random

Well, time for an update. It's been raining the past few days and everything is so green - wonderful!!

The pic below is of some mild Feta cheese aging. . . for a day! It is really good and pretty simple. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know.

The two pictures below show a job that needs to be done. . . shearing the llamas! We'll see how it goes, I think it might be a bit stressful for the llamas just because of the fact that the are not super friendly. But, it has to be done, especially with the humidity here in Oklahoma, we don't want anyone to get heat stress! I have to pick up some Fiskars from Walmart. I think I am just going to do a scissor cut instead of using clippers, as I am sure they would be scared of them! It probably won't be a very pretty hair cut, but, we'll see.

Peppercorn,

Salty,

And I thought the picture below was funny of all the does napping ;),

Oh, and I wanted to mention - we should be getting some more of that really nice hay in here within the next couple of weeks. SO, if you have not joined the Northeast Oklahoma Hay and Feed Coop, come on and join it!

Have a great day!

Suriyah

Copper Boluses

Some more information on copper boluses.

- Yes, you can top dress your goats feed with copper/minerals, but not with copper boluses. We bolus because it is much easier for us than to top dress all of their feed.

- We buy the Copasure 12.5 copper supplements for calves from Jeffers Livestock. Then we buy "00" size gel caps and resize the capsules so they are "goat size."

- We try to have Redmond animal minerals out 24/7 for our goats, and it is also safe for sheep. Since Redmond does not have a sufficient amount of copper in it for goats, we bolus once a year.

- There is a great article on copper and copper boluses on the Saanendoah website here. It is very informative and sometimes a bit confusing ;).

I hope that helps!

Suriyah

Garden, copper boluses... not much

Well a whole lot has not been going on besides the normal work on the farm. Yesterday I worked in the garden for a bit - weeding most of the time :).
And then I got copper boluses ready and gave the bucks their copper, and trimmed some buck hooves. Within the next couple of days I am going to have to give all the does their copper boluses - not a very fun job ;).

broccoli from the garden,

The past few weeks I've been experimenting with new cheese recipes. I made a mild Feta cheese and Mozzarella and they both turned out great! I'll probably make some more Feta today, and some butter. If anyone wants the recipes, let me know!

Not much else to update on that I can think of at the moment. . . 

Have a good day!

Suriyah

Body Clipping Goats

Several days ago my brother body clipped his dog, and used my new Wahl clippers for the job. . . until a little over half way through he thought he dulled them and they were not working anymore on his dog (who has *super* thick hair). So he used another pair of clippers. . .

But, since he thought he dulled them, I decided to try and body clip a goat to see if they were truly dull. I picked Blueberry (a Mini Nubian doe) since I have been wanting to shave her whole body for some time now. I got her on the stand, the clippers WORKED great, and she looks like a completely *different* goat now! I like her under coat color much better than her top coat..
So here are some before and after pictures. The pictures are not great at all, but I was in a hurry.
*note* - her udder is not full in these pics, and I had previously shaved her udder because it was very hairy!

before

after

after

I was hoping and planning on going to the Spring Sheep & Goat Sale that was in Tahlequah today, but one of our trucks started having issues on the way home, so we are vehicle-less right now. Oh well!

Suriyah

Does for sale, new sheep, updates

Things are getting green, almost all the trees have leaves on them now and the grass is growing. Stuff is growing in the garden now also!

We added 2 new animals to the ranch on Sunday. . . 2 Katadin sheep! I think they are much cuter than the Dorper sheep (that our friend has), but sheep are just strange, IMO. Speaking of sheep, the other day I trimmed our friend's Dropers feet. . . they weren't that bad, just long, but those sheep are definitely strong!!
These girls are not friendly, and it does not help that we are used to goats that are overly friendly, because even a friendly sheep is not going to be the same as our goats. Sheep are just not as smart ;). Anyway, I think they are going to be my little sister's (you can see her blog here). The eweling is 3 months old and the ewe is 2 years old (& the eweling is not her lamb).

Time for a "Grandma Maggie" update - she is doing great! I think she is the "super milk goat"!  She never really came back into milk on the side that she had mastitis on, but on the other side, she is milking 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon out of that side alone! She is an amazing goat and I am so glad we got a doeling out of her this year.

Something I've been meaning to post for a few weeks but just keep forgetting - a few nice ladies came out a couple weeks ago and bought the Alpine buckling we had for sale. After being here for a while, she told me that she was a professional small animal farrier. She got one of the big does that was having some trouble with her feet and trimmed them up! She did a wonderful job and taught me how to really trim hooves. . . exactly what I needed! Since then, I have been trimming feet like crazy, am learning a lot, and enjoy doing it. You can check out Abigail's website here. Thank you again ;)!

On another note, I have a few does that I'd be willing to sell if anyone is looking for some nice Mini Nubian does. The two I have in mind right now are PawPawNin Willa and PawPawNin Vivid Bridget. Both nice does with good udders, just don't need them. They'll be reasonably priced. . . if you are interested and want more info, email me.

PawPawNin Vivid Bridget

PawPawNin Willa

Well, I think that is it for now. . . have a great day!

Suriyah

An Update

Peppercorn, the llama

Just a quick update. . . things have been pretty "mellow" here on the ranch.

I bought some animal clippers on Ebay a few days ago and they got here yesterday. They are Wahl brand, and so nice! That is the last brand I bought and they worked great too (but then I lost them...). I shaved some of the does' udders yesterday, and did several tonight, and the clippers are super! They are quiet and work really well, and came with a bunch of different size blades, etc. . . pretty cheap too. I'll have to get pictures of the "pretty, clipped udders" sometime soon here.

Shaving the does, I found out a few are a complete different color underneath, especially my doe Blueberry. I just did a small dairy clip on her, and her hair underneath is very dark. SO, I think I am going to do a full body clip on her (when it is going to stay warm :)), and I think she will be very pretty dark, especially with her blue eyes!

The picture below is of Gaddy and her doe kid, the "miracle mom and daughter". . . the doe with the ringwomb who also hemorrhaged really bad. They are both doing wonderful.

Well, that's about it for now.

Have a good evening!

Suriyah

The ER!

little crossbred meat doe,

I think we are a official ranch Emergency Room. . . or "Emergency Barn". With the last goat with the kidding problem, and then last night a gal called us and needed help splinting a kid's broken leg. Just more experience for us, I guess!

We got pictures of us splinting the kid's leg. The kid was about 1 1/2 months old and broke her leg below the knee.

First, we put a bunch of cotton (not cotton balls) all around the leg so it was really padded, and then we taped the cotton on. We then had a PVC pipe that was cut in half lengthwise and cut to fit her leg so it went past her hoof a bit, so the pressure would be put above the break.

We filled any gaps in the PVC with more cotton, taped it on, and then wrapped the whole thing in vet wrap.

All done and ready to test,

Sporting her new cast! She seemed to get around with it very well, and even jumped up on a chair right afterward! Hoping it heals well and all!

Well, not much else to update on. . . I guess I've been in "photo-blogging" mood lately.

This photo is from this morning and it's one of the training horses with a saddle on for the first time. . . there's a bit of bucking that goes on usually!

Have a good night!

Suriyah

Kidding Story

Another interesting kidding. This time it was a friend's goat.

Late Friday morning "Cloudy" (Saanen/Alpine/Nubian) went into "labor." They watched her all day. Around 4:30pm she started pushing and they thought they'd have babies really soon. A little while past, nothing happened, and then the contractions stopped.

We went over to their house, looked at her and nothing seemed too odd except one big thing - her backbone was shaped like a C, really curved/crooked. She also seemed to have a hard time walking due to it, and it had just gotten that bad Friday.

We had to go home and milk, and since things were not really progressing, I was thinking it was a train wreck. . . with a kid sideways blocking the birth canal, etc. So Mom went in, and found nothing. I also went in and found nothing, literally nothing. It felt like you stuck your hand in a bag... we could not find the cervix, it was just a "dead end." Every breeder I talked to said that doe needs a c-section, has a train wreck and needs some serious help.

After a couple of hours and Mom going in a couple of times and the doe contracting quite a bit, she finally found the cervix. I think something was somewhat twisted or fallen, and with all of the stimulation and contractions, it "picked" things back up.

So, she found the cervix but it was *not* dialated. We decided to give her Lutalyse and hope it helped.

Saturday she seemed pretty OK, despite being very uncomfortable. Late last night, when it had been 24 hour since giving the Lute, we checked on her, she seemed the same, so we went to bed.

About 2 hours later, we checked on her and there was a kid on the ground, alive!! Less than a minute later she delivered another kid. It was a normal and easy kidding, and she had 2 doelings!! It was very exciting and SUCH a relief to have the kids on the ground with no problems, no stuck kids, and the momma doing fine!

Today her backbone/spine is still crooked. A few people suggested that it may be hypocalcemia. . . seems very odd to me, but she is getting the right supplements as I figure it can't hurt. Maybe a kid was in a weird position and just tweaked her back out. Hopefully she'll straighten out though!

Anyway, just thought I'd share the "stress" and excitement we've had here the past few days :).

Suriyah

Warm weather photos

Just a few pictures that were taken the other day. . .

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Have a good weekend,

Suriyah

Spring!

Well I figured I should do an update since my last post. . . my finger is better, milking was hard for a couple of times, but it must have been something little that popped out of place ;). The weather is super nice lately, except that I could do without the wind.

We are getting so much milk lately, I have to deal with a lot of it (since we only have 7 bottle babies). . . which means running it through the cream separator. Tomorrow I'll have to run about 8-10 gallons through the separator as the freezer and fridge are both full. Once it is run through the separator, it is now low fat milk, and we'll turn that into cheese. We ordered a bunch of different cheese culters, so if those are here tomorrow maybe we'll make some more feta, or mozz, etc. . . otherwise it'll probably all be turned into vinegar cheese.

Right now though, I am pretty beat. We went over to a lady's house and she gave us a *ton* of wild strawberry plants and quite a bit of the domestic strawberry plants also, plus some other odds and ends. When we got home, we had to plant a bunch of them. So, it's been a long day!

Here are some various pictures that have been taken within the past week. I think Spring is finally here! So exciting! Oh, and the past few days we've also let the does out to the pasture since it is finally getting green. . . can you tell I like the warm weather?!?

yellow flower

purple flowers

pond

Cadbury and Blondie,

Have a good evening!

Suriyah