Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Life.

Life on the farm has not been as quiet as reading on my blog has been. A few weeks back one of our Boer cross does kidded to triplet doelings. We bought her bred, and didn't know who she was bred to. It looks like the sire to the girls was a Nigerian, as they are quite small and Nigie looking. One funny thing on one of them, is that she has wattles. But they aren't just normal wattles. One of them is in the regular spot on her neck, the other one is on her ear! Pretty cute.

A few days ago we brought in about 35 new does. They are mostly Boers, with a few Toggs, a Nubian a LaMancha and 2 Katahdin sheep as well. They are all supposed to be bred, which seems to be true as one of the does kidded to a single large buckling the day after they arrived here.

A cold front moved in finally, and everything is frozen. It makes me extremely thankful for the barns, for lots of hay, unfrozen hoses and my coveralls and Muck boots to keep me from freezing while doing chores.

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you may remember that many months back we had an abortion and pinkeye storm go through the goat and sheep herds. We treated everyone for Chlamydia, all the abortions and pinkeye stopped. Whew! It was quite a chore to give shots to that many animals, but I am very thankful that we figured it out as we lost no more kids and got no more pinkeye, and have not had problems for months.

Well, a few days ago I noticed some blood and mucus on one of the Mini Nubian doe's rear end. It looked like a classic abortion. My heart sank, thinking back to the days when we lost so many. This doe is a younger doe, aborted last year as well, and the year before gave birth to twins who we found dead. I think from the cold weather because she was young & did not clean them unfortunately, we did not know she was bred and it was extremely cold out. The good thing about her, is that she has come into milk every time, so at least she is productive on the stand.

So, I don't know if it's just a weird fluke, as a few abortions a year in a large herd can be completely normal. But to be on the safe side, I am treating all the pregnant does again. Yeah...lovely. I'd rather be safe than sorry though.

There has been so much that has gone on since I last blogged, I really should blog more often. I could write a whole another page on the CT shooting and the gun control debate, but I think I will save that for another day.

Peace out.

Suriyah

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Photo Shoots


Today I was busy with taking lots of pictures. 15 people and nearly 200 photos later, I am done for the day. Here's a few of them.


Best friends,


 My beautiful sister Qadoshyah,




 My cute little sister Rahumyah,

These were taken the other day. They are of my little brother and sister, O and Yo.


Have a good night!

Suriyah

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Liberty Ranch Photography

Dude, I haven't posted on my blog in a long time! Seems to be something I do rather often.

I started a new Facebook page... yeah, another page for YOU to go and like for me, right?! It's called Liberty Ranch Photography and is my latest endeavor. If you could head on over there, check it out, and if you like what you see, give it a thumbs up! If you have any questions, suggestions, or would like a photo shoot done, don't hesitate to shoot me an email/comment/facebook message/whatever!

This week I am doing old fashioned photos with all my siblings. Today I got a few of them done. Here's a few for a sneak peak.



Suriyah

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Photos from the weekend

Lots of photos were taken this weekend. Some were from the exotic animal sale held at a local ranch here. Saturday my brother, little sister and I went and gave pony rides at a party, so I took lots of pictures there as well.

a bull with a nose ring

a buffalo/angus cross calf,

an alpaca cria,

a baby baboon. Did you know a herd of baboons is called a congress? Pretty ironic, huh?


photo taken by my little 7 year old sister,

Norayah is happy about something I guess!



the birthday baby,



this pic was also taken by my 7 year old sister - she is quite the photographer in training!










Hope you all have a great weekend!

Suriyah

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Photos from the week

We had a busy week. A good busy week. Thursday we had Thanksgiving at my Grandma's house with my whole family. Lots of food, laughter, photos and of course a little dancing and music. Fast forward to Saturday and we had a wedding to go to. Sunday was the final game for the league my brothers/dad/cousins are in. They made it to the final game and were the champions, for the second season in a row.



Monday was a very busy day. We had a late Thanksgiving party/birthday party/welcome home party on Monday night. So, guess what we did all day? Cooked and cleaned, cooked and cleaned. It all came together nicely though and we had a great time. There was tons of food, as usual. We played a few games, hung out, chatted and laughed with everyone. Once most everyone was gone and it was past midnight, those of us who are late nighters kicked off our heels and did some dancing. By that time it was nearly one o'clock in the morning, so we figured we'd better clean up the house and head to bed. Good idea, since we didn't get to sleep till after 2am!

me and Grace,

 Hannah,

Hannah really rockin' out,

this would have been a really cool picture if my sweet little brother hadn't gotten his little head in the way!


While we were a bit more busy with all the partying, farm work still has to be done. Animals have to be fed twice a day, the goats have to be milked twice a day. Ranch life goes on, no matter what.


the old "Grandma" goat on the ranch. She's almost 13 years old.

my Mom with a little package!

Stay warm!

Suriyah

Thursday, November 15, 2012

New Pup & Trauma

The newest addition to the ranch? A new Livestock Guardian puppy! She is half Great Pyreness and half Anatolian. She is out in the yard with the goats, sheep, llamas and donkeys.

The dog she gets to learn from? Our best LGD, Jethro. He is a fabulous livestock guardian and I hope she listens to him well! :)



Roxy is my dog that I rescued almost 3 years ago. Such a good little pup...

Trauma. She is doing so well. I am so thankful. What a difference a few months can make. If you don't remember, she was born back in March to a first freshener doe. We found her in the middle of the night, and her neck was crooked. She couldn't sit or stand. We brought her in the house, and for the next several days I was feeding her, caring for her, and teaching her how to sit. She figured that out fairly quickly. The standing and walking was a bit harder though. She could not stand for several days. Once she did learn how to balance, she would only walk backwards! After a few days of that, she finally figured out how to go forwards. Ever since then, she was been doing great and growing very well. She is the funniest little goat ever, and treats me like I'm her mother (I can understand why!). She also comes to her name when called.


 This doe is visiting to be bred. She was born here out of one of our MiniNubian does back in February.

"MOOOO". This cow is learning that us humans really aren't that scary.

 The does going out to pasture. I'm not sure what they eat out there other than leaves, but their bellies are very full every night!



Have a great day y'all!

Suriyah