A Special Package

Guess what arrived in the mail this week?

Baby chicks!  These chicks are the "Pioneer" breed (a dual-purpose breed which are "meatier" than layer chickens).  It is the goal for these chicks to become chicken…fried chicken.

I'm not small…I'm just over 3 inches tall!

 Although this blog mainly focuses on goats, I find it amazing to observe all of the animals on the farm.  It is amazing to grow so many aspects of the food pyramid right here on these few acres…milk, meat, vegetables, etc.  I consider it a privilege to return to the roots of the land and observe the food chain at work!

Rain, Rain, Rain (Again!)

Rain, rain, rain!  We received 6 inches of rain in the past two days.  Combined with the 7 inches we received two weeks ago, we have had 13 inches of rain total this month!  Wow!

Our bottom land flooded...We baled hay on the "lake" earlier this spring.

The sky cleared a little bit last night around 8:30, so I thought I would go cut some browse for the goats since they had been stuck in the shelter all day and needed a treat.  I retrieved the hedge trimmers and headed to the grove of trees down the hill.  By the time I got down there, it had started raining again!  I quickly cut some branches and headed back to the house.  The goats wanted to eat the browse, but I didn't want them to stand out in the rain.  So, I tied the branches together and clipped them to the inside of the goat shelter!  It was a little hanging tree inside the hut!  I laughed, inspired by my own ridiculous ingenuity.

The hanging of the greens…

Just trying to keep everything and everyone DRY!

"Sisterly" love?  I suppose so.

Edna and Elly May are glad the clouds have cleared so they can enjoy being outside!

Hoof Trimming 1-2-3

In this post, Charlotte is getting her hooves trimmed...

At some point, I am hoping to write a post titled "Hoof Trimming 101: Everything You Might Possibly Need Or Want To Know About Hoof Trimming."  But that will have to wait.  Because at this point, I am struggling just to understand how to trim hooves myself!

I am using the bright orange hoof trimmers I ordered from Hoegger Supply.  These trimmers are similar to garden shears.  It seems they are the "standard" trimmers for goat owners.

To trim the hooves, I first scraped the manure off that was lodged in the hoof.  Then I trimmed around the edges of the hoof (the white part).  The inside fleshy sole is hard to get a grip on with the trimmers.  It should be just barely "shaved" off.  I am still working at getting a good snip!  Then the heel is trimmed a bit too.

As I was trimming, I made sure to have some blood stop powder on hand.  It is very easy to snip the goats hooves too close (like snipping a fingernail too close)!

Elly May's hooves got a pedicure as well!  Hers are much easier to trim as they are not as tough.

I have been working on Charlotte's hooves a little each day.  I often don't do more than a couple of snips, but it is giving me the practice I need!

Goat Life: Random Scenes

Hello there!  Welcome to the Great Goat Adventure!  I'm Charlotte, one of the main characters of this blog.  Today I am going to tell you about some happenings around the farm.

My owners mixed me up another big batch of grain.  It costs $1.26 per day to feed me grain!

I eat four quarts a day, so 100 pounds of grain should last me about a month.

The puppies (Brazos and Blue Bell) love my milk.  My owners and kids do too!  A few times recently I have accidentally put my foot in the bucket.  I don't mean to, but sometimes it just happens.  Nobody but the puppies can drink my milk then, but they sure savor the treat!

Guess which one is my kid?  Yep!  The one in her grain bucket!  The more civilized goat is Edna.

And just because still shots don't give me full credit, I starred in the short clip below!

The Goat Show

Today I had the opportunity to attend my first goat show!

The Memorial Classic Dairy Goat Show was coordinated by the South Central Texas Goat Club.  It is held every year at the Washington County Fairgrounds.  There were various breeds of goats represented including Alpines (like my herd), Nubians, LaManchas, Saanens, and Nigerian Dwarfs.  It is hard to estimate how many goats were at the show (maybe 100 or so?), but there were plenty to admire!  Many of the people showing were from the central Texas area, but some had obviously come from farther as they had camped at the fairgrounds overnight.  As an interesting fact, everyone showing was required to wear all white (or at least mostly white)!

I arrived at the show around 9 am.  The show had officially started about 8:30.  There were various classes of goats, including about 3 or more goats per class.  From what I observed, the goats could be shown more than once if they fit into various classes.  All of the goats in a certain class entered the show ring.  A judge walked from goat to goat and critically analyzed the appearance and conformation of each animal.  The judge then spoke a brief overview of each goat before they left the ring.  The arena was a bit loud so it was a challenge to hear the judge (plus, I didn't know what to listen for).

The goats were held in small pens, where there owners had left hay, water, and feed for them.  The goats being shown were closely shaved, except for the tops of their tails.  This left their tails looking like little "fans!" The cutest goats were the little kids.  As most of the dairy goats had freshened (kidded) recently, many of the owners brought the kids along.  We found this little kid curled up in a chair inside its pen...

All of the dairy goats were shown before they were milked.  That means that most of the goats were bursting with milk by the time they entered the show ring.  Some were even leaking milk.  As soon as the goats were shown, their owners got busy milking!  I was able to see this electric milker in action.  The tubes suction to the teats and the milk flows from through the hose into the stainless steel can.  It was fun to watch, but I still like the whole experience of milking by hand.

When I got home, I ran straight to my goats and hugged them and told them they were the most perfect goats in the whole wide world.  It was fun to see all of the other goats, but I still like mine the best (I guess I am just a little partial)!  I love this goat adventure!

A Record!

It is so exciting waking up each morning wondering what surprises the goats might have in store.

Today I got up at 6:15am--extra early--to do the goat chores because I had a commitment which interfered with the regular 7:30am chore time.  The routine went smoothly.  I tethered the kids and gave them some grain.  I put Charlotte in the milking stand and wiped her teats off with iodine.  Her udder felt hard and full, so I knew there would be a lot of milk.  I started milking.  I milked for a few minutes, then let my brother have a turn.  He milked a while, then handed the job back to me.  I milked...and milked...and milked!  At one point Charlotte lifted up her hind leg and threatened to plunge it into the full bowl.  Thankfully, I was able to move the bowl before it came crashing down!  When her udder was finally a shriveled, limp bag, I decided we were finished!  I picked up the bowl and carried it to the house, eager to weigh its precious contents!

Fresh Squeezed Goat Milk

I placed the filter in the strainer and placed the strainer on top of the pitcher.  I weighed the whole set-up on the scale and pressed "tare" to zero out the weight of the pitcher and strainer.  Then, I began pouring the milk.  I poured...and poured...and poured.  The scale registered first a pound, then two, then three.  My eyes were wide in surprise as the scale reached five pounds and I was still pouring.  As I poured out the last of the frothy milk, the digital scale registered 6lbs. 0oz.  Before I could step back to admire it, the pitcher began overflowing.  I quickly moved the strainer to another bowl to finish straining.  Milk was all over the counter, but I didn't mind.  Charlotte had milked SIX pounds (3/4 gallon) in one morning!

The kitchen was "flowing" with milk!

I wrote four labels for this morning.  I ripped off each of these 5/19 labels so I can easily see which milk in the fridge is fresh or old, depending on what I am using it for!

This morning I was reminded of the portion of Psalm 23 which mentions "my cup overflows."  I was reminded that an overflowing cup (or milk pitcher) is a sign of blessing from The Lord.  The contents of the cup (yummy, healthy milk) help to sustain my physical life.  Also, the overflowing cup is a symbol of the abundant life (physical and spiritual) that I have through Jesus my Messiah!  What a beautiful illustration of His provision!

Dimethox

 Dimethox (ordered from Hoegger Supply)

I think I have mentioned before that coccidiosis can be a major problem for goat kids.  Cocci (a special type of worms) can stunt their growth and make them sickly.  I had been using the Molly's Herbal Wormer for Edna which is supposed to help/prevent  cocci.  I still plan to use this herbal formula for various reasons.  However, the farm where I purchased Charlotte and Elly May noted that Dimethox worked really well for preventing cocci and raising healthy kids.  Elly May had already had one dose of this before I purchased her.  And she is considerably bigger and healthier looking than Edna.  Now, much of this is due to genetics and other factors, however I thought that the Dimethox might have something to do with it too.  So, I ordered the Dimehtox and retrieved my drench syringe.

The drench syringe

"A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down!"

Just fill the syringe with medicine and a little agave nectar (or at least dip the end of the syringe in the agave nectar), and the goats quickly learn to LOVE the syringe. 

The treatment lasted for 5 consecutive days.  The first day the kids received 3cc of Dimethox plus a little agave nectar.  For the next four days, they received 1.5cc Dimethox plus agave nectar.  Here we go...

 

 Mmmmm.  Elly May loved her turn!

 It doesn't really look like Edna is enjoying her treat in this picture, but she really was!

After I gave the Dimethox, I set the syringe in a bucket outside the goat pen.  I was taking Charlotte to tether her outside the goat pen and she greedily grabbed the syringe and held it in her mouth!  She must have had a "sweet" experience with a syringe too!

Since a lot of the grass in the goat pen is eaten down, I have been letting her eat around the pen.  I tie a dog leash to a post, then clip it to her collar.  She loves all those yummy "weeds" in the field.

 Another remedy I tried: Charlotte's teats got really dry recently.  They were bits of peely skin dropping into the milk bowl when I milked!  I rubbed some coconut oil on it one evening.  I am not sure if the coconut oil did the trick, but her udder is clear now!

Hurray for Hay!

Mmmm…nothing is better than alfalfa hay.  At least for a goat, that is.

So far, my goats are spoiled on 100% alfalfa.  Alfalfa, although dried and compressed, still maintains its greenish color and has little "juicy" leaves interspersed among the straw.  Yummy!  It comes in two or three string bales which weigh between 60-100 pounds each.  And each of those bales have a nice big price.  Around here, the hay is trucked in from Arizona and New Mexico and a small bale is about $16 and a large bale can be about $30!

When I first brought home the goats, I was feeding them out of a hanging hay bag intended for horses.  It had a small hole in the bag where they could eat the hay.  Well, there was soon more than one hole.  The goats tore it apart at the seams and anywhere else they could manage!  I was wasting lots and lots of that alfalfa hay!

So now I am trying the "Health E-Z Hay Feeder."  It was recommended on The Goat Spot forums and I thought I might give it a try!  It finally arrived in the mail today and I am excited to see how it compares to the hay bag!  (It cost about $50, but I am hoping the investment will be worth it!).

It holds a few flakes of hay…

"The Hay Shed" currently consists of the cattle trailer parked next to the goat pen.  I have a tarp over the hay with some pavers to hold the tarp down.  I am also keeping a pitchfork in here so I can easily carry loads of hay to-and-fro!

 Charlotte gets EXTREMELY excited whenever she smells fresh hay!

 Hurray for Hay!  The goats love the new feeder so far!  (Also, notice the rope and carabiner included with the feeder!  Nice!) 

 At least for now, the new feeder has the goats' "seal of approval!"  We will see if it gets my "seal of approval" as well in regards to efficiency, durability, and hay saving!

Bottle-Feeding Re-visited

Edna and Elly May are growing day-by-day!

Edna is already 10 weeks old and weighs about 30 pounds.  Just six more weeks of bottle feeding!

Elly may is 7 weeks old and at least 30 pounds, too!

Even after bottle feeding for 2 months, I am still tweaking my methods:

With Charlotte milking in both the morning and evening, I typically feed Edna the warm milk directly after I milk.  For the mid-day (2:00pm feeding), I heat a little bit of milk from the fridge in a bottle.  Elly May gets it easy by nursing!  However, Charlotte still doesn't let her nurse very much, so I try to encourage it by holding her still so Elly May can get a sip!

I have been using the lamb nipples, as Edna seems to like the larger nipple.  However, these nipples pop off easily causing milk to pour out of the bottle!  I am trying a new nipple which is designed for the a lambar (bucket feeder).  It has a hole instead of a slit like the lamb nipple.  It is also made of a heavier plastic.  It is a little harder to get on the bottle, but it is definitely makes for a more pleasant bottle-feeding experience.

Raising a goat is an interesting endeavor, always something to learn, research, and experiment!

As a side note, I sprinkled peppermint essential oil on the milking stand in an attempt to combat the flies.  A friend recommended washing down the stand with peppermint soap, but I didn't have any on hand so out came the essential oils!  Hopefully those pesky flies with stop bothering me and Charlotte during our special milking time!

CMT

Mastitis is a dreaded word in the dairy-animal world.  It is often associated with discomfort for the animal as well as for the owner.  From what I understand, it is a disease that works to destroy the milk ducts, causing inflammation in the udder.  Many cases of mastitis can be prevented through keeping sanitary milking conditions.  Mastitis can be treated much easier if it is caught in the early stages.  The California Mastitis Test is an excellent tool for  detecting mastitis.  I recently ordered my kit from Hoegger Supply and I tried it this week for the first time!

I filled the cups with a little bit of milk.  Because the test was designed for use with cows, it has four cups.  I just filled the back two.

 I filled the cups with a little bit of the CMT concentrate (see the top picture).  If the liquid gels, it is a sign of mastitis.  Thankfully, it stayed liquid!  Hurray!  I will probably repeat the test in a couple of weeks to check again, unless I find reason to do so sooner.

I also tested our well water to make sure that would not interfere with the test results.  According to the instructions, if the water remained purple, it was good to go.

Until next time!