The Does Secret Code of Honor

Okay, this was brought up in the comments, so I thought I'd post it so everybody would know what we are talking about. :) Enjoy!

Doe's Secret Code of Honor

The doe's secret code of honor is as old as goats themselves and is ultimately the species best kept secret. No doe shall ever kid before its time. (Its time being determined by the following factors):

1- No kid shall be born until total chaos has been reached by all involved. Your owner's house must be a wreck, their family hungry and desperate for clean clothes, and their social life nonexistent.

2- "Midwives" must reach the babbling fool status before you kid out. Bloodshot eyes, tangled hair and the inability to form a sentence mean the time is getting close.

3- For every bell, beeper, camera or whistle they attach to you, kidding must be delayed by at least one day for each item. If they use an audio monitor, one good yell per hour will keep things interesting.

4- If you hear the words, "She's nowhere near ready. She'll be fine while we're away for the weekend," Wait until they load the car, then begin pushing!

5- Owner stress must be at an all time high! If you are in the care of someone else, ten to fifteen phone calls a day is a sign you're getting close.

6- When you hear the words "I can't take it anymore!" wait at least three more days.

7 -You must keep this waiting game interesting. False alarms are mandatory! Little teasers such as looking at your stomach, pushing your food around in the bucket and then walking away from it, and nesting, are always good for a rise. Be creative and find new things to do to keep the adrenaline pumping in those who wait.

8- The honor of all goats is now in your hands. Use this time to avenge all of your barn mates. Think about your friend who had to wear that silly costume in front of those people. Hang onto that baby for another day. OH, they made him do tricks too! Three more days seems fair. Late feedings, the dreaded diet, bad haircuts, those awful wormings can also be avenged at this time.

9- If you have fulfilled all of the above and are still not sure when to have the kids, listen to the weather forecast on the radio that has been so generously provided by those who wait. Severe storm warning is what you're waiting for. In the heart of the storm jump into action! The power could go out and you could have the last laugh. You have a good chance of those who wait missing the whole thing while searching for a flashlight that works!

10- Make the most of your interrupted nights. Beg for food each time someone comes into the barn to check you. Your barn mates will love you as the extra goodies fall their way too. Remember, this code of honor was designed to remind man of how truly special goats are. Do your best to reward those who wait with a beautiful doeling to carry on the Doe Code of Honor for the next generation of those who wait.

~Author Unknown

I think one more should be added though.

11- Do your best to ALWAYS kid at night, start early so you can make sure they will be out there checking on you and then while they are waiting in anticipation go all the way to midnight before you kid. :D

Bethany

My busy week

Last time I posted I had 6 kids, now the count is up to 17. So that's why I haven't been posting much, I've been delivering babies! And I'm not sure what the deal was, but I had SO many kid at night, and so I was extremly tired!

Wednesday started out with my Lab Symphony having puppies, it was an accident and needless to say we'll be getting her fixed up so it dosen't happen again. She had 12 and they were all black, she's a beautiful cream color and I was hoping for some light colored ones. :( We did end up losing 4 because there was just so many they couldn't all nurse. But the remaining 8 are doing well. Our friends the Burnett's came out to visit us, and we were REALLY hoping they would be able to witness a goat birth, but the goats didn't cooperate.

Thursday, I noticed one of my Nubians was starting to have some contractions, but remembering how long she took last year I wasn't expecting anything for a couple of hours. So I came in and ate lunch got the kitchen cleaned and by the time I went back to the barn, she had just had twin girls!! Then that evening I noticed another doe (one of the Boers) getting close, I was determined not to miss this birth so I stayed up at the barn and waited. It was like 9:30 p.m. and FREEZING cold outside. We waited and waited till about 11:30 and she had started pushing but wasn't presenting anything. I was started to get concerned, and after giving her a bit more time I decided I was going to have to go in and check things out. I lubricated my hand and arm with some vegtable oil and went on in, the cervix was open as it should be but there were no babies in the birthing canal. On in further and I'm trying to sort out feet and heads to figure out which ones belong to which kids. I was SO scared, I was in the doe up to my elbow and the poor thing was really in alot of pain. I just couldn't get things sorted out. Finally I was able to find two front feet and hopefully a head, I was just praying they belonged to the same kid and I pulled it forward into the birthing canal. I was able to grab onto the two legs and as she pushed I helped out by pulling. Soon it became obvious that this was a very large kid, it just wouldn't come. The mom was in SO much pain and I knew we had to get this kid out quick. So I started really pulling hard for what seemed like such a long time. FINALLY his head came through and the rest of his body followed quickly. Praise the Lord he was alive!! After about 15 minutes she started pushing again and another one was coming, he was really big too, and I had to pull him some as well, didn't take him very long to come out, and he was even bigger than the first one!! I was so relieved that the Mom and babies were all fine. Andrew and I were able to get them up and nursing, and right as we were in the middle of doing that I heard a baby goat crying. So Andrew went out and checked in the shed that the Nubians are in and sure enough one of them and just had twin boys!! Quite a night to say the least, I didn't get to bed until about 4:20 a.m.

Friday, more kids, this time one of my Nubian doe that I had bred to my Boer buck. She kidded right after lunch with twin does, I missed the first one but was able to be there for the second. She did great, and both kids were up and nursing within a few minutes. Friday evening a single buck kid was born, I missed him as well! We had been inside having a ping pong tournament. :)

Then yesterday morning I headed out to the barn a little earlier than usual because I had to leave and go to the courthouse for Jury duty at 8:30. When I got up to the barn two little Boer bucks had just been born, I got them and Mom settled in a kidding stall, dipped their navels in iodine and got them started nursing. And then headed to the courthouse leaving them in the care of Andrew. I got picked again for the Jury, but once again was dismissed by the defending lawyer. It was fine though, because I was glad to come home. :)

Hope nobody is getting tired of birthing stories!! I still have one ready to go anytime and then the next one after that is due on March 2nd. Then 2 the middle of March and one in June.

~Bethany

Cute Kids

Well the day wasn't over yesterday, around 6:00 I headed up to the barn to feed all the goats, as I got close I heard a goat hollering. Ran and looked in the shed and sure enough there was one of my Nubians pushing! Was I ever unprepared! I stood there for a moment contemplating the best plan of action and then decided to make a dash for the house grab some towels and get some help. Anna came back up to the barn with me and "stood watch" by the goat while I was frantically trying to get a kidding stall cleaned out, but before I was done I hear "you've got to come quick, I don't know what to do!" Ran back to the goat and just moments later a baby girl was born. I handed her off to Anna and within 30 seconds a second baby girl popped out. Since these are my Nubians I bottle raise the kids and milk the Mom's. So the kids were taken into a clean stall in the barn and I went to the house and fixed a bottle. Thankfully they got the hang of the bottle really quickly and are both doing well. Praise the Lord for 3 healthy deliveries so far, and lots of girls! It's so amazing and neat to help these little lives into the world, even though it's "just a goat" all life is precious!

Mercy has been having so much fun with all the new babies. Anna got this picture earlier this afternoon. Isn't it cute?

Babies and more babies!!!

Kidding season has officially started around here!! Reba kidded Sunday night (on her due date) with twins, a buck and a doe. She did great, no major complications the little boy did have one of his legs back, but while I was trying to find it he came sliding right out and his sister joined him about 15 minutes later. Both were up and nursing soon after birth. They are so cute, at least in my opinion!! :)

Then today at about 11:00 a.m. I was out feeding and I noticed that another doe was having contractions! Wow! Came in and ate lunch and about 30 minutes later went out and while I was getting the kidding stall ready Anna hollers out that she's pushing!! Oh dear, got to get her in the stall first! Ran out and grabbed her, got her in the stall and about 10 minutes later the first one started coming out, but no front legs only a head....reached in and was able to grab one leg and straighten it, and out she plopped. A little doe. Just moments after she came out there was another one coming, once again no front legs, reached in found a front let and noticed that the baby was having a hard time, got to get her out quick!!! Finally a good push and she came out, not breathing well at all though, I grabbed her up and held her up by her rear legs patting on her back to try to get the fluid out of her lungs, finally she started talking to me. Whew, was I relieved!!! They were up very soon as well and Mama and her girls are doing great!

Danielle this is just for you, the LIGHT BULB!!! :D Not the best picture of it, but we were trying! The goat just wasn't cooperating very well, had her rear up against the fence.

you get the idea....

Today was one of those days where I go out in the morning to take care of the goats and I can just "feel" that it's going to be a lovely day. And what I mean by lovely is warm and sunny. :) The temperature was right about 40 degrees with no wind, which is a nice thing every once in a while. And by afternoon it warmed up to about 58 degrees. It was one of those days where it seemed like something wonderful should happen, like a goat have kids or something. But of course goats rarely ever pick those wonderful days to have their kids, usually it's either pouring down rain outside, or bitterly cold and windy, or....you get the idea. So no, just in case you are wondering I didn't have any kids today. But it DID turn out to be a gorgeous day, the weather was beautiful, and I spent most of my time outside enjoying it. Cleaned out one of the goats sheds this morning using my new "dump trailer" that is pulled by our riding lawn mower. It's so nice not to have to use a wheel barrow. :)

When it get's this close to my goats having babies (Reba is due in just 4 days or really anytime) I kind of start acting weird. Doing things like checking on them about 10 times a day, going up to the barn at 9:00 at night to check on them again, getting up earlier in the morning to check on them....maybe you get the idea. It's probably called "overly excited."

Thankfully I didn't have to go to the court house today for Jury duty. Now I know that sounds different from the earlier posts where I was really excited about it. Well....it is a neat experience, but one time of going through all those questions was quite enough. :) Still about 6 more weeks of it though so more than likely it'll happen again. Oh well.....

Anyway, that was my day. I know the title of this post probably sounds weird but I had no idea what to call it. That's hardest thing I have about writing it seems like, coming up with titles!

~Bethany

About the pictures...me with my new dump trailer. :) And the other one is my new kid feeder that I will be using to raise my dairy kids on instead of individual bottles.

Tattooing experience

First just so you know, I'm talking about tattooing goats here not people. :) Since I've gotten into registered goats instead of just grades I'm going to have to tattoo my Boer kids this year. So I bought myself a tattoo outfit. I have a couple of Nubian bucks that needed to be tattooed so I can send their paperwork in and get them registered. So I figured I'd practice on them. First I secured the goat really well on my grooming stand, cleaned the ears off with some alchohol, and then used the tattoo "pliers" to imprint the letters, and then rubbed ink into it. AND ended up with ink all over my hands and some on my face! :) And of course Anna had to get a picture of me looking like an Indian. We'll see once it heals up how well I did. I'm just glad I didn't end up with a permanent tattoo on my face! :) It did come off.

This is the goat's "family picture!" They were posing so nicely!

As to the bottom picture, Mom was gone shopping today and the little ones had alot of fun outside. They were having the greatest time acting like they were having a war and charging into battle. Actually they were screaming so loud sometimes that I thought somebody was hurt, but no they were just having a battle, I guess battles are noisy. :) I thought this picture was so cute.

~Bethany

An interesting day

Today I headed down to the Logan County Courthouse again. This time to possibly be a juror on a case. I got there at about 8:30 a.m. and sat and waited....one thing I have learned about the court is that everything moves VERY slow. And when they say they are going to start at 9:00 it dosen't usually start until 9:30. :) So FINALLY the Judge came in and got things going. First he told us a little bit about the case, some guy actually an inmate of the Jail there had been accused of assaulting the detention officer, if he was proved guilty the sentence would be incarceration. Which in my language is imprisonment. :) So it was quite serious. After he explained that to us the Judges secretary started rolling the little "wheel thing" (sorry I don't know what it's called) and drawing names. She named off 3 and then mine was the fourth one! So I went up and sat in the Jury box. After they had drawn 12 names the Judge then proceeded to ask us some questions, and had us take an oath to answer all questions that were put to us truthfully. Then everybody had to stand up and tell their name, where they were from, where they worked, if they were married, and if they had children. When it came my turn I will admit that I was REALLY nervous, I told them that I lived in Coyle with my parents, that I worked at home on the farm, and of course was not married. After that the prosecuting Lawyer got up and started asking us questions. Some were just general, like he asked me if things were going slow on the farm, I said at the moment yes, but it was about to start picking up really quickly when the goats started having kids. So then he started asking about the goats. :) How many I had, and what I did with them. Seemed like he stayed on me for quite some time. The questioning took all morning and some of the questions were really hard, things like "what do you expected the accused to act like when he gets on the witness stand." If you were the accused would you want you to be on the Jury, and lots of questions asking if we had anybody close to us that had ever commited crimes and stuff. After a while, we had a 15 minute break and the 12 of us went up stairs to the Jury room, I'm not sure why, we didn't do anything except use the restroom, and some folks drank coffee. The stairs were really interesting, the ceiling was so low at one point, that you had to duck way down to avoid whacking your head. After we came back down there was more questioning from the defending lawyer. FINALLY we had a break for lunch, Elijah came and picked me up and we came home for a quick lunch. Went back at 1:30, and then it was time for the Lawyers to excuse some of the Jury if they wished and pick different ones. About 3 people got excused and each time a new person came they would have to ask a bunch of questions again. And then the defending Lawyer excused me. :( Oh well, it was still a pretty fun experience, and maybe sometime in the next two months I'll get to actually be on a case, we'll see.

~Bethany

Jury Duty

This morning I had to report at the Logan County Courthouse for Jury Duty. I was a little bit nervous, Mom dropped me off because she had to take Duffy to the groomer for me. There was a long line of people coming all the way out the doors and down the stairs. So I stood in line and waited. Finally I got up to the top, I was watching the people in front of me very closely so I would know what to do. I had to go through security which mean't walking through a metal detector and handing my cell phone and purse to the policeman who looked through my purse to make sure I wasn't carrying anything dangerous. :) Thankfully he didn't find anything. So then I followed the crowd upstairs and waited in line some more. Finally I got to the place where I checked in I had to sign an oath saying that I was over 18 years of age a resident of Logan County and that I was not mentally retarded, which hopefully I'm not so I signed. :) Then I went into the court room which was packed full, there was pratically no seats at all and I had to go to the middle of the row and sit right in the middle of a bunch of people I didn't know. A little too close for comfort. It seemed like a really really long time before the Hon. Judge Worthington finally came in and started things. He gave a really nice little speech about our duty to serve as jurors and such. And then people started giving their excuses, they had health problems, sick children, no one to take care of their children, one guy was self employed, some had just started a new job and stuff like that. The Judge excused most of them that requested it. Then they called out everybody's names and passed out cards that divided everybody up into two different panels. I ended up on panel 2. Panel one had to stay today for a case, and my group panel 2 has to go in Wednesday morning. So all in all it was a pretty neat experience. I'm looking forward to hopefully being on a case soon. Just really hoping I don't have to be gone when the goats are having kids....

Last night we had a big "Super Bowl party." Which consisted of going to town and spending too much money on a bunch of junk (cokes, candy, chips, and dip) and then coming home and eating it along with homeade pizza while listening to the Super Bowl on the radio and playing ping pong. It was a fun evening, even though I didn't do very well at ping pong.

To my cold weather friends Melinda and Abbie, while you've been dreaming of snow and ice, I've been lovin this 75 degree weather!!! WOW! it was SO great!! I just had to stay outside in it. But it dosen't look like it's going to last long, you might get your snow tomorrow. :(

As to the pictures, it looks like I might have a little farm helper in the making!! Notice the "photo story?" Mercy is quite the animal lover, and has no fear of anything goats, dogs or cows. She loves them all!

~Bethany

Snow!!

Yesterday, we got about 3 inches of snow. Which is probably the most we've gotten all year so far. I'm sure most everybody knows that I am not a "cold weather" person, and I really don't like snow. But this time it really didn't bother me too much. But I guess I stayed inside most of the time. And then today it's pretty much all melted. That's my kind of snow, here one day and gone the next! Duffy thought it was just great!

Nana and Papa left this morning to head back to Texas. We had a really nice visit with them. Had a big game of Scrabble, and of course the traditional Pizza Hut pizza, and Bluebell Ice cream! On Wednesday, Elijah and I both took our drivers test, and thankfully both passed! Just barely though. :)

I'm getting ready to begin the spring kidding with all the goats. Just 16 more days until the first one is due!! The guys are busy building a new pen for the kids with another shelter. Lord willing the herd will almost double so the extra shelter will be nice.

~Bethany