Onyx and Jasper are getting old enough now that they are eating some grain, grass and hay, so we have started separating them from their mother so that we can get enough milk for ourselves.
I enjoy a great big glass of cold goat's milk all by itself or with some brownies or cookies. I am having a glass right now while I am typing this.
I have been separating the kids at around 2:00 in the afternoon, then we milk Cinder in the evening right before dark, then turn the babies back in with her for the night. The amount of milk that we get varies but we have enough for the two of us.
Cinder is not a good milker, she has a large udder and produces plenty of milk but she hates being milked. You would think that after awhile she would get used to the idea but it just never gets better.
It is a struggle to get her on the milking stand. We have a bale of straw beside the milking stand and her feed is right on the other side of the stanchion waiting for her to stick her head through. She doesn't mind standing on the bale of straw and putting her two front feet on the stand or even sticking her head through the stanchion to eat her grain but she just won't put her back feet up on the stand. So my poor husband has to lift her up there each time.
Then we have to put hobbles on her hind legs above the hocks because it is the only way that she can be milked. She will kick, stomp and squirm without the hobbles, she will put her feet in the bucket, along with hair and bits of manure. So, hobbles are the only answer for her.
We clean her udder before milking begins and my husband does all of the milking, he is very good at it. Just as soon at the milking is over, the bowl of milk is hurried inside and strained quickly through a metal, permanent coffee filter that we purchased at Walmart. Speed is important because the sooner that you can get the milk into the refrigerator the better. Cooling the milk quickly is the secret to really good tasting goat's milk.
We do not use the milk right away, we wait until the milk has been in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours for the cream to rise to the top, then I take a large tablespoon and skim the cream, I either save it to make butter with or use as a creamer in my coffee or it goes to the dogs and cat. The remaining milk is placed in a pitcher or clean milk jug for drinking.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Surprise
We keep some of our horses at a friend's house because she has more grass than her horses can handle. She also keeps a large pony for another friend of hers. We stopped by there yesterday to trim one of our yearling's hooves. Our friend was mowing her yard, she and my husband were discussing changing oil on her lawn tractor.
I was listening and looking across the field occasionally at the horses who were at the back of the property. Something seemed strange about what I was seeing, so I tried harder to focus but at that distance and with my elderly eyesight, I couldn't make a certain object out. So, I finally said, "What is that?". My husband and our friend turned around to look. My husband said that it looked like a foal. I asked where our friend's German Shepherd was and my husband said that it's legs looked too long to be a dog, as he sprinted across the yard to the gate.
By the time that we arrived on the scene the "foal" had found it's mother and was nursing. My DH yelled to me that it belonged the pony. When it took it's head out from under it's mother and peeked around at us, we both started laughing and my husband announced that it was a mule.
The man who owns this pony had bought her at an auction last summer and had no idea that she was pregnant. We had been there about a week ago and I had made the comment that she looked pregnant but ponies tend to look that way, so we didn't investigate further.
It took awhile before our friend who owns the property got back to where we were. We didn't say anything about it being a mule to her and she was talking about how surprised her other friend was going to be. When she was finally close enough to see it she had the strangest look on her face. She said something about it having long ears before she realized what it was. I wish that I had had my camera with me, it was so funny!
It is just the cutest thing you ever saw. My husband finally caught it and we all got to pet it. It is a dark bay boy with a dorsal stripe, a curly mane and tail, very long ears and a light tan nose. You can't look at it without laughing. It's mother is a large bay pony with two blue eyes, she is real pretty and seeing her with this ugly little duckling is so sweet. She loves him no matter what he looks like.
I was listening and looking across the field occasionally at the horses who were at the back of the property. Something seemed strange about what I was seeing, so I tried harder to focus but at that distance and with my elderly eyesight, I couldn't make a certain object out. So, I finally said, "What is that?". My husband and our friend turned around to look. My husband said that it looked like a foal. I asked where our friend's German Shepherd was and my husband said that it's legs looked too long to be a dog, as he sprinted across the yard to the gate.
By the time that we arrived on the scene the "foal" had found it's mother and was nursing. My DH yelled to me that it belonged the pony. When it took it's head out from under it's mother and peeked around at us, we both started laughing and my husband announced that it was a mule.
The man who owns this pony had bought her at an auction last summer and had no idea that she was pregnant. We had been there about a week ago and I had made the comment that she looked pregnant but ponies tend to look that way, so we didn't investigate further.
It took awhile before our friend who owns the property got back to where we were. We didn't say anything about it being a mule to her and she was talking about how surprised her other friend was going to be. When she was finally close enough to see it she had the strangest look on her face. She said something about it having long ears before she realized what it was. I wish that I had had my camera with me, it was so funny!
It is just the cutest thing you ever saw. My husband finally caught it and we all got to pet it. It is a dark bay boy with a dorsal stripe, a curly mane and tail, very long ears and a light tan nose. You can't look at it without laughing. It's mother is a large bay pony with two blue eyes, she is real pretty and seeing her with this ugly little duckling is so sweet. She loves him no matter what he looks like.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Perfect Angel
Angel, my Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian Dog or LGD for those who have never read my blog before, is doing just great. She hardly ever carries stuff away or chews on things that she isn't suppose to anymore, I think the whipping that she got with the garden hose that she chewed in two really helped. I did catch her with a coffee can the other day, she had taken it into the goat lot, I explained to her that it doesn't look good to have tin cans in a goat lot because it causes people to stereotype goats as tin can eaters. She understood and hasn't done it since.
The main reason that I am so proud of her this morning is because she barked and barked until I finally went out, I looked around and didn't see anything but she insisted that there was something out there. Finally a fox ran out from behind one of the buildings where he was hiding. I didn't have time to get a gun. I don't know when I will start remembering to take a gun with me when I go out. Angel got a big "Good Girl", a pat of the head and a hug around the neck.
The only problem that I am having with Angel at this time is that she wants me to play with her and I am just not able. She is always bouncing around me trying to entice me to play. I told her that I was going to have to hire someone to rough house with her but the problem is that she doesn't much care for outsiders. She is only friendly with my husband, me and our little Granddaughters. She is friendly with our Grandson but only enough for him to pet her, not enough to really play. She doesn't really want to play with my DH either, she sees him as the big, bad alpha male.
The main reason that I am so proud of her this morning is because she barked and barked until I finally went out, I looked around and didn't see anything but she insisted that there was something out there. Finally a fox ran out from behind one of the buildings where he was hiding. I didn't have time to get a gun. I don't know when I will start remembering to take a gun with me when I go out. Angel got a big "Good Girl", a pat of the head and a hug around the neck.
The only problem that I am having with Angel at this time is that she wants me to play with her and I am just not able. She is always bouncing around me trying to entice me to play. I told her that I was going to have to hire someone to rough house with her but the problem is that she doesn't much care for outsiders. She is only friendly with my husband, me and our little Granddaughters. She is friendly with our Grandson but only enough for him to pet her, not enough to really play. She doesn't really want to play with my DH either, she sees him as the big, bad alpha male.
Hillary
Enough already, Hillary, I got your messages loud and clear. I have received three phone calls from the Hillary Clinton Campaign. Plus all of the mass mailings in my mailbox. I am surprised that she doesn't have my e-mail address. The first two calls were from live people but the one that I got today was just a recording. Hillary herself will probably be calling me on Monday or Tuesday.
The last piece of mail that I got was all about where Barack Obama really stands on guns, that just struck me funny because it didn't say anything about where Hillary stands on guns. Then the recorded message that I got today was the same message about Obama's stand on guns, paid for by Hillary Clinton for President.
I get the feeling that I am being profiled here. A little paranoia is setting in, what makes them think that I am a bitter person living in a rural place or small town who clings to guns? Now while Barack Obama may have made this statement, it is the Clinton campaign who must really believe it or they wouldn't be targeting me with this ad and this recorded phone message.
The last piece of mail that I got was all about where Barack Obama really stands on guns, that just struck me funny because it didn't say anything about where Hillary stands on guns. Then the recorded message that I got today was the same message about Obama's stand on guns, paid for by Hillary Clinton for President.
I get the feeling that I am being profiled here. A little paranoia is setting in, what makes them think that I am a bitter person living in a rural place or small town who clings to guns? Now while Barack Obama may have made this statement, it is the Clinton campaign who must really believe it or they wouldn't be targeting me with this ad and this recorded phone message.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Free Ranging
In case you don't get the Mother Earth News magazine and I don't but a friend passes their copy on to us when they are done with it. They had an article in their fall issue about Real Free Range Eggs, the article pointed out that real free range is being allowed to roam free on pasture and feed on the things that they find there. What it doesn't mean is chickens that live outdoors in a pen or that live in cages with the barn doors open.
I hate to tell you what I have seen my chickens eat but my chickens are true free range chickens. They actually eat a lot of grass and plants, they love worms, insects and grubs. They like Angel's dog food and will even eat some stuff that buzzards find appealing. They pick and scratch through the manure piles as well.
The magazine article says that after their testing of free range eggs and factory produced eggs was completed, they found that Free Range Eggs had the following:
I hate to tell you what I have seen my chickens eat but my chickens are true free range chickens. They actually eat a lot of grass and plants, they love worms, insects and grubs. They like Angel's dog food and will even eat some stuff that buzzards find appealing. They pick and scratch through the manure piles as well.
The magazine article says that after their testing of free range eggs and factory produced eggs was completed, they found that Free Range Eggs had the following:
- 1/3 less cholesterol (some that they tested even had 1/2 less)
- 1/4 less saturated fat
- 2/3 more vitamin A
- 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
- 3 times more vitamin E
- 7 times more beta carotene
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