FarmerDenise's journal - full on harvest time = busy, busy, busy

[Blackbird]

YAY! Baby goaties!!!
I can just picture you out there doing your chores being followed by those two little cuties! What fun!! Can't wait to see pictures!

 

[dragonlaurel]

Ahhhhh- you got goatie kisses. The only time I got that was when I had pear juice on my fingers. These sound great. La Manchas are supposed to be fairly calm and you are used to taking in animals that had a tough start.

 

[Dace]

Another one sucked into the dark world of goats!

Heheheee, the mocking is coming from someone who never has owned a goat...alot I know

 

[FarmerDenise]

Another one sucked into the dark world of goats!

Heheheee, the mocking is coming from someone who never has owned a goat...alot I know

The Goat lady was very talkative and it was obvoius she was nuts about the goats. She knew each kids parentage and told me all about it including who the grand parents and siblings and aunts were. The clincher was when she told me this all started 10 years ago with her DD's 4H project.
They went from having 2 goats for 4H to having a huge heard, a beautifull big barn and a dairy house (don't know what else to call it) They live outside a lovely little town down a twisty road and on a hilltop. The view was stunning. I turned a corner of the tree covered road and slowed down to read the numbers on the mailbox. This is it. A long single lane dirt driveway curved around the hill. A big tree trimming truck was coming down and I had to figure out how to pull to the side of the road so we could pass each other. Luckily I grew up on narrow dirt roads and felt comfortable about pulling into the tall grass, slowly, to make sure my car did not go down the embankment! The driver of the truck thanked me. He was towing a chipper and it would have been near impossible for him to back up around the corner. I turned another corner and saw ...goats. Then I saw the barn. I pulled into the long drive in front of the barn. The driveway continued up to the very top of the hill where ther was a nice sized house with porches and lost of windows. Considering how lovely the view was from the barn, it must be breathtaking from the house. Goats were grazing everywhere. The grass is a lush green right now.
The goat lady greeted me, apologizing for the smell. They have had to delay cleaning out the barn, because of all the rain we have had. The tractor could not get through the mud to hall all the poopy hay out. So they were finally getting to it.
They had lots of small pens set up for momma goats and their babies. She told me about each and every one of them.
She had 4 pens with just kids. They are keeping quite a few to add to their stock. She picked up a little LaMancha doe and it just snuggled right up to her, just like my kitty Petey does. It was almost the same size too, just with longer legs
She then handed it to me and I was sold.
I got to tour the whole place. She took me into one paddock and introduced me to many of the goats in there. They all had names!!
They came up to us looking for pets and to check me out. Her fiancee drove up and joined us. He made a comment about how they are like potato chips, you can never stop at just one.
Well, she sure hasn't. She told me she is adding Boer goats to her herd to increase the butter content of her milk.
I must have been there about an hour.

I am going back on friday to pick up my 2 kids. She said she likes to make sure they are going to be strong and healthy, before she lets them go.

I might have been able to get kids cheaper at an auction, but I figured someone who has a goat dairy to sell the milk for human consumption has to comply with lots of regulations. And they would have good productive goats to begin with. I think my chances of getting a good and healthy goat are much better.

Now I'm off to measure our property to find out how much fencing we need.

 

[big brown horse]

I am so excited for you!!!!!

 

[freemotion]

Worth the extra cost in many ways....you will have someone to ask questions of when you get stuck or have an emergency. That is worth a lot.

 

[Farmfresh]

I might have been able to get kids cheaper at an auction, but I figured someone who has a goat dairy to sell the milk for human consumption has to comply with lots of regulations. And they would have good productive goats to begin with. I think my chances of getting a good and healthy goat are much better.

I agree with you 100%. I think it is well worth paying more and knowing where they came from, that they are from a productive line AND you have a good information source as well!

 

[FarmerDenise]

The Goat Lady is only 1/2 hour drive away in beautiful countryside. So I don't mind going out there at all.
She will disbud/dehorn the goaties for me for $10, which I think is quite reasonable. I know I don't want horny goats

She sounds like she is one of us
We talked about getting poop on everything and accidentally going to town and noticing a funny/nasty smell and realizing it's coming from your own shoes.
Her fiancee said he just gave up and wears his farm clothes everywhere. He said people may as well know he is a farmer.

I still haven't measured for the fence. We were too busy today, planting seeds, scrubbing carrots, pulling more weeds and the usual farm chores.
I cleaned out the nest boxes, did laundry, and mixed up a fresh batch of chicken scratch.
My girls, just don't care for corn unless it grew on the farm. Maybe they can taste the GMO's and they don't like it
So I decided to make up my own scratch, using whatever we have on hand and then getting 2 or 3 different whole grains at the feed store. I keep asking for organic grains, but all they have is organic corn, which my girls won't eat. I hope that eventually they will start to carry more variety of organic feed stuff.
They free range all day, so this is basically a supplement or treat for them. Little Susie needs the extra rich nutrition from seeds like flax and millet. So I make sure she gats some of that every day.
It is time to finish the evening chores. My bunny is waiting for his kibble and fruit tree twigs. The chickens need their scratch and then I will have to wait for all the chickens to sort and settle themselves on their respective perches amidst lots of squawks and peeps and flutterings and more squawks, before I can tell them good night and lock the door.

I made dinner earlier, because I know I am too tired to cook after putting the girls to bed. SO is sleeping in front of the TV. He'll be up later and it will be my turn to fall asleep in front of the TV.
I am ready for a nap now.

 

[FarmerDenise]

They are in the living room in the ever so handy x pen, that we aquired for our dog a few years ago.
We have an old airmattress on the bottom, then lots of sheets (from the chicks). I am just not into having hay in the living room.

We have had some nasty weather. Cold windy and rain.
It blew our greenhouse apart on one side. I spent yesterday morning fixing it. It got pulled open only on the weak spot that SO hadn't fastened properly. So it actually held up pretty well. I wanted ot do a good job of refastening it though, since we had more storms coming in.

We decided to put the kids in the house at least for tonight. That way our other animals will associate them with us and consider them family. The introduction with the dog and my kitty went well. We also like looking at them. And since it is nasty outside, we can now look at them from the comfort of the couch.

They are sisters with different sires. The mother is LaMancha, one is fathered by a Nubian, The other by an Alpine buck. They were born last friday.

 

[freemotion]

So cute!

Guess that is what I can expect for ears from a La Mancha buck and Alpine and Alpine/Nubian/Boer does!