Just Kidding

The goats are kidding that is.  J went to check on them Wednesday and found one of the yearlings acting funny with a head tilt in the morning.  In the afternoon he found a kid but no nanny with it.  After much detective work, he decided it was from the yearling with the head tilt.  She had no udder, no milk what so ever and little interest in the kid.  

 When I got home J had to carry her to the barn.  I carried the baby.  Bumble and Bea are always concerned with something different is happening to their goats.  Because she had no milk and was the first one to kid, the baby got no colostrum.  She is doing well on the bottle but usually they die from infection of some sore within the first 2 weeks.  The nanny was better this morning, head tilt gone,  but still no milk or interest in the baby so she is back out with the herd and I'm bottle feeding the baby.

Then yesterday evening J found this nanny with quadruplets.  She raised triples twice but lost her twins last year in the water tank.  She is a very good mother.  The forecast was for heavy rain overnight so we moved her the quarter mile to the barn.   So far she is taking all of them.

Kid count - 5

Twin Update and More Trouble

Update on the twin we couldn't find Saturday morning.  

Saturday afternoon I rode Otoelene out to look for it and we did what the 4-wheeler couldn't.

 I think my problem that morning was that there were some people camping in our bottom and I was looking over there at all the cars they had parked out there and didn't see the calf in the other direction.

 V and Mike were coming for a visit so we put Mike right to work.

 But once we got the calf back with the cow she rejected it.  Instead of going through the trouble of getting her and the other calf to the barn to try to make her take both, we opted to just put this one on the bottle.

 So now he is hanging out in the barn getting bottle fed twice a day.

 At least we have a twin at the beginning of calving season.  That way we will have a spare if one loses a calf.

 Which brings us to our next problem.  Sunday, when we came in from church, there was a cow that looked like she was trying to steal a calf.  Since she was right at the gate J when ahead and moved her out to a different field.  Three hours later, when he was done feeding, she still had not made any progress toward calving.  We got her up and when J checked the calf was upside down.  See the foot pointing up?  That means either upside down or back leg.  Since J could feel the knee and head we knew upside down.

 J got the chains on and we criss crossed them which flipped to body but not the head.  So I had to go in and straighten that out.  It wasn't a hard pull from there just messy.

 J said, "let me take your picture and you can label it 'Why would anyone want to be a large animal vet?'"  It's a good thing we don't have neighbors because at times like this you just have to strip down outside.

The calf was fine and I turned her back out today.  So 7-T2 is still waiting.

Just Kit Sunday #117

Kit Kat put in a hard day's work yesterday in the garden.  

 The blackberry vines were in desperate need of attention.  

 But first, Kit had to study on the situation.

 He checked things out from top to bottom.

 Then he got down to the work of pruning out the old dead canes.

 After he was done, the blackberry vines were much more tidy.

Job well done Mr. Kit Kat.

Difficult Start To Calving

The first cow calved last night with a set of twins.  We went to check on them this morning with the intent of moving the cow and twins to a small lot where J could keep a better watch on them.  

 But when we got there this cow also had a calf the same color as one of the twins which we couldn't find.  At first J thought she had stolen it but there was the placenta and the calf was still wet, so it looked like hers.

 The twin we could find got an ear tag to aid in identifying.

 Then there was another bull calf J banded.

 While we were looking for the twin another cow calved right next to a swampy runoff.  The calf fell right in and was stuck in the mud.  I don't think that the water was deep enough to drown but the mud was certainly too thick to get out of.

J got it out and drug back up to dry land.
Maybe we will find the twin this afternoon.  At least the weather is warm.

It's Here, It's Here

After talking to the contractor in August, thinking he was coming in November, then told January, and finally set for March, my wood floors have been ordered and are HERE!

 All 51 boxes loaded on the truck,

 toted around the house,

 and now piled in the living room.

I just had to open one to see how it would look.  I think I am loving it.  They may start working on it next week.

Sister Day

Yesterday I got to play with both Otoelene and her little sister Draper.

 It was a bit windy and Otoelene was having a interesting hair day.  She is still such a joy to ride.

 Every time I ride her I can't believe that I have been blessed with a horse better than I could have ever imagined.

 Her little sister has a lot to live up to but she is trying.  I've been filing on her feet some every couple of weeks to try to save on the farrier having to trim her and she has been standing like a pro.

She has been taking everything I throw at her in stride.  As soon as I can get a little help I hope to start ponying her off of Otoelene.  J hasn't had much free time with all of the feeding to do every day.  Maybe with the weather warms up for good...

Getting Close

The Billy goat escaped from the barn lot to be with the nannies on November 3rd.  So according to the goat gestation calculator the nannies should start kidding on April 2nd.

 It seems someone always starts early, so this year we are trying to get prepared early.

 Some of those udders are really filling out.

 To get ready we had to move the yearling calves out of the kidding field.

 J has been feeding them grain using the 4-wheeler so we thought that they might follow it into the barn lot.  No go.

 Next he tempted them with a fork full of hay.

 That got them streaming in.

 Once they were all in they had to go back out through the horse field to get to their ultimate destination, the back 40.

 After a little encouragement they headed on out.  Most went through the gate but naturally, there was one rogue that decided to go through the high tensile fence instead.

Fixing the broken wire then put J about an hour behind on his feeding.  Next up will be rounding up the goats and getting them into the kidding field.

Wedding Shower

With my oldest daughter getting married soon I am learning more about the wedding scene in the 21st century.   Instead of bridal showers for the bride and women friends and family, we now have wedding showers.  That means the men can come too.  I'm not too sure J thought he should be going.  But after assuring  him several times that my brother would be there he finally relented. 

 V's Maid of Honor Jordan, did a wonderful job planning and directing the festivities.  She had some fun games lined up and there was plenty of good food.

 On the gift opening Mike dug right in.

 There was lots of chattering and laughing throughout the afternoon.

 V's house was packed with about 30 friends and family.

 Did I mention that Mike really liked the gifts?

 V was a beautiful bride to be.

And she got some time to catch up and chat with her bride's maids.  

36 more days to go. 

Trophies

When I was growing up my father hauled me and my horse to lots of shows.  

 I was fortunate to win lots of trophies.

 They were all very special to me in my youth.  But ever since my mother made me remove them from her house, they have been living in a box in the closet.

So I have decided to share them.  I am donating 20 to our local saddle club for their 2 shows this year.  I plan on them going to the youth classes. 

I am keeping a few that are very special to me like my championship trophies. 

 And I have the keep these, they were my first two trophies.  They receive quite a bit of polishing.  I was 10 years old and it was a very small local fair but I couldn't have been more proud.  I had always suspected since they didn't match, that they had been donated.

 I hope this lot all get new life in another horse lovers heart.