Saturday, September 29, 2012

October is...

National Down Syndrome Awareness month! As I have for the past 2 years, I plan on joining the 31 for 21 blog challenge - to do a blog post a day to raise awareness about Down Syndrome. Incase you didn't know, Down Syndrome is also called Trisomy 21. And there are 31 days in October. Therefore, the 31 for 21 name.

Anyway, just giving you all a heads up. Stay tuned!


Peace!

Suriyah

Monday, September 24, 2012

Piglets! Donkeys! And Exotic Animal Sale

Last Wednesday one of my brothers' sows gave birth to 15 piglets! One or two were born DOA, and a few others were squished, so last I heard she had 9 healthy piglets left, which isn't bad for a first time sow. I got lots of it on film, and put a little video together.


Our big guard jenny is still very pregnant. Her udder is getting even fuller, but she has't had that little baby yet. I don't know how much longer she can look this uncomfortable!

Every 3 months there is an exotic animal auction that is just about 15 minutes down the road. As usual, we went.


This time they had a pretty good variety of exotic animals. 

Some kind of rare cattle breed. The cow was very upset and would charge at the gate if you got too close!

 There are always lots of llamas. This one had blue eyes, pretty neat.

Some different cow breed... don't expect me to remember the breed names!

There was an ostrich. She was pretty friendly.

And a few camels,

There were also lots of elk. One of them was very friendly and liked to be petted.

One of the ladies there was taking care of a baby baboon - pretty cute!

Thing is, we seem to never be able to go to a sale and not come home with something. So, we came home with 4 miniature donkeys and a Zebu bull. 




Zebus are miniature cows. They kind of look like miniature Brahmas. Kinda cool, I think anyway...

It's almost time to milk! Have a good evening y'all!

Suriyah

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Lots of photos!

The weather has been great lately, things have greened up a bit from the dry summer, and we have been taking lots of photos!! So here are a few.

"Hi George!"

George the llama, getting some love from his mama,

Blondie in the evening sun,

Our 12 year old "Grandma girl" and our bottle calf,

2 chicks!

a few ducks splashing in the pond one evening,


one of our Finn ewes,

3 ranch girls,

the road through the doe and ewe yard,

one mad mama llama, Martha!

Me and George, again,

My little sister. "People first, not politics!"


Patriot, our F4 MiniNubian buckling from GreenGables lines,

 My brothers sow had 15 piglets yesterday! 11 are alive. Not bad at all! Praise the Lord!



Powerhouse, our standard Nubian buckling from Pruitville lines,

A new Boer/cross doe on the ranch - she's fat, sassy and pretty!

a 4 horned Desert Dragon ram,


sheep legs!

"Bye-bye George!"

Hope you have a fabulous day!!

Suriyah

Friday, September 14, 2012

Kidding Schedule so far!


Blondie

Blueberry

Rosie

Moment

Verona and Maggie

Here's our 2013 kidding schedule so far!

1. BB x Big Boer ~ Jan 12, 13
2. Tic-Tac x Lolita ~ Jan 20, 13
3. Wyatt x Verona ~ Jan 24, 13
4. Wyatt x LaWanda ~ Jan 25, 13
5. Topaz x MoReen ~ Jan 25, 13
6. Topaz x Chicci ~ Jan 26, 13
7. Pugsy x Drama ~ Jan 27, 13
8. Paul x Prissy ~ Jan 27, 13
9. Wyatt x Starlight ~ Jan 29, 13
10. Paul x Helena ~ Jan 31, 13
11. Adam x Baby ~ Jan 31, 13
12. Topaz x Moment ~ Jan 31, 13
13. Pugzie x Maggie ~ Feb 1, 13
14. Powerhouse x Athena ~ Feb 1, 13
15. Cadbury x  Sweetness ~ Feb 2, 13
16. Adam x Lizzie ~ Feb 2, 13
17. Berry x Sasha ~ Feb 3, 13
18. Powerhouse x Tisha ~ Feb 5, 13
19. Adam x Cream ~ Feb 5, 13
20. Powerhouse x Rosie ~ Feb 6, 13
21. Topaz x Snickers ~ Feb 6, 13
22. Cadbury x HoneyBun ~ Feb 6, 13
23. Cadbury x Calypso ~ Feb 8, 13
24. Wyatt x Frenchie ~ Feb 8, 13
25. Berry x Jivara ~ Feb 9, 13



Suriyah

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Ranch Update

I figured I should give an update on things going on around the ranch, rather than politics. Things have been going pretty well. The weather has cooled off some, we've gotten some rain and a little grass has actually grown. It's almost Fall, and breeding season is in full swing. We've bred over 25 does, and have just about 25 left to breed. It looks like January and February are going to be some very busy months. The first doe is due January 12th.


I am very glad that most of our kidding looks like it will be done during the cold. You may ask why? I mean, having newborns born in freezing weather might be kind of dumb? Well yeah, it does take some work to watch all the does so we can be at all the births, catch the kids so they don't freeze, and then keep the newborns warm after they are born. BUT, it isn't that hard. We have a big barn that the pregnant does can stay in that is right out the back door, so checking on the does is pretty easy. We also have 2 stalls right out the back door that are insulated, and even in really cold weather, if we keep the slider shut, it won't freeze in them. We don't use heat lamps or anything like that, as I have heard of too many barn fires happening from them. As long as the kids have lots of cozy bedding and each other to snuggle with, typically they do just fine. Sometimes I will also put "sweaters" on the kids to help keep them warm.

The benefit to having kids in the winter is because by the time the weather starts to warm up and the parasites come out, the kids have a jump start on things, and are much stronger and much much more ready to handle all the parasites and bugs. From my experience, cold weather kids grow MUCH better than kids born in the warm weather and it is definitely worth the "hassle" of keeping them warm when they are little.

Paul (below) is one of our 6 month old Nubian bucklings. He's out of Six-M-Galaxy lines. Our other standard size Nubian buckling is Powerhouse, and he is out of Pruitville Nubians. They have already been breeding the does and are becoming big boys! I am so pleased with how well they have grown.

Our guard jenny is due this month. She was bred last October, so is due anytime. Her udder is growing and her belly isn't small! Can't wait to have a cute little donkey foal!

The sheep are doing good as well, and are coming into heat and getting bred. Lambing season will be going on at the same time as kidding season...just to make things a little more hectic!

These are the two grandmas on the ranch. Calevah is the dog. She is 15 or so, and I don't think is going to make it much longer as she can't walk well. "Grandma" is the goat. She is 12, and is doing surprisingly well for her age although she has slowed down a lot lately. The past few days they've been laying together - never have done that before! I thought it was sweet.

As usual, there is always some kind of baby being born (or...hatched) on the ranch. This guinea hen hatched out 4 guinea chicks and 1 duckling.

I hope you all have a fabulous day!

Suriyah