Finally Kidding season has started. Two sets of triplets with three doelings and three bucklings. Everyone is fine.
My most favorite Oberhasli Doe has passed overnight 3 days before she was due to kidd. She was fine the night before since we start bringing them in seven days before due date. Personable and full of loving and hugs. Next day she is acting odd and overnight dies. Too many tears this year already. I am chanting better in the barn and not in the home. It does help me maintain perspective.
Cakes baked and eaten, so much food this family eats. My son now 14 has hit the six foot mark. I wonder where 12 more months will see him. My daughter no slouch either at over four foot at nine years old.
Home schooling is going well. The taxes are almost finished. Probably two more days of entries. Yes I know, I said I would start earlier well, maybe this year......
The girls are loving the hay from New York.
Not much going on worth talking about.
Piglets are making tunnels in the snow to get to the feeder since the big pigs left yesterday. I shoveled a path for them. They remind me of Dachshunds plowing through the snow bellies dragging.
Joined a site called Face Book, kind of like classmates but free and quite a bit of fun. I will look up lost friends. I'm the one who is lost not them.
So have you found your change yet. I am contemplating drawing up a petition to keep presidential campaign spending to the total of what the office promises in salary. Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants? Do the same for the inauguration. Wouldn't the lobbyist die of dehydration and lack of clean pants!
It is quite the learning experience having the children listen to the President speak. Now that he has been in office a few weeks we compare what he promised when getting elected and what he is saying now. Easy to talk when your not the one calling the shots. God speed to him and let him guide our country properly. He is only one person, and, well, we know how one person can get so much done.
Showing posts with label Goat Kidding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goat Kidding. Show all posts
Monday, March 2, 2009
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Farming Sadness
Today one of my Junior Does kidded. Not a bad thing but she was early. The Kidds were presented wrong and definitly stressed by the time I got out to help her. There is really no reason why it happend except that the Veal Calf is a bit rammy and could have caused her to go early, had he stepped on her or was overly pushy. The Kidds were small only 2.5 (breached, rear first)and about 5 lbs(head to the side legs presented sideways). My normal Kidd weight is at least six pounds (on the small side with 7.5 average). Should they had gone to term they would only have been just a bit bigger. So neither kidd was saved and I hope I didn't damage the Doe with my large invasive hand that was trying to reposition the kidd, least we loose poor Doe also. She did cry in distress, there was some blood, not tons, both placenta were passed intact.
We finished our animal care by Noon today and the gravity of the morning is having take on my spirit. I will always feel such greif when young don't have a chance or are not given a chance. We do all we can but sometimes it is not the destiny of anyone involved to be sucessful. I pray for the strength given to me at the start to help me put this in perspective. Better a loss in the barn than a loss in the house. Yes, I am grateful for what I have.
We finished our animal care by Noon today and the gravity of the morning is having take on my spirit. I will always feel such greif when young don't have a chance or are not given a chance. We do all we can but sometimes it is not the destiny of anyone involved to be sucessful. I pray for the strength given to me at the start to help me put this in perspective. Better a loss in the barn than a loss in the house. Yes, I am grateful for what I have.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
New Horse
Well we went, saw and fell in love. What a beautiful animal. Very up right and had nice action (winged out a bit on the front left no biggie), handsome condition and well behaved ground manners. He put his very large (about half the size of my daughter) head down and let my daughter hug him. Loves people. What a guy. Load up we're going home baby!
Draw back, feet. He had shoes on and had lost a rear one. I noticed his right front looked odd and it turned out he had damaged it while running loose down the paved road. He is a big boy around 1800 lbs so his feet are very important. I need a horse who can go barefoot. Pony actually just had his feet trimmed for the first time in two years. I maintain them myself but there comes a time when a pro needs to do it.
His hock on the shoeless side was swollen also. He did have ice pads on but still he should be able to loose a shoe without having too much effect. I will call his farrier and ask what the story is. I know it will take at least a year for that front hoof to grow in properly (the front clip must have really tore up the outer wall). That makes it in the neighborhood of an extra 150.00 every six to eight weeks until then and what happens at that point is only speculation and I am not going there. Imagine a lifetime of shoes all around on a back yard trail horse? Especially size five (regular riding horses take a 00 or a 0)?
From there we went to the co op for grain for the Pigs. Over 300.00 a ton. People ask why the grocery store food is so expensive? Lets start there......Cost of raising livestock has gone way up. Can't wait to see the cost of hay this season. I shutter to think about it. With the new horse, I should easily add and additional 400 bales to the 1300 I use now. Just one more drawback on the horse.
We had to wait for our grain while a large Trailer truck unloaded "Wheat Middlins" a major ingredient in grains and we watched the trailer and augers at work. Off we went for a terrible but fun lunch of Boston Cream and manager special donuts with orange pineapple juice for the kids and Mom had a bagel and coffee. Lunches like that don't happen too often. I was concerned the children were going to start chewing on the truck door arm rests. They had gone through two apples a piece and several pounds of carrots. Yes we always pack food for the ride.
On the way home we discussed the horse and my son did very well with his interpretation of what my husband would say and it made me realize that we wont be purchasing the lad.
Found we had been visited (pile of empty egg crates by the porch) by a friend who is anticipating the birth of her kidd goats. She is trying to plan around it and I told her that very much like humans there is nothing to be done to hurry them up and for crying out loud be patient. The girls will kidd when the time is right.
Onward home to have a conniption fit over my husbands new truck. The %$*&#(*& dealer we bought it from did nothing to prepare the truck for road worthiness. Now I have taken the battle on for having the retreads repair the truck under warrenty. I have already reported the dealer to Ford and DMV form K-35 is next. More on this subject at a later day.
I'm on vacation this week with the kids and am very late getting out. Such wonderful weather we will be outside all day.
Draw back, feet. He had shoes on and had lost a rear one. I noticed his right front looked odd and it turned out he had damaged it while running loose down the paved road. He is a big boy around 1800 lbs so his feet are very important. I need a horse who can go barefoot. Pony actually just had his feet trimmed for the first time in two years. I maintain them myself but there comes a time when a pro needs to do it.
His hock on the shoeless side was swollen also. He did have ice pads on but still he should be able to loose a shoe without having too much effect. I will call his farrier and ask what the story is. I know it will take at least a year for that front hoof to grow in properly (the front clip must have really tore up the outer wall). That makes it in the neighborhood of an extra 150.00 every six to eight weeks until then and what happens at that point is only speculation and I am not going there. Imagine a lifetime of shoes all around on a back yard trail horse? Especially size five (regular riding horses take a 00 or a 0)?
From there we went to the co op for grain for the Pigs. Over 300.00 a ton. People ask why the grocery store food is so expensive? Lets start there......Cost of raising livestock has gone way up. Can't wait to see the cost of hay this season. I shutter to think about it. With the new horse, I should easily add and additional 400 bales to the 1300 I use now. Just one more drawback on the horse.
We had to wait for our grain while a large Trailer truck unloaded "Wheat Middlins" a major ingredient in grains and we watched the trailer and augers at work. Off we went for a terrible but fun lunch of Boston Cream and manager special donuts with orange pineapple juice for the kids and Mom had a bagel and coffee. Lunches like that don't happen too often. I was concerned the children were going to start chewing on the truck door arm rests. They had gone through two apples a piece and several pounds of carrots. Yes we always pack food for the ride.
On the way home we discussed the horse and my son did very well with his interpretation of what my husband would say and it made me realize that we wont be purchasing the lad.
Found we had been visited (pile of empty egg crates by the porch) by a friend who is anticipating the birth of her kidd goats. She is trying to plan around it and I told her that very much like humans there is nothing to be done to hurry them up and for crying out loud be patient. The girls will kidd when the time is right.
Onward home to have a conniption fit over my husbands new truck. The %$*&#(*& dealer we bought it from did nothing to prepare the truck for road worthiness. Now I have taken the battle on for having the retreads repair the truck under warrenty. I have already reported the dealer to Ford and DMV form K-35 is next. More on this subject at a later day.
I'm on vacation this week with the kids and am very late getting out. Such wonderful weather we will be outside all day.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
First step kind of a day.
The wind was howling, the rain hitting the window with such force it made me wince. The bed was warm and the covers snugly, 4:00am came and went and I had no desire to get out of bed.
The dogs decided that it was time (at 6). Let us out please! Fine, out the side door you go, I know if I let you out the slider you wont make it half way off the deck before you decide to piddle where you are and run back in. Sure enough they made it to the first step, pee'd like a race horse and did an about face and headed back in.
That's exactly how I felt about the whole thing. However, there are a bunch of ladies waiting to be cared for (two cows and 15 goats most importantly) fed, milked and hay please. So I slither into my very expensive Pancho (a Contractor size garbage bag with slits in the appropriate strategic places). I love this idea since it falls below the tops of my boots and my body doesn't get wet. Why is it that chores take sooooo much longer in the rain? I know I move slower. So do the girls. They also don't want to return to the Monsoon that is just outside the door. Indeed March has come in like a very angry Lion. Yet, here we are less than four hours later and the sun is shining and the wind has slowed to a Spring breeze.
Of course a first time Doe needed to Kidd and my son the now expert at noticing these things brings her in while I wait to help if need be. A very nice Doeling we receive, thank you. Dam is shell shocked but who isn't usually....... That makes 31 kidds this year and we are about 2/3 of the way done through the herd (OK, maybe half way). Animal care is done by Noon today. Insanely long but everyone is happy and fed.
My turn, forget breakfast have some lunch . Make calls and co-ordinate sales, grain orders. I sure hope tomorrow I can rouse myself earlier.
The dogs decided that it was time (at 6). Let us out please! Fine, out the side door you go, I know if I let you out the slider you wont make it half way off the deck before you decide to piddle where you are and run back in. Sure enough they made it to the first step, pee'd like a race horse and did an about face and headed back in.
That's exactly how I felt about the whole thing. However, there are a bunch of ladies waiting to be cared for (two cows and 15 goats most importantly) fed, milked and hay please. So I slither into my very expensive Pancho (a Contractor size garbage bag with slits in the appropriate strategic places). I love this idea since it falls below the tops of my boots and my body doesn't get wet. Why is it that chores take sooooo much longer in the rain? I know I move slower. So do the girls. They also don't want to return to the Monsoon that is just outside the door. Indeed March has come in like a very angry Lion. Yet, here we are less than four hours later and the sun is shining and the wind has slowed to a Spring breeze.
Of course a first time Doe needed to Kidd and my son the now expert at noticing these things brings her in while I wait to help if need be. A very nice Doeling we receive, thank you. Dam is shell shocked but who isn't usually....... That makes 31 kidds this year and we are about 2/3 of the way done through the herd (OK, maybe half way). Animal care is done by Noon today. Insanely long but everyone is happy and fed.
My turn, forget breakfast have some lunch . Make calls and co-ordinate sales, grain orders. I sure hope tomorrow I can rouse myself earlier.
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