Ohiofarmgirl'sAdventuresinTheGoodLand-where ya been? whatcha been doin

[ohiofarmgirl]

you said it! we are extremely lucky... he's a great guy too. i kinda think thats how our own BlackBird is going to be one day.


the last time we saw the breeder he was telling us the story about how the local "rescue" wackos showed up and were going to "rescue" a whether from him...the breeder said "rescue from WHAT?"

his barns are nicer than some people's houses.

anyway when we count our blessings we count Vita twice!

at some point, K, we might be in the same situation... the unexpected goat breeder! but we really want to stay away from that. we'd have to employ our 4H neighbor kid full time for the kidding season and she's about to graduate!

and yep we are concerned about the biosecurity so we ask lots of questions and we know the breeders, ask for recommendation, etc. and really its a pretty small group down here so folks know each other.

but our biggest concern with sending Vita off is getting her there safely! last time we took her our truck broke down and i ended up standing by the side of the road with my goat about a mile from our little town!

talk about how to become famous in a small town!

no less than FOUR people drove out from town just to ask us what was going on. and they werent passing by - they deliberately drove out and then drove back to tell the rest of the folks what was what.

so as i was standin there holding Vita's leash i was prayin' "Oh Lord send me a miracle so's that me and this prize winning goat dont die here in the heat out here in Old Man Shaylor's field"

and i'll be ding danged of our NEIGHBORS did drive by 2 minutes later. so we were saved. me and the goat.

the funniest part about it was i tried calling and couldnt reach them....and they "just happened" to drive by at that minute even tho its not the normal way for them to drive home.

anyway

my point is - there's a lot of things to worry about in life. most of them can be cured with common sense. and kindness. except if you see a bully then sometimes you have to stand up for the new people.

and thats what i have to say about that.

 

[freemotion]

Some people just need training on how to be nice. Like my roosters. Although George was untrainable so we just.......

 

[Blackbird]

I just read that thread. HILARIOUS!

Don't let them get you down!

My Heathcliff cost me.. well, I won't say because it's too much. But I also just sold two of his offspring for $200 and $175. He's definitely paying himself off. He also came from one of the top five or so Nubian herds in the US. She sells semen straws from many of her bucks, 5 for $75.

Sexual reproduction in goats CANNOT spread CAE or CL (Unless the buck is much larger and causes her to bleed I guess) Or, of course there are any other open wounds or a CL cyst.

Vet certified paperwork? That means nothing. An animal can catch anything from the time after the paperwork was done until present. I do not need paperwork to tell me whether or not an animal is healthy.

I just had a guy contact me about stud services. I told him the options I offered and explained that he would need to bring the does on-site to have them bred. I have a quarantine pen they would go in, and as the does go into heat the buck would be brought into the pen. I also stated that I do not accept does with open cysts. If there was an animal that looked ill, I could simply turn him away. I do not openly offer stud services thought, but I charge $50 per 1-5 does, and $100 per 5+ does.

That said, I know of MANY breeders, those that show too, that claim they are free of this and that when they aren't. There is a lady that even works for a certain goat org. and shows a LOT, I saw her at the sale barn selling some of the most ragged goats I've ever seen. Also, most of the top herds don't even test for CL anymore, if they don't have any cysts going on, they don't bother.

My milking does live in the woods and their shed doesn't have electricity or running water, I use the hose. And their overall health and condition is just as good, if not better, than goats with fresh straw gingerly scattered around their daily cleaned hoofen glories, celestial fountains of crystallized fresh water that is filtered and refreshed every second, and have their own personal heat lamps in their spotless barns decorated with AC options. Give me a frickin break!

 

[Blackbird]

you said it! we are extremely lucky... he's a great guy too. i kinda think thats how our own BlackBird is going to be one day.

Awww! I was typing before I seen that, but thank you!

 

[Javamama]

no less than FOUR people drove out from town just to ask us what was going on. and they werent passing by - they deliberately drove out and then drove back to tell the rest of the folks what was what.

Gotta love small towns. I have a feeling I'm about to become the neighborhood spectacle. I will own it with pride

I think it's great that you guys have all found acceptable middle grounds with your goats. I don't understand why some people "over there" have such a problem with it It's not like any of us would just drop our goat off at the nearest corner without so much as checking it out. Jeeze Louise, I'm almost more concerned about my future goats that I am my children.

I really, truly don't believe in bio-security anyway. Caution and common sense, of course, but you can't control everything. And if people are showing their goats, how can they be 100% certain that everyone and their goat is disease free? You can't. Testing is fine, I have no problem with it. But it's not a 100% guarantee.

edit to say, well said BB! I replied before I saw your response.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

you said it! we are extremely lucky... he's a great guy too. i kinda think thats how our own BlackBird is going to be one day.

Awww! I was typing before I seen that, but thank you!

we love you baby and you are going to do GREAT!


and i aint worried about THEM over there... i imagine they are making themselves look like even bigger jerks about now. or using google earth to try and spy on me like they did that gal who owns the fiascofarm site. wow. freaky for sure.

i just feel bad for the new folks who are afraid to ask questions. speaking of... Savingdogs might need some support - i answered her questions privately, of course. i gave her some references too. its hard to know what to do when you are starting out so we all have to stick together. if any of you are so inclined i know she is on PM.

and darn this bad connection! grrrr................ hope we get it fixed b/c its driving me nuts. i was gonna watch hulu today while i was stuck inside but i guess i'm gonna have to sing to myself quietly. hum..whatdaya say - soft hits of the 70's???

oh golly i needs me more sci-fi....STAT
;-)

 

[Javamama]

Oh I think you need to do some more rap OFG.

This heat is driving me bonkers. I'm inside with a sick, whiny 3 year old and I've done all the housework already Watching the goat breeding argument is the only entertainment I have.

Are your ducks and chickens molting? My yard looks like a huge pillow fight happened It all started when we had that cool spell last week. Everybody started molting like crazy! Now I have ugly nekkid birds running around

 

[Blackbird]

THEY DID? What did they think they could find out about her from Google Earth?? Jeez.

I know SavingDogs is a member over here too, so she knows where to go when she wants to chat with us

 

[freemotion]

Hey, OFG! I told my dh I was gonna cut the cheese and he left to do errands. He was outa my kitchen so fast he was almost a blur. I'm gonna use that when I need my space. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[murphysranch]