Itty Bitty Hooves

Scary and Amazing

It’s funny how you can do everything online now days from buying a car to getting a life insurance quotes. I’m in the process of looking for a particular goat to round out my herd and that is all being done online. Of course the final decision is usually made in person, but sometimes not even that. I decided on my buck last year from converstaions and pictures online, and then drove 800 miles to get him in Iowa. More and more that’s becoming the rule rather than the exception. I just sold a horse today that the buyer saw online and then called and made arrangements to come pic him up. Everything is being done via the web, and that makes for a very exciting new world because it’s no longer limited to how far you can travel to look at something, or how extensively you can advertise to reach beyond your back yard. Now you can advertise all over the world with the touch of a finger. It’s great, it’s scary, and it’s amazing all at the same time.

Playtime

I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. I have to post some pictures from this morning.

Bubba and Punch playing kind and queen of the old crap pile

Bubba and Punch playing tag with mom

Bubba Punch and Dolly (yes I know it’s a mess there, it’s the junkiest place in the yard and they LOVE IT)

Close up of Dolly

Punch making a flying leap to grab all the hay she can before mom gets there(even though she really doesn’t know what it’s for exactly yet, mom seems to love it, lol)

Thanks for indulging me. Springtime is just too much fun. I don’t know who enjoys playtime more, me or them.

Safety and Comfort

I have to admit that I don’t think of glasses or eyewear for protection, but there are so many instances when it’s important to protect your eyes. Panoptx makes great sports eyewear that not only gives protection but makes wearing glasses in rigorous activity easier and more likely to stay in place. When my son was actively involved in baseball that was a big issue with him. I got to thinking about it more when I was thinking about the season’s butchering coming up. Doing large animals requires a pistol and that can be dangerous as much from flying shards of bone than from the bullet itself. I started to think about eye protection and decided on a nice pair of safety goggles.

So Beautiful

FINALLY I get to say it is SO beautiful outside. What a joy to go out in just a t-shirt and jeans and feel good. I took my camera around while I was out and about and snapped some pics of the gang as I walked.

Here’s some of the girls over in the big barn just clumping about and enjoying the beautiful day

Polly saw me holding the camera and came over trying to see if it was food

Then Specs decided to see if maybe my shirt was food

Oreo one of last year’s kids, and Specs a spring boer cross brought home last year

Red and Specs, sisters born last year

On the other side of the farm in a run in pen I caught Blondie and Cherry giving me a once over and trying to decide if I was up to anything interesting with that gadget in my hand

And Blondie just by herself

Then of course, no farm ‘tour’ would be complete without a stop by the buck pen to visit the master of the place, Mickey, our Boer buck

And finally, took a little journey out back to see two of the new moms and twin does (the other twins belonging to the second mom were still back at the barn snoozing in the sun.

Sneaky Sneaky Doe!

I’ve been watching my Nupine doe Alex for a few weeks, but just casually until yesterday. Day before she started to really fill out her udder but her ligs were still rock hard pencils. For a few weeks my previously very affectionate girl really didn’t want to be touched much, and seriously didn’t want me looking ‘down there’ (picture me running around the barn yard chasing a doe to look under her tail, lol) then suddenly yesterday, she snapped back to being my affectionate big girl wanting to be petted, and sticking to me like glue, her udder got really full, and her very hard ligs disappeared…. uh huh, I was geared up for serious watching and checked on her every hour on the hour… did she do anything, nope, didn’t look like any kind of serious labor at all. I could tell she was in early labor, but no hard core stuff going on–she was determined to drag it out. By late evening her udder was feeling a little bit warm, so I was like, cool, tonight, please do it before bedtime, don’t you read the books? They say does prefer to deliver in the daytime (that’s certainly been the majority of my experience here now and in the past. I’ve previously only had one doe kid in the middle of the night. One this year did go at 6 am, but that’s sort of skirting the time barrier between night and day, haha).

Anyway, I kept up my checking every hour as the evening turned to night. Eleven oclock I went out, Alex is laying down, but on her chest, munching cud and looking for all the world like she was just as satisfied with herself as can be. No contractions, no goo, nothing to alert me to imminent birth…

Midnight I walked into the barn and…

BOTH DOES.

We are 8 for 9 this year with does, one lonely little buckling in the yard, haha.

Now what I want to know is where did the color go? I expected big color from this one, and I got danged near solid white. One doeling is pretty much completely white, with just a very very minimal shading of red on the head, but not hardly noticable. The other has ‘eyeshadow’ and a couple little color marks on the very top of her head:

I don’t know how such a colored doe threw such colorless kids, haha, but I know one thing, these two does are HUGE. I swear the one is bigger than my two week olds in the other barn, and the other is about the size of the two week olds out there.

I’m just happy there were no problems. Alex delivered those babies and fast, by herself, and is a GREAT mom. She had them clean although was still working on dry, and I dipped their cords and feet, and made sure they were nursing which Alex handled like a champ. She’s very protective, she’s cool with me, but won’t even let the cat in the stall with the babies, haha, poor kitty she likes greeting the new arrivals. Mom says no go though.

Now I am just so befuddled, I have already picked two keepers from previous two kiddings, and wasn’t going to keep either of these since they’re just 50%er’s, but dang, they are beautiful big bodied girls, and I think they’ll follow in momma’s ‘no problem having big babies’ shoes. So, I think I’m gonna keep one of these too… oh lordy, potatoe chips anyone? LOL

Why Do They Move Just When You Snap?

I swear it takes 100 pictures to get even 1 that is semi decent of these babies. They are in the best position, and I click the shutter and then…

I swear there was a goat there a second ago. ARGH

I did manage to get a few shots though, here are some pics of the kids born 3/6/08

Dolly:

Judy:

And one of Bubba (born 2-29-08) FINALLY looking at me, although it had to be from a right over him position because if I moved away, he’d turn his head away, if I sat down, he’d jump on me, lol.

I love playing with the kids though. What fun!

Horrible, Bad, Horrible Morning

I’m still kind of in shock, although hindsight being what it is, I guess I should have expected it, but I still didn’t.

My LaMancha doe had triplets on Wednesday. It was an easy delivery, she just plopped them out. All were doing great except for the third one born who was really really slow to be all the way up and active, but it was beginning to catch up. The doe however was being a horrible mom as far as letting them nurse. She would lick them, let them lay by her, but at first I had to tie her up and hold her against a wall to let them nurse for the first time, and after a couple of those, it got to where she would just stand for them if I put a collar on her and stood there holding her, but no gymnastics involved, so I thought she was getting a little better about it. I was going in every two hours day and night and holding her while they ate, and it got to where they’d see me coming and as soon as I got the collar on they dove in, lol.

All of them were doing fantastically, bouncing around like typical 2 day olds even at 4 am this morning. I let them eat, and trudged back into the house through the flurries, lol, and went back to bed, setting my alarm for 6 am. Went back out and they were ALL DEAD. They were in a 12×12 stall and it looked like a hurricane had whipped through there. The doe had to have snapped and just went bonkers on them. I was heartsick picking up those limp twisted little bodies.

This doe is going. She is a bossy, herd queen to begin with, but she’s been good in general with people, although she really took a dislike to my friend’s 10 year old daughter, but even that she just grunts and lip things like a buck in heat at her. I didn’t mind any of her antics because she had given her previous owner triplet does and she is built like a tanker, although she seems to have constant trouble with sinus —-, it doesn’t effect her, and just as I’d hoped she gave me triplet does, but what good is that if she kills them all? I should have seperated them, I see that now, but I am not doing dairy, I can’t physically milk (carpel tunnel and I can’t afford a good milk machine yet, someday, someday) and I’m happy doing the meat goat thing. A dam who not only won’t nurse her kids, but KILLS them is just not an option here.

They were such lovely little doelings too. Still makes me cry to think about it.

Rest In Peace Babies

I Can Dream, Can’t I?

Going to several shows throughout the summer months is like taking mini-vacations even though it’s still ‘work’, it’s fun work. I love the socializing and friendships. About this time of year I really start to look forward to the new show season coming when all the babies start hitting the ground and I begin to think of who I want to show. I’m really excited about this year’s show season. I think Punch is going to KO the competition. LOL Okay, maybe I’m biased, but I still can’t wait.

I have almost everything I could possibly need. We have a huge trailer for the animals complete with tack room. I have a huge coffee pot to set up at our stall so we have fresh coffee all day long, and coffee for anyone who comes to ‘visit’. Chairs, and banners, and all the trapings for a lovely set up. The ONE thing that is still on my wish list is getting one of the travel trailers lots of show folks have. It would be a wonderful place to go between classes when going back to the hotel isn’t an option, and it would be more fun to be ‘at the hotel’ at night after the show too, plus we’d be right there where the animals are if we want to check on them and such.

I’ve stayed in a friend’s trailer several times and it was heaven. It really made the whole show more fun. Lots goes on after the ‘lights go down’. LOL People go from trailer to trailer. Little campfires, and cookouts. It’s a whole seperate social scene from the daytime show one.

Maybe this year. Maybe I can dream.

Getting It Done With Rhythm

When I work, it goes by much faster with music. Even doing chores outside is a lot more fun when I’m wearing my Bose headphones. I bop around and things get done easier, and it seems anyway, faster. I like to wear them at night when I go to bed too. I have a big sterio in the bedroom but I almost never use it. I prefer the ‘up close’ and ‘right there’ sound of the headphones. I got them at first when I started walking 3 miles a day. It made the ‘exercise’ a lot nicer, but soon was using them for everything and anything. Now if I could just get them to lift, and carry the water buckets in the winter, I’d be a happy camper. Hum? Think it’s possible?

Updated pics of kids born Feb 29th (1 week old)

These guys are just huge. I’m so impressed with the builds on them. At one week the little buckling is already getting heavy to pick up. I have to find that danged weight tape, but I read somewhere it’s not as accurate on the meat breeds as it’s made to judge the dairy weights. I really doubt I’d get him to sit still in my hanging scale, lol. The little doeling I’m keeping to show this year. I really think she’s amazing. Hoping to find a commercial breeder who wants a really great buck that will put meat on their kids as a home for the little guy (we call him Bubba). He’s not registered (he is Boer) but I just couldn’t bring myself to put a band on him. He’s gonna be massive like his daddy.

Bubba at 1 wk (Now he’s super friendly, and was under my feet the whole time I was trying to take pictures just about, but if I moved away to get a shot, he’d turn his head as if to say if you won’t play with me, I won’t look at you, lol, stinker).

Man the chest on him is just like his dad, here’s a pic of Mickey his sire (registered fullblood)

And here is my show doeling for this year (plus one of the ones born yesterday I think if she looks as good as I think she will)
Her name is going to be Country Havens Lucky Punch

Here they are together, doeling on the left, buckling on the right (yep, still won’t look at me if I won’t play with him, lol, brat)

Thanks for looking, I’m just so happy with the way things have gone so far this year. The other two batches born yesterday and the day before are doing great. I hope to get out and get the LaBoer pics later on, have to wait for DS to get home though, because I have to drive him and am waiting for his call. The cell phone doesn’t work in the big barn.