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...

That'll teach me...

So, just to set the record straight, I would like to publicly apologize to my husband for comparing him to a Pygmy goat in one of my posts.  He does not look like a Pygmy goat at all.  He is much taller and has a lot less hair and no horns.  I also need to apologize for calling his Boxers idiots.  His Boxers are not idiots   They are not that smart.

Never thought he'd actually read this blog!  :)

Having said that I can now get on with my post.

First and formost, we, at BJS, have acquired 4 new goats from a breeder in London, Ont.  They are registered Miniature Silky Fainting Goats and I am really excited about it!!

 This is Riding Mountain Treasures Shadow, registered Foundation doe.  In 2009 I actually brought this doe in from Manitoba and sold her to the breeder that I have bought her back from.  Make sense?  No?  Well, when I sold her I was not thinking about breeding Mini Silky goats but this year I thought about it and it just so happened the breeder had her and 3 other mini silkies for sale.  Shadow is now 2 years old.

 This is San Sujos Poncho, registered buck.  What a sweetheart!  He is very friendly and doesn't smell too bad.  Beautiful coat on him except for the part where another buck was chewing on him.  He comes all the way from BC and he is 2 years old.

 This is Crooked Post Goats Gumdrop, registration pending.  She is a tiny little doeling, born in May of 2011.  Poncho is her sire and her mom is next, Twilight Acres Sweetpea.

 As promised, Twilight acres Sweetpea, registered Foundation doe.  Sweetpea is 4 years old and extremely friendly.

So that is our new babies.  My registered Foundation doe, Esme was already bred to my Nigerian buck, Captain, when I brought these babies home so we'll just have to wait and see if her babies can be registered too!

The rest of the bred does are starting to look the part.  All of them are getting quite round.  Time to get those pens ready, Dear....

My Girls are getting round!

So I'm walking around the goat yard this afternoon looking at my girls.  I have 29 does and all but 12 of them are bred (I hope).  The majority of them are beginning to get very round.  Pygmy does are especially funny that way.  It's almost like the day after they are bred they blow up like balloons and stay that way until the little ones are weaned.  I mean, they look like they all swallowed a spare tire.  And waddle!!  Short little legs, big round belly (sounds like my husband), waddle, waddle waddle.  And if you laugh, they know what you are laughing at and will give you the worst stink eye you ever saw.

The Myotonic does are not showing as much.  Some of them never show much.  Some get huge but it's a more gradual thing with the Myotonics.   More lady like and dignified, as it were...

Pygmy does are like, BLAMMM!!!  BABIES COMING!!!  LOOK OUT BEHIND!!!
Myotonics are more like, hmmm, well, there might be a small change some time in the near future....hmmm....

 I mean look, just LOOK at the belly on this doe and she's not even bred!  Just imagine, if you can, the size of the bellies on the bred does!  It boggles the mind.

Seriously though, kidding season will be upon us soon and it's time to get prepared, well, as prepared as one can be for the arrival of new life.  It is always a wonder to me.  Every spring, the same thing happens.  New babies are born to does who, for the most part, created little lives last year.  BUT, the new little life is always different from the last.  Each one is a wonder upon itself.  A new colour, a new pattern, a new attitude.

Construction will, once again, start in the barn, where we build four kidding pens in each of 3 horse stalls and 2 pens in the small stall at the back of the barn, giving us a total of 14 pens.  Well, I have actually, 17 bred does.  How the heck...ok, so it's going to happen this way.  One doe will be placed in each pen with the exception on the middle stall which will be divided into 3 kidding pens.  One doe will go into each smaller pen and 3 does, younger ones, will be put into the larger kidding pen making room for the extra doe on the first stall.  (I know, confusing).  Anyway, there are still two more does to kid, you say.  Why, yes, there is.  Oh, darn!
Well, it just so happens that I was a forward thinker, for a change.  The last two does are not due to kid until the following month.  Late April or May.  So there will be room in the barn for them.  Ha!! 

But first, I need to convince my wonderful husband that he needs to, once again, put the barn back together.  GEEZ!!  He just took it all apart back in August.  He's not a goat lover, like me. In fact, he pretty much steers clear of all the animals except his two idiot Boxers.  But every now and then, I do require his expertise in some areas, like, say, making kidding pens that won't collapse on the kids.  He's good at that sort of thing.  :)  And since it needs to be completed before the middle of March I better get busy convincing...

MINIATURE SILKY FAINTING GOATS!!!

We just got some great news in the mail today!  Registrations from the Miniature Silky Fainting Goat Association for Esme and Dessie.  They have both been approved for foundation status!!!  We had applied for registration for Zeusy too but his hair isn't long enough.  That's ok, we'll just have to get a really good little buck.  So exciting!!

Oops! A booboo!

Dessie, my little Pocket goat doeling, has a booboo in her left eye.  It's all red and yucky looking.  Noticed it last night when I was feeding.  Well, I caught her and tried to look at it.  What a joke!  She was having no part of that.  All I could see was that it was red all around and looked like she had a marble in there instead of an eye.  Ok, so she likely poked it on something or it could be pink eye.  Pink eye is very contagious.  So, I treated it with Polysporin eye drops.  That was a whole new wrestling match that I'm pretty sure my little 15 lbs doeling won.  I did get the drop in her eye but I had way more bruises that she did.  Then I let her go back to her mom for the night.  I didn't think, at that point, it could be pink eye as it came on so suddenly, we've never had a case of pink eye here and there are no new goats in the pasture.  She was fine in the afternoon and then BAM!  So I came in and looked up pictures of pinkeye in goats.  Nope, doesn't look like that.  

So now, two days after starting the write this and not having time, her eye still has some red in it but it is getting better.  Chelsea is home now so she can hold the little devil.  I have been giving her 1 cc Pen Pro and drops in her eye and there is definite improvement.  I'm thinking she'll be right as rain in a day or two.  I'd like to know what she did to herself but she's not talking!

Two posts in less than a week??

Beautiful little BJS Ophelia has finally gone to her forever home with Anne and Ed of Dunnville, Ontario.  She will be joining their small herd of Percy, Mowbray and Alexander.  Ophelia is one of the many kids born in Mar and April of 2011 but for some reason she was never chosen to go to a forever home until now.  Everyone seemed to pass over her even though she is cute and colourful and quite little for her age.  At last she can run and play with kids her own age with no big bully goats to push her around and she will get the best care in the world as Anne and Ed take wonderful care of their little herd and love them dearly.   YAY  Ophelia!!

In other farm news, it's poring rain right now.  It's better than snow.  Well, not much but at least we don't have to shovel it.  I spend altogether too much time shoveling stuff to be shoveling snow too. 

Breeding season is well under way.  Some of the girls have already been bred and are back out with the herd.  Cinda, Rhea, Sprocket and Aura have all been bred.  Not too sure about the rest as  not all the girls make it obvious when they are in heat.  So we just have to wait and see if they get the boys all worked up.  If not, then maybe, just maybe, they are bred.  Oh!  I can't wait for kidding season!!

Now, a word about hunting.

I don't want to offend anyone here....oh crap...maybe I do.  BUT, I don't like hunting.  That is not to say I think no one should ever hunt anything.  Of course you should hunt if you will starve to death if you don't hunt.  (Can't really see that happening in Campbellville but there you go.)  I also believe that it is more humane for a deer to be shot than to starve to death in the winter because there are too many deer and not enough food.

But, I've got a really problem with those macho men (and women) who head out to the back 40 and plug anything that moves with their trusty shot gun.  You see, we live on the edge of a forest that is about 200 acres and even though it is private property I've been hearing shot gun blasts and the occasional rifle crack out there all day.   RIFLE???  Did I say RIFLE??  Yes, I did.  Ok, so right now and for the next 3 days it is hunting season in our neck of the woods but it is hunting season for SHOT GUN and BOW ONLY.  No rifles are allowed.  There's a reason for this.  You see, a shot gun will make a very big noise and shoot a whole bunch of pellets or one good sized slug at a great velocity toward the intended target but you had better be fairly close to that target or the shot is going to run out of steam and flop on the ground like a wet noodle.  The range of the slug depends on the shot gun type, the slug type and many other factors.  I won't go into them here because it would bore most goat owners to death and the ones it wouldn't bore already know what those factors are.    Anyway, my point is shot gun hunting is allowed for 5 days in the fall to help control the deer population in a humane way and most innocent bystanders are relatively safe in their own back yards during the shotgun season because shot guns don't shoot very far.  You need to be fairly close to your target.  However, a rifle is a different story altogether.  A .22 caliber rifle can shoot a projectile, namely a .22 caliber bullet about a mile and a half.  That's not to sat you could shoot flies off a pigs back at a mile and a half.  You'd be lucky to hit the pig but accuracy is not he issue.  Sudden death from a stray bullet is.  Let's say Joe Mean the hunter is back in the forest behind my pasture hunting wolverines with his trusty .303.  Well, first off, Joe Mean is an idiot because there aren't any wolverines in Campbellville but aside from that, let's say he sees something move in the bushes and decides that must be the allusive wolverine he's been tracking.  So...BAMM...he shoots but he misses.  OHOH.  Where the heck did that silly bullet go?  Let's say Joe Mean was facing MY direction when he fired his trusty .303.  Let's say I'm just out standing in my field (pun intended) and THWACK!!  I take one right between the up rights.  Well, DAMN!!  How the heck did that happen??  Joe Mean was a mile back in the forest.  Unh hunh....and how far will a bullet travel?  So you see my point.

So I get to listen to BLAMM  BLAMM  BLAMM all day long, my dogs are going completely nutso cus they know something is in the forest and they can't get to it to shred it like an old paper towel, and I get shot between the ears.  No, I'm not a fan of hunting.

I would think most hunters are safety conscious, know their fire arms and know their targets.  I would expect that most hunters would not shoot at something unless they were 100% sure that what they are aiming at is what they are allowed to shoot.  I expect that most hunters are responsible citizens that leave the alcohol at home when driving to their desired hunting spot.  I expect that most hunters would not hunt on private property that has NO HUNTING signs posted every 50 feet or so.

And I expect I'd be wrong on all counts.

Hunting in the forest behind us is illegal.  Why?   It's private property and I know the owner well and know he would not give anyone permission to hunt back there.  

Hunting during off season is illegal.  Why?  Kind of obvious, isn't it?

Hunting with rifles in this area is illegal.  Why?  See above concerning distance.

Three strikes, you're out!

If it looks, smells and sounds like an idiot, it's probably an idiot.

Written with sincere apologies to all the responsible hunters that are given a bad name by idiots.

Pictures of BJS Iris and her broken horn.

Yeah, i'm still behind....

Good intentions aside, I'm just not getting the part about keeping this blog up to date.  Oh, I think about all the neat things I want to tell you about, usually when I'm down at the barn.  By the time I get back up to the house and sit down in front of my computer, I've either forgotten what I wanted to write or completely forget to write anything at all.

Anyway, since my last post at the end of September, quite a bit has happened.  All the breeders, with the exception of Pebbles and Spooky have been put in the breeding pens.  Hocus has his girl in the SE pen, Pizzazz and his girls are in the SW pen, Captain and ladies in the NW pen and the two little boys who are not big enough to put in with the big boys yet, Propero and Caesar, are in the NW pen.

Funny thing is, Captain, my highly aggressive little pipsqueak of a Nigerian Dwarf buck, is beside and in sight of Pizzazz, my very large but not aggressive Myotonic buck.  He spends more time bashing his head on the dividing fence then he does looking at or wooing his ladies.  I haven't seen him breed anybody!!  That doesn't mean he hasn't...oh and that's a lie anyway, I did see him breed Sprocket so she is back out with the herd.  The other day Captain was bashing his stupid skull on the fence for all he was worth and Pizzazz was just kind of standing there looking at him.  Pizzazz would make some noises and take a step forward like he was going to bash the crap out of the little @#!# but wouldn't actually do anything.  So  BAM BAM BAM goes Captain and then all of a sudden BUWHAMMMM!!!!  goes Pizzazz.  Damn near broke through the fence!  Guess he's had enough or Captain's constantly racket gave him a headache.  So I'm running around trying to find more wood to shore up the fence and once again I hear  BUWHAMMM!!!  CRACK!!!!  OHOH!!  So, Pizzazz hit the fence again and this time all but broke through.  OH CRAP!!!  Ok, so get the drill, get the wood, get the screws.  Run like the dickens to the pen, dropping screws and drill on the way, run back, pick up the drill and screws, drop the drill again, swear, run back to the pen, realize that I left the dril on the ground, swear again, well, you get the picture.  So, I've got the wood, the screws, the drill and a couple of very angry goats.
Step One:  Distract the goats with treats.
Step Two:  Hold up the board to be attached to the fence to reinforce it.
Step Three:  Distract the goats again.
Step Four:  Quickly grab a screw, hold up board and drill the screw into the board.
Step Five:  Take screw out and reposition board.
Step Six:  Distract goats again.

It only took my 1/2 an hour to put up one lousy board.

Oh, and today, Aura went into heat and Pizzazz was completely ignoring her.  Just snoozing in the sun, but Hocus was going bananas.  So, I put her in with Hocus and the deed was done in minutes.  Left her in there for the rest of the day just to be sure.

So then I went to the big pasture and got the goldfish out of the horses' trough and then dumped the trough and put the fish in the pond.

BJS Iris, broke off a horn a few days ago.  Not too badly, just took it down to the nub but it was bleeding and looked kind of nasty so I got Chelsea to hold her while I disinfected, applied Polysporin and bandaged.  It's tricky to bandage a horn.  most of the time the bandage ended up over one of her eyes or it just fell off.  Took some practice to get it on right.

And now the time changes.  I don't like time changes.  It's already past my bedtime!

I got it figured!!

Yeah, I got it figured.  Ha!  Check out the breeding plans now.  Some needed changes.  Plus, not selling Rhea or Cinda this year.  I'm allowed to change my mind, right?
Yeah, it's all good.

My brain is in park, I swear...

I just looked at the breeding schedule I published on my website.  What a dummy I am.  I have Tweek in there twice!  What a little hussy.  Callahan and Captain!!  Well, ok, not likely because Callahan will turn Captain into a pile of broken parts.  So, I think I am going to not breed Lily this year and not use Callahan at all.  Wow, I am hampered by the number of kidding pens I have to use.  I could just let them kid on the goat barn but I'm really not ready for that yet.  How can I keep track of them if they are out there dropping babies everywhere??  No heat lamps either.  No, I'm not going to do that.  I'll just have to figure something out............................................................nope, haven't got it figured yet..................

What now??

I'm just having one heck of a time keeping up with this blog.  In some ways I'm kind of regretting starting it up again, but I enjoy doing this when I have the time.

Anyway, let's see what happened since my last post.  First of all, Chilly and I lost the battle with her horribly anemic condition and she passed away.  It was very sad and disappointing for me as we had worked so hard and it seemed she was beginning to show improvement.   Then she came down with this unbelievable case of diarrhea that just wouldn't quit and in her run down condition it was just too much for her to fight off.  The worst part is that her little boy, Bubble, was in the stall with her when she died and basically spent the night with his dead mother.  But in the morning when I went down to the barn to find Chilly dead, Bubble was fine.  Eating and looking to go outside and play with his friends..  He never cried for his mother once after that so I can only believe that seeing your own mother dead does not have the impact on a goat it does on us.  As with Moms that lose babies, it seems it's better for them to see the body lifeless and cold and they seem to understand that it's time to move on.

I've had sick babies die in the past and mom never saw them after they had died.  That mom will cry for days, sometimes longer.  But a mom that sees and feels her dead baby will go about her business like nothing happened, most of the time.  Some will still cry and call but most do not.

So now I am treating Jewel for the same condition though she is not as bad as Chilly was.  She is terribly thin though so we need to gt some meat on her bones.  But she is a tough one to feed.  She doesn't like anything but Calf Manna and though that is excellent food, it's not complete and she needs more calories.  I tried Cheerios this morning.  She had a few the lost interest.   She hasn't lost interest in food, just the extra things I try to get her to eat to put on some weight.  She eats her hay just fine.  Drinks enough too.  She likes Milk Bones but I can hardly give her a bowl of dog biscuits even if they are high in calories.  So I have ordered a high calorie supplement for her and some roasted soybeans.  Both should come tomorrow.  That should put some weight on her.  She gets knocked about by the other goats quite a bit so she is in the barn for the night and I let her out to graze during the day.  Except today, it's raining and she will be bullied in the barn so I put her inside for today.

What else....Oh yeah, I have changed my breeding plans for fall.  I'm going to breed Aura and Rhea instead of Pebbles and, obviously, Jewel.  Pebbles looked like she could use a season off this year.  I'll breed her again next year.  Thinking about bringing Spooky out of retirement for one last breed.  She looks so good it would be a shame not to breed her one last time....still thinking about that...

So other than that, nothing much going on here.  Considering showing a couple of my goats, maybe.  Not sure who yet.  I'm not sure I even want to when I think about disease transference and upsetting the goats just to show them off or win a pretty ribbon...I was asked if I wanted to but I'm having second thoughts...

Well, til next time....let's hope it doesn't take me so long...

Hang me out to dry...

I just want to crawl in a hole and die today.  I have the worst cold I've had in years.  My head feels like it's going to explode.  At least if it does, it will stop hurting.

Despite that fact that I am deathly ill, I still have to dose Chilly up and  make sure the buckets are all full.  Chelsea said she would come out and give me a hand  so that will help a lot.  After that, I'm heading for my warm toasty bed to hide for the day.

Thank you, Mother Nature!!

Mother Nature has finally seen fit to bless us with a day of steady drizzle.  The ground is very wet and the grass seems to have grown 2 inches in some places!!  It's funny what rain can do that a sprinkler cannot.  I've been watering the pastures in small areas for about 4 weeks now and even those places are looking greener and healthier.  All in one day.  I finally left the sprinklers off for the first night in a long while.  The goats aren't thrilled about the rain but they sure love the new grass!  I hope the growth can keep up with the appetites!

I've got 4 boys in the weaning pen and 5 girls in the other weaning pen.  All are doing very well.  Some of the does can take a rest from being a milk bar.  There are a few who put everything they have into feeding their babies and others who seem to take it in stride.  Well, they have a few months off now.  time to build themselves back up to be ready for breeding in the late fall.

I haven't decided on my breeding schedule for the coming fall yet.  I suppose I should get thinking about it.  I know I'm going to breed more Pygmies and Pocket goats and probably less Myotonic goats.  I know I'm not going to do the 2 shifts again.  I am going to breed in November and I'm only going to breed a total of 14 does.  I just have to decide which does I'm going to breed to which bucks!

I guess that will come after some careful consideration.  I know what i'm looking for in the babies so I just have to figure out who can best do that for me. 

Well, off to bed!

Night!

WE NEED RAIN!!

Nuff said...