Itty Bitty Hooves

What Do You Think? Would You, or not?

A question came up while I was talking with another newer breeder who just started with Fullbloods a little over a year ago at the show I went to last weekend. (For the record for any who don’t know, I’m just starting in Fullbloods now, so the two of us conversing was like a couple of freshmen talking about all the cool stuff in High School). We were just talking breeding and some of the things done now that are pretty commonplace amongst especially the larger breeders. Things like AI and Flushing etc.

Now I don’t think flushing is all that common in dairy goats. It’s more a Boer/meat goat type commonality.

The point I kind of thought about when it came to flushing was that I was under the impression that although males continue to create sperm throughout most of their lives, although it may dwindle to a small amount at older ages, females are born with a set number of eggs.

The other person I was speaking to had never given that any thought so he didn’t know.

I’d like to know, if you were looking at buying a doe (there wasn’t any in question and this isn’t about any specific animal) would you buy one that had been previously flushed?

For those newer reading this that might not know–flushing is when you have a vet come out, and using certain techniques that I won’t all go into here, retrieving a large number of eggs from a doe, then the eggs are inseminated with a particular buck’s sperm and deposited into a large number of what are called ‘donor does’. That way you can have a purebred doe bred to a purebred buck but instead of having just two to four babies from that one mating, you can have ten, twenty, whatever just grade does delivering two to four purebred babies from that single mating.

So if a doe has been flushed–if I’m correct and a female is born with a set number of eggs–she could have a much more limited ability to conceive, maybe not right off, but over a normal period of breeding life.

What do you think?

Keeping A Healthy Financial Balance

Finding a good financial reporting software can make the difference between profit and loss, or at least keep you from losing all your hair in the process. Sometimes, especially in farming, and writing, which just happen to be my two full-time endeavors, the margin between the two is very slim. It is vital to have the most accurate records, and best accounting methods available to really get the most accurate picture–plus, sense there are often more loss years than profit years, it is extremely important when it comes to Uncle Sam and tax proof as well. It beats the blazes out of a shoe box stuffed with tons of teeny paper receipts when you walk into the auditor’s office. Most importantly it will give you the best overview of what’s really happening with your business, and where you need to make changes in order to reflect a healthy balance.

Prying The Pounds Off

There are so many weight loss drugs available now, but Ephedra has always proven itself to be one of the best at helping people lose weight. One of the biggest problems with weight loss, especially for women is metabolism. Ours is just slower than mens, and as we get older, slower still which is why they say it’s harder to lose weight after 30. So getting a little help in that department may be absolutely necessary for a woman trying to lose weight. I know I’ve always had to have something like that when I’ve gone on a diet, or no matter how hard I try the pounds seem to have to be pried off.

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.

Handy Medical Supplies To Have On Hand

Oh I just found a great site for my husband. He’s a paramedic and that means he has to have many of his own medical supplies like a blood pressure cuff, and alittman stethoscope on him. It just makes it easier if they carry their own. He goes off to work with several bags full of his own equipment rather than having to use the companies stuff in the ambulance. Of course they use lots of the stuff supplied in the ambulance, but when it comes to actual equipment it’s better to rely on your own rather than the possibly over-used, and abused stuff other shifts have used. I like having a lot of that stuff around the farm too. I have stethescopes out in the barn. It comes in handy when you need to listen to the gut sounds of a horse to see if it has colic, or listening for fetal movement in a hopefully pregnant mare, or doe. It’s nice too that I can have my husband check my blood pressure whenever I want. Having those things around the house is very convienient, and you never know when it might even save a life.

Home Office Of My Own

I was so happy when my kids moved out of the house and I was able to convert their bedrooms into office space. No empty nest syndrome here. Does that make me a lousy mother? Hum. Not sure. But I sure enjoyed shopping for office furniture. My office is my little hide-away, but working from home is wonderful because even though I have my place of work that’s apart from the rest of the hubub of the household, I’m still connected. I can get up and walk right into my ‘other life’ with no problem at all. I can look out my windows and see the animals playing, and no one tells me I can’t take a coffee break whenever I want to. Oh and hey, biggest benefit of all–no matter what I do, or how often I call in ’sick’ I can’t get fired.

Our Sale Horses

I posted an ad today on the Lil Beginnings sale board listing the horses we have for sale still. I love the sale board. It’s free and one of the best ways to reach the miniature horse market world-wide.

I listed the 26.5″ black AMHA/AMHR stallion Ten Ls Black Moon Rising–Son of multiple grand champion Taylor Mades Pistol Bang, grandson of National Grand Champion Little King’s Bullet Buckeroo (producer of multiple national grand champion and top tens), and great-grandson of Buckeroo himself. At 1000.00 ready now.

I also just listed two of our fillies–

AMHR Filly born on May 12th! COUNTRY HAVENS STAR BABY (Star) Beautiful Bay (possibly roan) sired by TenLs Splendors Make Your
Mark–a bay pinto Buckaroo great grandson.. Dam: Lost Acres True
Blue Buckeroo a blue roan Buckeroo great-granddaughter. $1,200.00.
Deposit will hold until weaning (August).

AMHR Filly born on April 27th! COUNTRY HAVENS SILVER DOLLAR (Dolly) Beautiful silver pinto sired by TenLs Splendors Make Your Mark–a bay pinto Buckaroo great grandson.. $800.00. Deposit will hold until weaning (August).

Fish Tank Maintainance

I changed the filters in the tanks yesterday. Even after the change one of them wasn’t putting out any more water than it had prior to changing. That particular tank had really started to just dribble out of the filter. I thought it was just the filter pack being loaded. That usually affects the stream of water, and when the pack is changed the water exchange flows freely again. Not this time. It was still trickling out. I pulled the nozzle of the filter out and decided to see if it needed cleaning. I took it into the kitchen and ran hot water through it. Lots of gunk came out, but it still seemed a bit slow. I pulled the pieces of it apart and found it loaded with algea and debrie. Lesson learned. Don’t just change the filter packs, clean the workings on the filters too. The tank is running at top speed again thankfully.

Praying For Rain

Another problem I’m having with the heat has something to do with rain as well. Those two factors caused the problem I’m having, but aren’t directly related to it. It’s the hay we have in our barn. First cutting hay we just brought in last weekend. Our supplier is a wonderful man down the road who supplies us as his main customers. We’re very lucky to have him and his family doing what they do, and being such a joy to work with. He’s an old salt. He’s farmed all his life and has a lot to show for it. No matter how long you’ve been doing it, the weather will get you. There’s no way to control it. It’s hard for even the best and most experienced farmers to judge… it just does you in sometimes. Last year an entire second cutting of hay was lost to an unexpected, unpredicted thunderstorm. This season’s first cutting got a bit wet too, although not a downpour… still it’s best if it doesn’t rain at all when the hay in on the ground drying (curing). He told me up front that it had gotten a little rained on, and even asked me to come look at it before I decided if I wanted any. I went. It looked good still. The problem is… no matter what you do, when you bale hay that’s been rained on it is possible that there will be dampness inside the bales.

As they continue to dry in the tight compactness of the bales mold starts to develop. Very bad for most hay consuming animals. Possibly cows are the only animals that can eat moldy hay to some degree with no ill effects. You’d think goats would be able to too since they have the same four compartment stomach, but no, they can’t. They can eat weeds that would turn a cow green though. LOL

Mold is a big enemy, and one of the principle reasons for not wanting damp hay… it’s not the meanest enemy caused by wet hay though.

Fire is.

You see, these big bundles of grass baled in tight compressed bales get HOT as they dry. The exterme heat of the weather, and the hot barn doesn’t help either. If there isn’t enough ventilation, the bales can heat up to such a degree they spontaniously combust. It is one of the prime culprits behind barn fires, above even lit cigarettes, or electrical shorts.

Yesterday I went to feed a bale off the stack and when I cut it open it was HOT. It was also steamy. That’s scary.

I immediately opened both ends of the barn up, hoping the ventilation would help to cool the bales… and I’m here praying for rain.

Drifting To Sleep On The Waves

I miss my waterbed. For the first ten years of my married life we had a king sized waterbed. Before getting married I’d never had a waterbed. Hubby bought it before our wedding in part of the 70’s waterbed fad. I was skeptical at first, but it was fantastic–and terrific for my bad back too. When it kind of died a holey death thanks to an intermitant kitten who liked to try to sharpen her claws on the plastic, we decided to opt for a traditional mattress bed. It was nice, but I miss the theraputic benefits of the waterbed, and well… just the plain old comfort. It molded to my body. It rocked me gently to sleep. Our traditional mattress is going on twelve years old and beginning to show signs of wear. You won’t see a frown on my face for that, though… I can’t wait. I don’t know if waterbeds will ever be the ‘hot’ item of fashion they once were, but soon we’ll be shopping for a new bed… a waterbed.