The Beef Cakes

Pie and the beefcakes are doing very well despite a strong early morning storm.  She tended to them all night and judging by their fat bellies I would say she fed them well.

Even after nursing them all night I was able to get 8 doses of colostrum from her this morning to put into the freezer.  Her udder looks fantastic; I couldn't ask for more.

That's Cabrito on the left and KaBob on the right.

This concludes our 2012 kidding season!

What a Day!

This morning was such a calm and peaceful morning.  Roosters crowing, the smell of coffee perking, and the plaintiff cries of goats waiting to be milked.

I started a jar of sun tea....

Pondered the perfet plant to go into this planter...

Morning chores went off without a hitch.  Except for this.

Her ligaments were gone, and she was restless....pawing at the ground here and there. I knew it would be today.

I moved her to the kidding pen and watched her closely all morning as I worked outside in the garden, and doing other chores.

By 11:00 she wasn't getting serious, but me and the family were getting quite serious about needing food....so I went into the house to fix a very late breakfast.

An hour or so later I checked her again and didn't see any progression, so I went back to my cave (dark bedroom with a window unit set at a devine 65º) and took a well deserved nap.

about 2pm I was awakend by Bob saying "where are the kidding towels?  Moon Pie has popped!"

CB had come by for a minute and was the first to spot them.  Bob and I were still somewhat in a food/siesta/coma and gathering our missing brain cells.

2 bucks.  Absolutely beautiful, strong and sound eye-candy type bucks.  What a shame.  Their names are Cabrito and KaBob.  Pie did an excelllent job, kids and placentas all out and done in about 2 hours with no assistance.  She'll be raising them herself.  Her udder is coming in nicely and I'll have pics tomorrow.  I would have had pics today......but guess who showed up...

Once he was done munching on his keys, he had some serious duck rodeoin to do....

The ducks won.  Again.

Then he spent some time mopping the driveway......just before he found another fire ant mound.

This was his third run-in with fire ants, and each reaction has gotten progressively worse.  Tonight it got downright scarey.  He had 2 ants on him but he broke out in hives from head to to within 15 minutes.  By 30 minutes he was wheezing.  I gave him a good bath and washed all of the spots well, then gave him a dose of Rescue Remedy before heading to the store for infants benedryl.  The RR immediately stopped the spread of the hives and eased his wheezing.  The Benedryl stopped the itch and helped him rest.  Out of the woods for now, but I think we may bet checking into getting an EpiPen for him just in case.  It's just not worth the risk. 

As for the ant mounds, I'll be using my special blend of peppers on them.  Works every time.

That was a close call.  It reminds you just how fragile they are.

Bad Dog Big Stink

With temps in the 90's this week, anything outside that smells bad.....smells REALLY bad.

So my bucks have decided that it's time to come into rut.  We haven't even finished kidding season yet for crying out loud.  Fortunately none of the girls are coming into heat yet so I'm hoping that the boys settle back down soon.

I guess Aegis saw this as some sort of competition, so he went out to find his own stink.  If you have Anatolian Shepherds you know what I'm talking about here.  They find things.  Odd things.  And they bring things home.  A few months back they brought home a boot.  A couple days later they brought home a pair of jeans.  I told them then and there if there was a body attached they could leave it.

Apparently my dogs aren't the only LGD's that do this.  One day I was blog surfing and found a blog that was having a contest for the oddest things your LGD dragged home.  It wasn't long after that the boys drug home a cow leg. 

This morning Aegis was patiently waiting at the gate to be let in.

He had a distinctive "air" about him and it didn't take long to figure out why.

A couple of weeks ago the folks down the road had a big wedding reception at their house.  They butchered the fatted calf in preparation.

Guess who found their offal pile.

Nothing like the smell of a rotting cow hide on a hot summer day.

Deep Dish and Other Ramblings

I am thrilled to announce that I was able to pick the first cucumber of the year!

That may seem like a simple feat, but believe me it's no easy task getting a garden to grow with all our garden munchers.  I can't think of a better summer time snack than a freshly picked cucumber that has been chilled to icey perfection.  Yum.

And hopefully there are many more on the way...

The Japanese Eggplant are working on their first blossoms....I can't wait to see them unfold.

Bob and I were out and about over the weekend and stumbled across this shipping crate next to a dumpster...

I've got a primer coat on it now....it will be a potato bed when I'm finished with it.

Meanwhile, MoonPie is still baking her little buns....she is now a deep dish Pie...

...pictures just don't do justice to her extraordinary girth...

I mentioned something about needing to put some goats at mom's to trim the grass and the monster kids got the wrong idea.

Note that the princess is in the driver's seat.  Of course.

And as much as I always dread dealing with first freshener's udders....I couldn't be happier than I am with Filly's.  She is raising her kid plus I'm milking her and she's at about 4# a day already.  I can't wait to see how she does once he's weaned.  How's this for a picture perfect first freshener!?!



Goat Herding Toddler Style

Okay, so now that Rylan is 14 months old, he's ready to begin goat herding.

First off, he has to master walking AND carrying the cane...

Check.

Step 2, go find yourself a goat...

Check.

There are more goats around here somewhere.

And even if you fall down, you have to pick yourself back up...

Focus on the goats and pay close attention....

Be a good leader and they will follow....

The War Is ON

There are reasons to appreciate a bad drought.

The biggest reason that I can think of.....bugs.

In the midst of a drought you have very few internal and/or external parasites.

The drought is over.

The bugs are here.

During the drought I could not collect mealworms to feed the chickens...now I have them by the buckeloads.

During the drought the soil dried up and died, now it it teeming with life and the garden is blooming.

So are the fleas.

We have many dogs.  On each dog are many fleas. 

I could have taken pictures of our little soldiers as they got their flea dips and the house was stripped from top to bottom and run through the washing machine.  But they would probably never speak to me again.

The war is on.

Legacy's Girls and a Happy Face

I got this shot this morning and can't resist.....

All 3 of the Legacy daughters in our herd in 1 shot...

Legacy's first daugter (born 2006) is on the right, Angel

(not the goofy brown one, that's Roadie the wether)

Legacy's 2008 daugther in the middle, Cilly

and Legacy's 2010 daughter on the left, Joy



And little Nommy reminds me more and more of her mother, Happy, every day.

Guess I'm feeling sentimental this morning.

Leo the Cat

Leo is our eldest barn cat.  I use the term "our" very loosely.  Personally, I believe he's Bob's cat...but since Bob is a die-hard cat hater he denies the accusation.

I do not hate cats.  I do not love cats...but I love and admire the work of a fine barn cat.  We try to keep at least 1 good barn cat at all times, preferably 2.  Our barn cats are usually males...since it's cheaper to neuter than to spay...and all cats MUST be fixed.  We feed our barn cats well....cat food, goat milk, and all the varmits they can catch.  Barn cats learn quickly what is acceptable prey and what is not (enter the LGD).

Having said all that, I am a firm believer in pet rescue.  If you want a good housepet, please adopt one in need of a good home...provide it with a good home, and don't let it make more.  As a result you will get a loving companion, and an otherwise unwanted animal will have a good life. 

Leo was an unwanted animal.  We needed a rat killer.  I have a friend that does cat rescue (which is how we ended up with Liberty the one-eyed-fattest-cat-in-the-universe)....and that's how Leo came to live with us.  He's a big boy, quite hairy, and hates dogs.  Man o man can he ever eliminate mice and rats.  He's a killing machine.

Last year Leo went AWOL for a month or so.  Fearing the worst, we got another cat (Captain Jack).  Not long after that, Leo made his grand re-appearance.  Then we had 3 cats. Bob's limit is 2.  I keep insisting that Liberty the one-eyed-fattest-cat-in-the-universe doesn't count since she's not a barn cat.  He graciously conceded especially since technically Liberty is Stephanie's cat....and surely she'll be taking her home soon.

Leo is a stunning cat and he does his job well.  But if Bob's gone, he's outta here.

 Bob has travelled more in the last 2 months than ever in our entire marriage.  He was out of the country for 5 weeks this time.  Leo left over a month ago.

I got another cat.

To be introduced at a later date....for now we will call him obnoxious grey kitten with much spunk.

Bob's been home for a few days....guess who showed back up.

Bob's not travelling any more.  We can't afford the cat food.

Pregnant Pie

Since I'm counting on MoonPie for our table milk this year, I decided to give her a haircut this morning and spruce her up a bit while she is still baking her little buns in the oven.  Being that she is very pregnant...she didn't seem to appreciate the attention I was giving her.  She was offa that stand and at the gate about 2 seconds after the haircut was over.

Then, she not only stuck her tongue out at me....

She gave me a donkey yawn as she was walking away...

I'm thinking triplets...

And I'm thinking next week.  Maybe Angel can get some info outta her.

Meet Gimli

Filly has been ready to go into labor for a couple of days, but things got serious last night when her tail ligaments were completely gone.  I really expected her to kid during the night, so much so that we did a round the clock kid watch.  Bob and Levi took the night shift....

I started my shift around 5:30 this morning.  Filly was sweet enough to wait until I was on duty before she got serious.  Around 6am I saw this...

Not long after the goo....we had a hoof....

It was a relief to see that the kid was presenting normally, and I just comforted her and let her do her work.  At 6:45 am little Gimli was born!

Filly did a fantastic job....especially for a first freshener.  I only interfered to help with a bit of traction on the kid between contractions, and saw to it that he plopped onto a clean towel rather than barn floor gunk.  I use umbilical clamps on all the kids, dunk the cord in iodine....and my work is done unless it will be a bottle kid.

It didn't take long and he was up.

Gimli will be dam raised.  He's a buckling, and he's destined for freezer camp this fall.  My sister named him, she happened to be in town this morning when he was born.....and when she found out his dad is Frodo...and this is a G year....she said "his name should be Gimli".  So there he is.

Filly is doing a great job with him.....although at first she had a unique style of nursing...

He has been nursing well, she is very attentive, and the placenta is out.  They are in the day spa now, Filly got a warm bucket of molasses water and her morning granola.  They should rest comfortably together for a while.

What a blessing this particular kidding is.  Bob has been travelling and now that he's home I need some time with him for a few days rather than tending brand new baby goat kids.  Plus, I've had a raging case of hives for 8 days that is not going away despite medication. 

This was an unplanned breeding.....and a tight inbreeding that I would never have done (Frodo and Filly have the same sire).  I suppose this means we'll need the extra meat in the freezer this fall; the Good Lord has His way of working it all out.

Filly did a fine job, and is proving her worth in the herd as an easy keeper.

We need to rest and have a day or so before the Moon landing......

MoonPie was also covered by Frodo, due anytime between 5/13 and 6/2.  I'm hoping for an easy delivery of triplet does....but we'll take what we get.

East Texas Best Kept Secret

Last year our friends at Tails Up Homestead had quads born to Lace.  Of the quads, they still have 2; a buck and a doe.  Bucks are just not usually kept over a breeding season or over winter, since we have an abundance of them.  I sort of collect them....in fact to the point that we've decided to build our buck barn to the capabilities of having 6 buck runs with stalls, plus one buckling pen. 

That's a lot of testosterone folks.

Anyway, TUH and Queenacres are sister herds.  At TUH they have much more land, can grow hay, and raise fine kids.  Here they learn manners, and I get a chance to watch and evaluate them so that we can sort the keepers from the gones....and I make breeding plans with much thoughtfulness, prayer, and happy thoughts so that each generation will be an improvement over the last.

Lace has lived at TUH for a few years, and with them having only 1 buck there (Moon) she was bred to him each year for a few years.  All the kids produced from that breeding are very nice, and that pair provided many folks with lovely milkers and a couple of nice herdsires.  It has been a good mix, indeed.

They have retained 2 does in their herd from these breedings, and I have Moon Pie in our herd from these breedings.  After crossing Lace to Manny this year....I was thinking how nice it would be to have a MoonXLace buck to use on the Manny bloodline.

And then it dawned on me. 

There does exist such a buck and he is at TUH!

Yesterday I made the journey to TUH to take them some love and appreciation gifts and to take a look at the overall herd health, and share breeding plans.

And then I saw him.  East Texas Best Kept Secret.....Sparta.

Only God knows why this buckling didn't sell last year.  Or why CB had the fortitude to keep him...and keep him as an intact buck.  He had a run-in with the donkey last year that left him with a badly torn ear, but that has healed.  I wasn't expecting him to look as good as he does.  He is certainly moved from the "sell" list to the gotta keep this one!  We will be using him in our breeding plans for 2013 kids and I think it will be our best year yet!

Here is his baby picture as it appeared on our "For Sale" page.

Now keep in mind when you see these next pics that he's a rowdy yearling and hasn't been stacked for a picture since the one taken above.  The pics aren't great but I think you can see how marvelous he is.

Look at that length of bone, powerful shoulders, and smoothly blended neck....

Of course it took about 30 seconds for his patience to run out and the photo shoot was done.....

Here is his pedigree for anyone interested.  Boy did someone miss out by passing him up when he was offered for sale.  He'll be staying.