I need to sincerely apologize to anyone (If anyone!) who has been or has read this blog.  I am so far behind the winners have passed me!  I could use the usual 'busy' line and yes, I have been very busy, but, come on!  That busy?  So busy I can't sit down for two minutes and type out a few words?  Geez!  I manage that on Face Book, I can answer email, I can read a book, but I can't get up to date on this page??  Gosh darnit, yes I can!!

Since my last post near the end of May, a few things have happened!  Sweetpea had her babies.  A boy and girl.  Both chocolate brown.  The little boy has more white and the little girl has less white.  I am going to wait and see how their coats turn out before I decide what I will do with them.  Chances are I will keep the little girl, Anchor Baby and I will probably wether Oyster Boy but not until I am sure he does not have a suitable coat of hair.  He is still a purebred Myotonic goat even if he does not get the long silky hair so I might keep him as a buck and see if anyone might like him for a breeder.

Then time decided to FLY and it's almost Christmas time. Deck the halls and all that fun stuff.  Breeding here at the Stables is over.  I think we'll have some nice babies in the spring.  I did not, however, breed very many Myotonic goats this year.  I am seriously thinking of concentrating on my Pocket Goats and my MSFGA registered mini silky goats.

We rebuilt the breeding pens.  Only have two right now but by breeding time next year I hope to be back up to four. 

I don't often add pictures to Blogger because a couple of years ago I had a huge big blog I had been working on for 3 years and Blogger shut it down for no reason that I could determine and I could not even get a hold of anybody to ask why.

Anyway, these are the new pens and they are working out very well.

After breeding is over and everyone has settled down into their usual homes, it gets pretty quiet here.  But winter is coming.  So not looking forward to that!
 

Wow!  They changed this whole interface.  So not impressed.  I hate change.
Well, anyway, again, it's been a while since I last posted.  What's new about that?  You ask.  Haha.  Nothing, I guess.

So as of today we have 25 babies on the ground, Pebbles is about 10 years overdue, Spooky is due in 3 days, no, sorry, 4 days.  Sweetpea is due in June and so is Shadow though I am doubtful that she caught, and Isis is due in July.

At the moment, all the babies are doing very well.  Growing like bad weeds and getting too big for their little kid collars.  Good thing I can tell them apart now! Taming baby goats is one of the easiest things to do in the world.....wait....I think I'm about to give away a very important breeder secret.....Well, it's probably ok as long as you don't tell anybody...

All you need to do is find a blanket, lay on the blanket on the ground and let them jump all over you.  You don't need to manhandle them, force them, or even have treats.  Most of the little wee ones aren't interested in treats yet anyway.

Man!  I am so busy!!  Well, hopefully, my loyal followers, if I have any left, have not stopped visiting this blog. Yes, I know I get stupidly behind, way behind, BUT!!  The good news is kidding season is almost over.  The only doe I have left to kid is Sweetpea.  She is due June 24th.  Maybe she will go a little sooner, she is quite tubby.

Hot weather and dry, dry conditions continue.  Not rain for weeks.  I've been watering the pastures daily just to keep up with the consumption.  Still giving the bucks hay.  Every time the weather report calls for rain it passes us by.  Last year, in May, it rained for 5 weeks straight.

And if that is not enough, today is very hot, very humid and the water pump quit.  Fortunately, we have a great plumber and, knowing there is livestock here, he dropped everything and came right over.  So we're back in business.   Good thing, with this dry, hot weather...

Don't believe everything you read...

Especially if I write it!  I said in an earlier post that I was keeping both of Sprocket's kids.  Well....I might, but I might not.  I haven't really made up my mind.  We have a definite lack of female chromosomes floating around here this year so it's going to be a tough decision to let any of the girls go but...I can't keep them all!

Aahhh well, back to work...

You bet I'm starting a new post already!!

Baby rush!  Tweek had twins, boy and girl.  (YES!! A GIRL!!).  Trixie had twins...2 boys..GRRR, and Nemmie had a big...you guessed it..boy.  Wow, 19 kids, 5 girls, 14 boys.  Gonna have a lot of wethers running around.  

Well, I put Rhea and Jabberwocky out with the herd.  The little devil still comes running to me so that is great.  Sprocket and her two girls are out with the herd and they don't run away either so that is great.  Still several mommies in the barn and some in the pens but cold weather coming.  Want to make sure everybody has warm place to go.

Back to the barn to check on the babies....too busy to sit at the computer for long but I will catch this blog up when I have more time.  Promise...
 

Man, I am so far behind...

So this is about the third time I've started this post over.  Never seen to have time to keep my train of thought on the tracks.  Been derailed too many times by baby goats and lack of sleep.

Anyway, I am way behind posting on this blog as usual.  So, here we go:

Mar 14 12:  Hot Pants finally succumbed to her illness and is put to rest.

Mar 20 12:  Twin babies born to RMT Lexie ten days (at least) early.  Both were under 2 lbs and they are being bottle fed by Faye, down the road.  Both are doing very well.  Lexie is doing better but still not out of the woods.  She is weak and anemic but slowly, ever so slowly, improving.

Mar 25 12:  Twin doelings born to Sprocket.  Lydia is white with black points and has BLUE EYES!!  Juno is black and white and very cute!  I have decided to keep both girls.  Bummer.

Mar 26 12:  Twin boys born to Keebler.  Behemoth was HUGE.  7 lbs 6 ozs.  Poor little Doctor Finklestein came later as an after thought.  Keebler didn't even know she'd had him!

Mar 27 12:  Single buckling born to BJS Rhea.  6 lbs 13 ozs.  First time mom.  BIG baby.  We were there to assist and it was a good thing we were.  She had some trouble delivering that monster.

April 01 12:  Single buckling born to RMT Crystal at 12:45am on April Fools Day.  6 lbs 13 oz.  And damm if he doesn't have BROWN eyes.  Both parents have ice blue eyes.

So, yeah, I'm a little behind but at least I have a good reason.  It's kidding season!!  I've spend the better part of every day in the barn the last week and there is no end in sight.  Well, there is an end but it's a couple of months away.  


I think RMT Magic might be in labour tonight, will be checking her shortly.  Oh yee of little sleep.

Tonight looks to be no different if Magic really is in labour.  Geez!  You'd think they could wait until morning!   And in between birthin babies and feeding the rest of the animals there are constant repairs to the kidding pens cus those bored does just beat the crap out of them.  I'll be so glad when the horns are all gone.  My friend Genevieve was here today and did she give me crap about the horns.  HOLLEE!!  You'da thought I'd banded her head.  Did she give me crap.  But by the time she left she was asking me to come and band the horns on her goats.  Hahaha!  Go figure.


Well, back to the barn...

I am SOOO far behind I'm catching up!

I know, I know, I haven't posted since the end of January.  I know already!!  :)  My excuse is the same as always, busybusybusy...

We've been setting up the breeding pens and trying to decide who goes where.  That's when I discovered I have 12 breeding pens a 13 does all due around the same time....How the heck did I manage that?  Anyway, not all is lost.  I'll make room somehow.  Once the kids start coming won't have time for anything!!

We've got a sick one right now too.  RMT Hot Pants is not doing very well.  She is thin and weak and doesn't want to eat so I've been drenching her with water and molasses and hand feeding her Calf Manna and anything else I can get her to eat.  It's been a tough go and she's still not out of the woods.  Time will tell.

On a brighter note, all the does and the bucks are looking really good since I started giving them protein tubs.  Big round tubs full of molasses and vitamins and minerals.  They lick away at them and get the nutrients they need to keep them healthy all winter.  And, I have finally decided I've had enough of horns.  I've been banding the horns on all the goats, (not done yet), and they will eventually fall off.  No pain, no burning heads.  I still will not disbud little goats and I will not hack off horns as goats horns, unlike deer antlers, have nerves, blood vessels and feeling.  Banding is a very effective and humane way to remove horns.  I am tired of injuries, dead babies, goats caught in the fence, destroyed fences, you name it.  No more.  It'll take a month or more for the horn to fall off but once they do, healing is fast and painless.

Now, back down to the barn to check on Hot Pants...