Update

Well, I have not done very well at keeping the blog updated lately! Just been busy. Today I re-did the stall set-up. I moved t-post, panels and cabinets around and I like it much better. I still am not completely done and have to add 1 more stall - so there will be 4 stalls total. When it's done, I hope to get pictures up here.

All the goats are doing good. We are only milking 6 now, but soon to be lots more, Lord willing! The doe that is due first (PawPawNin Maglio Tartuffini - "Lil' Maggie"), is on day 140 today, so we could have babies almost any day now! And the temperatures are suppose to drop drastically and we are suppose to have snow tomorrow, so she'll probably have them in the middle of the storm :).

Here are a few photos from a few days ago.

Dream Weaver's MoReen - due January 8th, and wide with babies!

This is PawPawNin LaWanda, due January 5th, and also full of kids!

And a Boer doe, RWLB Vibe, due - we don't know when, but looking to be very soon!

Aruba,

PawPawNin Whitney (I thought it was a cute pic),

Not much else to update on. Have a great day!

Suriyah

Northeast Oklahoma Hay & Feed Coop

Today was a long day in town. . . we did pick up some grass hay though because we needed some before we get another load of the Alfalfa/Grass hay (which will be very soon, Lord willing).

BUT, while I am on the subject, I just started a Yahoo group called Northeast Oklahoma Hay & Feed Coop. It is a list for information of hay and feed available in the Northeastern Oklahoma area. Please feel free to join even if you are in one of the states surrounding Northeast Oklahoma.

Every couple of months, or more often if need-be, we can order a big load of really nice Alfalfa/Grass square bales from a guy in Missouri. We have got hay from him before and it is great stuff. We don't have to feed alfalfa pellets or straight alfalfa hay anymore either and our milkers are doing great on it. It is also very cheap - delivered at $5 a bale. SO, if you are interested please join this group and let me know. We will probably be ordering within the next couple of days, so if you want in on this load. . . time is running out :)!

Also, if you are in the area and know of a good place to get hay and/or feed, feel free to join and share the information, please, thank you!

To join the group, you can go down on the right hand side of this page right below the "Followers" and there is a button to join it. OR you can go to and join there - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/okfeedcoop

Not a whole lot else going on. Tomorrow I have to get on it and get the stalls and everything ready for kids very soon... exciting!

Suriyah

Supplies to have at Kidding Time

Since some will be having kids soon, I thought I would post what I like to have on hand for kidding time.

- 7% Iodine or Nolvasan, along with a cup to dip cords.

- Towels/Rags - you'll need lots and lots!

- Empty Feed sacks - I don't have any of these now that I buy my feed by the ton, but they are very handy to have on hand. Cut the feed sack in half so it's a flat piece of paper. They are great to put under the doe as the kids are coming out, to put wet kids on, etc.

- Ear syringe/Nose sucker - I almost always use this to get the gunk out of kids' noses and mouths.

- (hair) Blow Dryer - Very handy to have on hand in cold weather kiddings. It dries and warms the kids up at the same time.

- Soap and water - to wash up with if you have to go in. I only wash up and go in. *Make sure you have short fingernails also!! I do not use gloves either as you can't tell what you are feeling very well.
- Lubricating jelly - sometimes you will need it to go in, but usually not.
- Surgical gloves - useful at times, but we do not wear them if we have to go it, it makes it way too slippery.

- Bottles and nipples - we bottle our kids, but keep on hand even if you don't. I like the Topper Pop Bottle Nipples the best from Nasco, and they screw onto 16-24 ounce soda bottles.

- Milk pail - to milk colostrum into after kidding.

- Probiotics - give to doe after kidding.

- Nutri-Drench - a quick pick-me-up for doe or kids during or after labor.

- Molasses & warm water - I always give my does a bucket of warm molasses water after the birth as it's a good source of quick energy and they are always VERY thirsty!

- Thermometer - always handy to have on hand.

- Hemorrhoidal Ointment - I have used this on a few does whose vulvas got very swollen after kidding, it helps to bring it down.

- Syringes and needles - to give the doe or kid medications.

- Kid coats - to put on a chilled kid (or if it's just cold weather) AFTER it has been dried.

Can't think of anything else. Happy Kidding!

Suriyah

Kids due in 20 days!!

Well, the count-down is on - 20 days till our first doe is due; and "due" means day 150. . . so in reality, she could have the kids in about 2 weeks (which would be about day 145, which is not premature). Soo, exciting yet somewhat overwhelming, LOL!

This is Calevah, our "old dog". She's about 12 and we've had her since she was a puppy and she is still doing great... not slowing down in her old age ;)!

I thought this was a cool picture,

This is "Grandma Maggie" in her stall next to the "kids" (soon-to-be kids no more ;)). It was very cold a few nights last week so we gave everyone straw, and piled straw on top of Grandma. She stayed just long enough for a photo to be taken.

By the way, her foot is almost all the way better. She does not limp on it anymore!

A picture from feeding time this morning. This is one of the Alpines - Honey Bun.

And another pic from this morning. This is Prissy (Nubian doe).

I've spent most of the day today baking various things and just hanging out - Sunday is usually a somewhat slow day.

And now it's time to go milk. . . so have a great night!

Suriyah

Brrr!

Well this morning it was 18 degrees out. . . very cold. Here are some random pictures since I have not posted many pictures lately. My mom got a new camera - a Nikon. It takes great pictures! She has posted a lot of new pictures on her blog here, if you would like to go see them.

a frozen puddle with a little snow on top,

a couple of us moving cattle the other day,

I thought this was a neat picture of Vanilla,

grain, up-close,

and finally, a picture of the flooring that's in the house!

More later!

Suriyah

Treating a hurt hoof, and update

It is really cold today! It has been freezing the past few nights, but for some reason today seems extra cold.

A couple of weeks ago, our "Grandma" goat (Laports Mahogany Sage), was limping pretty badly on one of her back feet. So we checked it out and there was some gross/sore/swollen flesh in the middle of her hoof, probably from a cut. I posted about that on November 17th and it looked like it was getting better then - she was hardly limping too. But, it didn't get better. I tried soaking her foot in Nolvasan twice a day, nothing worked.

So, we were in town on Sunday and stopped by Tractor Supply to see if they had anything that might help. We picked up some Dr. Naylor's Hoof & Heal (for cattle, goats, sheep & horses). It is a Zinc Sulfate mixture. I started putting that on it Sunday night, and if it worked, that would be great.

Tuesday morning (after 3 treatments - I'm putting it on her 2x a day) there was dry blood on it like it had "burst" open. So, I cleaned it and put more on it. Today, she is hardly limping on it at all and the swollen spot is the smallest I have ever seen it. I am hoping that it stays on this track!

And our first does are due in exactly 1 month from today! Rhia (Nubian doe), who is due January 8th, has been getting a very nice udder and is super wide. It's exciting to hopefully have kids soon!

Well, I have not made butter for a couple of weeks and we are out, so I have to do that today and various other things.

Have a great day,

Suriyah

Definitely time for an update!

Well, as you can tell by me not posting much, I have been very busy just with life in general - milking, feeding, cleaning the house, riding horses, etc, and various other things. Like, on Tuesday the guys that are putting "Skim Stone" on the kitchen counters came and started that. So they did about half of what had to be done, then we used the counters on Thanksgiving, and they are back today finishing them. And as usual, we had a big Thanksgiving party yesterday - fun and tiring ;).

We have been letting the llamas out to pasture with the goats and that is working out well. Here are some pics of them going out their first day,

oh, and a picture of the bucks coming IN from pasture ;),

Anyway, not a whole lot else to update on. Have a great weekend!

Suriyah

Been busy!

Obviously we have been BUSY! The flooring was done on Thursday and we spent all day Friday putting the house somewhat back together. Then Saturday morning our water went out and was not fixed until Monday morning. Thankfully, the well did not go dry; a pipe just rusted and broke, the "well guys" fixed that. So we are back to a normal functioning house now. There are still a few things that need to be put back in their proper place, etc. The flooring is very nice though, praise the Lord. Hopefully I can get some pictures up of it within the next few days.

On another note, the weather has got very cold the past few days, and it has been lightly raining also. So I have been feeding a lot of hay out to keep everyone warm.

A few days ago, "Grandma" (Laports Mahogany Sage), as we call her, was limping pretty bad on one of her back feet. She could not keep up with the herd going out to pasture, so we brought her in and kept her in a stall for the day. We checked her foot that night and found a sore/cut in her foot that had some proud flesh in it. Ouch! So we cleaned it and I have been putting 7% Iodine on it 2 times a day, and I have been keeping her in the stall. Now today, she is hardly limping on her foot at all and I'm sure it feels much better! Praise the Lord! Tonight I let her come out of the stall and was going to let her sleep out with the rest of the does, but she followed us half way out, turned around and decided she liked her stall better. So she's still staying in there tonight ;).

I am now only milking 7 does at night, and about 10 in the morning. Nobody really wants to be a milk goat anymore, which is only somewhat fine with me :).

That's it for now. . . I am tired (had a long day sitting in the car in town).

Here are some photos from over a week ago that my little sister took, before it got cold and it was very nice and sunny then. Anyway, I thought they were pretty.

Have a great night,

Suriyah

Update!

Good morning,

We have been busy the past few days. We are having someone put laminate flooring in the house, so we had to move the whole kitchen out and everything on one-half of the house, Sunday night. Then Monday morning the flooring was suppose to be put in but it was messed up (it came in and 3/4 of the roll was crinkled up!). So we're living in half a house, in a big mess! Hopefully they'll be able to come within the next day or two and start putting it in.

In the meantime, while we are waiting for the flooring, we decided to paint the kitchen and bathrooms since everything is out of them (they were just raw wood before). So at the moment they are stained a bunch of funny colors, but today I think we are going to put the paint over and it shouldn't look too bad ;).

I bought some llama halters online, and switched the two girl's halters to those yesterday (they had foal halters on before). They fit much better. I got them from Jeffers and they were only $7 something per halter.

We are now milking 12 does in the AM and 10 does in the PM. It's nice to not be milking soo many any more.

I also wanted to add - a week or so ago we drew blood on some of the does and sent it in for CL and CAE testing - they are all NEGATIVE! Praise the Lord. Very good and a big relief just to know.

That's it for now. Here are some pictures from the other day.

Shamrah and Aruba,

Some of the girls sleeping in the shade after breakfast,

Salty the llama,

Have a great day,

Suriyah

Insulating barns, working llamas, etc

WELL, not too much has been going on lately. It has been super nice weather, so we finished insulating the doe barn, and my mom insulated a lot of the buck barn yesterday also.

We walked in the pasture a few times this last week, and there is not much grass left out there to eat anymore. So I have been feeding a lot of hay out lately. The pasture was kind of overgrazed this past summer, so hopefully before Spring we can split it so we can rotate and have more feed that way.

I have been working with the llama girls everyday. The brown girl, Peppercorn, was a lot more "wild" and nervous when I would work with her. Yesterday though (the 3rd time I've worked with her) she was not too nervous and let me pet her and didn't "dance around" much at all. So,she is improving very quickly! She also walked well on the lead yesterday, and the first few times she didn't know how to be led at all! So that's exciting with her. We'll see how she does today.

The white girl on the other hand, Salty, has always been very easy to lead and was obviously worked with in the past. I am getting her used to me brushing/petting her also but she is not too bad at all. BUT, yesterday I started to pet her (while I had her haltered) and she turned and spit at me! EWW! Thankfully it was not green spit, but it still stunk. I think she is getting grumpy and is going to have a cria (baby llama). Today her back seems a lot "higher" than before, so maybe we will have a cria soon (hopefully a girl!)!

Me working with Peppercorn,

We are now milking 12 does - drying lots up. We have 13 dairy does bred and 8 left to breed. Plus several Boer does already bred. It's nice in a way milking only 12 does now - somewhat of a "rest" (if you'd call that a rest!).

Have a great day,

Suriyah