back of Gary's truck). They do stuff like this all day.
Gary convinced me that we needed more dairy goats. The milk is also great for feeding to pigs, and I would like to make soap again. Mmmmm and cheese. And yogurt.
The girls won't stay still for a good picture though.
Here is Susan the saanen, the same breed as my Annie. She looks a lot like Annie except she has wattles under her chin.
And Apple the alpine. She is a little skittish like a gazelle, but once I start scratching her chin, she is putty in my hands.
And this attention-seeking goat is a Pygora. Her fleece is a little short, but very soft. She doesn't have a name yet.
Liddy update:
Liddy is well on her way to recovery. She is still living in the barn, but I let her outside a lot to run around. And run around she does!
Time to trudge through the snow and feed the pigs. An extra bonus today: I found a stash of tiny banty eggs in the barn. There are 6 hens in the barn and each week they find a new place to lay their eggs. This week's hot spot was under the wood splitter.
The girls squeal and squeak when they realize what time it is.
They love those eggs!
And back scratches.
The purveyors of those fine eggs, part of my banty flock in the barn.
After the pigs are fed, we go across to feed the calf. He's about 7 months old now and his horns are starting to show.
My 3 spring toms follow us up. Murphy doesn't like the snow as much as they do.
Gary has plowed a wide avenue up the hill. The house and barns are below.
same picture, with turkey :)
Murphy has stayed down below to take advantage of some cleared patches of grass. Big Tom is with him.
It's a beautiful day. Tomorrow is supposed to be 50 degrees, and then we get more snow.
Liddy update: Liddy is doing great. She gets a dose of children's liquid ibuprofen every 8 hours or so. I wonder if kids eat that stuff up as eagerly and quickly as Liddy? She now checks my pockets and hands whenever I visit to see if I have brought more for her to eat.
Yesterday morning it was 10 below. But temps climbed and overnight it was warmer too. Liddy slept out in the barn. Here she is modeling her pj's - a sweatshirt that one of Gary's daughters outgrew years ago. It fits Liddy like it was made for her!
She is missing a lot of her thick hair where the incision was made. Although she has lots of fat to keep her warm (trust me on that - I saw it!!) I believe the extra layer the sweatshirt provides keeps her cozy.
She enjoys taking walks around the barn and outside. The turkeys keep her company. This is the end of Liddy's mothering career. But health-wise, she is doing great and by the time the snow has melted, she will be running around in the grass like nothing ever happened!
This morning all the work done yesterday was undone. Liddy looked worse than ever. I had to cut and untie the strings that were there, a task made difficult from the swelling. The strings were buried from swollen tissue and with me alone with a pair of scissors and a squirmy goat, I was afraid of the worst.
But we got through it. I washed her again, and applied bactine spray liberally (it numbs her a bit, I hope! and contains anitseptic) and try to put her back together.
Although I have lots of yarn and twine, I have nothing like the wide string we used to hold her together before. Ribbon it is! I will spare you from the pictures.
Every 90 minutes or so, I apply a poultice of sugar water. This should alleviate the swelling by drawing out the water. It seems to be working.
Around 4pm I go to the barn to give her another poultice but have a surprise waiting for me. Her placenta is beginning to emerge. I panic! It's 5 degrees, I have no idea what will transpire and Gary's not due home for an hour.
I call the vet and we decide to wait and see. An hour later the amniotic sac appears, but things are moving way too slow. At the same time, I don plastic gloves and feel to see if her cervix is dilated. It's not. This means there is no way the kids will emerge. A hoof plays peekaboo with my fingers, sometimes there sometimes not.
We decide a c-section is necessary and I take her to the vet. Two hours later, the kids are out and Liddy is being stitched up. The kids were dead inside her, 2 buck kids. But Liddy is ok.
She rides home curled up like a cat in my passenger seat. The temperature is below zero so she will sleep in the bathroom in the basement.
Remember Liddy? Very pregnant pygmy goat I posted about here. This morning her stuffing was coming out. She had a prolapse and was not feeling too well. When Liddy does not chow down on breakfast, you know there is something wrong. Picture is here, it is slightly graphic for those not used to seeing such things.
After washing her off with disinfectant and warm water, and using rubber gloves and lube to try to put her back together again, we took a drive to the vet. I was clearly out of my league! Liddy was well behaved on the ride there, laying down in a pet carrier I had in the back of my truck.
The ride back she was even quieter! Here she is, passed out and drooling on the floor of my truck (I took the pic with my cell phone while driving). She received an epidural and some other drugs to numb the pain for a while. She was thoroughly washed and put back together. The vet put gauze on her face to cover her eyes so driving would not make her nervous, but Liddy was feeling no pain. She woke up about 4 miles from home, and stood up the remainder of the ride.
She is rigged up in a way that sheep usually are when they prolapse.
Except sheep have very sticky pliable wool that we can work with and attach things to. Goats do not. Across her withers she is wearing a horse halter, like a martingale. Gauze is braided and wrapped around her back side.
All of that to hold cotton string, usually used to tie off umbilical cords, which holds her all together.
It's all Rube Goldberg-esque but it seems to be working. The big test will be when those kids are ready to pop out. That is the part that makes me very, very nervous. Until then, Liddy, keep eating your hay!
Big day for Annie. She hasn't been milked in a while and got her final squeeze today. I think she will finally dry off now. While I had her in the stand, I did her feet too. Of course the turkey babies were all around and soon were sitting in my lap as I milked Annie, who had her grain and didn't care too much about the company.
Afterwards she snacked on poplar leaves, her favorite.
We have a lot of honeysuckle growing around here. It can quickly take over. Luckily we can cut it down and feed it to everyone too. Goats love honeysuckle.
Sheep do too.
And pigs.
Both ends.
Meanwhile Toby gets a brushing.
He loves to get brushed.
We bought more baby pigs this weekend. They are still pretty shy. They will get over that quickly ;)
They have a movable shed like the goats and turkeys, only shorter and with a floor. The shingled roof and the floor makes it a bit heavier but the pigs really like it.
There is a flock of wild turkeys on the hill. You may have to look at the larger size to see them.
The 2 feet of snow we got Monday has now melted into mud. Temperatures are supposed to be up to 75 by Sunday. Last night as I closed coop doors, the fields were alive with woodcocks, peepers and I even heard the masked tree frogs warming up. Coltsfoot has started to bloom along the sides of the toads and the honeysuckle is starting to leaf out.
I put the goat kid out with Annie on Thursday. Annie is being a little difficult about letting the kid feed, but she's remembering how this all works. I am glad not to have to bottle feed every couple of hours anymore. I am hoping the mud in the fields dries soon so they can go outside.
There is mud everywhere, a thick sticky mess that threatens to pull my boots off with every step. My usual chore boots are Muck Boots and they are very good. The one peeve I have about them (which actually bothers Gary more than it does me) is that I have no room to tuck my pants into them. As a result the bottoms of my pants get all wet and muddy and are wearing thin. I think I see new work boots in my future, probably in time for the mud to dry up and go away.
At first I thought we were going to have a dud. The weather service degraded the status of the storm, and it did not start until 7pm or so last night. But guess what?
We really got dumped on. It is hard to say how much we got - not only is it sitll coming down but we have had quite a wind as well. The snow is very heavy and dense since the temperature has hovered around 32-35 all day. I'd say at this point we have the 2 feet we were promised.
The power has been on and off. I scattered our collection of oil lamps all over the house - just in case - and filled a couple water buckets. Then on automatic pilot, I did laundry. Well I can't be thinking all the time now can I?
Here is a rooster in a tree. I rescued him and put him in the barn. Chicken, my wandering rooster, was found under a couple of inches of snow. A white chicken, he blended right in with the snow collected on the ground and swirling in the air. I had to look out the window a couple times to confirm it was him. I brought him in the basement so he could dry off before I put him in the barn. I would have gotten away with it too if he hadn't started to crow once he got dry and happy.
We have a full house in the basement today as it is. The dogs are there of course and a load of firewood, but we had to bring the other goat kid inside. Even though he slept under the light last night, Gary found him this morning chilled almost to death. This guy has turned right around though and is doing well. Here's hoping.
One of the goat kids slept far far away from the heat lamp. We found him in the morning, mostly dead. We warmed him inside and I fed him several times, but he ended up passing away. Accidents happen. I certainly didn't think it was cold enough last night to chill him so, but obviously I was wrong. It makes me feel guilty for sleeping in til 6 this morning.
Here are some videos I took of the goat kids on their first day.
This movie shows the younger kid trying to nurse. Annie's bag is HUGE and he cannot find it. I think he gets his smarts from his dad. In the background you can hear the muscovies doing their nighttime laps around the barn, and the turkeys fighting over roosting spots.
This movie shows both brothers ambling around. The older brother crawls under the younger one so he can sit in my lap.
I am talking about the blog, not the weather! Although the blog has not been busy, Gary and I have!
First off, the website, the blog, the whole kit and kaboodle has been moved to a new server. I have implemented a new photo gallery system so you should be able to click on pictures to see more.
Hank went to the vet. He only peed in the exam room once and tried to bite 2 people, but it went well. *sigh
Turkeys strutted. And strutted.
We went snowshoeing. There was a lot of snow.
We sold the goats.
Gary rode the mechanical bull at the Ithaca Chili Fest. And won. Again! second year in a row.
Here are some pix of the does we have for sale. All told we have 10 adults and 5 doelings - I can't part with the rest! We also have 2 adult bucks available: gentle Tucker is 63/64 from Windsong, grandson of Rambo; Kong is a big 15/16 brute who loves to play and sires some chunky kids.
Here is Nala with daughter Erin. Nala is 4, Erin is 2. Nala had triplets this year and usually has twins. It was Erin's first kidding year this year and she had a single.
Cinnamon and Edith. Edith is Nala's daughter, she is going on 3. She has had 2 great rounds of kids: her first year was a big buck and this year she had a set of twins. Cinnamon had her first kdding this spring with 2 kids.
This is Ma. She singled her first year and had twins this year. She is 3. She is an IBGA registered doe, but we never received the paperwork from the seller.
Some of our best mamas, Bugsy (left) and Sarah. Sarah is a 50% nubian cross doe, and throws some wonderful kids. She is a great mama. Bugsy is another awesome mama. She throws tradition al kids, but this year had a paint buck, colored like she is.
Febe is a nubian/boer cross. Excellent mama. She is 2.
In front is Emma's daughter. Sarah's daughter is on the left, saanen cross is on the right.
Gary had an idea to add some cattle panels to an existing goat pen to get them out in the field more, off the mud and they could do some clearing too. The girls were a little slow at first but once they realized what lay beyond the gate, they started running.
They spread out and tasted everything.
Well, except for Liddy. She wanted pets and more pets. She could eat later.
Murphy is never far behind. Not only was he with us the whole morning as we put the fence up, he supervised the goats from the other side of the fence as they browsed.
Annie found some honeysuckle.
Baby (this is the goat I brought to work with me last year) found a weed of some sort. Remember her ears were frozen? They healed up, but they aren't perfect. Doesn't bother her though.
Here's her young son. He was nervous to be alone.
The rooster (I call him the prairie chicken since he never leaves the goats and their field) babysits the young boy. The rooster and this kid definitely see eye to eye!
How long will all this brush last? Your guess is as good as ours!
The fence was really easy to build, and better for this purpose than the portable electric netting we also have. It is simply t-posts and cattle panels, mounted along a path first mowed with our new DR trimmer. Once the brush is cleared we can uproot the t-posts and rearrange the porch.
You might have heard we are getting some rain in the NE. I used to joke that we had so much rain so far this season, we had algae growing in our driveway. Turns out, algae is not that photogenic.
Today's paper shows some pictures taken from the road I use to get to work each day. I thought yesterday morning the road would be closed - and sure enough, it was closed later in the day. We did lose our power for a couple of hours last night on top of it. Oil lamps are good things.
It makes for a good day to be a duck. Although sometimes the rain proves too much for them too and they find shelter under a vehicle or bush and just watch it come down.
We made a quick goat shelter to give them a dry spot. No takers yet.
So we are gathering some materials to build our own ark. Not sure we can limit it to just 2 of each animal though. That makes for a pretty big ark.
These kids were born between 01/04/06 and 05/17/06. Their percentages range from 72% - 96%. Our main buck, 98%, is a Rambo grandson but not registered. Our other buck produces big dark kids. He is 94%. Both produce 50/50 bucks/does yearly. We also have a set of boer/saanen crosses (a set = doe and buck) and a set of boer/nubian crosses. Note to self: I will take more pix after the kids dry off from the rain!
Bucks lines up at the manger.
Doeling. She is 72%.
Action shot.
Potential herd sire. We have another buckling who is darkly-colored, plus some potential sires who have the more traditional boer coloring.
We moved the calf out to the barn this evening and moved Nala and her triplets out of their private suite to make room for the little guy. Gary took over feeding too which didn't bother me too much. Maybe it's just my technique, but when I bottle feed a calf I get most of it in the cow and part of it on me. Plus lots of cow slime. Notice the little goat looking on?
Lots goes on in the barn at night. Xena is telling this female muscovy to move on - he doesn't like anyone crowding his roost.
Murphy turkey and Xena chose to sleep on the pig pen fence. This is always a bad choice. The pigs love to rub their backends on the scratchin-post of a fence and any bird who chooses to roost there gets quite a ride, like poor Murphy here.
Winter is back again. There is nothing like bundling up and going outside for a full day of TRIMMING GOAT FEET. It's pretty exciting. I learned that when a grown goat stands on a certain nerve in my leg, I can only see white and say nothing but "ay ay ay," no matter how much Gary asks me what's wrong.
To add to the joy, we also vaccinated all the does who will kid in the next couple weeks with their CD/T shots (Clostridium Perfringens & Types C & D Tetanus Toxoid). We do this a couple weeks before they are due to kid so the vaccine can protect the babies too.
It used to be very important for us to ensure the babies at least had their tetanus shot since we used to disbud at 5 days. We decided to stop that this year and see how we do with all horned goats.
We noticed our bred cow was acting strangely. It looks like she will calf tonight. Lows are expected to be 15. She's not the most friendly cow so I hope we don't have to intervene.
After snowing for the past 3 days, Sunday dawned clear and sunny. About time! It was a perfect day. I cooked and cleaned in the morning while Gary worked outside. I came outside and goofed off by taking tons of pictures. Then I went to pick up a load of feed and by the time I got back it was time for chores. We took a quick fourwheeler ride before going in for dinner.
Lots more pictures to follow:
Even though the temps are cold, the turkeys are still in full-spring mode. Here is Luther strutting his stuff.
And here's my handsome Murphy. He and Luther had a little disagreement a couple days ago, and both have a few nicks and scars. Murphy's pride is a little beaten too.
My youngest turkey hen follows me everywhere.
The ducks enjoy the sunshine in the doorway of the new barn.
My chickens do not like the snow. Luckily Gary has plowed the drive and the snow has melted enough that they can walk on it.
The kids in the barn are growing! We have some warmer temperatures predicted finally, so we can move them outside and prepare for kidding, round 2. The roosters jump into their pen to search for grain and scratch through the hay. And provide some entertainment for the kids.
Here is Nala and her 3 kids plus another kid on the left. We ended up moving Nala to her own pen this afternoon. The other goats beat up on her too much for her to get a good meal. And with 3 kids, she needs all she can get!
One of Nala's kids enjoys some hay after being moved to the new pen.
Here is one of our young bucklings.
Annie is due the first week of April. She only started to look huge this week.
Many people at my workplace often ask me about the kid who came to work. Here she is with buddy Cinnamon. I couldn't get them away from the hay for a better picture.
Erin was also born last spring a little after our frozen girl (no, she doesn't have a name yet!)
Hank samples the hay.
Here is Liddie the pygmy. That must be some hay, everyone's too busy eating to pay attention to the camera.
Matty and Mae nibble at a white pine. We throw them into the pens with the goats, sheep and cows. They like to eat something green once in a while.
One of our cows is bred and is really starting to look huge. Here she shows us her best side.
Stand too long at the fence and other cows are sure to get curious! This is another red hereford, coming in for some pets.
Hank pets her too.
The big pigs slept in the sunshine most of the day.
We tried moving big mama pig again today, but were not successful.
We had a hard time sticking to our plans today. I wanted to make soap, Gary wanted to cut wood. It seemed like it was going to be a nice day in spite of the predicted rain, so I let all the chickens out.
We let Toby the donkey roam too. After chores, we came back inside for a breakfast of homegrown eggs and bacon with toast and orange juice. After eating all that, it was hard to get moving! But I decided to head off to the feed store before it rained. Ninety minutes and 2 phone calls later, I hit the road.
When I returned, we had company. Some goat producers in the next town stopped by to see our kids and the pigs. We had a nice visit.
After they left we started with chores again, graining all the goats and cows, and filling their hay mangers. The predicted rain started and we rushed to get my truck unloaded and the feed put away.
We never did get to the soap or the wood. Some days are like that.
It was almost warm enough today to wear a t-shirt in the snow. We re-arranged the barn yet again and cleaned some more. We also penned in the garden in preparation for a bred sow we are getting. The pig shed is frozen to the ground and unmovable, so we are using the horse trailer as the shelter.
One of the triplets who was just born has us worried. She cannot operate her hind legs and creeps around. She has a faint hematoma on the inside of one of her rear legs. I have been giving her Nutri-Drench each morning, and making sure she is standing up and using those legs. We have had goat kids before who have stiff legs but they seem to work the kinks out by Day #2. Already this little doeling seems to be perking up.
Even though there is now on the ground, I let the chickens out today. Gary cleaned out the woodstove and I took the ashes for the chickens' dust baths. They love doing that on a sunny day. As Gary and I worked near the coops, Hank followed us down and promptly put all the chickens away. I called him off and the chickens came back out to enjoy the sun.
Gary used the charcoal grill today and barbecued some homegrown pork ribs. I baked some homegrown potatoes and green beans.
Gary woke me at 4. "Lots to do," he said. "We got a lot of snow overnight." I got on the computer to do some quick things for work while he suited up to go outside. He wasn't gone long when he stuck his head inside to tell me Nala had kidded. I finished what I was doing as quickly as I could and rushed outside.
Nala is very forgiving of others before she has kids of her own. Sweet, nice, the perfect goat. But the second she has her babies, watch out! She becomes a she-devil, biting and butting anything and everything that gets near her brood. And I have the scars to prove it. To get by her to take care of her kids, we need to fake left and go right to avoid her wrath.
Did I mention she had triplets? Our first set! Two girls and a boy.
Somehow the pigs managed to sleep through all of this!
Bugsy's kids are up and about. Well one's up and the other is lying about.
Even Murphy is in full force this morning, showing off even as he roosts on a gate. Nala is in the background, on the left.
Gary and I both got home late from work (it was my first day back). Good thing I made soup in the crockpot this morning. Bugsy waited til right before we got home to have her kids. For the first time she had twins -- a pair of boys! Here is Bruiser, he weighs in at 11 pounds. He has almost the same color pattern as Bugsy, but a little darker.
And here is Cruiser weighing in at 8.9 pounds. When you think about it, that's a lot of baby to be carrying around. Next up, Nala!
It must be the wacky weather that has given me this terrible cold. I went to bed last night at 6pm to try to sleep it off, and got up at 3:30 and got online to do some work. I felt terrible and by 6am I realized that I was fooling myself and told folks at work I would be at home, working, but not spreading germs. All I really wanted was a cup of tea and a blanket, but I went out at 6 to finish up with the chores that Gary had started. Thankfully he did a lion's share of the work this morning so I thought my tea was just minutes away. Nope! Ma was obviously in labor. When it's time for a goat to have her kids, she becomes very affectionate and Ma was no different. I was scratching her back when all of a sudden, she strained and grunted, and her water broke. Five minutes later, baby #1 was in the hay and Ma was going to town cleaning him up. Five minutes hadn't passed when she strained and grunted again, and baby #2 slid right out. Another set of twins, another buck and another doe. And unlike last year, Ma took right to her babies.
Here's Sarah's buck, born a couple days ago. It's been so cold I haven't been able to use my camera.
And here is her doe, hiding in the hay. She is light-colored like her mama. and already loves to have her chin scritched just like Sarah.
So by 9am, I finally came inside for my tea and blanket. Gary thought Nala might kid today, and she is acting a little "off" so we may have more babies on this very windy and rainy day.
The change in weather came with a big wind. Overnight it actually sounded like a train going through. Hank is not an inside dog, but he slept inside last night, only coming up the stairs a few times and only stealing one sock.
It was bitterly cold when we did chores. Chores were made harder with the cold. The waterers were all frozen solid, and stuck to the ground. Besides feeding and watering everyone, we had round bales to move around. The heifers needed one, and the ground was almost frozen enough for the tractor to move around and not tear up the mud too much. Gary noticed one of the metal roofing panels on the heifers' run-in shed was loose and banging in the wind. At the same time he entered the pasture with his screw-gun and extra screws, the wind finally blew the panel off. He returned the panel to its place and added some extra screws.
We didn't get inside for breakfast until about 10:00a.m. Gary made sausage gravy and homefries while I threw together some biscuits and whole wheat waffles. I like to make a big batch of waffles on Sunday to eat for breakfast throughout the week. We realized it was too late to make the hour trip to visit his parents like we usually do on Sundays, and had a quiet day at home.
We started chores again around 2:00p.m. After graining the pregnant does in the barn, I realized that Sarah was starting to go into labor. After the rough time she had last year, I was worried about her labor this go round, and hoped that she would pull it off without a hitch. I watched her for a couple minutes, then joined Gary inside the house. I returned a phone call from someone looking to buy goats, and went back out to the barn to find Sarah had delivered one baby and was working on number two. (congratulations, Shepherds Run Farm!) She had another set of twins, a buckling and a doeling, and had no problem.
It was still bitterly cold, and we set up heat lamps for them. I worked with Sarah to get the kids nursing. Her bag was so large it was hard for the little ones to get a grip! Once they were settled, we went back inside and had a light dinner of cheese and crackers. I finished a sock I had been knitting and we were asleep by 8:00p.m.
Yesterday morning it appeared that one of the does in the barn was losing her plug aka starting to kid. I worried about her all day at work and rushed home to check her. Last year she kidded on a very cold morning and abandoned her kid. She had an easy time kidding then, but I didn't want to go through fostering another kid if I could help it (last year I ended up bringing the kid to work for about a week before grafting her to another doe).
Despite my worries, the doe had not changed one bit. Still worried, I cracked open some books and did some web sleuthing to see if I was worrying for nothing. I decided that I was worrying about nothing, but continued to worry.
We broke a high temperature record yesterday. Binghamton recorded 49 degrees and it we read that on our thermometer here, too. The weather was nice enough for Gary to grill some pork chops on the charcoal grill, but I was too stressed to eat.
I went out to the barn a couple times before going to bed, and then flipped on the baby monitor. The roosters waited until 3am today to start their crowing. Alarm is set for 3:15 so they were pretty much on target for once.
Today was pretty uneventful. Somehow the gate to one of the goat pens in the barn got unlatched and three does were walking around the barn when Gary got home. No harm done. The lack of nanny berries and mess indicated they hadn't been out long.
I made pizza for dinner with some homemade sauce from last year's tomatoes and garlic. We were asleep before 8:00 p.m.!
Behind the scenes news - I heard back from the photographer about Round 1 of pictures and although the outside shots were taken on a gray dreary day (imagine a day without sunshine in upstate NY! How unusual!) we managed to get some good shots, especially of the goats. She did a test round with her cranky camera of Tuesday, and they turned out, so hopes are high that the shots we took on a sunny day will be great too.
Gary took some pictures of the kids today. Even though it is unusually warm, the goat kids stretched out under the light this morning. (Later in the day as the thermometer reached 40, they moved away from the light.)
Even Nala enjoyed the warmth of the light - and the kids. Gary told me when he took this picture, he first thought just one of the kids was sleeping with babysitter Nala. But looking around he realized all of the kids were missing, and they were probably all over with Nala in the corner. "She's killed them!" he thought. But no, they all shared the light.
A favorite kid activity is to ride mama. Here Febe is with one of her kids. We have caught them jumping up and down on Nala's big bouncy belly too. She puts up with it although she grunts and groans with each leap. Maybe Nala hopes that with each jump, her own babies are pushed closer to the door ;-)
I decided this was too much fun. We still have 4 more does to kid. If you can guess who and when, I'll send you soap too. I have been watching the comments as each doe kids to see if anyone guessed correctly, but no one thought Febe would kid yesterday. Heck I didn't even think Febe would kid yesterday, so there you go. So keep your guesses coming. ;-) Post them here: Contest post.
Here are some recent pix, all but Bugsy's were taken this morning. Bugsy's picture was taken yesterday morning. Pictured here, Sarah, although Bugsy is pictured here, sharing a meal.
I slept in this morning until 5. It was one of those lazy mornings where it was comfy to stay under an afghan on the couch, sip coffee, and just take it easy. Although neither one of us said so out loud, it is just this kind of lazy morning that usually gets us in trouble.
Today was no different!
Gary went out first while I squeezed in one more sip of coffee. "Better get out here quick," he said. "Febe had twins last night."
It was 12 degrees. Lamps were on in the barn anyway but it's still cold, and when you are a baby and wet, it's even colder. Febe turned out to be a great first time mama and had them all cleaned up. They have just a touch of frosting to the tips of their ears. So we have another pair of twins, a boy and a girl. Febe's buck looks just like Emma's buck, slightly lighter on the head.
Gary took this pic of Emma's babies yesterday. The buck is sleeping on top. They grow so quickly.
Will Bugsy be next? Or Nala? I tried to take a pic of Nala but it was so cold my camera batteries gave out on me. But she is huge and grunts and groans with every breath and movement.
Emma kidded this morning sometime between 7:30 and 11:30 with a pair of twins! She delivered all by herself and the kids were up and nursing when Gary got home. The little doeling (pictured here) was even running around a kicking up a storm like goat babies do.
The buckling, pictured here, weighs in at 9 pounds! The doeling is 7.3 pounds. Congratulations Emma! And congratulations go to Janice who correctly predicted Emma would kid on Jan. 4th. Let me know what soap and shea butter you would like!
Here are what the other gals look like today. Here's Febe.
A quick update -- we moved Sarah and Ma into the barn today. Nala was to be moved as well, but she had her own ideas, and took a leisurely stroll around the place before returning to the pasture. I bet her walk would not have been so leisurely if she weren't so pregnant and HUGE.
Still not too late to enter the contest!
Happy New Year everyone! I have decided to start the year with some excitement by having a contest.
As you may know we have a number of does who will be kidding soon, very soon. But when? Maybe the sheep know, but your guess is as good as mine, only if you guess and you are right, you WIN! I will tell you as much as I know about these girls, and we will each be armed with the same info. If you can guess who will kid first, I am offering 2 choice bars of my goat's milk soap. If you can guess who will kid first and WHEN they will kid, I offer you 2 bars plus a matching 2oz tin of whipped shea butter. Just leave your guess as a comment to this entry. Ready? Here we go with the lowdown on the does.
I took this picture about 2 weeks ago, but the gals look no different today. Here we have Emma in the front (behind the turkey!) and Febe behind her. It is Febe's first time kidding. This is Emma's second. They were put in with our buck Kong August 1.
Here is Nala. She grunts all the time and has to rock back and forth to rise from her naps. She was put in with Tucker the buck August 17. This will be her 3rd kidding year.
Here is Sarah. She was put in with Kong August 12. She's pretty big and she is always eating, like she is here. This is her third kidding year.
Here is Ma. She was put in with Tucker August 17. She kidded for the first time last year.
So here is a tip. Goats' gestation time is 5 months plus about a week. They could get bred the first day they are in with the buck, or the first week, or it may take even longer. Good luck!
Kid Watch 2005: Also Known As the time of year when Mo announnces daily, "I think _insert goat name here_ is really going to kid today!" and the goats manage to hold on to their babies yet one more day.
We placed 2 does in the barn before the big chill struck. Nightly lows are predicted to be in the single digits this coming week. Murphy hops down into the stall with them and forgets he can fly out, and waits for someone to open the gate for him.
First order of business Saturday morning after chores: fix that shed! It was a very cold morning and we thought the ground was frozen enough that the tractor could get traction without digging up the fields. Wrong! Still we used the tractor behind the shed and pulled it up and over with a chain. Then we tried using the tractor in the front to square the building and try to get the posts back in the same holes, but had no luck. The tractor could not move well in the mud so we left it like this.
The cows are undisturbed by our work.
Hank has discovered ice and it keeps him amused for a while. I hope the poor guy doesn't bury these treats like he does to others, I doubt he will find the ice as easily as a bone.
Although the morning was very cold, it quickly warmed up to short-sleeve weather. In a rare shot where he is not strutting, here is Murphy dust bathing in the sun.
Chicks are getting bigger. Soon they can be integrated with the bigger birds.
About noon, and everyone has had their fill of breakfast. It is now naptime for about everyone for the next hour or so.
Napping goats. They alternate between snoozing and chewing their cuds.
Seeing everyone sleeping makes me sleepy too! But we have potatoes to dig and chores to do.
Rain and snow make for a lot of mud. The ducks are happy with it.
Some goats, like Ma here, are obviously bred. We are moving her down to a different pasture without a buck, and will move some open does up with Tucker the buck to take her place.
We need to use a leash on most goats to move them, but with Ma it only takes an encouraging word -- and a little grain always helps!
Saturday I drove to Orange County to participate in a meat goat grading workshop. Grading is the method of placing goats in different classes when selling them for meat. There are 3 distinct grades from 1-3 where 1 is top and 3 is bottom. Breeding does not come into play when deciding a grade 1 goat. Nor does conformation. You basically look at a goat from the knees up, and for the most part, from the last rib back. Did you know that a goat has 13 ribs on each side?
Unfortunately I was so busy listening to others and writing things down I did not have a lot of opportunity to take pictures. Here Dr. Bob Herr, the leader of the workshop, speaks with producer Don Karnas of Orange County. I was placed in the advanced group with experienced producers like Mr. Karnas which was fortunate as I got to learn a lot from them and Dr. Herr, but unfortunate as we had to lead a small group of producers new to grading later in the afternoon, and I didn't think I was prepared enough to teach them! Luckily I had fellow producer John Boyle of Cross Creek Farm to help me.
Another skill to have when grading goats is the ability to judge their weght by eye. I learned I was better than I thought, but not as good as others at the workshop. It's best to go with your first impression and don't think too much about it.
All in all it was a good day. I brought a turkey down with me for the Boyle's farm, and he was well behaved and serenaded us with his gobbling and yelping throughout the day. I also got in a quick visit to the Boyle's farm, met their goats, chickens, ducks, sheep, pig, dogs, llamas, horses and ponies. A quick cup of tea and I was back on the road. I can't decide if the worst part of the day was learning there was little to no cell phone service in that area (ok, that's a plus) and discovering that there are no country music stations on the radio until I got about 25 miles away.
To be honest I cannot remember if this was part of ESMGPA or not, but some major goat producers had a breeder sale this Sunday in Syracuse. Available were fullbloods and American pure bloods as well as some percentages. Basically, some really nice goats :)
Although I know for many goats, the prices that were brought were very reasonable and practically a steal, bidding was too rich for our blood. This was the first sale of its kind in NY state.
At the sale I dropped off one of our bucks to a farmer from the Albany area. She will use him as one of her herd sires. This is a pic of one of our very young bucklings, on pasture with some roosters. We have a fly problem this season, and I am hoping the roosters will put a dent in the larvae population.
We have some kids for sale. UPD on shots and feet. All of these kids have the same sire.
SOLDBuck #1 born 3/4/05 This is a chunky 15/16 boy, very up to the task of becoming your next sire for market kids. Out of Bugsy. Bugsy has singled her 2 times out but her kids are always big, good-natured and well-muscled. $175
Buck #2 3/23 Quickly catching up to the size of Buck #1, this 31/32 boy will make a nice addition. He is out of Nala and one of twins. Nala had twins last year too. Both times she has had a buck and a doe. $150
SOLDDoe #1 solid white doe born 3/20. Sugar is a 3/4 doe born to a large and tall boer cross doe. She will be a big girl. Mama Cappy had twins last year (one each) and had a pair of doe twins this year. $75
SOLDDoe #2 solid white doe born 3/22. Sister to buck #3 Mama Annie is a large saanen.This 1/2 doe will be long and tall. $75
Buck #3 solid white buck, brother to doe #2. Friendly as all get out, we have named him Chewy ;-) Nice neck muscling. $60
In the words of the abomidubble snowman (Bugs Bunny fans will understand), "Gosh it's hot."
After chores we went up in the fields to finally get the potatoes in the ground. I knew it would be warm, but wow. I thought I was going to die. And as if the heat wasn't enough, biting gnats circled our heads like so many electrons. Even if they weren't biting, their presence was enough to drive us crazy!
Gary ran the tiller and I picked rocks. One row he planted the taters and I covered them and the next row we switched. Was it ever hot. Did I mention how hot it was?
Farmers around here started haying Memorial Day, but that first cut was mostly for chopping. Now they are baling. Our primary hay farmer baled some square bales for us. They smell so sweet and fresh.
It always seems that baling is done on the hottest stickiest day you can pick. Since you are dealing with hay you have to wear pants -- trust me I know as I tried wearing shorts last year when we baled hay with a neighbor -- I still have the scars to prove it.
The thermometer here was 95 and the humidity was 90%. Usually it ain't the heat it's the humidity -- but I think yesterday both were a huge influence. After I got the bales off the wagon and Gary stacked, I got sick: I was that hot.
We had the hay wagon to contend with too. Those things are meant to go forward, never back. They are very difficult to maneuver, especially in tight spaces like we have. I had an idea that hay wagons should have removable tongues so you can remove the tongue and put it on the other end so you never have to deal with backing up. Big enough hitch pin ought to work, right? ;-)
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