Spring!

Spring is here! I know I'm a little late, but today just feels so "springy." :) Things are starting to look green and the flowers are coming up, I just love it. There is one thing though that I don't like about the warm weather if you can believe it. Wasps!! We have tons of them, and soon as the weather gets warm they come out from their hiding places. It really seems that they know I don't like them and are constantly trying to find me. So if you were to see me suddenly ducking and running like crazy.....it's just the wasps. :D I do have reason to run though, I've been stung before and it's NOT fun.

Yesterday I had to go to the court house again for Jury Duty, I rushed through my milking and chores in order to leave the house at 8:30. I made it, and got there in time. After about 10 minutes a lady came out and told us we could leave! Yay! So I think that's the end of my 2 month "term" of Jury service.

I'm sure you read all about Andrew's birthday party on my Mom's blog. It sure was alot of fun. Andrew is such a blessing to me, he's my main goat helper and I sure don't know what I'd do without him. He's always ready to help with the not so fun things about goat raising, such as disbudding the babies, tattooing, castrating, and trimming hooves. And then of course helping out with the everyday milking and feeding. What a great brother! Speaking of tattooing, I really need to get some more of the kids done...I'm planning on taking some of them to a show the middle of April and that's got to be done first. :) I need to get some new pictures of the kids, those little Boers are getting so big!! Really cute too! :)

Happy Birthday Mercy!

My sweet little sister Mercy is 2 today! She had "bunny rabbit" party theme, decorating was pretty easy with it being close to Easter. She has had a fun day so far, donuts, presents, and a Easter egg hunt. :) She is such a precious little sister and brings so much joy to our family.

I thought I'd post some updated pictures of the puppies. They are just the cutest little things. 4 weeks old now and walking around and playing with each other. We can't convince Mom to let us keep one though....oh well, I guess we really don't need one.

Kidding season has pretty much ended with a total of 21 kids, 10 does and 11 bucks. The last doe until 1 due in June kidded on Sunday with a single buck. SO many bucks this year. :( I missed the birth, she probably had him while we were on our way home from church, he was standing up and dry when I found him. Cute little thing though! We've gotten alot of rain lately, and my poor little Boer kids are no longer white. They are SO dirty!!

Some exciting news, back in the fall I had reserved 2 kids from a Nubian breeder in CA Lakeshore Farms. I got news about a week ago that the kids were born! And they had what I wanted as well. So Lord willing on April 12th I'm going to have these little cuties shipped in. A buck and a doe.

Stuff we've been doin'

The guys have been picking up bunch of brush piles in the pasture left over from clearing it off back in the summer. Sure looks nice now without all those piles. They used a Bobcat and Bill a friend of ours came out with a dump truck, we had rented a dump trailer, but it didn't end up doing the job. Bill is so funny and I just love this picture of him and Caleb! I got to get on the Bobcat for a little while and "play" with it, took a bit of practice to figure out all the different ways to dump and raise the bucket but I finally got the hang of it and was able to pick up some brush. :) It was fun, very rough though.

Monday another one of my Boer does had kids, a buck and a doe. She did pretty good, kind of a small doe so it was a little difficult but they finally came out. They are SO tiny, or maybe I've just gotten used to looking about my big 3 week old babies. Very cute and they are doing well, I have yet to get pictures of them though.

Last Friday night our friends the Burnett family surprised us by coming over for a Friday Fun night. We played games, laughed, ate, and of course had some ping pong! :) We have so much fun when we get together with them. Later that evening we had to go up to the barn to give the kids some milk and Abbie and Anna put the guys big Carhartt work jackets on because it was really cold, and we had to make them pose for a picture!

This week the weather has been SO nice and I've been outside as much as possible. Oh also Anna got a Registered black Angus heifer last week she had been wanting one for a really long time and was so happy to finally get one.

Tagged!

I got tagged by Bethany Cole

Here's the rules, but I'm going to modify them just a bit. :)

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random and some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Note: I'm changing this to just tagging 2 other people.
4. Let them know the are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okay, 7 weird or random things about myself...

1. I was born in Little Rock Arkansas

2. People always think I look young, like about 14, and just for your information I'm 18. :)

3. I've pushed over trees with a bull dozer.

4. I love goats, (I think that's pretty obvious).

5. When we butcher chickens I'm the "gut girl" and I think it's neat.

6. I ate part of a grass-hopper leg once when I was younger, just for fun.

7. Also when I was younger I used to shoot mice in our well house with a BB gun, once I got a really large rat, probably 8 inches long! :D

Alright, I'm tagging

Danielle and

Bethany Grace Roberts

I would tag Gem, but I think she's played this game before.

Another Baby

Well, I had a pretty interesting weekend. First though, I've been really dreadfully sick with some kind of cold for about a week, still not over it yet. So on Saturday night I noticed on of my Boers starting early labor, and she was not due until March 15th. I kept checking on her up until about 1:00 in the morning and then finally went to bed because I was not feeling well at all. I woke up at about 6:30 to my Dad saying that she had just given birth to a dead kid. :( I rushed out of bed and headed up to the barn. Oh my, it was horrible, the kid had most likely been dead for several days, (that explains why she went into labor early) and it was just so gross. You couldn't even hardly tell that it was a goat. :( The Mom wasn't doing so well though, she seemed really weak and pretty much worn out. And then also I didn't know if there was another kid. So I called my vet and he ended up meeting me at the clinic with the goat at about 8:30, which was very nice of him because he wasn't even the doctor on call. He checked for another kid which thankfully there wasn't. I don't think the doe could have handled the stress of getting it out and would probably have had to have a C-section. He then did a uterine flush to get some of the rotted stuff out and gave her a really strong antibiotic and some other shots. She seems to be doing okay but there is a very high chance of infection since the kid was dead inside of her so it's kind of "iffy" as to whether she will make it or not. :( I really hope she pulls through. It was a really good reminder not to take all those healthy kids for granted though.

The day wasn't quite over yet though. I had another Boer doe start going into labor a few hours after all the above happened. She was taking her time so I ended up taking a REALLY long nap and finally woke up sometime after lunch. By that time she was getting closer and I stayed up at the barn waiting. She finally started pushing and before long had plopped out a big beautiful buck kid! Now this doe was SO huge, she really looked like she could have 3 in there, but you guessed it she just had one. I was just sure there had to be another one but no there wasn't! He is just the cutest little guy! And his mom is so protective of him, it's so funny because he is so rambunctious, and she is just constantly having to follow him around to keep him in her sight. :)

So that was my weekend, not even to mention the tornado weather we had on Sunday night. All we got though was just alot of high winds, rain, and lightening. We were ready though, Dad had the storm shelter cleaned out and Mom and already packed up all her Creative Memories photo albums and stored them safely away down there. :)

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