Bottle Feeding Goats

This has been our first experience bottle feeding goat kids. I shouldn't say that, we tried once years ago, and the kid died, and it broke my heart. I didn't plan on ever trying again. Well, when Lilly's first kid came out stillborn (a little buckling) with irregular looking amniotic fluid (looked infected), I grabbed the feet of the next two doelings and pulled them quickly out and got them cleaned up. Mom was not looking so good, so we put her on antibiotics. I am pleased to say she is coming along nicely and hopefully will be fine. The two doelings are over two weeks old now, and just thriving! We are bottlefeeding three, as that same night Sarah, one of our angoras, gave birth to a little nubian/angora buckling. I figured I'm bottle feeding two, might as well three! I have to say, I've never had such friendly goatlings!!

When I bottlefed that first goat years ago, I used the goat formula you mix up. I was worried about having the same results as before, so I looked up online to see what other people use. One website that I have always trusted the information on suggested whole cows milk with corn syrup mixed in (of course, fresh goat milk would be ideal, but I knew I wouldn't have enough to feed three kids). I decided, hmm, makes sense. The site http://www.fiascofarm.com/ said "real cow's milk was better than fake goat milk" which made perfect sense to me. Als0- no mixing needed. Easy to get. If you run out in the middle of the night- it is sold everywhere.

What I ended up doing is using whole cow milk, adding whatever goat milk I got from the mommas, adding a little goat drench to some of the bottles, and a little corn syrup to the milk. About once every other day I add a tiny bit of sulmet for coccidia. The goats are doing so well. They are growing daily and have doubled their birthweight at 2 weeks. They are active and healthy. And, I am still sane! (In spite of the one night they decided they were STARVING at 2am!) I have learned, feed them a little extra right before bed, and turn off the light! Then they just might sleep.

Would I do it again? Absolutely! The goats are bonding to the humans, and hopefully will make awesome 4H projects for the children! It didn't take all that much extra work, and it was kind of fun! With two more does to kid this week, I am hoping that those kids will stay with their moms, though, and three kids are keeping me busy enough! But, if I have to bottlefeed, at least I'm not terrified of it anymore!!

New Yarn!

Spinning yarn is incredibly relaxing, as many of you know. I never ever thought I'd be spinning my own yarn, that's for sure. I used to play with my grandmother's spinning wheel (she didn't spin, it was just a decoration) when I was a child, but spinning was something they did in the old days, not in the present. I did love to crochet (and quilt), not knit, though, in spite of my nana's wonderful instruction. Knitting took too long, I could crochet something in record speed, LOL.

Many, many years later, I got a few sheep. I had no idea what I was going to do with their wool, but I wanted a couple pet shetland sheep. I enjoy shetlands tremendously. But- then I had all these bags of wool stocking up. So, I bought a little antique spinning wheel, got it working, and decided I was going to make my own yarn! But, how? Well, I figured if women, and young children I found out, for centuries were able to do it, so could I. Those colonial women didn't go to the yarn shop for spinning instruction- they just did it! So, that was my plan.

First- okay, you have to wash the wool. No problem. I skim the info, got it- you put the wool in a pillow case and put it in the washer on cold. I should have read further to find out that I didn't want it to go through ALL the cycles (like spin). But- it gets better. How do you dry the wool? Apparently NOT by throwing that wool filled pillowcase into the dryer!! My first, beautiful, deep back, shetland lamb fleece...became garbage. Went back, reread entire instructions, and now know how to wash wool.

I bought hand carders, carded the next fleece, and sat down at my wheel. About a week later that wheel went into the basement and the wool back into a bag. I could not do what a 6 year old colonial child could do!

A few years, and many more sheep later, it was time to learn to spin. This time I bought another wheel, hated that one, bought yet another wheel (this time and older Ashford traditional) and woo-hoo!! I learned to spin yarn! I now use that same wheel, and also an inexpensive electric wheel (the least expensive of the babe NW flyers, that runs on a sewing machine motor.) I love that little wheel also. I am hoping to fix and get running my aunts big antique wheel (a classic Canadian wheel) in time. Spinning is just such fun! I am so proud that I can spin as well as a 6 year old colonial girl (at age 41,LOL)

My latest batch of yarns include some lustrous dyed and natural color mohair skeins, a few soft and fluffy alpaca skeins, and some various wool skeins from our many breeds of sheep. I hope to try spinning some angora (bunny) yarn later this week...a first for me, I have't yet spun straight angora. I also have plans for using some colorful cotswold locks to make some "fun" yarn. I can't wait!

Angora Rabbits

I had forgotten how much I enjoy angora rabbits. I used to breed and show them, for a short time. This was back when my older kids were little and we had a lot of rabbit breeds, and they enjoyed showing their breeds, but were not quite old enough to take care of all their rabbits themselves. I had trouble finding time to work with my angoras, so I sold them and worked with mini rex instead.



Now that my kids are older, and my girls take care of all their rabbits themselves, I have time to focus on MY rabbits...so, I have angoras again.



French Angoras...I started with French. They are by far the easiest to work with (other than the jersey woolies and fuzzy lops- which are angora fibered, but don't generally produce enough of, or long enough of, useable fiber). I have French again. Two bucks and a doe. They are a very sweet natured breed. They don't matt as easy as some of the others. They naturally shed their fiber, so every 3 months you sit them on your lap and just gently pluck out the loose shedding fiber. I brush them on occasion, maybe once a week, maybe longer. They don't have wool on their faces and ears and are fairly easy to maintain. Definitely the breed for those starting with angoras, or children who are interested in angoras.




Giant Angoras...I have three French/Giant crosses. These, too, I am able to pluck, though in the summer I often shear them. They have much more fiber, I find, than the French. They do have wooly faces and ears. They need to be brushed more regularly than the French, as they will matt. One doe doesn't seem to matt much, but my buck likes to matt (well, I don't think he LIKES to, but he does anyway). My girls do work a little with them and show then at 4H, so for someone who understands the grooming needs of angoras, Giants are great.



English...I found out one of the does that my friend gave me is a purebred English angora. They are smaller, have wooly wooly faces. I am told they matt easily, but so far Honey Bunny hasn't been much of a problem there. She can be plucked or shorn.

German Angoras...I recently aquired three Germans. One is pure, the other two are hybrids. Germans are very different than the others, in that they do not shed out their fiber, you HAVE TO shear them. Okay, well, one of my hybrids seems to shed out a bit (Germans are naturally all whites, so they are crossed to get color- I'm guessing my Licorice has some French in him- as he does shed a bit). So, you shear them. They have lots of fiber. It seems to be a different consitancy than the other angora breeds. What I found really neat is the color in the hybrids- much deeper color than my colored French. The color is more consitant across the body, the wooly face fiber and the body fiber is all the same color. The fiber doesn't seem to have the same amount of fluff as the French...maybe it is a larger diameter? But, is still incredibly soft and I'm anxious to spin some. They do matt very very easily and need to be brushed very regularly, as the matts are not fun to remove and you lose a lot of fiber. I would not recommend Germans for someone beginning with angoras, unless they are really ready for lots of grooming. They are, though, incredibly sweet and docile.



I have to say, though, that I am thrilled to be back immersed in angora rabbits, their fiber and their personalities. If you can't find me one day...look in my bunny barn (different place than the kids' bunny barn ) that's where I probably am!

Mending Fences

I always wondered, when watching western movies, why the cowboys spent so much time mending fences. C'mon, you put the fence up and your good forever, aren't you? Oh, no, you never are finished. I hate fixing fences. It took me forever to figure out how to install this fence in the first place. While I use cattle panels at home for the goats, I couldn't afford to fence in 4 acres with panels. I bought a fence charger and a bunch of electric fencing stuff, and went to it. I made a few mistakes along the way- including finding out how strong the charge is when I, without thinking, touched the bolt coming out of the charger while the charger was on (prior to attaching the fence). I guess that is one way to find out the charger does work!

I found out that, yes, they do mean it when they tell you you need more than one ground pole, the ground pole needs to be long, and the ground pole needs to be somewhere where it is wet. I found out that you do need to trim the brush around the fence, branches will fall on the fence during a storm and you actually have to walk to fence line right after the storm, or your animals may go for a long walk and the neighbors will not be happy for the visitors.

I found out that sheep cannot feel the shock through their wool, horses don't like to be shocked and once is enough to keep them far from the fence and anything that resembles an electric fence for the next 30 years. Goats will be somewhat respectful of electric fence ( as I now know to introduce each new animal to the shock of the fence before setting them free). Teenage boys LIKE to touch the fence or dare eachother to touch the fence, all to see what will happen and show how "tough" they are.

I learned to turn off the charger before fixing the fence. I learned that llamas may go through an electric fence to get out of the pasture, but are not so quick to go through that same fence to get back in, no matter how loudly you shake the grain bucket. Sheep go both ways- out or in, if there is food involved, who cares about a little zap.

But, most of all, I found out that the cowboys were always mending fences because fences always need mending. I spent a lovely time out in the snow (with my leg in its imobilizer brace) hobbling around mending first the electric fence (which the llamas went out of but didn't care to walk across to get back in) as well as repairing the back up fence (cattle wire, going around the outskirts of the property) that keeps any fence skippers from visiting the rest of the neighborhood.

*I found that picture on http://fineartamerica.com/featured/mending-fence-cynara-shelton.html

Beware of Sheep!

Tuesday was not one of my better days, LOL. Oh, yes, I can laugh about it now...not so the other day. My mother is always giving me a hard time about going up to the barn alone at night. It is about 7 miles from my house, down in a gully, and not so close to any houses. There is no electricity there either. I don't listen though.

So, Tuesday night, Addie (my dog) and I head up there to feed the animals and unload some hay. All is going well, we get grain to all the animals, throw some bales of hay out there for them. Addie did a marvelous job moving the sheep to where I wanted them. I have a couple of horses, llamas, alpacas and sheep in the pasture. We are just about to switch to unloading hay, when I realize that a couple of the sheep have left the group and are trying to get into the horse's grain. So- I send Addie around the barn ahead of me to "get the sheep". Apparently one of the large ewes (the romney) got spooked (most of the sheep aren't overly intimidated by the dog, but this one is) and comes flying around the barn at full speed. At that very moment, I'm walking innocently around the barn to make sure everyone is back to their right spot.

It was dark, and the ewe being black...I didn't see her until the instant before she hit me. I had no time to react, though, and she slams head first (you know- those rock hard heads that sheep have-argh) into my left knee. I hear a pop, and feel my lower leg go in the wrong direction, and I go flying through the air. Sheep keeps running...without care that she just tried to kill her foodsource. (Okay- now, I know sheep aren't the brightest animals on a farm, but this one is especially dumb, and if she wasn't my sister's sheep she wouldn't even have been there.)

I could not believe the pain I was in- I thought for sure I broke my leg (which I didn't- but I did seriously sprain my medial collateral ligament in my knee- apparently an injury that football players get a lot- great). I layed there yelling for help for a good hour before someone heard me (like I said- there is not really anyone around there). A jogger heard me and with the help of a flashlight, found me and called an ambulance. I'm so thankful for the jogger. We were expecting an ice storm to start in another hour or so, which would have been horrible.

I did have my english shepherd dog (farm collie) with me. She was so good. Not as good as Lassie (wasn't my dog supposed to go to a neighbors house and bark in morse code to dial 911?) but, she did stay right with me, with intermittent runs to the middle of the pasture to bark for help, and then right by my side. She wasn't so sure she wanted to let the ambulance people near me, and went into protective mode, but once she saw they were there to help, she let them work on me, going back and forth licking them. But- I'm thinking next time I go up there late at night...I'll bring a human buddy as well!

Moral of the store...watch out for psycho sheep!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas this year was the most wonderful one ever. For the first time all of our family was together for Christmas morning. I have to say, I have the best kids ever. Our two oldest, both just turned 16, are going for their drivers permits this week. Gosh- that's a scary thought. I don't know how they got that grown up! It is going to be really weird to be sitting in the passenger seat while my sons' are driving! My one daughter is getting into wearing make up, another sign that the kids are growing up. This is just amazing- especially since there is no way I am old enough to have teenagers, LOL. Wish that wasn't so, but alas, I apparently am.

Then we went home, got the little one's to bed and hung out waiting for Santa.

Christmas eve ended at 3am when I went to bed. At 4am there was a sweet 12 year old telling us it was morning. How confused she must have been-LOL- it couldn't possibly be morning yet. We sent her back to bed with instructions not to return before 6am. Luckily the kids gave us until 7am and then they were all up and anxious to see what Santa had brought. The boys were thrilled to get a new xbox360 and can't wait to get live with it later this weekend. The boys also got model rocket stuff, so I"m sure NASA will be jealous of the happenings of our backyard in a few weeks! The girls got dolls, dolls and more dolls, doll houses, doll beds, etc. etc. Camille, of course got make up. Both the older girls got their own sheep and goat grooming supplies (yeah- I won't have to hunt through the backyard looking for my supplies anymore!) Little Markie got all sorts of trucks, cars and trains- so he is in his glory vrooming around the house!

We then went to Grammie and Fafa's house (in our jammies) to see what Santa left there. After a wonderful breakfast, we came home to relax, play with our new toys, and take care of the farm chores. Later in the day we went to Auntie Melissa and Uncle Jon's house for dinner (yum) of ham and turkey and all sorts of stuff. By the time we got back home, I was exhausted and fell sound asleep-

What a wonderful holiday it was all around!

Snow Day!

We got about a foot of snow and the kids and Addie are having a blast! The goats, on the other hand are not at all happy. They can be found peeking their heads out from their shelters waiting for it to end. The ducks and geese don't seem to mind much. The alpacas don't seem to mind snow- they were running around outside in it yesterday and we waiting by the fence for their breakfast. I love snow days... a good excuse to stay home with the kids, make crafts, bake, watch movies, and snuggle together. The little ones (ages 2 and 3) made the cutest little frames for their grandparents out of bowtie pasta dyed with food color glued onto popsicle sticks. They were so pleased with their creations. The girls are busy crocheting scarves for their family members.

The girls (10 and 12) spent hours outside in the snow playing, sledding, etc. Then after dinner (which was delicious and easy to make- chicken breasts baked in mushroom soup and chardonney) so tasty. Add to that green bean casserole and roasted potatoes with italian seasoning. the kids finished off the 6 dozen cookies I had made for the cookie swap at church which was cancelled due to the snow.