Changing of Seasons

It is a changing of seasons with the selling of the goat kids...but also a changing of seasons from Summer to Fall!

The first official day of fall was last week.  But with stifling heat and suffocating humidity, autumn wasn't anywhere to be found then.  What a surprise to wake up to 65 degree temperatures this morning and a coolness in the air!  Truly a reason to celebrate!

I am also grateful for the inch of rain we received a few days ago.  The fields are so lush that I have to check the calendar to remind me it isn't Spring!

Beautiful sunrise...

Edna and Charlotte are best friends and worst enemies now that they are the only two goats left to the herd!

Edna's udder has been quite full the past few days.  I am discovering that Edna had been producing a lot of milk and Hurray (her kid that I sold) had been drinking it!

Edna is really fun to milk!  I like her udder shape!

I am getting about 2 1/2 quarts of milk from both Charlotte and Edna.  Often, it is more milk than I can use so Blue Bell benefits from the surplus!

I've been trying to work on the goats hooves more regularly.  It is easiest to trim in the morning while their hooves are spongy from the dew.

These little bearded goats are sure a pleasure to enjoy!  I am thankful for the motivation they provide to get outside each morning and enjoy my Creator's beautiful creation!

And I hope that Fall is here to stay...!

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!

This Way and That Way

Edna seems to keep herself pretty clean.  I found myself in the goat pen this evening with the camera, and I was surprised by the wide variety of positions Edna used to "primp."  She twisted first this way, then that way, fluffing her hair and cleaning herself off!

Clean the hind leg this way...

Clean this that way...

Stretch out to clean the front legs...

And twist around to fluff up the back...Edna is one agile goat!

 Here are some parts of Edna you might not see very often:

Little Chompers...

 Hooves:  These will need to be trimmed soon!

I gave Edna another dose of herbal wormer today.  Here's how it works:  

First measure out 1/2 teaspoon (she'll get a full teaspoon in a few months.)

Mix the wormer with a little bit of water in a small cup.

Suck the mixture into the drench syringe and you're good to go!

Well, maybe.  The wormer should be slowly squeezed into the side of the goat's mouth.  The goat should happily swallow it.  But Edna and I are both learning about wormer!  It was quite the experience!

 I am not sure Edna got the whole dose, but she got some!  Hopefully we will do better next time!