Horses Not Goats!

Looks like the goats have taken a couple of days off, no new kids since Sunday.  J and I took advantage of the break and the nice weather to go on a trail ride. 

 My riding has been sporadic this spring.  When I had the shoes reset on everyone, I had bragged about how well all of the shoes had stayed on over the winter.  Well, that was a mistake.  Two weeks later I went out to ride Otoelene and she was missing her left front.  So I rode Draper and called the farrier.  He came a few days later and replaced Otoelene's shoe.  So, the next week I go to ride Draper and she is missing her left front.  Another call to the farrier, another replaced shoe.  The next week I go to catch Otoelene, she was now missing her right front.  OK, I'll ride Draper.  NOT!  She was missing her right front.  The farrier was getting really tired of seeing my number, but he came out promptly (benefit of living close by) and put two more shoes back on.  So far so good but I wasn't getting my hopes up for a trail ride until I went out and saw all four shoes on Otoelene. 

 Meanwhile, Jessica was perfect.  She hadn't been ridden in months until I got her up yesterday for a little grooming and a brief workout.  At 17 years old she should pretty much know what to do by now.  Although she never has been back to 100% since her bout with Lyme Disease.  But she is well enough to take on a trail ride, just not at an endurance pace.

 J even stopped and posed for a picture. 

 And  just to prove I was really on a horse, I let him take mine too. 

But I wasn't so successful with the selfie, looks like I didn't take the size of my brim into account, sorry I missed J's head.  Beautiful day, wonderful ride.

Kid Count, 83

Goats, Goats, and More Goats

It seems like about the only thing we get done lately is dealing with the goats. 

girl, boy, boy, girl

 The bottle goats have made progress.  Four can go to the automatic feeder now.

 The little tree root triplet still needs a little extra attention but she is coming along well and there is certainly no problem with her lungs.  She can scream louder than any of them.

J turning a nanny out the next morning after having assisted her in kidding

 Wednesday was a busy day for J.  Twelve nannies kidded while I was at work.  He had to pull 3 of them.  They were all singles from yearling nannies.  Then he had to call me to come home from work early because there was one he couldn't get pulled.  Only the feet were coming and his hand was too big to try to find the head.  Well, I could get my hand in but still couldn't get the head to come through the pelvis.  The only alternative was a c-section.  So I sedated her and loaded her in the back of the Rav and took off back to the clinic. (this a is small animal clinic mind you)

 The other vet that I was working with said if I had to do a c-section she wanted to watch.  She was kind enough to stay late and run the anesthesia for me.

 And look what came out, a 6 1/2 pound doeling.  I couldn't believe she was still alive after all of that.  I had pulled into the clinic at 7:10 and was pulling back out at 8:10.  The other vet said that was the fastest c-section she had ever seen.

 Two days later the little thing is up and nursing great.  It was touch and go as to the nanny accepting it, but it looks like she will.

 She seems to be doing well.  I gave her some oxytocin when I got home and she passed the placenta in a timely manner.  We gave her some LA200 (antibiotic) and I gave her some pain medicine for a couple of days.  Her incision is looking good so far.  If things look good in the morning we will turn her out into a bigger room in the barn.

Then yesterday, my technician at work said, "there's a name I haven't heard before, Tulip."  I thought perfect!  That will be the theme for the female bottle goats.  I can never think of good names for them.  This year they will all be flowers.  I think I will start with Tulip.
Kid count 70

So You Think Your Day Was Bad

How about being born here.

We went out early Sunday morning to find this...

 This nanny decided to kid in the mud on the bank where the soil had eroded away from the tree roots.  The baby was alive but weak.  I had to milk a pet goat and tube feed the trapped one.  It was up by the afternoon but the nanny didn't want it.  We caught her to let it nurse but the next day it was back in a mud hole and too weak to stand again.  So, to ICU it went.  I am now up to 5 bottle goats, Socks never took those other two and one of the other triplets wasn't getting enough milk.

 I just don't understand, when 90% of the field looks like this, why do they go to the worst part to kid.  It's not exclusive to goats, our cows do the same thing.

 With so many bottle babies, I brought out the bottle rack to start the training.

 I also have a goal of not having any kids drown this year.  This is my new water trough barricaid.  Last year I used pallets and left a little tiny space for the goats to drink and one kid still managed to fall through the little gap and drown.

So now I have attached a basket to the underside of my new plywood cover; the animals can still drink but hopefully nothing can fall through.

And just to show what a sweet dog Jewel is.

Kid count 53 (from 26 nannies so far)

Kid Confusion

Well, the kidding has begun.  We started with what I thought was a single from a first time yearling.  Then later in the day I went out and found another one but couldn't identify anyone that had had it.  The only choice was that she had had twins but was only taking one.  So I have started right off the bat with a bottle baby. 

 Then a few uneventful twins and singles.

 But yesterday morning we found Socks with one, and a stray one out a little way from her.

 J carried it over to her.

 But she didn't want any part of it.

 And just out from her was this one.  How many do you see under there?  If you said 4 you would be correct. 

 I think she would have taken all 5 if we had let her.  But we decided it was most likely 2 sets of triples that got mixed up. 

 Since the black nanny was taking anything, we left 3 with her and marked them so we could make sure that she was continuing to take care of them. 

And since Socks is a pet but was only taking one, we took her to the barn and put her in a pen to see if we could force her to take them.   So far she will stand to let them nurse if we hold her but she isn't giving them any love yet. 
Kid Count - 23.

Two Drives To The Barn

We started our Spring cattle work Friday with the yearlings. 

 These will be the replacement heifers plus about 10 of the smaller end of the calves.

 When they got to the gate, they didn't want to go through.

 J had to do a little arm waving and some hollering to get them turned around.

 But they weren't much trouble.  We got the heifers vaccinated, dewormed and we are trying out a mineral shot called Multimin 90.  J is hoping it will help get a higher percent of the heifers to bred.  Then J took the 10 small ones out to his dad's house where we rent 20 acres. 

 Then it was time to get the goats up.  The calender says they should start kidding on the 16th so we wanted to be ready.

 Some look a little more ready than others.

 J tried to get a count on them but had to wait until we got them in the barn lot for that.  We ended up 1 short from what I thought we should have. 

 They headed on pretty good.

 Jewel kept an eye on things.

Now they are handy so we can check on them more often. 
Kid Count - 0

Coupon Saturday #26

There was a surprise $2 off $10 digital for Thursday and Friday at Dollar General this week.   It is much easier to come up with $10 of cheap stuff than the $5 off $25.  Plus, the 5/25 is only on Saturdays and I am usually not in town then.  Anyway, I made up a couple of low cost scenarios.

With this one they owed me money at checkout so I grabbed the pack of gum. I used 2 paper coupons for the suave $3 off 2, but with their system you have to scan 2 products then the coupon, otherwise, it beeps and won't let you use the second coupon. Amazing how many little tricks people seem to find.  Then there was a store digital for $2 off $8 of suave.  25 cent overage for the digital cat food coupon, and a $2.50 gain digital. 

2 cents out of pocket (oop in couponing lingo)

I was so hooked I had to try again but I didn't have anymore suave coupons so I had to go all digital. 

11 cents oop, not too shabby.  So, 13 cents spent on my hobby this week, $24 in savings. 

In Bloom At The 4R"s

I think things are about a week behind last year.

 The plum tree is blooming now,

 but the Yoshima cherry trees are just past their peak.  It is supposed to rain for the next 3 days so I am sure they won't last much longer.

 I finished my garden path.  I like how it turned out.  I think I can get some more shade plants now. 

 Just what I need, another reason to go to Lowes garden center.

The old fashion daffodils have finished blooming and now the special color ones are taking over. 

 These came from an elementary school fundraiser probably 15 years ago.

 The redbud tree is looking good. 

 And some tulips have kept coming back. 

 The grape hyacinths are almost like weeds.  I have gotten where I don't mind pulling them up at all. 

But the are a nice surprise sometimes where they pop up.