Disbudding Disaster

We finally got Copper and Zinc dehorned, but it was a very disturbing event. We have disbudded several kids, so this wasn't our first rodeo. This time it was totally different than what we have experienced in the past.

We got everything prepared on Friday evening, put Copper in the box first, he fought so hard that I was afraid that he would hurt himself. Both of us together couldn't hold him still even before we started the burning process. It was difficult but we finally got him finished, he was whimpering pitifully when we took him back to his mother.

Next it was Zinc's turn, he was ten times worse than Copper had been. He struggled so badly that the iron slipped a couple of times and we had to start all over again. When we were finished with him, he was bleeding from both sides, we had never had that happen before.

Both kids continually scratched the burns with their hind hooves, they whimpered and cried all night long, we had never seen this before either. Normally the kids just start playing and acting as if nothing had happened. Jasper and Onyx started running and chasing each other as soon as we released them back to the mother.

The next day Copper had recovered and was fine but Zinc still cried most of the day, he got under the goat/chicken shed and wouldn't come out. I don't understand what caused this and why this time was so different, we did everything the same as aways. We have done them younger than these two and older.

On Saturday a friend stopped in and helped me get Zinc out from under the shed and one of the burn sites was infected. We sprayed it with blue lotion and by Sunday he was starting to act some better. On Monday he was completely himself again.

I started this blog this morning but severe storms hit our area and I had to close the computer down. I was glad that I did because our electricity went out for quite awhile after that and then came back on long enough for me to wash some dishes then went out again. All is quiet at the moment but I think that we are still suppose to get more storms tonight.

Peepers

I am going to try to squeak one in here before midnight, so that I will have a blog for today before it is tomorrow. I hear thunder, so I will have to make it quick before the storm hits.

Jasper and Onyx went to their new home this morning. Since Jasper had partial horn growths on both sides, I got to burn his horns again. It went very smoothly and hopefully he won't have scurs. It was the first time that I had ever actually used the iron, I usually just hold the kids while my DH does the burning.

I checked my Mille Fleur D'Uccle's nest yesterday and she had no baby chicks but when I went out to the goat/chicken shed this morning there was a little peeper looking out at me from under the hen. This evening we picked the hen up and she has three little peeps under her. Hopefully some of the other eggs will hatch out in the next couple of days but three is good if the others don't, because I was afraid that none of them would hatch for her.

I also set seven large eggs under my broody Rhode Island Red. Since she is bound and determined to set, at least now she has some eggs to set on that should be fertile.

Weaned

Jasper and Onyx are officially weaned and they aren't real happy about it. Their mother doesn't seem to mind much. We milked Cinder at 7:00 this morning and got 1 1/2 quarts. We will probably get more than that this evening.

Still haven't gotten Zinc and Copper's horns taken care of. We don't want to do it when it is raining and it has rained for the last two days.

We checked under my little D'uccle hen last night and no babies yet. It did look like one was in the process of hatching. She has a ton of eggs under her, the other hens must have continued to lay in her nest after we moved her, the sneaky things, one of the eggs is from one of the big hens. I don't know how she managed to get into the nest, the door is tiny. Maybe we will have some chicks today.

One of my Rhodies has gone broody now also, I have put in a request to my cousin for some eggs to set under her.

I know that I didn't blog yesterday because I got an e-mail asking me if I was alright. For the last three days I have been nursing a kidney stone I believe. This is the first one that I have ever had and the pain comes and goes. I am currently trying some home remedies. I don't like going to the Doctor.

Let Down

I am sorry to report that I did not get to ride my horse, not even for 5 minutes. We didn't get the tomatoes planted or the disbudding done today either.

It rained for one thing, but it didn't rain all day. We did catch Ranger and since he is white we had to give him a bath to get all of the caked on mud off of him. Then I brushed him and combed out his mane and foretop. Then we washed his tail in a five gallon bucket and put Rio Vista Detangler on it to comb it out, I gave my DH that privilege.

Then we saddled him and my DH longed him for awhile, then got on and rode him off. I had the camera ready in case he did any bucking but he didn't. He was a little impatient about the whole thing and the DH wouldn't let me ride him. But we did put him in a pen close to the barn/house so that I can start handling him some.

My DH also trimmed his hooves and he was a really bad boy for that and broke my husband's best and favorite lead rope, that is something that no horse should ever do, break his best rope.

Then we went to a friend's house for hot dogs, potato salad and watermelon. Copper and Zinc enjoyed another day of not having that hot iron applied to their heads.

Tomorrow is weaning day for Jasper and Onyx, we wean in the sign. This means that we will have to start milking twice per day now, that will really tie us down.

Long Weekend

My dear Husband finally gets a day off tomorrow. I have his day completely planned out for him, but he doesn't know it yet. I have some tomato plants and a pepper plant that need to be planted and since he doesn't want me to put them in the same place they were last year, he will have to remove the sod and break up the soil in another place of his choosing. We will also need to put some type of protection around them because of my scratch happy chickens.

I am going to separate Jasper and Onyx from their mother over night tonight, so we will have to milk Cinder the first thing in the morning. Tuesday will be their official weaning date.

I also have disbudding planned for Copper and Zinc tomorrow, oh joy! My least favorite thing to do on a Holiday or any day.

Then last but not least, I want to ride my horse tomorrow. Ranger was born in 2002, he is an ApHC Few Spot gelding. I knew I wanted to keep him for myself when he was born, he is a naturally gaited Indian Shuffler. He looks to be smooth as silk but I wouldn't know because I have never been on him.

We had him broke almost two years ago and my DH has only been on him twice since we got him back. So he is just green broke at best. The man who broke him for us actually broke him using old traditional methods, he just got on him and rode him, he said that he bucked and bucked but when he stopped bucking, he never bucked again. He told me that he starts out like a ball of fire and that I would think that he is very spirited but he burns out quickly and rides slowly and quietly. Both times that my DH has been on him we have found this to be true.

I have only been on a horse a couple of times since I injured my back and each time was just for a few minutes. If I can ride Ranger for five minutes tomorrow, I will be proud of myself. My DH will ride him first, of course, and hopefully he will be able to stay on him for more than 8 seconds. Keep it tuned to this station for a full report tomorrow evening.

Finally Named

In keeping with my precious stones and minerals theme this year, I was having a hard time coming up with names for my two newest kids. My good friend "Punky" finally came up with the names that stuck. So my new babies are Copper and Zinc. Copper is the little copper colored buckling and Zinc is the black buckling.

They are doing great, they have discovered the rock.



When they get tired of the rock they can always play on mommy.



Or chew on ears



Angel loves the new arrivals



So they don't feel left out, here is a picture of Jasper and Onyx enjoying the sunshine.

Still Setting

Or is it still sitting? My faithful little Mille Fleur D'uccle hen is still warming her eggs. I just hope that she gets a reward for her suffering. We had to move the nest and there was some confusion about just whose nest it was there for awhile. Two different hens were fighting for possession. The eggs were sometimes abandoned for half a day at a time. Also with the bigger hens trying to slip their large eggs into the little nest, those eggs have been through some tough times. If any of them hatch out it will surely be that the good Lord watches over little eggs.

Jasper was back to his playful self today, moving around much better. The pain from the banding is usually only bad for one day. Both of Jasper's horn caps have fallen off from when we disbudded them and one of Onyx's has fallen off also. It seems like they stayed on much longer this year than they usually do.

When Jasper and Onyx move to their new home, I am thinking about what I am going to do with all of that extra milk. I have discovered that you cannot legally sell raw goat's milk in Indiana, but you can sell shares in a dairy goat. Then feed, care for and milk that goat for the shareholders. This may be something that I have to look into more carefully, because I don't want to have a bunch of extra milk sitting around. Another possibility that we are considering is getting a pig to fatten out.

Saturday

We got several things accomplished today. One of our Granddaughters spent the night with us last night, so she kept me hopping all day while my poor DH was at work. We spent most of the day yesterday in a Lawyer's office, so I am not completely over that yet. The hardest thing on my back is sitting for long periods of time, so all I wanted to do today was recline and rest but my Granddaughter had other ideas.

When my husband got home from work, we had someone come to look at horses, then after they left, we started the milking and feeding. We moved Calico with the new babies out of the barn stall and into the goat lot with the others. Jasper was being a little too buckish and wanting to fight the new babies, so we banded him. That is, we wethered him, he is a buck no more. I usually like to wait until they are three months old to do this but Jasper is way to mature for his age in more ways than one. Needless to say that took some of the fight out of him.

Jasper also knocked one of his caps off, that is the remains of his burnt horns. They usually fall off on their own after a couple of weeks, I was beginning to think that Onyx and Jasper's were never going to come off. He knocked his first one off fighting with Calico. Onyx still has both of hers.

Tomorrow is our 34th anniversary and my Husband is trying to be nice but he is having a hard time of it. You see, Angel chewed his hose in two again. I don't know why she wants to get me in so much trouble. I offered to buy him a new hose but that didn't seem to help matters at all. I think he wants Angel's head on a platter. She really is doing much better and we are getting close to being out of the puppy stage but I am not sure I can keep covering for her.

The Boys

I was standing in the door of the chicken/goat shed the other evening, just watching the goats play and some horse antics, when I realized that all of our intact males are just forces to be reckoned with.

Cooter, my buck, had been pushing his limits with me all evening. He had been cooped up in the horse trailer too long and I had turned him out with Collette and Paris for awhile to get some exercise, since his buck pen wouldn't hold him anymore. He was pushing everyone around and was just generally being King of his domain. We are keeping him separated from Calico and Cinder now because we don't want them bred back.

From my vantage point I watched Cooter strutting his stuff. I could also see Badger, our Grullo AQHA Stallion, who was busy chasing my chickens who had just happened to wonder into his pasture, he was not only chasing them but trying to kill them.

I looked off to my left in time to see Jazz, our Appaloosa Stallion making a dive at the fence that separates him from Shorty, our miniature horse gelding. Shorty has a talent for driving Jazz insane by ignoring his strength and not showing any fear of him. I also personally think that Shorty makes rude remarks to Jazz that send him into a rage. Because one moment Jazz is calm and quiet, then the next moment he totally loses it and tries to crawl over the fence to get at him.

My Roosters like to find a high place to crow, they will also stand up to almost anything that threatens their hens, it's a guy thing. The testosterone driven males on this farm will take on any challenger. They can be quite annoying at times but are to be admired at others.

We did get a hot wire installed on top of our buck pen. So I don't have to deal with Cooter's posturing anymore. When I go into his pen now, he is just glad for some company and I don't have to deal with his buckishness, he is just a friendly puppy dog.

The icing on the cake for me when I was pondering these things, was when my little buckling Jasper got shocked by the electric fence. He yelled and jumped straight in the air but didn't run away like a doeling would do. He pulled himself up to his full height and marched right back over to that fence to let it know that he wasn't afraid of it and would fight it if necessary.