It's cold. It's dark. It's muddy. I leave for work in the dark, I come home and it's still dark. I don't like winter. But I DO like the free time I have to catch up on crochet projects.
Most of farm life is on hold in the winter. I dried up Mystique because milking a half gallon twice a day was just getting to be too time consuming. When she kids at the end of February I'm going to leave her babies on her so that I don't have to milk if I don't want to. While it is easier to sell bottle babies, it is SOOOOOOO nice to have the flexibility to milk whenever I want. And now the human kids are complaining about goat milk so we aren't going through all that milk she was giving us.
I learned something new this week - a doe who aborts her babies can go back into estrus a few weeks later and be rebred. I didn't have a clue that was possible until Daisy did just that. Basically what happened was that she had explosive diarrhea so I wormed her and treated her for coccidiosis and stuck her with a ton of needles, which she didn't appreciate. She lost a ton of weight and was lethargic and not her normal self. I then noticed bloody discharge, which is a pretty good sign that she aborted. I put the buck in with the does because he wasn't getting enough to eat in with the sheep who were bullying him, and darned if Daisy wasn't wagging her tail at him and following him around talking to him. So it looks like late May babies for Daisy. Speaking of May babies, Daisy's daughter got inadvertently bred. I thought breeding season was over - I hadn't seen her go into heat for quite a long time. Apparently I was wrong because Hef had his way with her again and again and again.....Now I just need her to grow a little bit in the 5 months between now and kidding so that she's big enough. I'd like her to have been another 10 lbs heavier before breeding, but oh well.....
I'll tell you about the chicken that P glued back together another time.....
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Autumn thoughts
Has it really been 3 months since I last posted? Time flies in the summer. I was super busy weeding the garden and harvesting and canning. I canned something like 36 pints of various types of salsa, 36 quarts of peaches and pears and 14 quarts of applesauce. I still need to figure out what to do with all the ground cherries that are just waiting to fall off the plants. Someone gave me a suggestion I want to try - pull up the plants and hang them upside down until the fruit falls off (put a sheet under them to catch the fruit). As an added bonus, all those ground cherries won't end up sprouting in the garden in the spring (turns out they are rather invasive but oh so tasty!)
Now that fall is here, I am finally able to relax a little. Dark arrives by 6:30pm so I can't do anything outside. You would think that will all the extra time I would have a spotless house. Not the case. It is just as bad as usual. My goal is to focus on one area every evening and to make sure that I am done with it by 9pm so I can sit on the couch and crochet for a bit. That's certainly more relaxing than I did all summer!
Even though it is dark and cold outside, I still have outdoor chores to do. I stopped milking Daisy because I am getting so much milk from Mystique still that it seemed pointless. She is still nursing her doelings a few times a day, but she should wean them soon. One of her doelings already thinks she's ready for breeding because she's coming into estrus every 3 weeks and is flirting like crazy with the buck. She walks over to the crack between the stalls and turns her butt to it and wags her tail. Poor Hef is going nuts because he can't get to her. If she's big enough in December I will breed her but she needs to be around 80 lbs. As of now she's about 60.
Just because Hef can't have access to Windy, doesn't mean he hasn't had any action. Daisy was in estrus a couple of weeks ago so I had this brilliant idea to put him in with her for the day. Well darned if he didn't go straight over to Mystique and breed her - I didn't even know she was in estrus! So much for my plan to breed Daisy early and Mystique later so that I would have a year round supply of milk. Lesson learned - always put the doe you want bred in with the buck and not the buck in with all the does.
Autumn also means downsizing. There isn't as much forage so I have to supplement all the animals for the winter. I was hoping to butcher one of our rams (the smaller one) and the two wether lambs. But the wether lambs just weren't heavy enough so the ram was the only one to leave. He came back in little white packages of ground meat and I tried some the other night and it was good! There are a million different opinions on the taste of mutton and the taste is so varied - it can be based on diet, breed, sex, age, etc, etc. He was a little tougher than the younger lambs but not enough to cause a problem. So only one less mouth to feed but every little bit counts. And now there's no fighting between the rams over the ewes.
Also downsized were the chickens. Because we hatched out some chicks this year, we had a bunch of extra chickens and they don't all fit in the coop well. There were chickens perching in nesting boxes, on feeders, on the ground, etc. So last Sunday P and I decided to butcher chickens. We ended up being able to catch 7 of them and we also decided to butcher 2 of the male ducks since 9 ducks was way too many and at least 4 of those were male. And if you want to know how terrible male ducks are just read this: http://www.webvet.com/main/2009/01/09/duck-mating-sex-lives-ducks
Anyhow, P got the job of killing the birds and then I hung them to bleed. Next we had to remove feathers which means dunking them in hot water for 30 seconds. That is one seriously stinky job. The kids (minus the youngest who wanted nothing to do with it) had a great time defeathering. I was quite surprised. They wanted to watch the killing and be part of the butchering. I feel wonderful that our kids KNOW where meat comes from and will therefore have a greater respect for animals that provide food. I got to do the gutting because I'm good at it I guess. Or maybe because my hands are small enough to fit inside a chicken. My son was extremely interested in the guts. He wanted to know what all the parts were - I should have brushed up on my chicken anatomy. Gutting is a gross job the first time you do it but after a while it's not a big deal. Though it is physically very taxing. My neck, shoulders and back are still suffering days later. I learned something new about ducks which I should have known all along - they have down feathers! As fluffy and soft as they might be in a pillow, they are a real pain in the butt to get off of the duck. I don't even know if I like duck but this is a cheap way to try it! Two of the chickens we kept whole as friers. The others P skinned and cut up into parts. The carcasses became LOTS of chicken stock. And we are now going through a lot less poultry food. That stuff is expensive nowadays!
So that's life right now. I love fall and winter because I get to rest, but I truly miss the sunny days and long warm evenings where I get to be outside enjoying nature. Only 5-6 more months before I can be back outside with my hands in the soil...
~T
Now that fall is here, I am finally able to relax a little. Dark arrives by 6:30pm so I can't do anything outside. You would think that will all the extra time I would have a spotless house. Not the case. It is just as bad as usual. My goal is to focus on one area every evening and to make sure that I am done with it by 9pm so I can sit on the couch and crochet for a bit. That's certainly more relaxing than I did all summer!
Even though it is dark and cold outside, I still have outdoor chores to do. I stopped milking Daisy because I am getting so much milk from Mystique still that it seemed pointless. She is still nursing her doelings a few times a day, but she should wean them soon. One of her doelings already thinks she's ready for breeding because she's coming into estrus every 3 weeks and is flirting like crazy with the buck. She walks over to the crack between the stalls and turns her butt to it and wags her tail. Poor Hef is going nuts because he can't get to her. If she's big enough in December I will breed her but she needs to be around 80 lbs. As of now she's about 60.
Just because Hef can't have access to Windy, doesn't mean he hasn't had any action. Daisy was in estrus a couple of weeks ago so I had this brilliant idea to put him in with her for the day. Well darned if he didn't go straight over to Mystique and breed her - I didn't even know she was in estrus! So much for my plan to breed Daisy early and Mystique later so that I would have a year round supply of milk. Lesson learned - always put the doe you want bred in with the buck and not the buck in with all the does.
Autumn also means downsizing. There isn't as much forage so I have to supplement all the animals for the winter. I was hoping to butcher one of our rams (the smaller one) and the two wether lambs. But the wether lambs just weren't heavy enough so the ram was the only one to leave. He came back in little white packages of ground meat and I tried some the other night and it was good! There are a million different opinions on the taste of mutton and the taste is so varied - it can be based on diet, breed, sex, age, etc, etc. He was a little tougher than the younger lambs but not enough to cause a problem. So only one less mouth to feed but every little bit counts. And now there's no fighting between the rams over the ewes.
Also downsized were the chickens. Because we hatched out some chicks this year, we had a bunch of extra chickens and they don't all fit in the coop well. There were chickens perching in nesting boxes, on feeders, on the ground, etc. So last Sunday P and I decided to butcher chickens. We ended up being able to catch 7 of them and we also decided to butcher 2 of the male ducks since 9 ducks was way too many and at least 4 of those were male. And if you want to know how terrible male ducks are just read this: http://www.webvet.com/main/2009/01/09/duck-mating-sex-lives-ducks
Anyhow, P got the job of killing the birds and then I hung them to bleed. Next we had to remove feathers which means dunking them in hot water for 30 seconds. That is one seriously stinky job. The kids (minus the youngest who wanted nothing to do with it) had a great time defeathering. I was quite surprised. They wanted to watch the killing and be part of the butchering. I feel wonderful that our kids KNOW where meat comes from and will therefore have a greater respect for animals that provide food. I got to do the gutting because I'm good at it I guess. Or maybe because my hands are small enough to fit inside a chicken. My son was extremely interested in the guts. He wanted to know what all the parts were - I should have brushed up on my chicken anatomy. Gutting is a gross job the first time you do it but after a while it's not a big deal. Though it is physically very taxing. My neck, shoulders and back are still suffering days later. I learned something new about ducks which I should have known all along - they have down feathers! As fluffy and soft as they might be in a pillow, they are a real pain in the butt to get off of the duck. I don't even know if I like duck but this is a cheap way to try it! Two of the chickens we kept whole as friers. The others P skinned and cut up into parts. The carcasses became LOTS of chicken stock. And we are now going through a lot less poultry food. That stuff is expensive nowadays!
So that's life right now. I love fall and winter because I get to rest, but I truly miss the sunny days and long warm evenings where I get to be outside enjoying nature. Only 5-6 more months before I can be back outside with my hands in the soil...
~T
Thursday, July 25, 2013
RIP Rosie Posie...
Rosie went on to greener pastures on the evening of 7/23. I got home from work and P told me she was down. I went to check her and it didn't look good. So I gave her another dose of antibiotics and B-complex and some electrolytes. She had missed her weekend dose because I took the kids to Orcas, but missing one dose shouldn't have caused a crash like that.
After I gave her the injections, I went back to check on her about 45 minutes later and she was laying with her neck at an odd angle and only taking a breath every 20 seconds. I got a stool and sat down with her head in my lap and petted her and told her it was ok to go. That I was there for her and it was ok to let go. I swear she heard me because her breaths became farther apart until there were no more. The odd thing about death is that you don't know it's the last breath until about a minute after. I kept thinking there would be another breath to follow but it never came.
I thought she was improving the week before because she was eating again and was even going out into the field and bossing the other goats around. But I think that it was one last burst of energy before the end. People often do this before they pass. Someone who has been incoherency suddenly becomes coherent and has a few really good days. Such was the case with Rosie.
Someone suggested I do a necropsy to see what the "mass" was inside her that the vet said was a retained fetus. I couldn't bring myself to do it. And what good would it have done? There was no way to get her through this whether it was a retained fetus, tumor or torn uterus.
She was such a sweet goat - always so calm and quiet. But her genetic line obviously has some issues since her daughter died last year and her grandson nearly did. I've not had problems like this with any goats from other lines. I think it is an immune issue with her and her offspring.
I have to admit, that I am glad she finally took her last breath....she is no longer suffering and I no longer have to worry about her. I can focus on and enjoy my healthy goats.
RIP Rosie Posie.....
After I gave her the injections, I went back to check on her about 45 minutes later and she was laying with her neck at an odd angle and only taking a breath every 20 seconds. I got a stool and sat down with her head in my lap and petted her and told her it was ok to go. That I was there for her and it was ok to let go. I swear she heard me because her breaths became farther apart until there were no more. The odd thing about death is that you don't know it's the last breath until about a minute after. I kept thinking there would be another breath to follow but it never came.
I thought she was improving the week before because she was eating again and was even going out into the field and bossing the other goats around. But I think that it was one last burst of energy before the end. People often do this before they pass. Someone who has been incoherency suddenly becomes coherent and has a few really good days. Such was the case with Rosie.
Someone suggested I do a necropsy to see what the "mass" was inside her that the vet said was a retained fetus. I couldn't bring myself to do it. And what good would it have done? There was no way to get her through this whether it was a retained fetus, tumor or torn uterus.
She was such a sweet goat - always so calm and quiet. But her genetic line obviously has some issues since her daughter died last year and her grandson nearly did. I've not had problems like this with any goats from other lines. I think it is an immune issue with her and her offspring.
I have to admit, that I am glad she finally took her last breath....she is no longer suffering and I no longer have to worry about her. I can focus on and enjoy my healthy goats.
RIP Rosie Posie.....
Poor Rosie
Rosie was not improving so I called the vet to come out and look at her. After poking around in her belly she looks up at me and says "She has a retained kid." My first thought is "OMG how could I have missed that? I am a terrible goat midwife!" But then she says it's only the size of an apple. And it could have been from this year or last year. Goats can wall them off apparently. She thinks Rosie's difficult kidding irritated the uterus and is causing her illness and the retained kid is part of that. If it's from last year then the rough kidding irritated it and we just need her body to wall it back up again. If it's from this year she needs to wall it up (or expel it). She also feels there is a uterine rupture because she felt fluid in the abdomen. Oh poor Rosie. This doesn't sound good.
Treatment plan - high dose of antibiotics, a steroid and a B vitamin shot. Plus foods high in protein to help her gain some weight because she is soooooo thin now. AND I have to dry her up so that means bottle feeding the kids. She said I should start to see improvement in about 48 hours and that until then it might look like she is worse. And she was right. Rosie didn't want to eat much and she laid around a lot. Wouldn't even eat peanut butter/garlic balls (gross to me but a delicacy to goats). 48 hours later and she gobbled up it up.
I have to make a decision about Rosie. If she pulls through this (and I have my doubts - the vet didn't say it but I could tell she thinks its a death sentence) I will have to retire her. I've had her for 3 years and only the first year did I get milk from her. I got one doeling from her that year who died the following year. So at this point, I wasted my money buying her and feeding her for 2 years.
Life with goats is sometimes hard.
Treatment plan - high dose of antibiotics, a steroid and a B vitamin shot. Plus foods high in protein to help her gain some weight because she is soooooo thin now. AND I have to dry her up so that means bottle feeding the kids. She said I should start to see improvement in about 48 hours and that until then it might look like she is worse. And she was right. Rosie didn't want to eat much and she laid around a lot. Wouldn't even eat peanut butter/garlic balls (gross to me but a delicacy to goats). 48 hours later and she gobbled up it up.
I have to make a decision about Rosie. If she pulls through this (and I have my doubts - the vet didn't say it but I could tell she thinks its a death sentence) I will have to retire her. I've had her for 3 years and only the first year did I get milk from her. I got one doeling from her that year who died the following year. So at this point, I wasted my money buying her and feeding her for 2 years.
Life with goats is sometimes hard.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Mastitis...it's not just for women
Rosie has been feeling poorly for about a week. I noticed it a week after kidding. She ate her alfalfa pellets and black oil sunflower seeds with little enthusiasm. I had wormed her so though maybe that was the problem, especially since she started perking up a few days later. But she still wasn't back to her normal self and she was kicking her kids off quite a bit as they were nursing on her CONSTANTLY. About 6 days after I noticed her feeling badly, I gave her some B-Complex and a antibiotic. She ate well that evening. Something prompted me to check her udder, and sure enough, it was lumpy. I taped her teats that night so I could do a mastitis (udder infection) test in the morning. By taping her teats with first aid tape, the kids can't nurse on her. If they are nursing I get zero milk.
Morning comes and at 6am I'm out in the barn trying to get Rosie on the milk stand. She is pretty weak and falls getting on the stand with her head in the restraint so she would basically strangle herself if she didn't get up. So I had to help her and let me tell you, she is HEAVY! 150# I'd guess. Once all is under control, I follow the instructions and squirt milk in the mastitis tester cups (she didn't have much milk even though she was taped all night - she should have had a full udder). Then I put in the appropriate amount of blue testing solution, then I swirl. Within 30 seconds the liquid becomes the consistency of pudding that hasn't set up yet - if it remains liquid there is no infection detected. I quickly get online and ask the people in my favorite goat forum what I should do. I'm basically doing the right things but need to add an antibiotic teat infusion, an oxytocin shot (to get her milk flowing better) and massage her udder frequently. And since her milk production is low, her babies aren't getting enough to eat so I got out the bottle and got one to take it (it is always a challenge to get kids to take a bottle when they have only been nursing - same as with human kids) but the other couldn't figure out what to do with it.
On my way to work I got the infusion from the feed store. Thank goodness they open at 7am!. I was scared because the applicator is much larger than the hole it needs to go into. All morning I was thinking about how unpleasant it would be for her. So after all that worrying I get home and it really wasn't that bad. She didn't even notice. So then I got to spend 15 minutes or so rubbing it up into her udder. Then I taped her teats so that the kids wouldn't suck all the antibiotic out. Meanwhile, Paul managed to get the other kid to take a bottle. Boy was he hungry!
I repeated the infusion 12 hours later but had to keep up massage and milking her frequently. I kept her separated from her kids for a full 24 hours but once she started feeling well enough to call for them I decided to reunite them. Plus they can do the frequent milking instead of me having to do it. 4 days after the infusion she still has pretty good sized lumps in her udder but they seem to be loosening up, which is a good sign. I've also been giving her vitamin C and probiotics as well as some aspirin to help with the inflammation. I was hoping to see faster improvement. I read online that goats love garlic and it can help clear up mastitis. We had some old dried up garlic and I offered it to her and sure enough, she ate it. Daisy was LOVING the garlic and kept trying to get it from Rosie.
I hate to say it, but Rosie has been a problem every year since I got her. The first year after she kidded all of her hair fell out and she got mites so I had to treat her for that. The second year she didn't get pregnant at all so she wasn't earning her keep. This year she has mastitis. It might be time for her to go to a retirement home. She is 8 years old after all, and most breeding does only live 10 years or so and die from kidding related complications.
Morning comes and at 6am I'm out in the barn trying to get Rosie on the milk stand. She is pretty weak and falls getting on the stand with her head in the restraint so she would basically strangle herself if she didn't get up. So I had to help her and let me tell you, she is HEAVY! 150# I'd guess. Once all is under control, I follow the instructions and squirt milk in the mastitis tester cups (she didn't have much milk even though she was taped all night - she should have had a full udder). Then I put in the appropriate amount of blue testing solution, then I swirl. Within 30 seconds the liquid becomes the consistency of pudding that hasn't set up yet - if it remains liquid there is no infection detected. I quickly get online and ask the people in my favorite goat forum what I should do. I'm basically doing the right things but need to add an antibiotic teat infusion, an oxytocin shot (to get her milk flowing better) and massage her udder frequently. And since her milk production is low, her babies aren't getting enough to eat so I got out the bottle and got one to take it (it is always a challenge to get kids to take a bottle when they have only been nursing - same as with human kids) but the other couldn't figure out what to do with it.
On my way to work I got the infusion from the feed store. Thank goodness they open at 7am!. I was scared because the applicator is much larger than the hole it needs to go into. All morning I was thinking about how unpleasant it would be for her. So after all that worrying I get home and it really wasn't that bad. She didn't even notice. So then I got to spend 15 minutes or so rubbing it up into her udder. Then I taped her teats so that the kids wouldn't suck all the antibiotic out. Meanwhile, Paul managed to get the other kid to take a bottle. Boy was he hungry!
I repeated the infusion 12 hours later but had to keep up massage and milking her frequently. I kept her separated from her kids for a full 24 hours but once she started feeling well enough to call for them I decided to reunite them. Plus they can do the frequent milking instead of me having to do it. 4 days after the infusion she still has pretty good sized lumps in her udder but they seem to be loosening up, which is a good sign. I've also been giving her vitamin C and probiotics as well as some aspirin to help with the inflammation. I was hoping to see faster improvement. I read online that goats love garlic and it can help clear up mastitis. We had some old dried up garlic and I offered it to her and sure enough, she ate it. Daisy was LOVING the garlic and kept trying to get it from Rosie.
I hate to say it, but Rosie has been a problem every year since I got her. The first year after she kidded all of her hair fell out and she got mites so I had to treat her for that. The second year she didn't get pregnant at all so she wasn't earning her keep. This year she has mastitis. It might be time for her to go to a retirement home. She is 8 years old after all, and most breeding does only live 10 years or so and die from kidding related complications.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Always trust your gut instinct!
You know those days when your gut tells you one thing but you don't listen even though you know you should? Friday was one of those days.
Rosie was due to kid on Thursday. No signs of kidding. Friday morning I check her and I think I might see some goo but it could just be the poor light. P checked her all day long every hour or two. Nothing to note except that she stayed in the barn all day. Before he left for work he said she was just standing there looking at him. That was at 2:45. I usually get home from work at 4:30. Well, since it was a nice day out and the boss was out of town, I was able to leave at 3:15 so I decided I'd go to the gym and get home around my usual time.
I get home all sweaty and in my gym clothes still because I figured I'd wash my car and then shower, so I go inside and drop my stuff off, get a couple of rags for washing the car, put them on my trunk on my way to the barn to check on things. I open the door and see Rosie standing there with a baby stuck halfway out!!! I drop my phone and my sunglasses into a flower pot by the door (it took me 24 hours to remember that's where my sunglasses ended up) and go grab gloves out of the birthing kit (thank goodness I have one of those so I know where to go instead of frantically running around looking for gloves, towels, etc.) and head into the stall. The kid is out up to it's shoulders with one leg sticking straight out. It's been stuck long enough that all the goo is off of it and it's breathing and bleating. So there I am, in completely the wrong clothes, trying to figure out what the heck I am going to do. Can't push it back in to reposition it because it won't be able to breathe. So I put my hand in to feel around. Can't feel the leg at all. I decided the first thing to try is pulling. I grab onto that slippery little leg and pull. And pull. I dig my feet in and pull with both arms on that poor little leg. I'm worried that I will dislocate it but that's better than not getting the baby out. Rosie is screaming in pain and is pushing as I'm pulling. Finally we make progress and the kid comes out - a buckling. Rosie immediately starts cleaning him. Seems no worse for the wear but I really should have listened to that inner voice that told me to go straight home and hit the gymn later. Phew!
Ok, time to breathe for a minute. I go get a chair and put it in the stall because I know she has another baby in there. She is just too huge for there to be a single, especially since this buckling was average size. Sis-in-law walks over to keep me company for a bit as I'm waiting. I see Rosie start doing some pushing. She is shaking she is straining so far. But after 20 minutes there is still no baby. I'm starting to worry that the second one is in a bad position. I get online and go to my favorite goat page on Facebook and post a message. Within seconds people are giving me advice, but before I have a chance to do anything, Rosie lays down and I see the bubble.
Let me explain the bubble. In my experience, a goat's water doesn't break prior to birth (unlike humans) so the first thing visible is a bubble. Inside that bubble you want to see a nose/mouth (usually the tongue is sticking out for some reason) resting on two hooves. That means proper presentation. Anything else is bad news and means going in to reposition - thankfully I haven't had to do that before.
So there's the bubble which means the baby will be out soon. But what does Rosie do? She stands up!!! I forgot that she kids standing up. Which means if I'm not there, the kid will fall 3 feet to the ground! She isn't the brightest goat in the barn. Anyhow, that kid comes out fairly easily, though I did pull gently just to help her a bit since she was pretty exhausted. Another buckling. I was really hoping for a doeling since Rosie is getting older and I want one of her girls to raise as a milker. Oh well.
I check out the kids and get them standing and notice that one of them has really floppy legs. His knee joints bend both ways. One leg is much worse than the other and he can't stand on it without it flopping forwards. So I get onto my goat forum again and ask what to do. Selenium they all say (Western Wa is deficient in selenium which can cause fertility problems, difficulty kidding and muscle weakness). I had given Rosie and injection in December AND in May so I was surprised her kid was deficient. But it won't hurt to try because I don't have any other options. I inject the newborn kid with selenium which, let me tell, you isn't easy since they are so squirmy.
The next day he is standing and walking but one leg is still funky. They say to give him a second dose. The following day, he seems to be all better! Both legs are working properly and he's playing with his brother.
Kidding season is now over and I just get to enjoy their antics. Next up (starting in late August) is breeding season!
Rosie was due to kid on Thursday. No signs of kidding. Friday morning I check her and I think I might see some goo but it could just be the poor light. P checked her all day long every hour or two. Nothing to note except that she stayed in the barn all day. Before he left for work he said she was just standing there looking at him. That was at 2:45. I usually get home from work at 4:30. Well, since it was a nice day out and the boss was out of town, I was able to leave at 3:15 so I decided I'd go to the gym and get home around my usual time.
I get home all sweaty and in my gym clothes still because I figured I'd wash my car and then shower, so I go inside and drop my stuff off, get a couple of rags for washing the car, put them on my trunk on my way to the barn to check on things. I open the door and see Rosie standing there with a baby stuck halfway out!!! I drop my phone and my sunglasses into a flower pot by the door (it took me 24 hours to remember that's where my sunglasses ended up) and go grab gloves out of the birthing kit (thank goodness I have one of those so I know where to go instead of frantically running around looking for gloves, towels, etc.) and head into the stall. The kid is out up to it's shoulders with one leg sticking straight out. It's been stuck long enough that all the goo is off of it and it's breathing and bleating. So there I am, in completely the wrong clothes, trying to figure out what the heck I am going to do. Can't push it back in to reposition it because it won't be able to breathe. So I put my hand in to feel around. Can't feel the leg at all. I decided the first thing to try is pulling. I grab onto that slippery little leg and pull. And pull. I dig my feet in and pull with both arms on that poor little leg. I'm worried that I will dislocate it but that's better than not getting the baby out. Rosie is screaming in pain and is pushing as I'm pulling. Finally we make progress and the kid comes out - a buckling. Rosie immediately starts cleaning him. Seems no worse for the wear but I really should have listened to that inner voice that told me to go straight home and hit the gymn later. Phew!
Ok, time to breathe for a minute. I go get a chair and put it in the stall because I know she has another baby in there. She is just too huge for there to be a single, especially since this buckling was average size. Sis-in-law walks over to keep me company for a bit as I'm waiting. I see Rosie start doing some pushing. She is shaking she is straining so far. But after 20 minutes there is still no baby. I'm starting to worry that the second one is in a bad position. I get online and go to my favorite goat page on Facebook and post a message. Within seconds people are giving me advice, but before I have a chance to do anything, Rosie lays down and I see the bubble.
Let me explain the bubble. In my experience, a goat's water doesn't break prior to birth (unlike humans) so the first thing visible is a bubble. Inside that bubble you want to see a nose/mouth (usually the tongue is sticking out for some reason) resting on two hooves. That means proper presentation. Anything else is bad news and means going in to reposition - thankfully I haven't had to do that before.
So there's the bubble which means the baby will be out soon. But what does Rosie do? She stands up!!! I forgot that she kids standing up. Which means if I'm not there, the kid will fall 3 feet to the ground! She isn't the brightest goat in the barn. Anyhow, that kid comes out fairly easily, though I did pull gently just to help her a bit since she was pretty exhausted. Another buckling. I was really hoping for a doeling since Rosie is getting older and I want one of her girls to raise as a milker. Oh well.
I check out the kids and get them standing and notice that one of them has really floppy legs. His knee joints bend both ways. One leg is much worse than the other and he can't stand on it without it flopping forwards. So I get onto my goat forum again and ask what to do. Selenium they all say (Western Wa is deficient in selenium which can cause fertility problems, difficulty kidding and muscle weakness). I had given Rosie and injection in December AND in May so I was surprised her kid was deficient. But it won't hurt to try because I don't have any other options. I inject the newborn kid with selenium which, let me tell, you isn't easy since they are so squirmy.
The next day he is standing and walking but one leg is still funky. They say to give him a second dose. The following day, he seems to be all better! Both legs are working properly and he's playing with his brother.
Kidding season is now over and I just get to enjoy their antics. Next up (starting in late August) is breeding season!
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Babies....finally!
After driving P crazy by giving him daily udder updates, Daisy finally had her kids. She was due on Thursday and had them the following Monday. Average gestation is 150 days (which was Thursday) but they can go 5 days either direction. So she kidded on day 154. The only sign she was getting close was that on Thursday her ligaments were loose and Sunday her udder was starting to firm up. On Monday morning when I checked her at 6:30am her ligaments were super loose and her udder was very firm. No normal signs of labor. Her vulva looked normal and not swollen. She had zero discharge. She wasn't pacing, pawing at straw, talking more than usual, arching her back. Nothing. So I figured it would be later in the day or towards the evening. P checked her at 8:30am or so when he was milking. No change except he said she was a little standoffish. Checked her at 9am. No change. I asked him to take a look around 11:40am before he left for a hair cut and I got a frantic phone call "Call the hair dresser and reschedule my appointment! Daisy had her babies!" Dang it!!!!! We missed it!
Personally I think they are just about the cutest babies ever born on our mini-farm. The mom is a Saanen/Boer cross and the dad is an Oberhasli who happens to be naturally polled (hornless). So they seem to have gotten all sorts of pretty coloring from the multiple breeds and I think they may be polled as well because at 3 days old I still don't feel any horn buds growing on their heads.
At 2 days old their mom already has them out in the field while she grazes. She is such a great mom! The dogs were eyeing the kids through the fence and she was making this strange thumping sound in her throat, warning the dogs to keep away.
There was much discussion about who these goats belong to. Daisy belongs to G and he was under the impression that he would get her babies if they were girls and he would give one to D since we had to sell her runty buck a few months ago. Well then E chimed in that she wanted a goat (even though she hasn't wanted one up until now). So we parents made an executive decision that D and E get the babies, with the understanding that a) the goats can be sold at any time if it is determined that they are not good milkers or they fail to thrive or have an attitude problem and b) they must spend time with their goat and take care of it or we will reconsider ownership.
As I was out in the field yesterday playing with the kids, and even later that night as I was filling water buckets in the barn, I was thinking about how much I love my life, even though it is a lot of work. When I was a kid I went over to my neighbors place every day after school for years to help her walk her herd of Nubian goats. I watched babies being born and I learned how to milk, came home with gallon jars of goat milk that no one in the house would drink except me and I generally fell in love with goats (I was probably the only 16 year old at Mariner High School that had her own goat), though at the time I thought the neighbor's horse was my best friend. I always envisioned that I would have a farm with a horse when I grew up and maybe some goats. It's funny how the goats made a bigger impression on my life. I wish Sue were still alive so that I could show her how much she influenced my life.
~T
Here they are just minutes old - 2 doelings. They were still all wet and covered with goo when he found them so they had obviously just been born. But they were up and on their feet and nursing in record time. The kids and P had pretty much already named them by the time I got home. The white one is Sunny and the brown one is Windy. Because they were born on a very windy sunny day.
Personally I think they are just about the cutest babies ever born on our mini-farm. The mom is a Saanen/Boer cross and the dad is an Oberhasli who happens to be naturally polled (hornless). So they seem to have gotten all sorts of pretty coloring from the multiple breeds and I think they may be polled as well because at 3 days old I still don't feel any horn buds growing on their heads.
At 2 days old their mom already has them out in the field while she grazes. She is such a great mom! The dogs were eyeing the kids through the fence and she was making this strange thumping sound in her throat, warning the dogs to keep away.
There was much discussion about who these goats belong to. Daisy belongs to G and he was under the impression that he would get her babies if they were girls and he would give one to D since we had to sell her runty buck a few months ago. Well then E chimed in that she wanted a goat (even though she hasn't wanted one up until now). So we parents made an executive decision that D and E get the babies, with the understanding that a) the goats can be sold at any time if it is determined that they are not good milkers or they fail to thrive or have an attitude problem and b) they must spend time with their goat and take care of it or we will reconsider ownership.
As I was out in the field yesterday playing with the kids, and even later that night as I was filling water buckets in the barn, I was thinking about how much I love my life, even though it is a lot of work. When I was a kid I went over to my neighbors place every day after school for years to help her walk her herd of Nubian goats. I watched babies being born and I learned how to milk, came home with gallon jars of goat milk that no one in the house would drink except me and I generally fell in love with goats (I was probably the only 16 year old at Mariner High School that had her own goat), though at the time I thought the neighbor's horse was my best friend. I always envisioned that I would have a farm with a horse when I grew up and maybe some goats. It's funny how the goats made a bigger impression on my life. I wish Sue were still alive so that I could show her how much she influenced my life.
~T
Friday, April 26, 2013
Spring = new life
It is definitely spring on our little mini-farm. The sheep welcomed the first day of March by having twin ram lambs. My thought as I left for work that morning "Hmm. March 1. The start of lambing season!" I got home and the ewe had done just that.
We have been busy cleaning up the yard, mowing, weeding, tilling the garden, etc. This year we are rather late on the garden since my parents have both been ill and I haven't had time to devote to it. It's been plowed a couple times and probably needs one more pass before it's really ready for planting. I might just have to buy seedlings this year - family comes before garden.
Right now I am waiting for kids. Goat kids. Poor Daisy looks like she might burst:
She was due yesterday. I've been checking her ligaments daily (not a gross job - just feel next to the tailbone to see if there are ligaments there or not - if not it means she will kid soon, in theory) and they definitely loosened yesterday but nothing new to report today. I swear I felt kids moving in her belly the other day. Or she just has a very energetic digestive system. But she does have an udder that has developed so she MUST be pregnant, right? Though does have been known to develop what is known as a precocious udder (an udder for no good reason).
Rosie looks ginormous. Even what is called (in the goat world) her hoo-ha looks like she is preggo. But she fooled me last year so I just don't know.
This year:
Last year:
See how her belly is a different shape this year than last? I'm hoping that's because she has kids growing in there. I really think I felt kids moving around. The only thing I have to compare it to though is what it felt like when I was pregnant and could feel movement. But goats have a totally different digestive system than humans so maybe I'm just feeling digestion? My instinct tells me I'm feeling kids but I don't want to be disappointed so my head is trying to talk me out of it. She isn't due until the end of May so I have quite a while to wait.
I HATE WAITING!
Goats usually kid around the time they are fed. My does get free range pasture all day but around dusk I give them some hay, alfalfa pellets and sunflower seeds. So I am hoping they kid around then. I would love it if they would not interfere with the very rare date night that Paul and I get tonight, so I'm hoping Daisy waits until tomorrow. Though on the down side, that means she could kid tomorrow while Paul is at work I am home alone with all 3 human kids. But a date on a Friday night is so rare that I am willing to make that sacrifice.
~T
We have been busy cleaning up the yard, mowing, weeding, tilling the garden, etc. This year we are rather late on the garden since my parents have both been ill and I haven't had time to devote to it. It's been plowed a couple times and probably needs one more pass before it's really ready for planting. I might just have to buy seedlings this year - family comes before garden.
Right now I am waiting for kids. Goat kids. Poor Daisy looks like she might burst:
She was due yesterday. I've been checking her ligaments daily (not a gross job - just feel next to the tailbone to see if there are ligaments there or not - if not it means she will kid soon, in theory) and they definitely loosened yesterday but nothing new to report today. I swear I felt kids moving in her belly the other day. Or she just has a very energetic digestive system. But she does have an udder that has developed so she MUST be pregnant, right? Though does have been known to develop what is known as a precocious udder (an udder for no good reason).
Rosie looks ginormous. Even what is called (in the goat world) her hoo-ha looks like she is preggo. But she fooled me last year so I just don't know.
This year:
See how her belly is a different shape this year than last? I'm hoping that's because she has kids growing in there. I really think I felt kids moving around. The only thing I have to compare it to though is what it felt like when I was pregnant and could feel movement. But goats have a totally different digestive system than humans so maybe I'm just feeling digestion? My instinct tells me I'm feeling kids but I don't want to be disappointed so my head is trying to talk me out of it. She isn't due until the end of May so I have quite a while to wait.
I HATE WAITING!
Goats usually kid around the time they are fed. My does get free range pasture all day but around dusk I give them some hay, alfalfa pellets and sunflower seeds. So I am hoping they kid around then. I would love it if they would not interfere with the very rare date night that Paul and I get tonight, so I'm hoping Daisy waits until tomorrow. Though on the down side, that means she could kid tomorrow while Paul is at work I am home alone with all 3 human kids. But a date on a Friday night is so rare that I am willing to make that sacrifice.
~T
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Dog blog
When we adopted a German Short Hair Pointer/Chocolate Lab cross, I researched the cross, and not the individual breeds. Turns out one of the characteristics of Pointers is they are boisterous and have a long "puppy" phase. You know when people say their Labs calm down after a couple years? Well, apparently he did not get that Lab trait. He is like Tigger. When I get home he barks at me because he is so excited to see me (they are very devoted) but he bounces next to me which results in him barking in my ear, which is not a great way to come home from work. I can tell him to go get his ball and he often will go in search of a toy - if he can't find one he has been known to bring bucket lids, 4 foot long sticks, or any other weird thing he determines is a toy. He is so boisterous that we can't allow him to walk around the house because his tail knocks into things. Have I mentioned his tail? I have never seen a dog that can be so destructive with just a tail. And he wags it with so much energy that he can give me a bruise.
For the last couple of months I have been talking about how much I HATE this dog. It all came to a head last weekend when he knocked G down for the 3rd time in as many days. I admit it - I yelled, I cursed, I vented (sorry P) and threatened to give the damn dog away.
Once I calmed down I realized something needed to be done. One of my pet peeves is dogs without manners, and Murphy has more bad manner moments than good ones. So I decided that I DO need to make an attempt to like him and make him into a more well behaved dog. Have you heard the phrase "a good dog is a tired dog?" Well that is my goal. Obviously I can't do anything during the day when I'm at work so he is left to his own devices. Apparently Pointers need vigorous exercise every day (or they get bored and destructive which is obvious by all the holes he has dug in the yard and the pots, gloves, toys, etc. he has chewed up), more than just being left outside with the other dog to play all day. Now that it is light when I get home I am going to try and let him in the field (with the animals put away of course because Pointers AND Labs are hunting dogs) and throw his ball until he is so tired he gives up.
Speaking of exercise - another characteristic of a Pointer is limitless energy. So maybe my aforementioned plan won't work, but at least it's worth a try. And after 30 minutes of ball chasing and me giving him treats when he brought me the ball and dropped it, he was getting pretty consistent. But then he got tired of ball chasing (maybe it was because I kept throwing it in the ginormous puddles in the field and he was tired of being wet?) and took off, nose to the ground, hunting for something. And then he and Opal (the dog that I LOVE) ran and ran and ran around the field.
I do hope that one of these days I love both dogs equally. But for now I will settle for loving one and liking the other. I've got a lot a work ahead of me.
~T
For the last couple of months I have been talking about how much I HATE this dog. It all came to a head last weekend when he knocked G down for the 3rd time in as many days. I admit it - I yelled, I cursed, I vented (sorry P) and threatened to give the damn dog away.
Once I calmed down I realized something needed to be done. One of my pet peeves is dogs without manners, and Murphy has more bad manner moments than good ones. So I decided that I DO need to make an attempt to like him and make him into a more well behaved dog. Have you heard the phrase "a good dog is a tired dog?" Well that is my goal. Obviously I can't do anything during the day when I'm at work so he is left to his own devices. Apparently Pointers need vigorous exercise every day (or they get bored and destructive which is obvious by all the holes he has dug in the yard and the pots, gloves, toys, etc. he has chewed up), more than just being left outside with the other dog to play all day. Now that it is light when I get home I am going to try and let him in the field (with the animals put away of course because Pointers AND Labs are hunting dogs) and throw his ball until he is so tired he gives up.
Speaking of exercise - another characteristic of a Pointer is limitless energy. So maybe my aforementioned plan won't work, but at least it's worth a try. And after 30 minutes of ball chasing and me giving him treats when he brought me the ball and dropped it, he was getting pretty consistent. But then he got tired of ball chasing (maybe it was because I kept throwing it in the ginormous puddles in the field and he was tired of being wet?) and took off, nose to the ground, hunting for something. And then he and Opal (the dog that I LOVE) ran and ran and ran around the field.
I do hope that one of these days I love both dogs equally. But for now I will settle for loving one and liking the other. I've got a lot a work ahead of me.
~T
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Faced with mortality
I know it seems like I deal with death often on the mini-farm. And as sad as it is, the death of some animals is something I've gotten used to, even though it makes me sad. But when faced with the mortality of a parent, I'm struggling.
Last night as I sat on the couch snuggling with my son while reading one of the Narnia books out loud, I receive a call from my dad. Now something you need to understand about my relationship with my dad....it is basically a relationship via my mom. We talk when we see each other but not usually about anything very deep. The closest we got was when I lived with them for a month during my divorce and he made me feel safe. I call him on his birthday and Father's Day, but he NEVER calls me. I can only remember one other time he called me and that was once to discuss birthday or xmas presents for my mom. Oh wait, I think he was returning my call to him.
Anyhow, I tell G to hang on a second and answer with a feeling of dread, thinking "something happened to mom." The reason this was my first thought is that my siblings and I had a lot of discussion over xmas about mom's health because her back has been really hurting her and we are worried. Much to my shock, my dad was calling to give me news about himself. All I could hear at first was the dreaded word - CANCER. Breathe. Try not to start bawling. Listen to my dad calmly explaining the details: tonsil cancer, caught early, 85% success rate, surgery in 7-10 days to take out tonsil and affected lymph nodes, PET scan shows it has not spread, radiation for 6 weeks.
I manage to keep it together and ask him a few questions around the painful lump in my throat. I tell him I love him and we hang up. Then the tears burn their way down my face, releasing the pressure from that painful lump in my throat. G asks me from the couch what is wrong. He can't see me but he heard my half of the conversation. I didn't want to have to talk to an 8 year old about something like this, but I can't keep it from him. I did tell him that I needed a minute so I could tell him without crying. And amazingly, once I started telling him, the urge to sob began to pass, for the moment. The act of assuring him everything was going to be ok, helped me feel it was going to be ok, but I will admit to shedding more tears once he was in bed and I was alone. Tears not so much of fear that this cancer was going to kill my daddy, but tears for the fact that my parents are aging and our roles will soon be reversing. Mourning that brief time we had where we were all ok and I didn't need their emotional support (other than loving me for who I am) and they didn't need mine.
Today I am looking at my role as the eldest of 4 children. I feel I have the responsibility to keep all of us focused on the positive rather than what "could" happen. Many years of therapy taught me to focus on NOW and not live in the FUTURE. But I also have to learn how to deal with the hard emotional stuff without turning into a blubbering idiot. I cry when I am emotional - happy, sad, confused, frustrated, relieved - it all manifests as tears. I see someone else crying and it makes me cry. And unfortunately, I am not pretty when I cry. I get that horrible blotchy, swollen face. P can always tell when I've been crying even when I try to hide it.
I know billions of people have been in my shoes over the course of history, but this is my first time wearing these shoes. I may not know the right way to walk in them, but walk in them I will, even if it makes me look ugly.
~T
Last night as I sat on the couch snuggling with my son while reading one of the Narnia books out loud, I receive a call from my dad. Now something you need to understand about my relationship with my dad....it is basically a relationship via my mom. We talk when we see each other but not usually about anything very deep. The closest we got was when I lived with them for a month during my divorce and he made me feel safe. I call him on his birthday and Father's Day, but he NEVER calls me. I can only remember one other time he called me and that was once to discuss birthday or xmas presents for my mom. Oh wait, I think he was returning my call to him.
Anyhow, I tell G to hang on a second and answer with a feeling of dread, thinking "something happened to mom." The reason this was my first thought is that my siblings and I had a lot of discussion over xmas about mom's health because her back has been really hurting her and we are worried. Much to my shock, my dad was calling to give me news about himself. All I could hear at first was the dreaded word - CANCER. Breathe. Try not to start bawling. Listen to my dad calmly explaining the details: tonsil cancer, caught early, 85% success rate, surgery in 7-10 days to take out tonsil and affected lymph nodes, PET scan shows it has not spread, radiation for 6 weeks.
I manage to keep it together and ask him a few questions around the painful lump in my throat. I tell him I love him and we hang up. Then the tears burn their way down my face, releasing the pressure from that painful lump in my throat. G asks me from the couch what is wrong. He can't see me but he heard my half of the conversation. I didn't want to have to talk to an 8 year old about something like this, but I can't keep it from him. I did tell him that I needed a minute so I could tell him without crying. And amazingly, once I started telling him, the urge to sob began to pass, for the moment. The act of assuring him everything was going to be ok, helped me feel it was going to be ok, but I will admit to shedding more tears once he was in bed and I was alone. Tears not so much of fear that this cancer was going to kill my daddy, but tears for the fact that my parents are aging and our roles will soon be reversing. Mourning that brief time we had where we were all ok and I didn't need their emotional support (other than loving me for who I am) and they didn't need mine.
Today I am looking at my role as the eldest of 4 children. I feel I have the responsibility to keep all of us focused on the positive rather than what "could" happen. Many years of therapy taught me to focus on NOW and not live in the FUTURE. But I also have to learn how to deal with the hard emotional stuff without turning into a blubbering idiot. I cry when I am emotional - happy, sad, confused, frustrated, relieved - it all manifests as tears. I see someone else crying and it makes me cry. And unfortunately, I am not pretty when I cry. I get that horrible blotchy, swollen face. P can always tell when I've been crying even when I try to hide it.
I know billions of people have been in my shoes over the course of history, but this is my first time wearing these shoes. I may not know the right way to walk in them, but walk in them I will, even if it makes me look ugly.
~T
Monday, January 14, 2013
Experiences to learn from
Well the weak goat kid died cuddled up on the couch with me on Thursday night. I got home that evening and he had been out in the barn for the day, had eaten well from the bottle a couple of times. But when I went out he was all fluffed up and standing all alone not moving. I tried to get him to take a bottle but he couldn't latch on. I learned that if they are cold they often have trouble latching. So I brought him into the house and got him warmed up. Fed him a little from a syringe but he just didn't want to swallow it. I had to go out for a bit so I gave him to sis-in-law to warm up. Got home and he was floppy. Couldn't stand up and was super lethargic. Gave him some nutri-drench, which is a concentrated electrolyte, and a b-complex shot. About 10 minutes later he perked up a bit. Was able to stand on his own but still wouldn't take a bottle. Kept syringe feeding him but shortly after he became floppy and lethargic again. His mouth was cold inside, which is another thing I learned - you can tell if they are cold by sticking a finger in their mouth. So I heated up some flax seed bags in the microwave and put them under him and around him while I had him in a blanket on my lap. His temp went up and his mouth was warm, but he was still super floppy. I rubbed him vigorously but still got no real response. I had tried all my tricks and the only thing left was to try tube feeding, which I had never done before. I was thinking of waiting until P got home but it seemed urgent. So I watched a couple of youtube videos and went for it. Last year I bought the tube online from the goat supply place, so at least I had the tools. But I needed a large syringe which would fit on the end of the tube. After 3 trips out to the barn in the freezing cold, I found one that would work. The instructions said to give the kid 1-2 oz. I opted for 1 oz since he was so small and that was the only syringe I had. To tube feed a kid, you measure from where you think their stomach is to their mouth and make a mark on the tube. Then you insert it into the side of their mouth and feed it down into their stomach. It seems like a really horrible, difficult thing to do, but it was actually really easy. It slipped in without any problems or fighting. Once it is in place, you have to listen at the end of the tube to make sure you hear stomach sounds and not breathing sounds. If there are breathing sounds, it is in the lungs so you have to remove and reinsert it. The first time I wasn't sure. Didn't hear gurggling but didn't hear breathing. To be on the safe side, I removed and reinserted it. Heard definite gurrgling. I gave him the syringe full of milk. When removing the tube, it is important to crimp it so any remaining liquid doesn't drain into the lungs on the way out.
Ok, job done. Goat kid was not coughing, spluttering, choking or foaming at the mouth and didn't die, so I knew I'd done it correctly. I hoped to see some improvement in 20 minutes, but there was not change. I took him back to the couch and waited. He breathing became more labored over the course of a couple hours. He had a couple of seizures where he went stiff and trashed about. I kept my hand on his side because his breaths were coming fewer and farther between. I kept waiting for the next breath until at last I waited and the next breath never came. So at midnight, after hours of trying, he went to goat heaven.
I cried a little. I tried so hard to take care of him, but he was just too weak to begin with. And without his mom caring for him, he just didn't have a good enough start. I learned a lot from the experience though. I am sad when I lose an animal but I am trying to remember that I care for them the best that I can and that I learn something in the process. Without the losses I've had this year, I wouldn't have learned the things that kept two of my other goats from dying. So with every death, I hope to save many more lives and be the best goat keeper that I can.
~T
Ok, job done. Goat kid was not coughing, spluttering, choking or foaming at the mouth and didn't die, so I knew I'd done it correctly. I hoped to see some improvement in 20 minutes, but there was not change. I took him back to the couch and waited. He breathing became more labored over the course of a couple hours. He had a couple of seizures where he went stiff and trashed about. I kept my hand on his side because his breaths were coming fewer and farther between. I kept waiting for the next breath until at last I waited and the next breath never came. So at midnight, after hours of trying, he went to goat heaven.
I cried a little. I tried so hard to take care of him, but he was just too weak to begin with. And without his mom caring for him, he just didn't have a good enough start. I learned a lot from the experience though. I am sad when I lose an animal but I am trying to remember that I care for them the best that I can and that I learn something in the process. Without the losses I've had this year, I wouldn't have learned the things that kept two of my other goats from dying. So with every death, I hope to save many more lives and be the best goat keeper that I can.
~T
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Just call me vet, goat midwife, crazy or anything else that fits
Yes I know, it has been ages since the last post. But between getting married in September and sick goats and work I have been swamped.
So here's what has been happening:
October - got back from honeymoon in Kauai (I wish I'd just stayed there) found one of my does, Jill, was looking skinny and stopped producing milk. Started upping her grain ration and treated her for coccidiosis (a parasite they get from grass) since she had diarrhea. After a while she would only stand fluffed up in the corner of the stall and went off her feed. Called the vet out who tube fed her, gave her antibiotics and b-complex injections and gave her a 25% chance of recovery. Knowing what I know now, I would have wormed the goat too. She died a couple weeks later.
November - Bought a new (supposedly pregnant but didn't look like it) doe named Bella. Jill's 4 month old son Prince starts to show the same symptoms as his mom. I call the vet and talk to her and she said it sounds like he has a fatal gut disease. I followed the same regimen as I did his mom but with the addition of a chemical wormer. I thought he was a goner after the wormer. Just looked worse and worse. But a week and a half later, his poop returned to normal and the life returned to him. He is still super small for his age but he is recovering well. Bella seems to be losing weight and has diarrhea too. Treat her for coccidiosis and for tapeworms and give b-complex injections. Give her extra grain and hay daily.
December - Bella still looking skinny but slightly better. Decide to give her a different type of wormer for a different set of worms. She is still looking skinny and definitely anemic because the insides of her eyelids are very pale. Begin giving her an iron supplement as well as probiotics and continue b-complex a couple times a week.
January - Buy a buck to hopefully breed with Bella and Daisy. Watching Bella and Daisy for heat. See no signs but in Bella I see goo on her tail and that's usually a sign of heat, however the new buck is not interested in the slightest so I think I must be mistaken. Not sure what the goo is from though. A week later G and I go out to the barn to give all the goats copper supplements and give Bella an iron injection because the pelleted form is taking too long, although I am starting to see a little bit of improvement in the color inside her eyelids. We walk in the barn and I think I hear babies bleating. I ask G "what was that?" 8 year olds are not as attuned to things so he looked at me like I was crazy. "Did you hear that? Sounds like babies. Is it lambs?" I look in - no lambs. I check the goats. 2 kids!!!! Turns out Bella was pregnant which is why she had the goo. I told P a couple days earlier that I thought she might be a few months pregnant because she was starting to get a little round in the belly and her udder was very slightly developed. Glad that I paid close enough attention to see that something was going on, I just didn't realize what! If I weren't such a blonde, I would have put a reminder on my calendar that based on the date the previous owner told me she was bred, I should watch for kids around Jan 7. But I really really thought she was either not bred or only a few months along and just starting to show. So I send G in the house as fast as he can run to get towels, because it is SNOWING outside and Bella shows no interest in her kids - I try getting her to let them nurse but she kicks them away. One buckling is big and on his feet and ready to go. The other is about half the size and not very vibrant. I wrap one in a towel and hand it to G but it starts hollering and he panics and doesn't want to hold it. So I have him go get sis-in-law and we get the kids into the house and onto a blanket. Bella has no milk so I find some milk replacer from a couple of years ago that will have to do for the time being. We get the big one to take the bottle but the little one is struggling. I am running around like crazy trying to take care of Bella and kids and I haven't had dinner so am about to drop. Instead of eating I run out to the feed store in my goat afterbirth covered pink carhartt jacket and my grimy boots to get powdered colostrum because they need it ASAP. While I was out I got a pizza so we could have something for dinner since I obviously wasn't going to have time to cook. The mother in me wants to take care of everyone else first but sometimes I need to take care of me so I can take care of others. During my absence they got the little one to take some from a bottle and both kids were sleeping. But the smaller one's breathing sounds junky and labored and he's just not energetic. I sit with him on my lap and warm him up. Then I go to Bella and manage to get 12ml of colostrum from her that I fed to the little guy with a syringe. After a couple of hours he started perking up a bit. I finally went to bed at 12:30pm and P took over the 2am feeding and the little one took the bottle. Now the goal is to get Bella to start making milk so we have to put the kids on her every 1-2 hours and let them suck, even if they get nothing. Hopefully they will be so insistent that she finally gives in and accepts them. But at the very least I need MILK because I don't want to be raising kids on formula.
No more does are due to kid until late April and late May. This I am 100% sure of. But I don't know which sheep are pregnant or when they are due so I won't be surprised if I find more surprises in the barn in the coming months. Yes, this is my life.
~T
So here's what has been happening:
October - got back from honeymoon in Kauai (I wish I'd just stayed there) found one of my does, Jill, was looking skinny and stopped producing milk. Started upping her grain ration and treated her for coccidiosis (a parasite they get from grass) since she had diarrhea. After a while she would only stand fluffed up in the corner of the stall and went off her feed. Called the vet out who tube fed her, gave her antibiotics and b-complex injections and gave her a 25% chance of recovery. Knowing what I know now, I would have wormed the goat too. She died a couple weeks later.
November - Bought a new (supposedly pregnant but didn't look like it) doe named Bella. Jill's 4 month old son Prince starts to show the same symptoms as his mom. I call the vet and talk to her and she said it sounds like he has a fatal gut disease. I followed the same regimen as I did his mom but with the addition of a chemical wormer. I thought he was a goner after the wormer. Just looked worse and worse. But a week and a half later, his poop returned to normal and the life returned to him. He is still super small for his age but he is recovering well. Bella seems to be losing weight and has diarrhea too. Treat her for coccidiosis and for tapeworms and give b-complex injections. Give her extra grain and hay daily.
December - Bella still looking skinny but slightly better. Decide to give her a different type of wormer for a different set of worms. She is still looking skinny and definitely anemic because the insides of her eyelids are very pale. Begin giving her an iron supplement as well as probiotics and continue b-complex a couple times a week.
January - Buy a buck to hopefully breed with Bella and Daisy. Watching Bella and Daisy for heat. See no signs but in Bella I see goo on her tail and that's usually a sign of heat, however the new buck is not interested in the slightest so I think I must be mistaken. Not sure what the goo is from though. A week later G and I go out to the barn to give all the goats copper supplements and give Bella an iron injection because the pelleted form is taking too long, although I am starting to see a little bit of improvement in the color inside her eyelids. We walk in the barn and I think I hear babies bleating. I ask G "what was that?" 8 year olds are not as attuned to things so he looked at me like I was crazy. "Did you hear that? Sounds like babies. Is it lambs?" I look in - no lambs. I check the goats. 2 kids!!!! Turns out Bella was pregnant which is why she had the goo. I told P a couple days earlier that I thought she might be a few months pregnant because she was starting to get a little round in the belly and her udder was very slightly developed. Glad that I paid close enough attention to see that something was going on, I just didn't realize what! If I weren't such a blonde, I would have put a reminder on my calendar that based on the date the previous owner told me she was bred, I should watch for kids around Jan 7. But I really really thought she was either not bred or only a few months along and just starting to show. So I send G in the house as fast as he can run to get towels, because it is SNOWING outside and Bella shows no interest in her kids - I try getting her to let them nurse but she kicks them away. One buckling is big and on his feet and ready to go. The other is about half the size and not very vibrant. I wrap one in a towel and hand it to G but it starts hollering and he panics and doesn't want to hold it. So I have him go get sis-in-law and we get the kids into the house and onto a blanket. Bella has no milk so I find some milk replacer from a couple of years ago that will have to do for the time being. We get the big one to take the bottle but the little one is struggling. I am running around like crazy trying to take care of Bella and kids and I haven't had dinner so am about to drop. Instead of eating I run out to the feed store in my goat afterbirth covered pink carhartt jacket and my grimy boots to get powdered colostrum because they need it ASAP. While I was out I got a pizza so we could have something for dinner since I obviously wasn't going to have time to cook. The mother in me wants to take care of everyone else first but sometimes I need to take care of me so I can take care of others. During my absence they got the little one to take some from a bottle and both kids were sleeping. But the smaller one's breathing sounds junky and labored and he's just not energetic. I sit with him on my lap and warm him up. Then I go to Bella and manage to get 12ml of colostrum from her that I fed to the little guy with a syringe. After a couple of hours he started perking up a bit. I finally went to bed at 12:30pm and P took over the 2am feeding and the little one took the bottle. Now the goal is to get Bella to start making milk so we have to put the kids on her every 1-2 hours and let them suck, even if they get nothing. Hopefully they will be so insistent that she finally gives in and accepts them. But at the very least I need MILK because I don't want to be raising kids on formula.
No more does are due to kid until late April and late May. This I am 100% sure of. But I don't know which sheep are pregnant or when they are due so I won't be surprised if I find more surprises in the barn in the coming months. Yes, this is my life.
~T
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Swarms
Whenever I hear the term swarm it strikes fear in me, but now only for a second. Swarms of bees are actually just the way that bee hives reproduce. The queen lays a ton of eggs every day, and some of the bees are in charge of their care. These bees keep the eggs warm, feed them when they hatch, and generally do any tasks required to care for the young. They also will turn one of those eggs into a queen if theirs leaves. Some bees also forage. When the hive wants to reproduce the queen will take a large percentage of bees (mostly foragers) and leave to find a new home. First they gorge themselves on honey. That honey may be the only thing they eat in days. Then the group flies out with the queen to find a new home. They all settle somewhere like a tree branch and send out scouts to look for a new home. This is fascinating. Look up 'Honeybee Democracy' on YouTube or the book with that title if how they accomplish this interests you. Utterly fascinating.
What does all this have to do with an average person in real life? Well, you may see this phenominmom in real life if you are lucky. With more people getting into the hobby there are more swarms.
Things you really should know about swarms:
1 - Because they are so full of honey and have no home to protect the bees are generally very docile.
2 - Like you and I bees become more 'testy' as they become hungrier. Considering that they may go days without a meal, it's
Important to stay away until you know it's safe.
3 - A swarm can be on a branch or similar place for days before finding a suitable place to live.
4 - At first you will see a few bees, and then you will see thousands as they descend to cluster together. Whatever you are doing, stop, and enjoy something you may never see again. This is a good time to search your county (via google) for beekeepers in your area.
5 - It takes anywhere from hours to 3 days to find that perfect new home and the bees will stay clustered in the mean time.
6 - Call a beekeeper early on. It takes time to get ready and get our gear ready. Call me if you can't find a number. I'll point you in the right direction.
Here is a picture of the monster size swarm I was lucky enough to capture a few days ago.
Feel free to ask any questions.
~P
What does all this have to do with an average person in real life? Well, you may see this phenominmom in real life if you are lucky. With more people getting into the hobby there are more swarms.
Things you really should know about swarms:
1 - Because they are so full of honey and have no home to protect the bees are generally very docile.
2 - Like you and I bees become more 'testy' as they become hungrier. Considering that they may go days without a meal, it's
Important to stay away until you know it's safe.
3 - A swarm can be on a branch or similar place for days before finding a suitable place to live.
4 - At first you will see a few bees, and then you will see thousands as they descend to cluster together. Whatever you are doing, stop, and enjoy something you may never see again. This is a good time to search your county (via google) for beekeepers in your area.
5 - It takes anywhere from hours to 3 days to find that perfect new home and the bees will stay clustered in the mean time.
6 - Call a beekeeper early on. It takes time to get ready and get our gear ready. Call me if you can't find a number. I'll point you in the right direction.
Here is a picture of the monster size swarm I was lucky enough to capture a few days ago.
Feel free to ask any questions.
~P
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Current happenings on the farm
After being on vacation for the last week of June, I have finally recovered enough to post. Nothing really monumental is happening, but here goes....
First news is....I bought a new goat. Her name is Daisy and she is a Boer/Saanen cross. Now you might think "don't they already have enough goats?" and the answer is YES. However....we determined that Dashka (the Lamancha/Nubian cross with attitude) gives bad milk. She has poisoned her milk with her bad attitude. At first I thought it was colostrum making it taste bad but a month later it tasted nasty still. Then I thought maybe it was all the new spring grass. I tried feeding her supplemental hay and extra grain. That did nothing for the taste. Well just after getting back from vacation, I began milking Jilly-Boo, my Oberhasli yearling. One taste of her milk made me realize that Dashka just has bad milk. Since Jill's mom Rosie didn't get knocked up this year and isn't in milk, that put me in the market for a new doe. The reasons I chose Daisy amongst all the does on craigslist are:
1. She came from a farm that regularly tests for CAE.
2. She was bottle fed and friendly.
3. She comes from a line of ribbon winning Saanens.
4. She had kids in April so she is in milk.
5. My son tasted her milk before we bought her and declared it "the best milk in the world".
Things I've learned since bringing her home:
1. Boer's are meat goats and very strong and Daisy got that trait.
2. Her milk is very high in butterfat. I have an inch of cream on her milk within a week, unlike the others that it takes two weeks.
3. She is very easy to milk - her orifice size (the size of the hole the milk comes out) is great and she milks out easily and quickly.
4. She thinks she's a person.
5. She is very vocal when she sees us because she thinks she's a person.
6. She uses her Boer strength to push out the stall door when I open it because she thinks she's a person.
7. It hurts when she steps on your foot because she's so heavy.
Other things that are happening....
The garden has beets, snap peas, carrots and swiss chard ready for harvest. The lettuce is starting to bolt so it's getting bitter. The ying/yang beans are begining to get little tiny beans on them and the Blue Wonder pole beans are climbing ever upwards. The broccoli and cauliflower decided to "flower" too young which makes them competely useless. Can't have a nice big head of cauliflower on a tiny little body. So those two crops are a bust this year, sadly. The raspberries are ripening and the tayberry and marionberry aren't far behind.
We got the turkeys out of the brooder box finally and into an outdoor pen. They look a little confused since it's the first time they've ever been outside.
A relative came who lives down the road came over and mowed our fields. I am hopeful that we will have nice pasture going into the fall instead of stands of 8 foot tall dead grass. Hooray!
Things I am behind on...
Weeding the flower beds and garden. Cleaning the kitchen. Folding the laundry. Sweeping the floors. Anyone know a free housecleaner? The kids just don't do a throrough job. Maybe if I paid them.....
~T
First news is....I bought a new goat. Her name is Daisy and she is a Boer/Saanen cross. Now you might think "don't they already have enough goats?" and the answer is YES. However....we determined that Dashka (the Lamancha/Nubian cross with attitude) gives bad milk. She has poisoned her milk with her bad attitude. At first I thought it was colostrum making it taste bad but a month later it tasted nasty still. Then I thought maybe it was all the new spring grass. I tried feeding her supplemental hay and extra grain. That did nothing for the taste. Well just after getting back from vacation, I began milking Jilly-Boo, my Oberhasli yearling. One taste of her milk made me realize that Dashka just has bad milk. Since Jill's mom Rosie didn't get knocked up this year and isn't in milk, that put me in the market for a new doe. The reasons I chose Daisy amongst all the does on craigslist are:
1. She came from a farm that regularly tests for CAE.
2. She was bottle fed and friendly.
3. She comes from a line of ribbon winning Saanens.
4. She had kids in April so she is in milk.
5. My son tasted her milk before we bought her and declared it "the best milk in the world".
Things I've learned since bringing her home:
1. Boer's are meat goats and very strong and Daisy got that trait.
2. Her milk is very high in butterfat. I have an inch of cream on her milk within a week, unlike the others that it takes two weeks.
3. She is very easy to milk - her orifice size (the size of the hole the milk comes out) is great and she milks out easily and quickly.
4. She thinks she's a person.
5. She is very vocal when she sees us because she thinks she's a person.
6. She uses her Boer strength to push out the stall door when I open it because she thinks she's a person.
7. It hurts when she steps on your foot because she's so heavy.
Other things that are happening....
The garden has beets, snap peas, carrots and swiss chard ready for harvest. The lettuce is starting to bolt so it's getting bitter. The ying/yang beans are begining to get little tiny beans on them and the Blue Wonder pole beans are climbing ever upwards. The broccoli and cauliflower decided to "flower" too young which makes them competely useless. Can't have a nice big head of cauliflower on a tiny little body. So those two crops are a bust this year, sadly. The raspberries are ripening and the tayberry and marionberry aren't far behind.
We got the turkeys out of the brooder box finally and into an outdoor pen. They look a little confused since it's the first time they've ever been outside.
A relative came who lives down the road came over and mowed our fields. I am hopeful that we will have nice pasture going into the fall instead of stands of 8 foot tall dead grass. Hooray!
Things I am behind on...
Weeding the flower beds and garden. Cleaning the kitchen. Folding the laundry. Sweeping the floors. Anyone know a free housecleaner? The kids just don't do a throrough job. Maybe if I paid them.....
~T
Monday, June 18, 2012
Neutering goats and sheep (aka how to make a sheep faint)
We have been putting it off and putting it off....neutering our bucklings and ram lamb. The most common method is to use a tool to put a super tight and thick rubber band around the top of the scrotum which then causes it to rot and fall off. Not real pleasant for the kid. Takes quite a while. The new "humane method" is to use a tool often called the Emasculatome or Burdizzo or Ritchey Nipper:
This wicked looking tool crushes the spermatic cord without any incisions, bloodshed or rotting.
So last night P and I took away from the bucklings and the ram lamb the ability to be fathers. Yes, I realize how ironic it is that it was Father's Day. And poor P had to be a part of it. He had a great day otherwise so hopefully he won't hold it against me.
First thing we learned, it is very hard to hold onto a 2 month old buckling. They are very strong. And you have to hold them so the scrotum is at just the right angle. Think of being at the gynecologists office and it will give you an idea. Since P said there was NO WAY IN HELL he was going to take away their manhood, he got the job of holding them in position, which was fine because they were too strong for me.
So I get the tool in place and clamp it down and it locks in place so there is no way that buckling can get out of its grip. I count to 15 and release. He was pissed, as well he should be. Wasn't too happy when I repeated it on the other side. I took a look ad my work and it seemed to be successful. Think of crimping a cord....it pretty much left a neat and tidy depression. No blood, no bruising, no cuts. I did the second buckling but he only had one testicle so he got lucky and only had one side done. Poor guys were walking pretty gingerly and didn't want to come near me but they will get over it. I'd rather have them suffer for a few hours than have them suffer for weeks with the banding system.
P was looking a little pale and he closed his eyes during the process. I tried to be understanding and laughed in my head and not out loud since I could not have done it without his help.
So I said to P "while we are at it, should we do the ram lamb so he doesn't knock up his sister or mother?" He went in and wrestled the ram lamb out. This guy is 3 months old and MUCH stronger than the bucklings (well I guess they are wethers now). We ended up having to tie his feet together. It turns out that sheep have wooly scrotums, so I had to search through the wool to find the right spot. Meanwhile he is trying to get away and I am trying to be fast because I don't want P to get stabbed in the back with his horns. I finally find what I am looking for and the damn spermatic cord keeps slipping out and I cannot get it in the right position to clamp. I am starting to get sweaty now and the lamb's kicking has flung mud onto my face and hair (and I know that said mud is mostly poop but I am trying not to think about that). I manage to get it in position and warn P that I'm going to clamp. I clamp and the lamb struggles as I start my countdown. And then he is still. Oh crap, did I kill him? I look down and see his head flopped back. I say to P "I think he passed out!" And sure enough, that lamb was out cold. I removed the clamp. He didn't wake up. P and I are laughing so hard that I can barely catch my breath. All I can think is that the shock of being held down and the pain of the clamping made him just need to escape from reality. He is pretty wild and does not get (or want) to be petted so being handled by people was probably just more than he could deal with. I finally stop laughing long enough that I can get the clamp in place to do the other side (and yes it was as much of a challenge as the other side was). Well doing the other side woke that lamb right up and he was not a happy camper. But the hard part was done. All I had to do was release the clamp and untie him and let him go. Seemed no worse for the wear after passing out, although he did yell at us for a while.
In all, I think the first attempt at neuteringmale goats/sheep was a success. Now I just have to observe them to make sure the testicles start shrinking. If not, we have to do it again and that will be another story since they will be bigger and stronger. Keeping my fingers crossed that I did it right the first time.
And every time I think of how that lamb passed out, it will make me giggle. The joys of farm life....
~T
So last night P and I took away from the bucklings and the ram lamb the ability to be fathers. Yes, I realize how ironic it is that it was Father's Day. And poor P had to be a part of it. He had a great day otherwise so hopefully he won't hold it against me.
First thing we learned, it is very hard to hold onto a 2 month old buckling. They are very strong. And you have to hold them so the scrotum is at just the right angle. Think of being at the gynecologists office and it will give you an idea. Since P said there was NO WAY IN HELL he was going to take away their manhood, he got the job of holding them in position, which was fine because they were too strong for me.
So I get the tool in place and clamp it down and it locks in place so there is no way that buckling can get out of its grip. I count to 15 and release. He was pissed, as well he should be. Wasn't too happy when I repeated it on the other side. I took a look ad my work and it seemed to be successful. Think of crimping a cord....it pretty much left a neat and tidy depression. No blood, no bruising, no cuts. I did the second buckling but he only had one testicle so he got lucky and only had one side done. Poor guys were walking pretty gingerly and didn't want to come near me but they will get over it. I'd rather have them suffer for a few hours than have them suffer for weeks with the banding system.
P was looking a little pale and he closed his eyes during the process. I tried to be understanding and laughed in my head and not out loud since I could not have done it without his help.
So I said to P "while we are at it, should we do the ram lamb so he doesn't knock up his sister or mother?" He went in and wrestled the ram lamb out. This guy is 3 months old and MUCH stronger than the bucklings (well I guess they are wethers now). We ended up having to tie his feet together. It turns out that sheep have wooly scrotums, so I had to search through the wool to find the right spot. Meanwhile he is trying to get away and I am trying to be fast because I don't want P to get stabbed in the back with his horns. I finally find what I am looking for and the damn spermatic cord keeps slipping out and I cannot get it in the right position to clamp. I am starting to get sweaty now and the lamb's kicking has flung mud onto my face and hair (and I know that said mud is mostly poop but I am trying not to think about that). I manage to get it in position and warn P that I'm going to clamp. I clamp and the lamb struggles as I start my countdown. And then he is still. Oh crap, did I kill him? I look down and see his head flopped back. I say to P "I think he passed out!" And sure enough, that lamb was out cold. I removed the clamp. He didn't wake up. P and I are laughing so hard that I can barely catch my breath. All I can think is that the shock of being held down and the pain of the clamping made him just need to escape from reality. He is pretty wild and does not get (or want) to be petted so being handled by people was probably just more than he could deal with. I finally stop laughing long enough that I can get the clamp in place to do the other side (and yes it was as much of a challenge as the other side was). Well doing the other side woke that lamb right up and he was not a happy camper. But the hard part was done. All I had to do was release the clamp and untie him and let him go. Seemed no worse for the wear after passing out, although he did yell at us for a while.
In all, I think the first attempt at neuteringmale goats/sheep was a success. Now I just have to observe them to make sure the testicles start shrinking. If not, we have to do it again and that will be another story since they will be bigger and stronger. Keeping my fingers crossed that I did it right the first time.
And every time I think of how that lamb passed out, it will make me giggle. The joys of farm life....
~T
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
"Juneuary" redux???
I am going to complain about the weather. It's not even breaking 60 degrees this week. The veggie garden does not like this!!!!! The garden was thirsty, yes, but enough already. My peas finally have blooms on them but they need sun desperately to GROW.
That being said, there are a couple of roma tomatoes already on one of the plants. So once that sun gets here I expect to be eating tomatoes out of the garden by 4th of July. Ok, maybe that's too ambitious. I'd actually just be happy if the tomato plants don't succumb to late blight this year. I chose to buy locally this year and found a bunch of good sized heirloom tomato plants for only $1. So if it is a bad tomato year and my 15 or so plants don't do well, I am only out $20 (before I scored on the cheap ones I bought a few more expensive ones).
I am focusing on being a glass half full kind of person so the positives of the rain are....Hmmm. I can't really think of any. At least it is LESS rain that it was a few months ago so my fields have dried out, meaning I don't have to wear boots to go put the chickens away and risk breaking my leg in the mud (the neighbor across the street did just that earlier this year when she was slogging through mud to put her ducks away).
Oh wait! I thought of a positive! My duck pond is full of water again making the ducks really happy. And ducks swimming and preening on a pond make me happy. As do ducks that come running to me when I call them. And ducks that eat bread out of my hand. But I digress....
They say this flashback to the "Juneuarys" of years past will be shorter lived and we should start pulling out of it soon. My patience is wearing thin because I really don't need a reminder of how terrible spring/summer was the last two years.
~T
I am focusing on being a glass half full kind of person so the positives of the rain are....Hmmm. I can't really think of any. At least it is LESS rain that it was a few months ago so my fields have dried out, meaning I don't have to wear boots to go put the chickens away and risk breaking my leg in the mud (the neighbor across the street did just that earlier this year when she was slogging through mud to put her ducks away).
Oh wait! I thought of a positive! My duck pond is full of water again making the ducks really happy. And ducks swimming and preening on a pond make me happy. As do ducks that come running to me when I call them. And ducks that eat bread out of my hand. But I digress....
They say this flashback to the "Juneuarys" of years past will be shorter lived and we should start pulling out of it soon. My patience is wearing thin because I really don't need a reminder of how terrible spring/summer was the last two years.
~T
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
A great life with one bad day
How did I spend the last day of my 4-day Memorial Day weekend? I butchered 4 chickens and a turkey. P did the killing because I'm just not able to bring myself to do that yet, but I pretty much did all the rest. It was supposed to be a joint effort. He brought over the headless chickens, I dunked them in scalding water and defeathered them, then the plan was to skin and gut them together. P was having trouble with his first chicken (I was still defeathering a turkey outside so wasn't there to help quite yet) and when I went in to get started on mine, he was getting increasingly frustrated. Then he tells me he's feeling queasy so he leaves the room for a bit. Next thing I know, he is going to the house to check on the kiddo. The man has great timing because he came back hours later, just as I was finishing the last one.
So back to the butchering....it is gross at first, but it really is neat seeing all the stuff that a chicken is made of. The most fascinating thing are the eggs. You can see every egg the chicken will ever lay. They go from the size of the tip of a pen, up to normal egg sized. I found a shelled egg in the turkey and one hen that, if they hadn't had such a rotten day, would have been laid that day. The hard part of gutting a chicken is trying not to perforate the bowel. If it is perforated, it is a gross stinky mess, although it can be washed out. The first chicken I nicked but got it out before it became a problem. The next two I managed to keep intact, but the 4th one it pretty much went everywhere. I cannot even tell you how gross it is. I had to stop mid-stream and rinse the chicken out before continuing on. I skinned all of the chickens because plucking is a pain (it starts out easily enough because a little hot water makes the feathers come right out) since the pin feathers and guard hairs don't come out easily.
It is messy business and after all that hard work, the chickens looked so scrawny. They were a couple years old and they were free range, so I am sure they are quite tough. I am planning on making coq au vin, which is traditionally made from tough old roosters. The turkey, on the other hand was just a year old and had lots of meat on her. I swear, even gutted, she weighed 30 lbs. P came back just in time to rinse the chickens and put them in the freezer. The turkey required both of us to into a large garbage bag and into the freezer. She is so big that our family can eat off of her for a week, but since it is the first time we have butchered a turkey, we are hesitant to share because we are worried she might be tough or taste bad. But I supposed we can always order pizza if the turkey is a flop. So I guess I'd better get all our families ready for a turkey (or pizza) feed.
After spending two hours on five birds, my back and arms were killing me. I strongly believe that the people who do this for a living should make a lot more money.
Many people think it is horrible that we would butcher our own chickens. But really, I know where that chicken has been, what it's eaten, how it's treated....how can that be bad? They have a great life until that one really bad day.....
~T
So back to the butchering....it is gross at first, but it really is neat seeing all the stuff that a chicken is made of. The most fascinating thing are the eggs. You can see every egg the chicken will ever lay. They go from the size of the tip of a pen, up to normal egg sized. I found a shelled egg in the turkey and one hen that, if they hadn't had such a rotten day, would have been laid that day. The hard part of gutting a chicken is trying not to perforate the bowel. If it is perforated, it is a gross stinky mess, although it can be washed out. The first chicken I nicked but got it out before it became a problem. The next two I managed to keep intact, but the 4th one it pretty much went everywhere. I cannot even tell you how gross it is. I had to stop mid-stream and rinse the chicken out before continuing on. I skinned all of the chickens because plucking is a pain (it starts out easily enough because a little hot water makes the feathers come right out) since the pin feathers and guard hairs don't come out easily.
It is messy business and after all that hard work, the chickens looked so scrawny. They were a couple years old and they were free range, so I am sure they are quite tough. I am planning on making coq au vin, which is traditionally made from tough old roosters. The turkey, on the other hand was just a year old and had lots of meat on her. I swear, even gutted, she weighed 30 lbs. P came back just in time to rinse the chickens and put them in the freezer. The turkey required both of us to into a large garbage bag and into the freezer. She is so big that our family can eat off of her for a week, but since it is the first time we have butchered a turkey, we are hesitant to share because we are worried she might be tough or taste bad. But I supposed we can always order pizza if the turkey is a flop. So I guess I'd better get all our families ready for a turkey (or pizza) feed.
After spending two hours on five birds, my back and arms were killing me. I strongly believe that the people who do this for a living should make a lot more money.
Many people think it is horrible that we would butcher our own chickens. But really, I know where that chicken has been, what it's eaten, how it's treated....how can that be bad? They have a great life until that one really bad day.....
~T
Monday, April 16, 2012
Garden progress
Back in February, we started clearing space for our garden. It turns out the perfect place for the garden was also the area previous owners filled with gravel. In some places the gravel is tiny and you can dig through it to the soil below. Some places are just pure soil while others have large gravel that cannot be dug through. Needless to say, creating our 1800 square foot garden required scraping off the grass and rock and then bringing in 20+ yards of soil. After seeing the mess the scraping created, I thought it would never look like the nice garden I'd envisioned.
Tractor ruts, piles of sod, clay, gravel and a lovely pile of garden soil. How in the world would I ever get this to look like a garden:?
Fast forward a month and there is improvement. The lovely soil has been raked into place and the piles of clay, sod and gravel are mostly gone. That was some back breaking work that I tackled mostly on my own since P was busy with other projects (not to mention that most of his time at home is either sleeping in the daylight or it's dark out so he deals with indoor projects). Using the trailer attached to our lawn tractor, I drove loads of sod over to the septic tank that we'd had to unearth earlier this year. The sod made for instant grass over the top of the existing mud so I felt like there was immediate progress in that area of the yard. The gravel I scooped into wheelbarrows and put in the muddy areas of the driveway. The clay was a different story. Not so good for planting and it was super heavy so I couldn't really take it anywhere with the lawn tractor. So I ended up throwing it by shovelfuls and handfuls in some cases, over the fence into the low spot in the sheep field. Let me tell you, my back and arms were sore for the many days it took to deplete that pile.
And finally, it is beginning to look like a garden!!!!
I've spent hours raking and hoeing rows for planting. Normally I wouldn't mound my rows, but it turns out that the garden is now lower than the surrounding area so water pools in it. Literally, there was a lake on the end closest in the photo above. Some of my garlic actually drowned. To combat that, I mounded my rows and during the next rain I saw that it was working as I'd hoped it would - the rows were happily above the water. And now, after some lovely warm weather, there are lettuces, brassicas, beets, spinach and peas sprouting. Mother Nature has been very kind lately and the warm sunny days have been on the weekends and the rain arrives during the week. So this weekend I did some more planting in the sun and Monday morning the rain returned to water my seeds. I may have actually gotten a little sunburn!
This was one of the hardest jobs I've ever done (P got the relatively easy job of using the backhoe to create the space). But the joy I feel at looking out my kitchen window at this gigantic garden that I put together mostly by hand is so worth the work. I am looking forward to that first salad that I get out of my first garden at my new house on my own land.
~T
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Spring has sprung
I had to go on a trip to Portland, OR for work. The weather was lousy. Rained the entire 3 hour drive down and most of the 3 hour drive back. Actually, that is putting it mildly....it POURED.
When I returned, the weather wasn't too bad. The sun was peeking out so I did some work in the garden. I heard what I thought was my youngest goat in the barn. Didn't think much of it. For some reason I went into the barn when I was done in the garden to check on things. I didn't have any need to go it. When I looked in the sheep stall, here is what I found....
Our ewe had two lambs!
One boy and one girl. They were all dried off and walking and nursing. She had them sometime between noon and 5pm. We thought she was pregnant (when we bought her they said she was probably due in January, but that was not the case). She was looking fairly wide but I was having trouble determining if that was wool or pregnancy. One of the kids said "I know wool and I know pregnancy and that is pregnancy." She was sure right!
The older offspring of the sheep is (was) a ram of around a year old. He was none too pleased that his parents were busy with two new siblings and spent much of his time trying to ram them into the wall. Keep in mind that Jacob's sheep have a pretty good set of horns on the, so you can understand that this was not a good thing. I put the young ram in with the goats and neither of them was happy about the situation but I knew the goats could hold their own against him. Then I called the butcher and made an appointment. Took him in a week later and should soon have lamb to put in my freezer.
This is our first time raising sheep. I did a lot of research and found that Jacob's sheep are very hardy and lamb easily. Turns out to be very true. The lambs are very strong and healthy and the ewe is no worse for the experience. Having only experienced goats kidding, I am quite impressed by the ease of raising sheep. All I have had to do so far is dip their umbilical cords in iodine the first day. At not even two weeks old, they are already eating grass beside their parents all day long. Unlike goats, they get down to business right away. I rarely see them playing. They spend their days eating grass, nursing and napping.
If I needed to simplify my life, I would think about raising sheep and not goats. But goats are much friendlier and we love the milk they provide so I don't see changing over to sheep only any time soon.
I am excited for spring and the new life it brings. Up next....baby goats in a week or so!
~T
~T
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Great way to start the day
The sunrises from our land are amazing. To the east I can see the tops of the Cascade Mountains peeking over the hills. And when conditions are right, we get sunrises like this one:
Being able to stand outside in the freezing cold 27 degree morning with a view like this is something I always dreamed of. MY barn. MY land. MY sunrise.
What a beautiful start to the day.
But alas, I am brought back to reality. The septic system seems to be backing up. Stinky sewage is bubbling up near the tank. Today is the day the septic guy comes out to tell us what needs to be done and how much it will cost. The tank was pumped and the system inspected when I before the house in August. It all checked out so I went ahead with the purchase. But that was during the dry season. All is not well now. I had been hoping to have enough $ to put in a wood or gas burning fireplace insert, but really it is cosmetic, whereas a functioning septic system is NOT cosmetic and has to be addressed now.
Later on, when I am feeling overwhelmed by the price and scope of the septic repair, I am going to remember this morning....
~T
What a beautiful start to the day.
But alas, I am brought back to reality. The septic system seems to be backing up. Stinky sewage is bubbling up near the tank. Today is the day the septic guy comes out to tell us what needs to be done and how much it will cost. The tank was pumped and the system inspected when I before the house in August. It all checked out so I went ahead with the purchase. But that was during the dry season. All is not well now. I had been hoping to have enough $ to put in a wood or gas burning fireplace insert, but really it is cosmetic, whereas a functioning septic system is NOT cosmetic and has to be addressed now.
Later on, when I am feeling overwhelmed by the price and scope of the septic repair, I am going to remember this morning....
~T
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