Redneck Bobsled!

The boys had a marvelous time during the storms. I have bought one of those plastic disc type sleds for Adam as part of his Christmas. I think that it lasted about a half an hour before they had broken it..... pulling it behind the 4-wheeler. Farm boys can improvise if nothing else. They tried the half barrel feed troughs but they were not sleek enough to glide over the snow and ended up just plowing furrows. In the end, the metal body of an old wheel barrow and a worn out lariat did the trick.

Since the 4-wheeler was involved, Prissy had to be right in the middle of things. She seems to think that it will not run unless she is perched on the seat. She enjoyed the sledding for a little while--- until they began to do the high speed spins and "sling shots". She bailed out and ran along beside them barking until they let her up on the seat.

Seth may be nineteen but he wasn't about to let his little brother have all the fun.

Winter Babies

Our wonderful friend and neighbors loaned us a purebred Angus bull during Spring Break last year. Look what we got!!

                                             Mouse had a beautiful heifer calf. Herd expansion!

                     
                                             Cornbread had a big bull calf...... cash flow!!!



   We ended up with six calves total-- four heifers and two bulls. Even my old friend/enemy, Brindle had a heifer! She is just as high-headed and flighty as her mother and there is no way that I am going to get a picture of those two for at least a while. We are not expecting any more calves until June but that's ok because the goats are keeping me busy now.

First Alpine kids of the year.... bucks, of course! You might remember that I had a surprise doe kid born back in July...... this is the same doe! Pretty good since Tango is just now two years old. Unfortunately, she is not much of a milker but I am not sure if that is because of her ultra-fertility or just her nature. Time will tell.....

Beginnings of our meat goat herd.... Amos was very fertile--- at the neighbor's farm! Her goats all had twins, triplets, and even a set of quads all sired by Amos. So far, our girls have had two singles and a set of twins. Two bucks and two does. I am expecting four more young does to have his kids very late in the year.... June or July.

A set of twin does from a very nice Alpine doe named Ariel and my new buck.

All this birthing plus four more does went on between snow storms. We really only had one big problem from these storms:

The ice and the wind took down our dilapidated pole barn. There really wasn't much holding it up but we had hoped to repair and salvage what we could. Mother Nature decided that we should just rebuild!

On the far left, the only thing keeping that end up is the chicken pen. We had moved the tractor out and covered it with a tarp so that the milk cows could shelter in there if they wanted to. I was coming across the pond when I heard it collapse and nearly had heart failure before I got around the big barn to see what had happened. Luckily, the Bambi and Bertha were already waiting at the door to the milking area when it went.The sheep must have been under there visiting the Alpine buck because they came wandering out from under the rubble only slightly shell shocked. The buck pen off to the back escaped damage, too. He was a bit upset for the rest of the day, though........ 

Right now, I am getting a breather. Next week, should have about four more to kid.

The snow is melting but very slowly. The ponds, creeks and ditches are all flowing. Some people are complaining about the mud---- but not ME!!

Today is THE Day....

I am going to sit down this afternoon and figure out how to do the picture thingy.....

I have been just a tad busy with two snowstorms and a barn full of babies. Had a couple of bad kid birthings that have pretty much demoralized me but over all, the girls have done very well. I am milking two on a twice a day schedule and another 4 does added in the evening milking chores. Their kids look incredible.

Pictures to follow this afternoon----- one way or another!!

Still Alive

 A good friend of mine stopped by this afternoon. I haven't seen her since October but nearly the first thing out of her mouth was, " What happened to you blog???!!??".  I have not quit--- I am just hip deep in goat kids and chores.

I decided to just bite the bullet and figure out this picture thingy but.... I need TIME to do that. The kids are growing and doing well and we have got things worked out pretty well. By this weekend, my goats will begin having their kids. We have several new calves and I am watching for a couple more to calve any minute.

Garden planning, plotting and dreaming is in full swing....... I will be back......

On The Fly!

Just passing through for a quick update.

Have only lost one kid out of the whole bunch. I think that he had gotten sort of squished up on the trailer ride here.

I have kids drinking from the Lambar, the Milk Bar and from a pan. There are even a few stubborn kids that won't drink at all..... I am thinking they must be drinking from the pan or they would not still be alive after four days. Anyway..... there is milk everywhere!

Most of them are eating or nibbling on the alfalfa hay I keep out for them. I am going to introduce grain to them today.

I have gotten three new outside pens built and let a few of them outside yesterday while we cleaned inside pens. It will be way too cold to put them out today but I am hoping to get them all outside by the weekend.

There was an interesting turn of events earlier this week. The dairy owners came to repossess Bambi and Bertha Belle. Seems they had an agreement with my friend but..... somehow that fell through. Anyway, the problem was not between us and we are still friends. So, regretfully,we loaded the girls up on the trailer.  While we were standing there chatting, they saw Noelle. You must realize that Noelle was originally from their herd and she looks absolutely marvelous these days. They were shocked that she was alive much less about to calve. Apparently she is from one of their very high producing lines of Jerseys..... They wanted her back and we struck up a deal. I liked Noelle but...... she and I had some personality clashes. 
In the end, they happily traded BOTH Bambi and Bertha Belle for Noelle. I would have been happy to just to get Bambi.......

Seth just shook his head as he unloaded the cows he had just put on the trailer. Then he loaded up Noelle and she went back to her original home.

We also had a surprise out in the cow pasture. Adam decided to take a quick check of the girls just before dark on the 4-wheeler. He came rushing back to the barn to tell us that we had a new calf. We thought that Bobby Sue was due in early February but she decided otherwise. She has a very nice bull calf. My friend/enemy, Brindle who was suppose to calve just after Christmas is still very pregnant. Pretty much guarantees her a trip to the sale barn when she weans her calf......

Just So You Know......

I am going to be a bit busy over the next few days...... Remember those 50 bottle babies I was expecting??? They arrived this afternoon. Along with 46 more of their closest friends!!!! That's right---- he brought me 96 goat kids! He told me that he "miscounted"...... right!!!

 have not laughed this much in a very long time. They were so happy to get out of that trailer after their 5 hour ride. I had 8 pens set up expecting to put 6-7 in each pen. Good thing I made them big pens. Tomorrow, we will be building more to spread them out.

About half of them know what a bottle or lambar is. The other half think that we are evil monster trying to eat them..... While I was working with some of the stubborn individuals, about 20 kids escaped from their pens. They had a marvelous time romping and stomping all over the barn. I enjoyed them sooooo much!! The sheer joy they exuded was very infectious.

My wonderful hubby and Seth bravely stayed and helped me get them all fed and bedded down. I cannot believe how much fun we had!!!

I have got to get this picture thing figured out..... you will NOT believe it with out pictures!! LOL!!!

More Critters on the Way

I have been expecting my new job to show up since Monday. My friend that hired me to raise a slew of goat kids has bought out a goat dairy and it has taken him longer than he thought it would to get things straightened out there. He called me last night to give me the good news that it passed inspection and is up and running again. He should deliver my new babies late this afternoon.

Since I was expecting them earlier, I only have a few things left to do to get ready for them...... I think!! LOL!!

While it is bitter cold and they are small, I have pens and bedding inside the barn. When they get a little more size on them, I have pens and huts outside for them. I really prefer to get them outside as quickly as I can because they are just healthier outside in the fresh air and sunshine. If the weather should change or a blizzard head our way, I can always haul them back inside.  

The main issue is that I have to keep them totally separate from my herd and the kids that I am expecting in February. I worked many years to get to a CAE free status and I intend to keep it that way.

I got quite a surprise yesterday. Amos, the Boer buck that I bottle raised last year revealed his darker side. The plan all along was to breed several of my Saanen does to him in order to start a small meat goat herd. I can't just go out and buy Boer does because it is very difficult and expensive to get any that meet our high health standards. I used him on a few older does earlier in the breeding season. I have four young does that have just reached the proper age and weight to be bred. It is very late in the breeding season but I thought that I would still pen them together just in case the girls might cycle one more time. When I went to move him and his new harem out in to a larger paddock, he attacked me. He lost the battle but it set a bad precedent. Amos has proven himself too aggressive for this farm and will be leaving here for the sale barn on the first Tuesday in March. That should give him enough time to do his job if the girls are cycling.

On the milking side of the barn, Bambi and Bertha are gaining weight every day since their feet are almost well. They are looking so much better and their milk production is really coming up. Good thing with all these bottle babies coming......
All my does are looking lush and very pregnant. Expect them to start kidding mid-February. The Ewes, Catherine and Elizabeth are almost completely round, wool covered balls on skinny little legs. They could have their lambs any time after the last week in January. I have been teasing Seth that since they are East Friesan dairy sheep, we will have to milk them, too.  I don't really plan to but it fun to see the look on his face......

Noelle will also calve mid February. Do you remember what she looked like when I brought them home for Christmas 2011??? We called her an Ethiopian milk cow. Totally different creature these days. She can't decide just where she belongs. Some days, she wants to stay up with the milk cows and some days she wants to roam out with the beef cows. She usually walks to the gate and bellows for me to let her in or out. Of course, I open it for her and let her decide where she is spending the day. She is still not a pet and is not comfortable letting me pet her but we are making progress.  She will never be Holly but..... we are working on something else.

My old friend/enemy, Brindle, is due to have a calf at anytime. Despite my threats to haul her to the sale barn, this will be her third calf for us. That is quite remarkable given that she is very old. I think that this will actually be her last one for us...... and I mean it this time! She did not breed back within the allotted time and this calf is late. If it had not been for the heat and drought from last year and our desperate need for the cash flow from the sale of this calf, she would already have been gone.

The sun is up and the barn chores are calling me.......