Itty Bitty Hooves

A Little Cooperation Please

I sure wish my goats would learn to cooperate with me just a little bit. I have one… just one single goat that MIGHT be due to kid this summer. In fact in the next couple of weeks. Anytime between now and the 21st if she was already bred when I got her (which I’m seriously hoping she was). If she doesn’t kid in that time frame it will be early fall and it will be my buck’s offspring, which is fine too because they’ll be the first 100% ones born on the property. If she has a kid from the other buck it will be 100% too which is what I want… and a buck… (talk about being specific huh?) which I probably won’t get. My luck it will be a doe kid. Good to have too since it would be an unrelated doe kid to my buck but I really need an unrelated buck kid. Anyway, back to the cooperation… she’s not.

She doesn’t show any signs of being pregnant. I had a goat earlier this year like that. Looked completely normal. Of course, completely normal means big as a tank anyway. Even with being a really big framed goat though she didn’t have the ‘watermellon’ look that you pretty much expect from a goat in the final months. She ended up giving me three kids–so she was definately pregnant wouldn’t you say?

Bowie (the current goat in question) is a large, meaty, big-framed girl too, so there’s plenty of room in there for a kid or two, or three to hide, but the not knowing is just driving me crazy. I wish my goats would cooperate a little and have the decency to LOOK pregnant when they are. Even my vetran doe Polly hid it pretty well this spring, but she always does, and she always only has one kid… One big kid, but just one.

Thankfully all the rest of my girls had the good graces too look like water tankers during the final weeks, so there was no question as to their pregnant status.

A little cooperation from Bowie right now would be really nice.

Tearfull Goodbyes

Bubba went to his new home yesterday. I miss the little guy. He was the only boy born here this year, and he was just full of himself. All attitude and love. He was one of the most friendly of the new kids, and always wanted attention. He is a real hunk and I’m sure he’ll do great for his new young master in 4-h. It’s always hard to have them leave though, especially the ones that imprint themselves on you by being loving. Now it’s all girls out there. They’re all staying. I have four yearlings for sale on the other side of the farm, but this years kids are a great lot of hunky girls who will be great mom’s next year. I’m still hoping Bowie was bred when I brought her home to the big red buck at her former home. If she is she’ll be due in July. Cross your fingers for a little boy. I really need a buck with different bloodlines. Mickey will never go anywhere, well at least not soon, but he can’t do it all alone. He has too many daughters here now.

Here are a few pictures of Bubba, our little boy who left for a new home. I kicked myself as their truck drove out of the driveway for not remembering to use my camera to get a parting shot of the big guy.

So long big boy, have fun in your new home!

Bubba Got Banded

Poor little guy. Bubba is three and a half weeks old and he got banded yesterday. Banding is the way many young goats are castrated. He’s fine now, but he sure was walking funny for a little while yesterday. He’s still giving me the evil eye though. The reason he got ‘done’ yesterday is that he was sold!!! He won’t be leaving us, (or more importantly, his momma) for another 8 weeks, but he’s been spoken for by a lovely family in Wilmington for their son’s 4-h wether! What a noble job for such a noble little character. He’ll do a great job for them, I’m sure, and I can’t wait to see pictures of him finished off and proud in the hands of his 10-year-old handler at the fair. Julie, you have to send me pictures of that, you hear?

Playtime

I’m sorry, I can’t help myself. I have to post some pictures from this morning.

Bubba and Punch playing kind and queen of the old crap pile

Bubba and Punch playing tag with mom

Bubba Punch and Dolly (yes I know it’s a mess there, it’s the junkiest place in the yard and they LOVE IT)

Close up of Dolly

Punch making a flying leap to grab all the hay she can before mom gets there(even though she really doesn’t know what it’s for exactly yet, mom seems to love it, lol)

Thanks for indulging me. Springtime is just too much fun. I don’t know who enjoys playtime more, me or them.

So Beautiful

FINALLY I get to say it is SO beautiful outside. What a joy to go out in just a t-shirt and jeans and feel good. I took my camera around while I was out and about and snapped some pics of the gang as I walked.

Here’s some of the girls over in the big barn just clumping about and enjoying the beautiful day

Polly saw me holding the camera and came over trying to see if it was food

Then Specs decided to see if maybe my shirt was food

Oreo one of last year’s kids, and Specs a spring boer cross brought home last year

Red and Specs, sisters born last year

On the other side of the farm in a run in pen I caught Blondie and Cherry giving me a once over and trying to decide if I was up to anything interesting with that gadget in my hand

And Blondie just by herself

Then of course, no farm ‘tour’ would be complete without a stop by the buck pen to visit the master of the place, Mickey, our Boer buck

And finally, took a little journey out back to see two of the new moms and twin does (the other twins belonging to the second mom were still back at the barn snoozing in the sun.

Why Do They Move Just When You Snap?

I swear it takes 100 pictures to get even 1 that is semi decent of these babies. They are in the best position, and I click the shutter and then…

I swear there was a goat there a second ago. ARGH

I did manage to get a few shots though, here are some pics of the kids born 3/6/08

Dolly:

Judy:

And one of Bubba (born 2-29-08) FINALLY looking at me, although it had to be from a right over him position because if I moved away, he’d turn his head away, if I sat down, he’d jump on me, lol.

I love playing with the kids though. What fun!

Updated pics of kids born Feb 29th (1 week old)

These guys are just huge. I’m so impressed with the builds on them. At one week the little buckling is already getting heavy to pick up. I have to find that danged weight tape, but I read somewhere it’s not as accurate on the meat breeds as it’s made to judge the dairy weights. I really doubt I’d get him to sit still in my hanging scale, lol. The little doeling I’m keeping to show this year. I really think she’s amazing. Hoping to find a commercial breeder who wants a really great buck that will put meat on their kids as a home for the little guy (we call him Bubba). He’s not registered (he is Boer) but I just couldn’t bring myself to put a band on him. He’s gonna be massive like his daddy.

Bubba at 1 wk (Now he’s super friendly, and was under my feet the whole time I was trying to take pictures just about, but if I moved away to get a shot, he’d turn his head as if to say if you won’t play with me, I won’t look at you, lol, stinker).

Man the chest on him is just like his dad, here’s a pic of Mickey his sire (registered fullblood)

And here is my show doeling for this year (plus one of the ones born yesterday I think if she looks as good as I think she will)
Her name is going to be Country Havens Lucky Punch

Here they are together, doeling on the left, buckling on the right (yep, still won’t look at me if I won’t play with him, lol, brat)

Thanks for looking, I’m just so happy with the way things have gone so far this year. The other two batches born yesterday and the day before are doing great. I hope to get out and get the LaBoer pics later on, have to wait for DS to get home though, because I have to drive him and am waiting for his call. The cell phone doesn’t work in the big barn.

New Pics of the New Babies

I’m just so thrilled with these two. They are doing great this morning, and first-time mom is being a great mom. Can’t ask for more than that. I still had a hard time getting a good pic of the little doeling, either she was eating, or moving around too much and making blurring pics. It’s just dark enough in there that I needed to use the night setting on my camera instead of the action one. If I could have gotten decent light on the pictures and used the action one I could have had some nicer doeling pics.

Buck–we’re calling him Bubba for now.

The best pic of the doeling I could get–eating of course (come to think of it, considering how mom was during labor, maybe she just is taking after momma and never gonna stop eating). We were going to call her ‘Leap of Faith’ since she was born on leap day, but I was joking around with my son and said boy, what a knock out, and he said yeah, it was a lucky punch. I thought that was perfect, since leap day is also supposed to be lucky, her name is gonna be ‘Lucky Punch’ (I think anyway, lol).

The two of them-Bubba was trying to get his sister to let him have at the bar, she was being a pig, and he hasn’t figured out there are two spigots yet, haha.

Finally Babies!

The first babies of the year are here. After several weeks of watching and waiting and not knowing exactly when any were due because we pasture bred, the first goat kids of the year finally arrived this afternoon. They made their entrance as eventful as possible too. The first one, a big buckling was stuck and first-time mom was having a heck of a time pushing him out so I helped pull, and boy pull hard! He finally came out and I thought well, he must have been a single because he’s so big, but no, out popped another foot. This time, a little girl, but only ONE foot. She was out of position and not coming out. I had to get down on my belly in the hay and go in after her. After a few minutes of being up to my elbow inside a goat trying to find the other front foot, I finally got a hold of it and was able to bring it up and into the right position. Then she got stuck! This was a biggun too!

Both are doing great and are happily eating. The pictures below were taking the moment they hit the ground, and on my camera phone so they’re not the best quality, but I was just so thrilled. Mom is a half Boer and Spanish cross, and dad is a fullblood Boer. The babies are perfectly Boer marked! I’m just thrilled. Being as big as they are I’m anxious to see how they grow. The little doe might just be a keeper. Hey, being born on leap day has to be lucky right?

It’s A Small World

I can’t keep that song out of my head this morning. I was emailing someone yesterday about a Boer doe I am interested in. She must have gone to my website to check me out too. The url is in all my emails so it wouldn’t have been difficult for her, because she wrote back that my buck, Mick (CJM Mighty Mick), was a really nice buck. What made it most exicting, besides having a big time show breeder say I had a nice buck, was that she also let me know in a later email that she’d owned Mick’s grandfather, RENAISSANCE LUCKY SPIKE, a few years ago, and he was a wonderful producer who put big, meaty kids on the ground. I was thrilled.

When I’d first bought Mick I tried to do some research on his pedigree. I didn’t turn up much except that his great-great grandfather was a son of a big name buck called Eggsorcist. That was nice to know, but it wasn’t all that much info. Having someone say they’d personally owned one of his recent ancestors and what a good buck he was was quite a thrill. I didn’t really need that to know that Mickey is wonderful and will produce fantastic kids for us, but it sure is nice to know.