Itty Bitty Hooves

New Pictures

I got out today and took a few new shots. Out of about 20 only 4 really worked. Isn’t that always the way it goes when trying to take pictures of animals? And of course, there are always WAY better shots to be had when you DON’T have your camera with you. Like this shot, my favorite type of shot, the ‘out in the field grazing’ shot. It is okay, but this morning I had a way better photo op, but of course, didn’t have my camera in hand.

Then I got a few ‘close ups’. I can’t get too close or they’ll crowd the fence/gate even more than they did here, so getting ‘close’ shots means cropping the part I want out to make it closer, which makes them a bit pixilated.


Still, it’s always fun trying to get that perfect shot

Maybe next time.

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?

New Pics of Blanche, and Bertha - 5 days old

Since the only pics I had of these two were from right at birth, and even though I tried putting them out with the group in that barn yesterday it didn’t work. Alex is so protective she kept getting into fights with the ‘new’ herd queen Polly (who replaced Savy as boss biddy of the barn) and the others took advantage of Alex’s not paying attention to get pushy with the babies so I put them back in their kidding stall. Today I decided they just had to get out for a bit, so I put the other goats in a big stall for hte morning and let Alex and the kids have the run of the barn. Boy did they take advantage of their newfound freedom. The door on the stall the others was in is just a gate with wire over it, so they could see each other, and stick their heads out in one place and sniff each other. Hoping that in a day or two I can actually have peace in there between them all and the kids and Alex can stay out. But since they were out playing I took a moment to take a few pics of them all up and about now. They are so big, lol, I swear they looked like 2 week olds the day they were born.

This is the two of them with mom

This is Blanche

This is Bertha who decided she was just old enough to figure out ways to make a mess. Since the garbage cans themselves didn’t provide fun (yet), a lid was a perfect playtoy


I had a great shot of the two of the kids playing, but Alex decided I should take a picture of her instead… um, a bit too closely

Polly (in the stall) looking like she wanted to plead that she’d be good if I just let her out.

One final shot, of course they moved right when I snapped, it WAS a cute shot.

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.

Sneaky Sneaky Doe!

I’ve been watching my Nupine doe Alex for a few weeks, but just casually until yesterday. Day before she started to really fill out her udder but her ligs were still rock hard pencils. For a few weeks my previously very affectionate girl really didn’t want to be touched much, and seriously didn’t want me looking ‘down there’ (picture me running around the barn yard chasing a doe to look under her tail, lol) then suddenly yesterday, she snapped back to being my affectionate big girl wanting to be petted, and sticking to me like glue, her udder got really full, and her very hard ligs disappeared…. uh huh, I was geared up for serious watching and checked on her every hour on the hour… did she do anything, nope, didn’t look like any kind of serious labor at all. I could tell she was in early labor, but no hard core stuff going on–she was determined to drag it out. By late evening her udder was feeling a little bit warm, so I was like, cool, tonight, please do it before bedtime, don’t you read the books? They say does prefer to deliver in the daytime (that’s certainly been the majority of my experience here now and in the past. I’ve previously only had one doe kid in the middle of the night. One this year did go at 6 am, but that’s sort of skirting the time barrier between night and day, haha).

Anyway, I kept up my checking every hour as the evening turned to night. Eleven oclock I went out, Alex is laying down, but on her chest, munching cud and looking for all the world like she was just as satisfied with herself as can be. No contractions, no goo, nothing to alert me to imminent birth…

Midnight I walked into the barn and…

BOTH DOES.

We are 8 for 9 this year with does, one lonely little buckling in the yard, haha.

Now what I want to know is where did the color go? I expected big color from this one, and I got danged near solid white. One doeling is pretty much completely white, with just a very very minimal shading of red on the head, but not hardly noticable. The other has ‘eyeshadow’ and a couple little color marks on the very top of her head:

I don’t know how such a colored doe threw such colorless kids, haha, but I know one thing, these two does are HUGE. I swear the one is bigger than my two week olds in the other barn, and the other is about the size of the two week olds out there.

I’m just happy there were no problems. Alex delivered those babies and fast, by herself, and is a GREAT mom. She had them clean although was still working on dry, and I dipped their cords and feet, and made sure they were nursing which Alex handled like a champ. She’s very protective, she’s cool with me, but won’t even let the cat in the stall with the babies, haha, poor kitty she likes greeting the new arrivals. Mom says no go though.

Now I am just so befuddled, I have already picked two keepers from previous two kiddings, and wasn’t going to keep either of these since they’re just 50%er’s, but dang, they are beautiful big bodied girls, and I think they’ll follow in momma’s ‘no problem having big babies’ shoes. So, I think I’m gonna keep one of these too… oh lordy, potatoe chips anyone? LOL

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!

Horrible, Bad, Horrible Morning

I’m still kind of in shock, although hindsight being what it is, I guess I should have expected it, but I still didn’t.

My LaMancha doe had triplets on Wednesday. It was an easy delivery, she just plopped them out. All were doing great except for the third one born who was really really slow to be all the way up and active, but it was beginning to catch up. The doe however was being a horrible mom as far as letting them nurse. She would lick them, let them lay by her, but at first I had to tie her up and hold her against a wall to let them nurse for the first time, and after a couple of those, it got to where she would just stand for them if I put a collar on her and stood there holding her, but no gymnastics involved, so I thought she was getting a little better about it. I was going in every two hours day and night and holding her while they ate, and it got to where they’d see me coming and as soon as I got the collar on they dove in, lol.

All of them were doing fantastically, bouncing around like typical 2 day olds even at 4 am this morning. I let them eat, and trudged back into the house through the flurries, lol, and went back to bed, setting my alarm for 6 am. Went back out and they were ALL DEAD. They were in a 12×12 stall and it looked like a hurricane had whipped through there. The doe had to have snapped and just went bonkers on them. I was heartsick picking up those limp twisted little bodies.

This doe is going. She is a bossy, herd queen to begin with, but she’s been good in general with people, although she really took a dislike to my friend’s 10 year old daughter, but even that she just grunts and lip things like a buck in heat at her. I didn’t mind any of her antics because she had given her previous owner triplet does and she is built like a tanker, although she seems to have constant trouble with sinus —-, it doesn’t effect her, and just as I’d hoped she gave me triplet does, but what good is that if she kills them all? I should have seperated them, I see that now, but I am not doing dairy, I can’t physically milk (carpel tunnel and I can’t afford a good milk machine yet, someday, someday) and I’m happy doing the meat goat thing. A dam who not only won’t nurse her kids, but KILLS them is just not an option here.

They were such lovely little doelings too. Still makes me cry to think about it.

Rest In Peace Babies

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.