31/21 - It's OCTOBER!!

Can you believe it's already October?! I barely can! October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month. If you didn't know, I have a wonderful little brother with Down Syndrome who is 6 years old and  a huge, huge blessing to me (okay, and my family :)!).

So, for the whole month of October, I am joining the 31 for 21 blog challenge, as I did last year. The goal is to do a blog post a day for the whole month of October to raise awareness about Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21).

I'll still do my regular farm updates, but hopefully I can mix in some other exciting posts - we'll see ;).

For starters, here's an adorable (I think) music video by a boy singing to his little sister (who has Down Syndrome).

Hope you have an awesome day!

Suriyah

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Broken Leg Update

Cleaopatra, the doe with the broken back leg, is doing very well. It's been 3 1/2 weeks since the break, and I have been meaning to change the splint for about a week and a half, but. . . it didn't happen till now ;). Anyway, I took the old splint off and it looked great. Her leg/hoof wasn't really wet or dirty at all. As far as the break goes, it seems to be healing a tad bit crooked, but only time will tell with that - I could barely tell now, it could just be the way she was holding it up.

So I re-splinted it. This time since I was a tad bit concerned about it healing a bit bent to the back, I put 3 sticks on her leg - one on the back, and one on each side. Probably should have done that with the first splint, but I think it'll be okay.

Everything else on the ranch is going well also! The picture below is Tic-Tac. If you don't remember him, he is the tiny kid that was born back in April weighing only 2 lbs. He is doing very well. . . still pretty small in size but is thriving and certainly not malnourished. . .

. . . especially if he's fed beautiful hay like this! :)

Last night we came home with 4 little girl kittens. . . awww. . .

And of course there are always new cows coming in and out of this place. As of today, we have 1 holstein heifer and 3 angus heifer calves.

Have a great weekend!!

Suriyah

cattle, goats, and JitterBug

THings have been going pretty well here on the ranch. I finally have a few does bred ;).

Last week we added 5 heifers to the ranch. If anyone is looking to add one to their herd, let us know - we have several available!

I got this Longhorn heifer. . . she's a little thin, but is healthy and should gain some weight no problem.

We still have several goats available. Some nice purebred LaMancha bucklings, various doe kids and many adult does for sale. We need to slim the herd down some.

Speaking of slimming the herd down, ummm. . . we added another doe to the herd, LOL. We let someone use our livestock trailer, and so in exchange they gave us a beautiful Sable Saanen yearling. She is currently in milk, but not giving a whole lot (long story :)). But, her name is JitterBug and she is a very friendly lil' thing. She learned how to jump onto the dog house, and then onto the shed to eat the leaves of the trees.

And Tisha saw her up there and figured she should try it too. . .

So after getting both of them down, I moved the doghouse far away so they couldn't get up there again - don't want anymore broken goat legs :)!

Speaking of broken legs, the doe, Cleopatra, who broke her back leg is doing well. She is starting to put some weight on her leg, believe it or not. It's been 2 1/2 weeks now and it's time to take the splint off and redo it. I plan to do that soon. . . just finding the time and help is the problem ;).

Have a great day!

Suriyah

The joys of breeding goats

Here it is September, and we have no does bred. Well, last week 2 or 3 does got bred but of course, they are already sold to someone else. 

Typically we would have at least a good handful of does bred, and at least a month along in gestation. But we have none. The bucks did not come into rut until a few weeks ago, and does have been coming in very lightly, if at all. 

There are a few things it could be - 1) the very hot summer we had threw things off; or 2) the herd has some kind of deficiency. As a whole, the herd is in great condition, very healthy, coats are soft and slick, eyelids are good, their diet is the same as it has been for a few years now. 

So, I have been researching and there are 2 deficiencies I keep coming across that relate to reproductive health. That is Vitamin A and Zinc. Both play a key role in reproduction. Another thought would be selenium deficiency, their mineral is very high in it, though they could need more I suppose.

BUT, if the herd is deficient, how did they get deficient and why would they be deficient? Right now I do not have the answer to that. Dry does and bucks get fed high quality green alfalfa hay and have access to browse and forage. Milkers get that same diet, except with 2-3 lbs (total) of 14% grain on the milk stand. They also get Onyx Cattle Mineral, and get copper bolused every 3-5 months.

This morning we put Apple Cider Vinegar in their waters to help bring them into heat. Maybe it's just a fluke and they'll all come in at once soon here. . . I hope.

I plan to keep you all updated.

Suriyah

p.s. - any input would be very welcomed.

Labor Day Photos

Just a few pictures from our Labor Day! Besides normal morning and evening chores, we just relaxed and had a good day at my Grandma's house. I got home really late for milking (9pm), that was the latest I've milked in a loooong time but it all worked out and the goaties were fine ;).

There was lots of food. . .

I made some Cheeseballs for the party. The base was the simple ricotta cheese (brought to 180 degrees and made with AC vinegar), then I blended in crushed pineapple, apple, and sweetened coconut. After freezing it, I rolled it into small balls and rolled the balls in either sweetened coconut flakes, crushed nuts or chocolate chips (didn't get a pic of the chocolate chip ones... they were the best ;). They turned out yummy!

It was such a beautiful day out, and it has been the past couple days also. Definitely enjoying this break from the heat. On Labor Day though we played several rounds of volleyball. . . it was fun! Haven't really played much ever so it was good practice :). Now that we have a net maybe we can play more often.

Have a great day!

Suriyah

Splinting a Broken (Back) Leg

Last Thursday I was at a cattle sale, and got a phone call from my family at home saying there was a goat with a broken back leg. They had carried her to a stall with water and hay. She was eating and acting very well for how bad the break was. I have no idea how she broke her leg, really no idea. This doe is an 18 month old Alpine/Nubian doe. She is one of the ones who's horns we banded successfully. She is a very, very big, healthy doe.

So I got home, and this is what I found. Can anyone say OUCH!?!! It was completely free-swinging, complete break. No skin was broken though.

So since it was really late and I had no energy to completely splint her leg, we wrapped it in a bunch of cotton and vet wrap just to stabilize it for the night. I also gave her some Banamine for swelling.

The next day, we unwrapped it and splinted the leg. First we wrapped it in lots of cotton, then put 2 school-type rulers on each side. 

Next we wrapped all that in vet wrap.

I also placed the lid from a vitamin bottle on the bottom of her hoof to help keep dirt out, and keep the splint in place.

After putting some tape on to help hold things in place, we were all done! During the whole thing she just ate her grain and did amazing for us moving around her broken leg. . . although we were gentle, I'm sure it would hurt bad (although I've never had a broken bone in my life, so I personally wouldn't know and would rather it stay that way, LOL).

I started her on a round of antibiotics (Pro-Pen-G Penicillin) and for the first 2 days I gave her Banamine to help keep the swelling down. So far, so good. She is getting around VERY well on 3 legs, and seems to be doing fine. I will try to keep you all updated on her!

Hope you all had an awesome Labor Day weekend!! I certainly did. . . more on that and pics hopefully later ;).

Suriyah

life has continued. . .

and I've been a slacker with this blog!! It's not that I don't ran out of stuff to post about, because there sure is a lot going on around here!

It's still hot here, but thankfully not the 110 that it was a few weeks ago.

Our goat herd has grown to nearly 100 head, which is keeping me quite busy. We have 36 (I think) does in milk right now, but 6 of those are some friends' goats we are taking care of while they're out of town. By late next winter/early spring of next year, if the numbers in the herd stay the same, we'll be kidding out about 65 dairy does and 10-15 meat does. I think it's time to start building a bigger milking parlor. . . :)

Here's some random pictures from the past few weeks. I figured I'd just drop in and say "hi", and let all you faithful blog readers know I am still alive ;)!

Suriyah

For Sale

Currently we have several goats for sale. Several registered Alpine does, a few Saanen and LaMancha doelings, and some Saanen, LaMancha & Alpine bucklings. Below are a few random pictures of the ones for sale, but we have many more than just the ones in the pictures. There is nothing wrong with these goats, they are very nice, beautiful goats, we just have too many ;).

If you'd like more info on them and prices, please email me or give us a call at 918-598-4007. We'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you for looking!

Suriyah


P.S. - yes, I know I have taken a small break from blogging! Sorry y'all! I hope to get back into the swing of things soon, but the weather has been so nice lately I have been getting things done outside.


See ya'!

new goats, breeding season & dry weather

It's been kind of busy around the ranch here! I have some small news, and some big news... I'll save the big news for last ;).

We got some rain a few days ago but everything is still very dry, except for a few flowers :).

All the animals seem to be fairing pretty well in the heat, although we have lost a few chickens and I think one meat rabbit. But, considering how many animals are on this ranch - that is not too bad.

We have been having to feed a LOT more hay. Typically this time of year we are really not feeding any hay out. But, we've been feeding twice a day and are going to get a few round bales for the sheep. The does will be allowed to munch on them some, but will still get their normal feedings of alfalfa/orchard grass. That's how we fed last winter and everyone did well.

One of the things that has happened on the ranch - breeding season has officially started!! Sunday morning I bred Capering-Valley P Rhia to our "new" Nubian buck, Hershey.

The BIGGEST news on the ranch though is Sunday afternoon, me and a few of my family members headed 4 hours south to Texas to pick up 24 dairy goats (12 does [5 in milk], 7 bucklings, 5 doelings) and 10 sheep. Why, you ask? Because we are crazy :)! Not really though. Long story short, it was a good deal. They are all registered and are very nice goats. The adult does are all Alpines, except for 1 Nubian. The bucklings are Alpines, LaManchas and Saanens. The doelings are Saanens and LaManchas. A few of the kids were still pretty young (8 wks), so we put them back on bottles.

our ranch has been flooded with up-eared Alpine goats :)!

So that's pretty much it for now! The high today is 112 - ouch!


Stay cool!


Suriyah