Pre Tree Treat

The goats were near the house yesterday so I thought I might give them a little treat.

 I haven't taken down the Christmas tree yet but I did have some branches that had been trimmed off of it.

 They came running.

 There was quite a bit of jockeying around for the best branches.

Brother even had to come join in.

E, who is home for a little while over Christmas break (Yay!!!), says they are fun to watch.  

Winter Weaning

Yesterday J got the cattle up at our farm up the road.

 Since they were already in the smaller lot it was just a matter of walking and pushing them on into the barn lot.

 From there we sorted the cows out, dewormed them,

 and turned them back out.

 The calves then got dewormed and loaded onto the trailer for a short trip back to the house.

Three loads later 41 calves were ready to wean.

Merry Christmas

A very merry Christmas

From our family to you. 

Just Kit Sunday #128

  Kit had to come in and check out the decorations.  

I don't think he liked the minimalist trees much. 

 He said, "Hi" to Santa and Rudolf.

And he checked out the lights on the stairs.

 And what's in those packages?

 "I think they need to smell more like me."  Then he finally settled down for his Christmas picture.

Merry Christmas Eve, 

From Kit Kat.

Random Happenings and Bonus Kit Kat

There was a beautiful sunrise a couple of days ago.

 I can never resist running out and taking a picture.

 Who could, when you have a view like this from the porch.

 I had another successful trip to Dollar General.

All was on sale 2/$6.  I had 6, $2 off coupons and a $3 off $15 survey coupon making them  50 cents each.  I think I am good for detergent for awhile.  

 Preview of the 9 1/2 foot Christmas tree.

And as promised, Kit Kat found a box in the garage that he liked.

Santa Pinterest Success

For several years now I have been trying to make J's aunts some sort of unique Christmas tree decoration.  Pinterest has been a great help in coming up with ideas. 

 This one was my inspiration for this year.

 I somehow had all of the needed supplies.

 In mass they are quite stunning.

 I like the addition of the pompom and sequence eyes.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but mine is also much smaller than the inspiration.

I think they made very cute "bows" on the presents.  Wonder if there are any extras?

New Gift Bags

I gave away my first horse feed bag at an office gift exchange so it was time to make some more. 

 I also checked out ebay, they are selling for about $7 to $9 dollars including shipping.

 Apparently, people are also buying empty feed bags.  That may be the next thing I try on ebay.  It could certainly help to offset the price of the feed.

The horse feed sack was easier than the dog food.  It was really hard to clean the inside of the dog food bag, sort of greasy.  Now Kit just has to finish his 16 pound bag so I can do a cat food one.

Frosty Morning

I had to round up the horses yesterday for the farrier. 

 He is finally back to work from his injury this summer where he was hit by a truck while riding his horse.  Horse is fine and he is getting there.

 Anyway, new field and cold weather made for some frisky horses to start with.

Hank, an old hand at this

 I just had everyone's shoes pulled and feet trimmed because I doubt we do much riding until spring.  I did however reset Otoelene's front shoes just in case.  Plus her feet look better that they have in a long time.

On another subject, we had terrible winds a couple of nights ago, gusts over 50 mph.  Her is one of the casualties.

Almost Free

I had another successful trip to Dollar General the other day. 

 There was a special, buy 3 airwick get $3 off.  So the 3 should have added to $18 - $3 = $15 so I could use the $3 off $15 survey coupon.  But I picked up the wrong kind and one was only $4.50 instead of $5 so that is way the gum is there, as a "filler".  I had a buy one get one free coupon, a 1/2 off coupon and $2 off coupon.

The cashier was determined to make them all work for me.  But in the process, she had to scan another one of my 3/15 coupons making the first one void.  So to replace the coupon she gave me a $3 gift card essentially making the transaction only  64 cents.  I think I could have done better if I didn't have to buy the gum.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I don't think they were calling for snow.  We ended up with about 5 inches.  Took some pictures on a little walk this morning. 

 

Hope you are staying warm.

I Should Be Banned

I just couldn't help myself.  I went into the State Surplus store again and came out with a chair, again. 

 But isn't is cool?

 It is really rocking my mid century vibe.

And who could pass it up for just $3.00?

Parelaphostrongylus tenuis

Well, that is what I am suspecting anyway.  P tenuis, or meningeal deer worm, can be a big problem for goats.  White tail deer are the natural host and are seemingly unaffected by the parasite.  The life cycle involves a snail, which the goats can eat when grazing.  Because the worm is in the wrong host, it migrates abnormally, aberrant migration, and ends up in the brain or spinal cord.  If that happens then neurological symptoms occur.

J noticed one of the new billy goats dragging a rear leg one day.  The next day he said the front leg on the same side was affected.  There is no test for the worm and little to no treatment.  But, being a vet I had to try.

J got out his handy, dandy catch pole so I could treat the billy.  I gave him a big dose of ivermectin dewormer, and some banamine, an anti inflammatory.  J said today he was no worse but probably no better either.  It is usually a chronic progressive disease.  So we will wait and see.   Another vet at the clinic with goats recently lost one due to neurological problems.  She had hers necropsied and they diagnosed the worm then.

Meanwhile, the nannies are all doing good.  The weather has been dry, which they love.

And Mary Lou, and Crazy were happy to see me.

Then just some nice pictures to get our minds off the billy goat.

That's Bea on the left, and the puppies which I can't tell apart without seeing there tails.