Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

I've never used my favorite P name - Perfection. Because maybe that one's babies will be better and then the name is meaningless.

I can see that, lol.

Waaaaaay back in the dark ages when I showed goats I had an absolutely awesome doe - one of those "once in a lifetime" goats. At one show I was using her in a showmanship class. Showmanship classes don't judge the animals conformation - it judges the exhibitors knowledge about the goat and their skill showing it.

In these particular classes the judges like to ask questions to test your knowledge. This particular judge went down the line of exhibitors and asked each one of us to state something negative about the animal that we were showing. When she got to me she asked me to name something negative about this doe. I looked her in the eye and said "I can't see a conformation flaw in this doe." I won the class and later that day took Senior Champion and Grand Champion doe in the show, lol. That doe was the closest thing to perfection that I've ever bred. Another judge at a different show did find one thing about her that took points off - she had a double orifice in one teat. She also took Grand Champion in that show because even with her one tiny flaw she so far outclassed every other doe there.

In the Pygmy goat show world with a doe - you had to 3 Grand Champions to become a permanent Grand Champion. That's a huge honor and truly hard to achieve. One of those Grand Championships had to come after a doe proved that she could produce offspring. This doe had two Grand Champion "legs" and needed that third one after kidding. I bred her to my best buck. I had her ultrasounded and showed that she was carrying triplets. That doe choked to death on feed a few days before she was due to kid. I tried to do a barn c-section but wasn't fast enough because I didn't have a knife or scalpel in the barn. Absolute devastation!

 

[NH Homesteader]

I knew the story about you losing that doe but I didn’t know the back story! That’s even more tragic

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yep... That was at the tail end of my showing days. I'm not sure if I ever went to a show after that. That doe was one of twins. I had them both at a show when they were very young and actually sold her twin to one of the judges. She did very well in the ring, but she wasn't as nice as the one I kept.

 

[tortoise]

 

[frustratedearthmother]

One of the chores on the agenda for today was to butcher some quail. I've revised my method and just did six quail in about ten minutes. Life changing! I offed their heads and just harvested the breast. No gutting. The downside is I'm sacrificing the leg meat but it won't be wasted. The dogs and/or pigs will get the remains. Quail don't eat a lot - but their feed is expensive. I've got plenty in the freezer now so I'll harvest about 6 or 8 more and keep some breeders to restock again later.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I knew the story about you losing that doe but I didn’t know the back story! That’s even more tragic

I remember telling you that. Probably told you this one too about another show doe that was heavy pregnant. She got herself upside down in a depression in the ground and couldn't get upright. Bloated and died. I've lost no less than 3 pygmies that way. One not too long ago...

Pygmies are so broad bodied (don't call 'em fat, lol) that they're like a turtle when they get upside down. Some animals are way too good at getting themselves into deadly predicaments.

Back outside to butcher more quail!

 

[NH Homesteader]

That happens to heavily pregnant sheep! It’s called casting. But a pregnant sheep is pretty much shaped like a Pygmy so that makes sense

 

[tortoise]

Wow, goats can do some freaky things! The oddest happenings here are my goats were snowed into a plywood doghouse while we were on vacation and "hibernated" for about 6 weeks until the drift in front of the door melted away. The snow was so deep we thought they had walked over the fence and snow covered their tracks! They were thin when they emerged, but apparently otherwise well. They recovered condition quickly. They are nigerian dwarf wethers - apparently they want to live.

Freakiest thing here with sheep was a ewe that broke off the head of her femur - the part that goes into the hip socket. It was too high to attempt surgical repair or casting. No way to get those two pieces to fit together long enough to heal. She was pregnant so we used pain meds and lots of TLC to try to get her far enough along to lamb, but she gave up the will to live about a month before they were due. We did a terminal c-section, and the lambs survived at first. They died about 6 months of age from parasites. They had been treated for parasites and were on (another!) round of treatment when they died. I guess they didn't have much will to live either. That bloodline culled themselves.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

The oddest happenings here are my goats were snowed into a plywood doghouse while we were on vacation and "hibernated" for about 6 weeks until the drift in front of the door melted away.

Wow! That's crazy. I guess they ate snow and lived on their fat for awhile. Dang! I did have another weird incident with a goat. I had some building materials stored in a trailer in the pasture. For some reason the door got left open and I guess the goats thought it would be fun to play in it. I heard some weird bleatings from the pasture that evening but figured goats were being goats. The next day I heard that weird, muted bleat again and went looking for it. I found a wether laid out flat in that trailer with a bunch of building materials on top of him. I got him out and he was really lethargic and couldn't even stand. He didn't move a lot for the next couple of days but he kept eating and drinking. After several more days he was starting to move but I noticed his skin sloughing off everywhere that the building materials put the most pressure on him. He was a mess! Couple months after and you couldn't even tell where he'd lost huge patches of skin.

Just butchered 4 more quail. I decided against an all-out massacre and started picking the biggest to save as breeders. I need to figure out a simple way to weigh them with something more accurate than my hands, lol.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Wow! My livestock are boring. I have no good stories! Except the time my boar got his tusks stuck in the fence overnight. That was fun, DH thought he might get killed rescuing him! Lol