bottle kid, new "Buddy" & kidding stalls!

Well, we have a bottle kid. I have no clue what breed she is. A lady came up to us after the sale the other day and said she had bought this kid for her daughter, and then her daughter was scared of it (scared of a tiny baby goat?!? Alright. . .). She's a very sweet little goat, but she's not staying here long as I don't have a use for her and have already found her a new home (hopefully).

 Friday we went outside and noticed a scared little dog out there. He must have been a drop off. He is SO skinny and was very scared. He's already gained some weight though, and is a very sweet boy. His name is Buddy now, and I think he is a Toy Australian Shepherd.

yawn! Buddy was tired after playing with the baby goat!

On to another subject besides "rescue dogs and goats". . . progress in the new kidding barn is under way! Our does should start kidded in about 2 weeks. There will be three 10x10 box type stalls on both sides of the barn, with a 10 foot drive/walkway in the middle. So there will be a total of 6 10x10 stalls. I think it's going to turn out very neat and useable! I will try to post pictures as things progress.

Have a great day!

Suriyah

Not Farm Related: Ron Paul Will Lead the Way

So, this is not farm related but I had to share. Wether you are for Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul or not, please watch this short video, as it is a powerful message about the United States. My good friends wrote (and sung) this song, my sister put the music video together and it was just put on YouTube last night. It is really worth a few minutes of your time. Please feel free to share it far and wide as well.

An Interesting Kidding

This morning I was figuring up goat numbers, who's due and when, etc. There are 53 does bred (hopefully they all settled), beginning around the middle of February all the way thru till the last one being due in mid-June. Our most busy time will be from mid-February till mid-April, then it kind of tappers off from there.

All that being said, there are a few does who are not counted in those numbers. There are were just 2 or 3 of them. They are does that we bought, but didn't know for sure if they were bred or not. One of those does kidded last Saturday to a buckling and doeling.

This morning, the other doe was in labor. Keep in mind this doe is a very, very big doe - wide, tall and very deep. She looks like a Nubian cross. Also keep in mind that she is fairly wild.

Labor was going normally. She had a few really hard contractions - every time I see contractions like that, there is typically a kid not in the right position. But, I just waited and watched. Eventually a bubble came, but there was nothing in the bubble. She got up a down, pawed, pushed, up and down, pushed really hard a few times. After about 5-10 minutes of the bubble appearing and nothing else, I decided we needed to go in and feel what was going on.

Due to her being wild, I grabbed her with my sister and held her still, while Mom went in to see what was going on. She went in and wasn't sure what she felt, thought it was a head but wasn't sure. So she convinced me I should go in. Ok, fine.

I went in and knew I was not feeling a head. Something was seriously wrong. After some feeling around, I realized that the kid was upside down, folded in half backwards and her chest was trying to come out - upside down. A drawing would really help show just how "wrong" this kid was trying to come out. I couldn't feel her head anywhere. I was finally able to find her neck, and follow it down to where I found her head and was so relieved. Thankfully, this doe is very big so there was no issue of it being tight in there. I had to go in all the way up to my elbow just to find the kid's head.

Once I had her head in my hand, I pulled it up to the opening and out she came - a little doeling who I was amazed was alive and well. Once I got the kid out we let the doe go so she could clean her kid off. Looking back now, I should have never let her go, and just went back in to pull the rest of the kids out. Mistake #1. So, once letting her go she was very very mad at us and was snorting, lunging and trying to bite us. Thankfully she doesn't have canine teeth, otherwise I would have been in very bad shape :).

It looked like her placenta was hanging out, but what I didn't realize was that underneath that thick blob of placenta, was the next kid's head. After about 5 minutes, we realized a kid's head was hanging out. Oh no! So we grabbed the very mad mama goat, and pulled that kid out. His front legs were stuck back, so I had to go find one of them and then pull him out. He was a little dazed from being stuck like that for a few minutes. Poor boy, I felt sorry.

After that everything looked normal. We got her situated, both kids looked fine. We had been on our way out the door, so we left. After we left I realized I should have gone back in after pulling kid #2 out - duh. Mistake #2. Especially after having 2 stuck kids, what if there was a 3rd stuck one? Oh well, I had to just wait till we got back home.

About 4 hours later, we returned home and found a 3rd kid - a little buckling. Thankfully, she must have had him with no troubles and all. The huge placenta was on the ground, and 3 healthy babies. We had to help the 3rd one learn how to nurse (i.e. - had to hold very very mad mama goat still again). She is so psycho - very protective of her babies, but also a little dumb because if we pick up one of her babies, she will try to attack it because we are holding it. Once we put it down by her she realizes it's her baby and then will just try to kill us. Yeah, she's a little nuts. 

Anyway, quite an interesting afternoon. I am just very thankful that all the babies are alive and healthy, and the doe is alive and well also, although I think she just might be a little too alive (just kidding).

Well, I was going to add pictures to this post but they won't upload for me... I'll try to get 'em uploaded and then edit this post.

EDITED to add pictures

Have a good evening,

Suriyah

a few photos

Just a few photos from around the ranch the past couple of days.

"Mama Llama" on the left and "Peppy" on the right,

Peppy was a year old on January 6th. He's gotten rather large! He is such a good boy though, and really cares about his goats and sheep, and watches them very well.

One of the Boer/cross meat kids,

Saturday afternoon I went out to check on a doe, and found a different doe with 2 kids at her side. She had just birthed them. A boy and a girl. Very good! She will raise these kids for a few weeks, then I will start to milk her, and when the kids are weaned at a few months she'll be getting milked full time. She is part of my brother's meat operation - using Nubian dairy does to kid meat kids, have them raise the kids until selling age and then we get to milk the doe. Sounds like a plan to me!

Have a good evening! I gotta go!

Suriyah

New Flooring!

So I'm back to posting, for now ;). Last week we had flooring delivered for our new barn. So, we had to take EVERYTHING out of the barn (milkstands, rubber mats, a giant shelf, etc etc). Once it was delivered, we had the job of spreading and leveling it. Thanks to lots of help from family and the tractor with a roller on it, the floor is very nice now.

One evening we had to milk outside though, because it wasn't quite done. Thankfully, it was only once and by the next morning we had a milkstand set back up inside the barn. Now everything is back into place...will have to get pictures.

Wednesday night we got a light dusting of snow. The wind was howling and it was FREEZING cold for a couple days there.

Not too much else to update on the ranch. Yesterday we did get a very nice Nubian doe that just recently kidded - I plan to do a blog post on her hopefully tomorrow or sometime soon :).

Hope you have a great weekend!

Suriyah

Ron Paul for President

As you very well know if you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably have noticed by now that I typically stay on topic (farm, goats, etc) and don't post much off-topic or political things. Well, now is the time for going "off topic", or what you may think is off topic because in reality, it is not.

This year, 2012, is an election year. Our country is in bad shape - in extreme debt, a very bad economy, lack of jobs, too big of a government and abortion is legal. Since Obama became president, our country has gone a downhill slide of more and more debt and big government. This country needs help.

With the 2012 Presidential Election coming up this November, it is very important that you research and make an informed vote. Get out and vote. Let your voice be heard.

President Obama is running for re-election. We certainly don't want him as President for another 4 years. The other Republican candidates are more of the same - big government, bad foreign policies. But there is one very exceptional candidate running for the 2012 election - his name is Ron Paul. He is not more of the same. He would massively reduce the nation's debt, change our foreign policies, get our country out of other people's business and bring our troops home. He would overturn Roe vs. Wade making abortion illegal. The list goes on and on.

In 2011 Ron Paul also received more donations from active military personnel than all other Republican candidates and Obama combined. I think that says something right there.

Here are a few videos and websites for more info on Ron Paul. I urge you to watch these videos and look at these websites, and make a decision for yourself. If you care about the future of this country, please vote.

Why Ron Paul - www.whyronpaul.com

Ron Paul 2012 Official Campaign Website

This video shows why so many people support Ron Paul:



The below video shows Ron Paul's stand on foreign policy and Israel:



Below is one of Ron Paul's ads:



And one more - this is a very good video on why YOU should vote for Ron Paul. Adherence to the Oath.



So you might ask, what can I do? Get out, spread the word, join Facebook pages such as Ron Paul and Ron Paul Revolution and many, many others. If you have never voted before, register to vote and when it's time to, go VOTE.

Stand up for freedom and liberty. Vote Ron Paul 2012.


Suriyah

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year 2012 Everyone!!

We brought in the new year with lots of good food and a very good time with the best friends ever. We had a pajama party, and then a karaoke/lip sync/singing themed party. It was a blast! Today I am exhausted though ;).

Today we were blessed with New Years Day kids! It was a very easy birth and both mama and babies are doing well! They are Boer kids.

Wishing you all the best in 2012!

Suriyah