Garden Gold

There's an old shed on our farm that we store a hay wagon under.  The goats like to hang out there sometimes.  And where there are goat there is goat manure.  I have never cleaned out the shed so I thought this would be easy to get to and put on the garden.

 I had 3 big tubs filled in no time.

 Next came spreading in in rows in the garden.

 Look how fast it worked.  Just kidding, that's some volunteer lettuce that I had to work around.

 We've planted broccoli, lettuce, spinach, onions and cabbage so far.  I am not looking forward to all of the weeding to come.

And I'm finally getting enough asparagus to make a good helping.

Cattle Working

We got the fall calving cattle up today to work.

 There are about 40 cows in this group.

 The pens have a major obstacle in the middle, an old chicken house.  The calves a lot of times run into it, but today a cow decided to enter.  The problem was she tried to exit through the smaller opening.

 After a major struggle she finally freed herself but left behind a lot of hair in the process.

 J had 6 heifers for me to pregnancy check.  My arm gets a little tried between cattle.

 You can see was the green grass turns into.

V and E were on Easter break still today.  V went with a friend and his family to see a Titanic museum tour.  That left E to stay and help us.  She is alway wonderful help and very pleasant too.  We vaccinated and dewormed the calves, implanted the steers with Ralgro and had one open heifer.

Sunrise Service

We got an emergency call from the church secretary yesterday wanting to know if we had a small 4 legged animal the preacher could use for the Sunrise Service.  She had sheep but the lambs were too big and wild to hold. So, of course we did, we had 58 to choose from.

 It was a beautiful morning for the service.

 I picked out the little triplet that we are supplementing with a bottle.

 She got held for the entire service and didn't make a peep or mess.

 She was a big hit to feed afterwards.  She is now named Bunny.

E dyed the deviled eggs this year as found in the Life in the Little Red Farmhouse blog. (I love E's Easter shirt)

They were a big hit.

Kid count:  60 with 31 nannies kidding.  Two older pet goats, Squeeky and Tinkerbell, and a yearling didn't kid. (they might later in the summer, we'll see)

Bottle Babies

We have a few goats that we are supplementing with a bottle.  They are staying with the herd and in some cases trying to stay with the mother, but not getting enough on their own.

 This is a twin the mother isn't letting nurse.

 This one is a triplet that was born smaller than the others and just isn't keeping up yet.

 This triplet the mother won't let nurse.  It stays with her and gets to nurse if the nanny is distracted but as soon as she sniffs it she'll move off.

 Tickle only has one kid.  Since she is a bottle goat herself, I can hold her to let the other ones nurse sometimes.

More on her tomorrow, but she will be taking a trip to the Sunrise Service.
Pictures today are courtesy of sister C.  Thank you C.

Banding and Bite Wounds

We only have 1 more goat close to kidding so today we penned them up to band the bucks and deworm the nannies.  I use injectable Cydectin at 1 cc/100 pounds SQ to deworm. 

 V and E are out of school for Easter break.  I don't think this was their idea of a good vacation however.

 V caught a lot of the nannies and helped with the banding.

 After holding this kid, E preferred keeping the goats we had already worked separated from the ones we were still catching.

 They were all glad to escape from the barn after that ordeal.

On a different note, I got bitten by a dog at work yesterday.  It was a 16 year old Shiba Inu and I had finished examining it, drawn blood and had already weighed it but was concerned about the 9 pound weight gain in 4 months.  Sometimes our scales mess up, so I took her to a different scale to reweigh her and she jumped up and bit my chin.  The owner was in tears.  I'll be sore and swollen for awhile but it could always have been worse.
Kid Count:  59

Got An Itch

A visit to the nursery to try and get some good pictures deteriorated into an itch fest. 

 Everyone got up and had to scratch.

 Standing scratching with a back foot.

 Trying to get to that tail.

 Laying down scratching with a back hoof.

This hind foot technique proved to be very popular.
Kid count:  54

Ponying

I took a new step in Otoelene's training today.  

 We saddled up Lady and ponied Otoelene.

 I started in the ring going both directions and having her go on both sides.

 She did so well that I took her out into the field that they are turned out in.  We rode through the goats and cattle and up and down hill.

She did try a half hearted nip at my leg and at Lady's neck but overall she did great.  Next time she will be ready for some new territory and maybe a water crossing.  I'll have to compliment Lady also, very calm and smooth.
Kid Count:  52

Second Spare

We had a set of twins this morning.  The cow took the heifer but not the bull calf.

 In the pouring rain J had to bring the calf to the barn.  Emma was there to help clean things off.

 Next came the Colostrix.  It may not be quite as good as the real thing, but it's much more convenient.

 The calf is pretty vigorous and nursed the whole bottle.

Our first spare was born 5 weeks ago and is now eating grain along with 2 bottles a day.  The first cow that calved had twins and we have been keeping him in case a cow lost a calf then we could graft it on.  But so far after 90 cows calving we have been blessed to not need the spare yet.  I remember one year however, when we lost the last 3, so the spares are good to have.
Kid count:  44  (triplets yesterday)

Ready to Ride

I climbed over the gate one day when Otoelene was standing next to it and decided it would be a good time to desensitize the space above her head.  She didn't seem to mind me being above her at all.  She then turned sideways to the fence and wanted to be scratched.  Well, obviously, the next step was to go ahead an sit on her.

She is not the least bit bothered by the arrangement, especially if she get to be scratched in the process.

 I've sat on her several times now and she never offers to move.

 I love how relaxed she is.

I'm still not brave enough yet to get all the way on (particularly without a halter), but I'm getting close.  She'll be a year old April 30th.
Kid count:  41

Spring Flowers

I love the spring and the anticipation of all of the different flowers blooming.

 The grape hyacinths spread so aggressively that I have started just pulling them up and throwing them over the fence.

 You have to love a daffodil  that that a pink center.

 The ice didn't bother the yoshino cherry trees,

their blooms were a beautiful delicate shade of pink.

Pyper

Our friends brought their 18 month old daughter Pyper over yesterday to play with the baby goats.

 The kids have been hanging out in the barn while the nannies go graze. I love the pony tail.

 "Hold still, I just want to hug you."

 "One baby goat..."

 "Goats butt heads, right?"

 "Peek-a-boo."

Pyper was adorable.  What a nice visit.
Kid count:  28 (not counting Pyper)