For those who read my blog regularly, you know that Collette has been driving me crazy. I have posted about her several times. I finally asked for opinions on March 18th. You can see the pictures of her in that post: Doe Opinions Please.
The answer came last night. She hadn't been eating well for the last couple of days. When I started to bring her to the barn for the night, I noticed that she looked like someone had deflated her somewhat. I thought at first maybe she had just dropped but on closer inspection, she just looked a little thinner.
I tied Calico at her feeding station and put Collette in the stall with her grain and she wouldn't touch it. She just stood there and cried. I waited for awhile and kept an eye on her. She doesn't like to be separated from Calico but she is used to it at feeding time.
I commented to my DH that she just might be in heat. I finally went out and put a lead rope on her and opened the gate to see where she wanted to go. She drug me towards Rancid instead of going the opposite direction towards Calico. When we arrived at Rancid's pen, he didn't act that interested at first because she has put him in his place too many times. I decided after watching and waiting for awhile that she would stand for him.
I took her back to her stall and asked my Husband to bring Rancid to the barn. We put them together in the stall and we discovered that she will kid on September 9th, 2010.
Showing posts with label rancid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rancid. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Zircon Memories
It was a lovely day today, warm, sunny, a nice breeze. The horses and goats are all shedding, so there was hair in the air. I let my two does out in the yard for some green, tender munching and some exercise this evening. They kept their noses to the ground, so I worried that they would get too much of a good thing.
When my DH got home from his job, he worked with a new 2 year old filly that we just got in, she really needs some work! The only lesson she has been getting so far is how to be caught without tearing down fences.
Then he brought Zircon to the barn to trim his feet. With 30-something horses, hoof trimming is going to go on and on for awhile. He managed to get Zircon, a 2 year old and Sky, our only yearling done this evening.
I took some new pictures of Zircon, he is such a good boy. I remembered back two years ago this June when I helped bring him into the world. You can read that story here.
Zircon has gone from being an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan. I knew he would!
When the horses were trimmed, I casually said something about trimming Rancid's feet. My wonderful husband whose back and legs were already hurting from the work involved in trimming two horses, one of which was an inexperienced yearling, told me to go get him. Well, I jumped at the chance to get my doe's hooves trimmed and brought out Collette instead. When he finished with Collette, I put her up and brought out Calico. He is an absolute perfect Husband. Rancid will have to wait, I didn't want to push my luck too far.
The last few days have been such perfect weather that I hate for it to end but from the look of the weather map and the forecasts, we are in for some stormy weather. There may be some severe storms tomorrow. I haven't had to shut my computer down because of lightening for months, unfortunately with the Spring weather comes the Spring thunderstorms.
When my DH got home from his job, he worked with a new 2 year old filly that we just got in, she really needs some work! The only lesson she has been getting so far is how to be caught without tearing down fences.
Then he brought Zircon to the barn to trim his feet. With 30-something horses, hoof trimming is going to go on and on for awhile. He managed to get Zircon, a 2 year old and Sky, our only yearling done this evening.
I took some new pictures of Zircon, he is such a good boy. I remembered back two years ago this June when I helped bring him into the world. You can read that story here.
Zircon has gone from being an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan. I knew he would!
When the horses were trimmed, I casually said something about trimming Rancid's feet. My wonderful husband whose back and legs were already hurting from the work involved in trimming two horses, one of which was an inexperienced yearling, told me to go get him. Well, I jumped at the chance to get my doe's hooves trimmed and brought out Collette instead. When he finished with Collette, I put her up and brought out Calico. He is an absolute perfect Husband. Rancid will have to wait, I didn't want to push my luck too far.The last few days have been such perfect weather that I hate for it to end but from the look of the weather map and the forecasts, we are in for some stormy weather. There may be some severe storms tomorrow. I haven't had to shut my computer down because of lightening for months, unfortunately with the Spring weather comes the Spring thunderstorms.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
More Eggs, No Milk
It is Spring Break for some of our Grand-kids, so they have been taking turns staying overnight at Papaw and Mamaw's house. I have walked several miles with them around the farm and Papaw has walked several miles with them on Mr. Shorty. Poor Mr. Shorty has earned his keep this week.
Our hens are finally laying a decent amount of eggs. We are getting anywhere from 4 to 9 eggs a day. Then occasionally my DH goes into the loft and finds a nest, that makes our egg production number jump.
We haven't milked Calico for a week or so and she is about all dried up. Collette is still being Collette and I am still unsure of what is going on with her. Our neighbor and fellow goat herder said that she had a goat deliver a kid the other day without any signs at all. She thought that she was a long way from kidding. She had no udder, no puffiness or swelling. Goats are all different and they are always planning new ways of fooling you.
I was planning on selling my Buck as soon as both does kidded this Spring but now I will probably have to keep him until fall. Once I get both does in milk, I am going to keep milking them as long as they will produce milk or until I get tired of milking. No more breeding and kidding unless I get lonely for some new kids.
Our hens are finally laying a decent amount of eggs. We are getting anywhere from 4 to 9 eggs a day. Then occasionally my DH goes into the loft and finds a nest, that makes our egg production number jump.
We haven't milked Calico for a week or so and she is about all dried up. Collette is still being Collette and I am still unsure of what is going on with her. Our neighbor and fellow goat herder said that she had a goat deliver a kid the other day without any signs at all. She thought that she was a long way from kidding. She had no udder, no puffiness or swelling. Goats are all different and they are always planning new ways of fooling you.
I was planning on selling my Buck as soon as both does kidded this Spring but now I will probably have to keep him until fall. Once I get both does in milk, I am going to keep milking them as long as they will produce milk or until I get tired of milking. No more breeding and kidding unless I get lonely for some new kids.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Collette 2010
Yes, I have accepted the fact that Collette is indeed expecting kids who were fathered by Rancid. Let me be perfectly clear on this matter, it was neither planned or authorized by me. I have no idea when the blessed event will take place and she is not being very forthcoming about it. But here for the perfecting of your prognosticating talent, are her official portraits.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Winter Storm Watch
Thanks to those who were concerned about me. December and January were not great months. December was lean in the pocketbook for us, plus I had the flu during the first part of the month then my DH got pretty sick towards the last part. I spent a couple of weeks on the couch with a pinched nerve in my back around the first of January. I think that I have had a little of the winter blues. Nothing much to write about and I just haven't been inspired.
However, I feel a little inspired today. As I sit here waiting on the big winter storm that is about to engulf Indiana tonight and tomorrow, I was thinking of Spring. Our groundhogs did not see their shadows and Spring is only a few snowstorms away. I know this because my hens have gotten back on their nests and gone to work this week. After months of one egg per day. We got two eggs, then six eggs, then zero eggs, then four eggs, then one egg. I can't wait to see how many eggs we get this evening.
The actual truth is that I had read somewhere that giving your hens Cayenne Pepper would make them start laying. I tried it and about three days later got six eggs. So, yesterday I fixed them up with some leftovers drowning in Cayenne Pepper. I will let you know how it goes.
Collette is huge but I don't think that she will have triplet doelings again this year. I think that she will probably have twin spotted doelings. I still have no idea when she will kid, but I do know now that the father is my black spotted young buck, Rancid. I didn't think he was tall enough or even knew what he was doing but where there is a will there is a way. He doesn't even stink yet!
I check Collette everyday when I milk Calico. She is getting ready to kid, losing her ligaments and has that dropped look, hollowing out in the flanks, carrying low. Still no udder to speak of though. She is waiting for just the right snow or ice storm or just the right sub-zero temperature.
My plans for the rest of today are to get prepared for a winter storm. I need to find a way to store some water. If our electricity goes out we have no water because we have a well with a pump. We do have a nice spring in case of emergencies but it is easier to store some from the well than hauling it to the house from the spring.
We do have heat from a ventless gas heater that provides our heat during the cold months. We do not have lights or a way to cook unless we run our generator. I miss having a woodstove because you always have heat and a way to cook. I suppose we could always build a campfire outside to cook on, I am a pretty good campfire cook.
However, I feel a little inspired today. As I sit here waiting on the big winter storm that is about to engulf Indiana tonight and tomorrow, I was thinking of Spring. Our groundhogs did not see their shadows and Spring is only a few snowstorms away. I know this because my hens have gotten back on their nests and gone to work this week. After months of one egg per day. We got two eggs, then six eggs, then zero eggs, then four eggs, then one egg. I can't wait to see how many eggs we get this evening.
The actual truth is that I had read somewhere that giving your hens Cayenne Pepper would make them start laying. I tried it and about three days later got six eggs. So, yesterday I fixed them up with some leftovers drowning in Cayenne Pepper. I will let you know how it goes.
Collette is huge but I don't think that she will have triplet doelings again this year. I think that she will probably have twin spotted doelings. I still have no idea when she will kid, but I do know now that the father is my black spotted young buck, Rancid. I didn't think he was tall enough or even knew what he was doing but where there is a will there is a way. He doesn't even stink yet!
I check Collette everyday when I milk Calico. She is getting ready to kid, losing her ligaments and has that dropped look, hollowing out in the flanks, carrying low. Still no udder to speak of though. She is waiting for just the right snow or ice storm or just the right sub-zero temperature.
My plans for the rest of today are to get prepared for a winter storm. I need to find a way to store some water. If our electricity goes out we have no water because we have a well with a pump. We do have a nice spring in case of emergencies but it is easier to store some from the well than hauling it to the house from the spring.
We do have heat from a ventless gas heater that provides our heat during the cold months. We do not have lights or a way to cook unless we run our generator. I miss having a woodstove because you always have heat and a way to cook. I suppose we could always build a campfire outside to cook on, I am a pretty good campfire cook.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Crotalus Horridus
Crotalus Horridus is just a great name for a snake, don't you think? My plight today took me to the main horse trough where the water hose was resting. I drug Rancid's dog house out of the kennel to hose it out because of all of the rain water that had somehow found its way into it. Rancid is also not very discrete about where he goes to the restroom or maybe he is too discrete, anyway there was manure in his dog house.
I walked to the hydrant to turn the water on then walked down the hill to the horse trough. I bent over, reached my hand down to grasp the hose to pull it up out of the trough, when I noticed this strange looking thing in the tall grass that my fingers were nearly touching. I did not immediately jerk my hand back, it just lingered there while I assessed the situation.
Whatever this thing was, the hose was resting on it. It was gray, spotted and muted in color. It's texture was very rough and that is what totally fooled me. I was convinced that it was a dry, weather worn root. But my spider sense was tingling (a little Spiderman lingo there). So I hesitated and pondered some more, bear in mind that my hand was still suspended there very near this root.
Somehow common sense prevailed and I realized that the pattern on this root was just a little too perfect. Also whatever it was that I was seeing was in a zigzag position and I could only see about 6 to 8 inches of it in the tall grass. This was very important information because if this was a snake then I didn't know which way it was facing, toward me or away from me.
I quickly withdrew my hand in one swift movement whilst stepping backwards rapidly. I was still reasoning with myself and I came up with the strange notion that if this was indeed a snake then it must surly be a dead snake. I could not possibly have come so close to picking up a live snake so close to my house. Looking back now, I realize that I was in complete denial.
Somehow I maintained my composure and picked up the hose at a different spot, far away from the dead snake. Then for some unknown reason, I sprayed the snake with the hose. I had by this time moved a little farther up the hill ready to bolt in any direction necessary.
Guess what? It wasn't dead and it was a snake but it was headed downhill, so this was good news. I watched from a distance as it made it's way under the horse's water tank. Judging from how the tall grass moved, I am guessing that it was at least 10 foot long. Rule of life #1; Snakes always appear larger than their actual size. So it was probably closer to 3 foot long.
My first thought was Rattlesnake, but I knew that no one would believe me. I didn't see a rattle but I was pretty far away at the time. So tonight I did some research on Indiana snake identification. I answered all of the questions on the website about color, pattern, texture, size and even the fact that it was frozen in a zigzag pattern, I clicked the "Search" button after I had finished. The first thing that it brought up was Crotalus Horridus or Timber Rattlesnake.
This was not the answer that I wanted. I was more looking for some harmless, non-venomous snake that only eats mice and is terrified of humans. The thing that worries me the most about all of this is that I have to go out there tomorrow to do all of my normal chores. The other thing that bothers me is that now I have to go to bed after looking at several pages of pictures of snakes with irritable expressions on their faces, Oh the dreams I will have...
Now of course you know that some little harmless corn snake barely bigger than a worm will start hanging out down by the horse trough, so that my Husband and the rest of the family can make fun of me, it's bound to happen!
I walked to the hydrant to turn the water on then walked down the hill to the horse trough. I bent over, reached my hand down to grasp the hose to pull it up out of the trough, when I noticed this strange looking thing in the tall grass that my fingers were nearly touching. I did not immediately jerk my hand back, it just lingered there while I assessed the situation.
Whatever this thing was, the hose was resting on it. It was gray, spotted and muted in color. It's texture was very rough and that is what totally fooled me. I was convinced that it was a dry, weather worn root. But my spider sense was tingling (a little Spiderman lingo there). So I hesitated and pondered some more, bear in mind that my hand was still suspended there very near this root.
Somehow common sense prevailed and I realized that the pattern on this root was just a little too perfect. Also whatever it was that I was seeing was in a zigzag position and I could only see about 6 to 8 inches of it in the tall grass. This was very important information because if this was a snake then I didn't know which way it was facing, toward me or away from me.
I quickly withdrew my hand in one swift movement whilst stepping backwards rapidly. I was still reasoning with myself and I came up with the strange notion that if this was indeed a snake then it must surly be a dead snake. I could not possibly have come so close to picking up a live snake so close to my house. Looking back now, I realize that I was in complete denial.
Somehow I maintained my composure and picked up the hose at a different spot, far away from the dead snake. Then for some unknown reason, I sprayed the snake with the hose. I had by this time moved a little farther up the hill ready to bolt in any direction necessary.
Guess what? It wasn't dead and it was a snake but it was headed downhill, so this was good news. I watched from a distance as it made it's way under the horse's water tank. Judging from how the tall grass moved, I am guessing that it was at least 10 foot long. Rule of life #1; Snakes always appear larger than their actual size. So it was probably closer to 3 foot long.
My first thought was Rattlesnake, but I knew that no one would believe me. I didn't see a rattle but I was pretty far away at the time. So tonight I did some research on Indiana snake identification. I answered all of the questions on the website about color, pattern, texture, size and even the fact that it was frozen in a zigzag pattern, I clicked the "Search" button after I had finished. The first thing that it brought up was Crotalus Horridus or Timber Rattlesnake.
This was not the answer that I wanted. I was more looking for some harmless, non-venomous snake that only eats mice and is terrified of humans. The thing that worries me the most about all of this is that I have to go out there tomorrow to do all of my normal chores. The other thing that bothers me is that now I have to go to bed after looking at several pages of pictures of snakes with irritable expressions on their faces, Oh the dreams I will have...
Now of course you know that some little harmless corn snake barely bigger than a worm will start hanging out down by the horse trough, so that my Husband and the rest of the family can make fun of me, it's bound to happen!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sold 5 Goats Today
What a day! I was told that I probably wouldn't be able to sell any goats until this fall. Then I got several calls yesterday and someone showed up to look at Paris and her twins last night. He told me he was going to take them and sure enough he showed up today with a trailer. I think that they got a real good home.
Then a lady came who was interested in the other spotted buckling that is the twin brother to the one that I am keeping as a buck. She had told me over the phone that she wanted him and was coming after him today. Then when he started crying for his brother after she loaded him, I talked her into buying Calico's last buckling as a companion for him.
That takes care of all of the goats that I have for sale except for Cooter. But I believe someone will come along who has a hankering for a big, lovable, stink pot like him.
My new little lonely buckling has officially been named Rancid, even though he doesn't have any odor yet, I am confident his time will come.
This also means that I have two does who will have to be milked twice daily without any breaks for me. Calico's big buckling was not only keeping her drained but was nursing Collette as well. I have been having to put him in the dog kennel with the other two bucklings at night so that I could get some milk in the mornings.
Angel, my Great Pyrenees, is not a happy camper. When the man drove off with Paris in a crate on a small trailer, she was in hot pursuit. I had just come back into the house without even thinking about her. Then I got a call from Paris' new owner that Angel was still following them and that he was going to have to turn around and come back.
I went to the top of the hill to meet them and when Angel thought that he was bringing her goats home, she took the short cut across the field and went down over the hill. He turned back around and took off again and I came back down too.
Angel was waiting on me and wagging her tail, all happy that she had saved the day but kept looking up the hill, after awhile she went back up the hill to see what was keeping them. She went back up to check around three times. Even now, after several hours have passed she is still acting defeated.
Then a lady came who was interested in the other spotted buckling that is the twin brother to the one that I am keeping as a buck. She had told me over the phone that she wanted him and was coming after him today. Then when he started crying for his brother after she loaded him, I talked her into buying Calico's last buckling as a companion for him.
That takes care of all of the goats that I have for sale except for Cooter. But I believe someone will come along who has a hankering for a big, lovable, stink pot like him.
My new little lonely buckling has officially been named Rancid, even though he doesn't have any odor yet, I am confident his time will come.
This also means that I have two does who will have to be milked twice daily without any breaks for me. Calico's big buckling was not only keeping her drained but was nursing Collette as well. I have been having to put him in the dog kennel with the other two bucklings at night so that I could get some milk in the mornings.
Angel, my Great Pyrenees, is not a happy camper. When the man drove off with Paris in a crate on a small trailer, she was in hot pursuit. I had just come back into the house without even thinking about her. Then I got a call from Paris' new owner that Angel was still following them and that he was going to have to turn around and come back.
I went to the top of the hill to meet them and when Angel thought that he was bringing her goats home, she took the short cut across the field and went down over the hill. He turned back around and took off again and I came back down too.
Angel was waiting on me and wagging her tail, all happy that she had saved the day but kept looking up the hill, after awhile she went back up the hill to see what was keeping them. She went back up to check around three times. Even now, after several hours have passed she is still acting defeated.
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