Thursday, January 28, 2010

Horse Training photos



This morning I took the camera down to the round pen, but I should have got it sooner as I missed some action (both my brothers getting bucked/thrown off of a couple horses they are breaking - thankfully, they are both fine :)!).

This is "my" horse - Lily. She's a Palomino mare and was just recently broke.

Lily needed some training today... I think she may be coming into heat and is a bit cranky.

My older brother and a colt, in training,



That's all for now. Have a great day!

Suriyah


Update!!


Well, I think it is time for an update. . . although, it seems I have not been doing much other than moving hay... and more hay! The past few days a lot of folks came and picked their hay up, so mainly me and my younger brother have been loading and unloading a lot of hay (because, it is so muddy in front of the barn where the hay is, that no one can drive through it unless they have 4-wheel drive, and not many do). So it's been double the work. But, I enjoy it.

Yesterday some friends of ours' who got into goats this past summer/fall, had their first babies! Of course, they called every 10 minutes telling us how it was progressing. It was their new MiniMancha doe, and she had 2 bucklings. Since they are bottle feeding them, they brought them over to our house last night. And I have to say, goats with little ears are SO CUTE!!
They are both going to be for sale (at a good price), so if you are looking for a MiniMancha buck (or wether), email me!




The weather has been really nice the past week, but now it we are having frozen rain and suppose to get a little snow tonight and tomorrow. There is already a fair amount of ice outside... I thought maybe we were done with the cold! Oh well...

I'm going to do another post with pictures of horse training this morning.

Suriyah

Friday, January 22, 2010

Another Busy Day!

Whew, well, I am so tired right now. Just doing a quick post since I probably won't be able to do one till next week.

This morning Mom and most of the kidos went to pick up some goats - Boers.

Around lunch I noticed that Lizzie (reg'd Nubian/Alpine doe) was in labor, on day 149 today. So I just kept checking on her and finally the first kid came out - easy birth. A buckling. Me and Lizzie cleaned him off for a little while and then another kid was coming. Another buckling, and he was so BIG! I helped pop his head out and then pulled pretty hard and he came out - and it seemed like he just "kept coming" because he's so big! She cleaned him just for a minute and then a third bubble... another buckling. His birth was kind of strange, as his head and shoulders came out, and since Lizzie was standing up I was holding him, helping him out. His hips would not come very easily though, and he was trying to breath. So I held him there, while he was half-in and half-out, cleaned his face, and then pulled the rest of the way. Not too hard, but that was a new one for me.
Their sire is Lando, a Mini Nubian, so they are 3 unregisterable bucklings, that eat a TON! They are all kids with big appetites! Some photos... they all have big eyes ;).

the first buckling


second buckling... the big guy


and the last boy,



So, I fed those kids, put them in their crate. Got the big kids' bottles ready and fed them. Then the hay truck came pulling in, so off I went to unload hay. Although, I didn't help much this time as the guys did most of it (thanks guys!). After that, I came home, milked and fed hay out, bottled the new babies and off to the livestock auction (for a couple butcher hogs). And now, I fed the babies and they have to be fed again in about 2 1/2 hours and I am super tired... so have a good night!

Suriyah

Thursday, January 21, 2010

A Usual Day?

I don't know if you would call today and yesterday a "usual day", but for around here, it's not that unusual.

Late yesterday morning we got a call from our friend who lives next door, saying that her ewe was in labor. Now, she (our friend) has never birthed sheep before (or much of any livestock, she is used to dog births though). I didn't go right away but my mom did, and when they got there, the lamb's head and two front feet were out, and the its tongue was purple, cold and just hanging there! Oh no! So she (Mom) went in and pulled really hard on that lamb, and he did not budge. It eventually took her and 2 others to pull the lamb out - a very big ram. Thankfully after some swinging and smacking, he is doing completely fine :)!

When that ewe was done, another ewe that was due was in labor. I was there for the first lamb, then went riding horses, so missed the second. But she had an uneventful birth and had 2 baby ewes - yay! There was only a small bit of placenta that came out though.

Today we got a call and the last ewe due was in labor and pushing. So we went over and with a little help, a GIANT ram lamb came out. I have never seen such a huge baby - he is probably 12-15 lbs! After we left, she pushed out an ewe. Good deal!

But, the other ewe that had the twin baby girls was not acting right and was acting like she was pushing - no good. After we talked some, I scrubbed up, clipped fingernails, and went in to see what the deal was. All I could feel was like a bunch of placenta-type stuff. I did NOT want to pull any of it, and when I pulled my hand out some placenta-type yuck was on it. So, I gave her some injectable Vitamin C, Penicillin and Oxytocin to flush it out. Hopefully it works. I have not talked to her in a couple hours so don't know if it has come out yet.

Pretty eventful, huh?! Just more experience!

Our ranch has been pretty uneventful. Last night the 3 llamas did not come back home as they normally do, so me and mom went jogging around the edge of the property (1 mile square) and did not find them. We checked a few hours later and they were all sleeping in their shelter... weird llamas!

Here's some pictures of a couple kids.

"Fatty Maddy"


"Moment"



If you are not on the MDGA_info Yahoo group, the Miniature Dairy Goat Association (MDGA) is doing a Recipe Book and they are looking for recipes, especially ones that have goat milk, meat, etc in them, but anything will work. If you would like to contribute, please email me and I will give you the email address to send them to. Thank you!

Suriyah

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Doelings for sale!

We have 3 doelings for sale. Here's a little info about them. If you are interested and would like pictures, email me and I can get some updated ones for you and more info - sf@goodgoats.net - 918-598-4004.

Doeling #1 out of PawPawNin LaWanda & PawPawNin Quiet Wyatt - DOB: Jan, 5th, 2010 - $150
This doeling is black with white ears. Very pretty little girl. She is a very well structured doe and has long legs. Her ears are pretty good - they come to the end of her nose. Her dam is milking about 6-7 lbs of milk (a little less than a gallon) a day at a little over 2 weeks fresh, and her udder is high and tight. Her sire also comes from great milk lines.

Doeling #2 out of PawPawNin LaWanda & PawPawNin Quiet Wyatt - DOB: Jan, 5th, 2010 - $150
Sister to the doeling above. This girl is a lot more colorful - grey and white swirl with a little brown. She is smaller than her sister. Her ears are long also. As said above, her dam is a great milker and her sire comes from nice milk and udder lines.

Doeling out of PawPawNin Maglio Tartuffini & Dreamy-Hollow's Parker - DOB: Dec 30th, 2009 - $75
This doeling is a very cute, little girl. She is very small and "compact." She looks like a "little-big goat" :)! Her ears are airplane. She is black with gold tipping and trimming, and has white ears. Her dam is a second freshener and has a nice udder and is milking very well. Her sire also comes from nice lines.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Kid Playday

Friday afternoon we took all the babies outside for some fresh air/sun and to run around. Here's some pictures.

This is how it all started. . . the kids following me from their stall out to the goat pen area. The followed me surprisingly well!!


One of the llamas meets the Boer buckling,


Boer buckling playing. . . Boer babies are very cute!


Doelings tasting something. The two that you can see (in front :)), on the left is "Fatty Maddy" ('Maddy'); and on the right is "Drama Queen" ('Drama'), LOL!


Running kids!




the "2 legged" and "4 legged" kids running,


Well, I guess not a whole lot else going on. I am hoping to be able to take the babies outside again today. . . we'll see, it looks like it is going to rain. The next hay load is suppose to come Thursday, hopefully everything will work out!

Suriyah

Friday, January 15, 2010

Hug's buckling

I wanted to say congratulations to Michelle and her family for being able to get Hug's buckling, and Thank You for giving him and so many other goats (that used to be ours) a great home! He is SUCH a nice buckling. . . thin, wide and long ears, very colorful, and had a nice body. Beautiful buckling! I took a few pictures of him before he left. . . they are not too great as he was trying to follow me ;).





We got some wood shavings for the kids' pen. . . much needed. I'll have to take some pictures in their neat and clean pen. . . although it might not be that way now. This is a pic from yesterday, the kids wanting me to play with them ;).



I am so glad the weather has warmed up some, it's been like 45 the past few days - very warm compared to what it was!

The next goat due is Lizzie, the Nubian/Alpine doe. She's on day 142 today.

Bye for now!
Suriyah

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Time to Disbud!

Well, this morning we disbudded 7 kids. Not the most enjoyable job, but it has to be done. Everyone smells like burnt hair when we are done. . . yuck! But, my sister took pictures of when we did one of the kids, and I thought it might be educational for some of you.

The supplies -
the disbudding iron, Solarcaine, Blu-Kote, and a bottle of milk (to comfort the kid :)).


My brother holds the kid, Mom does the iron, and I blow the smoke away and spray the stuff on.




Pretty good burn. You want a complete copper ring around the whole thing so that nothing grows back.


I then spray Solarcaine on it, and it helps it quit burning and calms the kid down.


Doing the other side,



All done! Here she is finishing a bottle while I spray the Blu-Kote on. You can use other things than Blu-Kote. We are almost out, and I think I will buy an AlumiKote, that way not everything gets purple when we disbud ;)!




After that, we cleaned all the stalls and I made the kid stall bigger, and put the new kids out. I'll try to get more pictures later of them playing ;).

Suriyah

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

More Action on the Ranch

Early yesterday morning, about 1:30 AM, Vibe had 2 kids, a buck and a doe. Both were already out, but still wet. I was out there for a little over half an hour. We blow-dried them, warmed them up, and made sure they were nursing. Back to bed.


Vibe and her 2 kids, the doeling has a dark head, the buckling has a light head.



Then yesterday morning was going as usual. . . milking, feeding, bottling, eating breakfast. . . etc. Mom, the kidos, and some friends were planning on leaving in a bit to go down the road a few miles to see some "Frozen Falls" - water falls that were frozen. I checked on Mo before leaving, and decided not to go since she was acting funny. Mom went out and checked her, and she was pushing :)! So that stalled the waterfall adventure for a little over an hour ;).
Mo had a buckling and doeling. Both very big kids for her, but they came out pretty well. Their sire is Junior Mint, who she's been bred to before, but these kids look much different! They are cute, but different :). Here's some pictures of them from this morning.

the doeling. . . she is cute, but funny. . .


she has a funny pattern on her face/nose, so at the moment we are calling her "Clown"!


the buckling,


he has really long, fluffy hair.


So, off they went. I stayed and went riding with Stacy. You can read about our adventure here. (By the way, my nickname is Sam :)).

Here's some pictures from the "Frozen Falls." Pretty cool looking. There were a LOT of photos taken, so I just chose a few.











Well, I don't have much else to update on at the moment. Have a good day!

Suriyah

Monday, January 11, 2010

Hard Kidding

Well, it was suggested that I give a little more detail on Rhia's kidding. We were hoping that she would have them when we were home (though all of us are rarely all gone) because I just had this feeling that she was going to need help. Thankfully, she did.
She was having contractions and pushing some, then this bubble popped and TON of fluid/mucus/gunk came bursting out. Not that weird. Every contraction after that, a lot more mucus would come out. I began to wonder if she was having a cloud burst pregnancy (where, I believe, they just "give birth" to a bunch of mucus). It was not, praise the Lord ;)!
The first kid, the doeling, needed a small amount of pulling. Nothing too bad.
The second kid, the buckling, was huge and needed some help. All we saw were 2 front feet, not good! My mom went in and said she could not find the head, then could just barely feel it. So, I went in and his head was there. I think when she pulled her hand out, that his head came with her. So I grabbed behind his ears, and PULLED really hard a couple of times. He just barely moved, but it was enough and I pulled him out. It was a hard one!! But they are all doing great.

I wanted to thank a family that bought 4 of our bucklings, and are going to keep them in their house! Brave, or is that crazy :)!?! Until MoReen, who is on DAY 153 (!) today kids, and Vibe the Boer, we only have 1 buckling left who is already accounted for, a few doelings we are going to keep, and 2 doelings that are available (will post about them later, Lord willing).

For now, I have to go. Have a great day.
Suriyah


the frozen pond the other day. . . today it is thawing out. We went ice sliding on it ;).



Friday, January 8, 2010

Rhia kidded!

Well, this morning around 10 o'clock or so, someone checked on Rhia and yelled in the house, "Rhia is pushing!". So out we went. She had 1 buckling and 1 doeling. Both kids are big, and she needed help with the buckling especially - I went in and pulled on him really hard, and he came out, thankfully! Their sire is PawPawNin Quiet Wyatt.


the doeling,


the buckling. . . terrible picture, but the only one I have at the moment,


So, that puts us at 11 kids! 6 does and 5 bucks... yay, more does than bucks so far :)! Now I am watching MoReen - she is on day 150 today, but last year she went on 151 (or maybe it was 152... can't remember). So we'll see! Then there is Vibe, the very wide Boer doe and we don't know when she is due, in the kidding stall. After that, we have a little break and Lizzie is due the 23rd.

This is ridiculous, but like our "kid apartments"? The 5 big kids are outback with coats on, a dog house and a couple heating pads, plus they are in the stalls that are insulated. But it still is just too cold out for these day old kids. There are 6 of them in the house, and they wouldn't all fit in one crate. . . so we have stacking kid crates :).


Here are some pictures of the kids born yesterday.

Bridget's buckling (yes, accidentally crossed Boer!),


Bridget's doeling. . . she is soo cute!


This is Hug's doeling... very long ears,


And Hug's buckling. . . also very long and wide ears!


Gotta go!
Suriyah