New Additions

Today, The Boy and I hopped in the truck with this mornings Doodle milk (that is milk from Dolly Doodle the goat in case your new here) and headed out for a little trip. Actually, the Boy thinks it is hilarious to call Doodle's milk "Doodle Squeezin's"...well..I think it is pretty funny too so that is what we call her milk all the time. Anyways, we are off on our little adventure, with our canning jars full of Doodle Squeezin's, to a lovely place called Kai Ranch Mohair, where we got our other new girls Maggie-O and Quigley, to pick up three new bottle babies! Yes, that's right, I said three bottle babies! I know, I know..where do I have the spare time to bottle feed?  As fast as these two suck down a bottle, it is really not going to take up much extra time to feed them! Here are the twins, a boy and a girl. They are 3 weeks old.

The girl has on the sweater. After a pit stop to feed them their .. squeezins, she was a little chilled and I just happened to take along some coats just for that reason. The temps are crazy this time of year, could be 80* ..could be 50*, and you can't trust the weatherman to get it right either.

The next one is Little Moses, and he is just 5 days old! He is very tiny and just the sweetest thing!

Always looking for a bite these bottle babies! He already has milk face from just having a bottle.

These are Angora goats. I wanted to show you a picture of May Belle my Pygora baby that is 5 weeks old, since I am showing off my fluffy babies!

May Belle is not as big as the twins, but she is very soft and fluffy.

Right now there is no knowing what type of hair she will have, Pygoras can have one of 3 different types. One thing is for sure, she will have a good time with her new woolly brothers and sister!

Springtime Gifts

Hubby decided to get me my spring time gifts, you know all the springish holidays, like Valentines day, Easter, my birthday, Presidents Day..all rolled into one. He bundles. I am very much OK with this because he always get me great present and they often have 4 legs. Here are my spring time presents, Quigley and Maggie! They are Angora goats!

 Lovely fiber girls! They are beautiful don't you all think?

 It was a long drive in horrible wind to go and get them, but it was worth it. Our herd of ornery mischief makers accepted them right in without so much as a head-butt..which was surprising to say the least! Me and the Boy were on standby to break up any fights and rush the new girls back to the holding pen..but all was calm. It kind of left us standing there scratching our heads. Wonders never cease, as the old folks would say.

In other farm news, the hillbilly green house of the last few years has been made more permanent thanks to The Boy. The tomato plants, that I started from seed back in January, are growing nicely and are ready for warmer spring days.

 Oscar Peterson is making himself comfortable on top of my strawberry plants! He is such a sweet little kitty, I can't be mad at him. Hubby, on the other hand, has had a few choice words to say to Mr. Peterson about the big rat that lives quiet peacefully and unmauled by cats, in his shop.

The Doodle-ettes are growing fast! They have left the nursery pen and are in with the herd. Sometime this next week, I think they will become wethers!

Spring is here. My tulip magnolia tree is blooming for the first time since I planted it.

I will be glad when it is big and fills my back yard with beautiful flowers. I have 2 smaller ones, no blooms so far on those.  W e are supposed to have a light freeze in the next few nights. We'll see. The weather man has been off a lot lately, but then again, ole Mother nature likes to tease us around this time of year.  Just in case, we moved all the potted citrus trees into the green house. The Meyer lemons are blooming and it smells heavenly in there. I am hoping to go see some weaving and spinning at the Houston rodeo, if I do then maybe I will have some good pictures for another post soon!

 

I'm Back

Here I am! Back with a post! I know, I know, it has been awhile. What can I say, life gets busy. I have started back to school and  sitting at the computed half the day doing school makes me flee to the outdoors as soon as I done, never wanting to come back! Then today Hubby realized I had not done a post since last year and started fussing at me, saying he tells all kind of folks about our farm  and my blog and bah, blah, blah. He is just now realizing the last post was in August so HE is really not keeping up either,lol! 

I guess the best way to get back into things is with baby goat pictures! I mean really, that's why you all visit here right?  Doodle had her Doodle-ettes, a fine pair of bucklings. I was really hoping for one doe to keep since Doodle is such a good milker. I am kicking myself for selling her daughter last year. If this picture looks like they are running at me full speed that is because they are! They are attack goaties!

They are running to jump all over me, chew my clothes off and eat my hair till I am bald! 

This one is Junior. Doodle Junior to be exact, because he looks so much like his momma when she came here as a tiny baby.

 This one is Peanut. No reason except I think Peanut is a good name for a Doodle baby. Her son last year was named Peanut also. Next year, if she has another light colored boy, his name will be Peanut too!

The Doodle boys are sweet and will make excellent pets for someone this spring.

The very next week after The Doodle-ettes arrived, Nibbles and Purl kidded at the exact same time!  Purl, one of my pygoras, was a first time kidder and having a slow labor. Nibbles is an old pro and went in to labor and kidded fast! I was running back and forth between them helping them both. Nibbles had 2 little bucks, a black one and a white one. Purl had one little girl, but sadly, would not care for her. The kid was weak and after giving Purl ample chance to take over, but not willing to risk the weak little doe's life, I took her over and set her in front of Nibbles. Nibbles took her right away! Nibbles loves kids, sometimes she tries to"adopt" kids that are not hers when she doesn't have one. So here are the Nibblets soon after birth. They are 2 weeks old now, but when I went out and tried to get new picts I was swarmed by kids,lol, and could not get a good shot. Every time I tried to squat down for a picture I was instantly covered with kids trying to jump on top of me, gnaw of my clothes and chew my hair! Most of the shots looked like this..

 I am telling you all, that should be on everyone's bucket list! To have the experience of being covered in baby goats that are just loving and chewing on you! I would think it could be a treatment for depression because no one could be covered in baby goats and not laugh out loud! So any how, here is the rest of the gang..

This is J.J....which is short for Junior Junior! I know, crazy! He looks like Doodle's son we named Junior so he is, well, Junior Junior. Hey, remember we are the folks who have had goats with the wonderful names like Tube-Sock and Popsicle, so Junior Junior is not all that weird.

 This is Pete and oh, oh, oh he is the sweetest thing you every snuggled! He is just plain white but he has Nibbles' face and ears and is just lives to be loved on.

This is May Belle. She the pygora. She is a diva and would holler at the top of her little voice if Nibbles get 2 inches away from her for the first week. Now, she has gotten a little more adventurous and bounces around with her brothers more. She is beautiful. I can't wait to see her all grown up!

May Belle will stay on the farm to add to my fiber addiction! The boys will all be wethers and go out as pets. Wethers make the best pets you know. 

Life Bounces On...

If you are a follower of the goat blogs in my blog circle of friends, you know it has been a tough year with many sad, sad losses. I have to say,we have been blessed these last years. We haven't had to dig any new graves under the oak in the goat pasture until this last week.
I had  three girls I was waiting on to kid that had been bred with my Pygora buck Charlie. Tiny Zippy had her giant Snowflake with out a hitch. Minnie, possibly the sweetest goatie ever and also a pygora ,was to give me my first full pygora kids. It was not to be. She kidded during the night and had problems and I was not there to help her. From what I could tell the first kid was positioned wrong and was dead the second suffocated because she was too tired or inexperienced to clean off the birth sack or possible it was born dead also. Even sadder than loosing these beautiful kids was listing to Minnie cry for them for days. Last to kid was Daisy. Needless to say I was a little on edge about her kidding. The first was breech and dead before I got to it. The second one lived thankfully! A little buck. Here is George...

The Boy says George has a bad case of goatie monkey nose! He is actually light orange and if he had been a girl I would have named him Clementine! I am sure I am not the only one glad to see this kidding season behind us. It is part of it, but never easy. We have 4 kids in the nursery pen.

Buster insisted I take his picture! He is a ham! He looks like someone dropped ice cream on his head and it ran down his face..

It is funny how watching them jump and play can make you forget your sadness over the ones who didn't make it. Life bounces on after all,when you have baby goats to watch!

Snowflake

I don't think a person can ever see enough pictures of baby goats! Am I right? Yep,I thought so. You all want more baby goats! Here is your baby goat fix for today,meet Snowflake!

She is white and fluffy, but it is also hot as heck here so I think I am wishing for some cooler days, and Snowflake just seems perfect!

Her nanny is Zippy, Doodah's clone daughter. This was Zippy's first kid. As you all can see,Snowflake looks nothing like her Ma.

She looks just like her daddy,the beautiful pygora Charlie!  I have no idea if she will have woolie hair or just be a fluffy goatie but I can tell one thing and that is she is going to be lovely.

She is half as tall as her momma! I have no idea where Zippy was keeping this big kid as you could not even tell she was expecting except for a tiny milk bag. She was not extra fat at all and Zippy is an extra small goat even by dwarf standards. I though she would have a tiny kid like she was. Goats,one surprise after another! Only 2 more girls still to kid and that will be it for the year. I wonder what kind of surprises they have waiting?!?

I Still get Surprised Now and Again

Right before I left on my little trip I got a surprise from Sweet Pea. Now you all have to understand Sweet Pea is a very, very...let's put it politely, round goat. The last week I was thinking she was even out doing herself in the roundness a little. So the day of the surprise I was out checking on everyone in goatie land like I do several times a day because you never know what mischief those goats have gotten themselves into. All you goat people are nodding your heads right now I know! Any ways , she wanted back in her stall so that made me a little suspicious.  After all, it was not like Sweet Pea to  be wanting back in  during prime grazing time. She didn't get that full figure by hanging out in the barn all day! I let her in her stall and made a mental note to come back out soon and check again.When I did  sure enough she had a kid about a third of the way out and stuck with it's feet behind. 

Well, I tugged it out and  started working on it as it was having a tough time getting started. I finally get it to breathing sort of regular and look over and danged if there was not another bigger head sticking out with no legs again. I tried to reposition it but there was just no doing it. So quick prayers were said that I could get it out with out breaking it's neck. It was looking at me and that really made it a bit worse.  After a little work, that seemed like forever but was only a minute I am sure, the second one was out and OK. Whew!  So I am thinking that day Mr.Tumnus broke out and had a big ole fun time in the girls pasture was when these two were made. Yes, I know you all are asking, How could you not know she was expecting?! Well, like I said she is exceptionally round and she was still letting her grown daughter snack everyday so she had a milk bag. Some goats are just like that on not weaning. She is the only one we have like that here though. This is her right after kidding when she should be all sunken in.Yeah right,not Pea! She is normally twice this fat or more,lol!

If there is one thing I have learned it's that something on the farm is always going to happen unplanned!
So here are my little surprises...

Total goatie cuteness I know! This is the first one,a little girl...

The Boy named her Popsicle,lol! She is our first baby ever to have wattles!

The second, and much larger one is named Buster. He looks like something dropped on his head and ran down his face! Buster also has on white shoes!

They are both very sweet and tame. Sweet Pea is a good momma. She hates all other goats and will try to pound them to mush or even bite them but she loves her babies more than any goat we have ever had. I am not surprised that she is the one who snuck in a date with Mr.Tumnus!
Thankfully it all worked out ! I will take these kind of surprises any day!

I went and spent a few fun filled "girl" days with my friend Texan. We shopped and had a good time! We have decided that we are going to make some of our own clothes so we hit every shop in town that had material and patterns,lol! We are both sort of new to sewing clothes,we have both done it but not enough to feel confident so it was really fun to be able to look at stuff together and  have another woman's opinion!  We came back to my house and had our second class on chemical free bee keeping. I think there are a couple of gals who will have their own bees come next spring! She also made Jack a toy because her new big ole furry baby, Keeper, has one and loves it. Well,sure enough Jack loved his too!

That is the face of a happy pup if I have ever seen one!

He is still slinging that around this morning!

This is a great toy!

Jack sends a big Woof of thanks to his Auntie Texan!

There is no Critter I Won't Duct Tape

What is that strange creature in the distance you ask? I present you all with another creation  of a fed up farm woman!

This is Dolly Doodle. The Doodle that gets her head stuck every. single. day. in the fence. She is  the only goat that does this here on the farm and I'd just had enough this morning!

So desperate times call for desperate duct taping! You all may remember the duct taped chicken straight jacket episode. 

Dolly  is a very good goat and an excellent milker but we have to face facts..she is dumb as a stump. Now, I know all goats get their heads stuck from time to time, it is the Goatie Way. Many a farmer has stood,scratching their head and wondering how a goat did something. It is the Goatie Way and there is no explaining it except maybe it is like the Force in Jedi .

So anyways, everyday with a stuck head is a little much and there is.. well.. more to the story...

(that is Daisy looking at the camera. Doesn't she look like she is embarrassed to be seen with Dolly?)

.... every time Dolly gets her head stuck her  giant son Peanut, comes running to drain the milk bar. You all know how these momma goats hate not controlling the milk bar! But that is not he worse part, the worse part would make anyone think she would stop getting her head stuck...Jack being a 6 month old male puppy..well you know..starts in with a little trans species loving..ya know just for fun! Yes, the summer of 2012 hump fest...between Jack and Dolly..you would think that would make her run from the fence and have goatie night mares! (Sorry folks,no pictures of that!)  It is sure giving us nightmares from watching them! OK maybe not nightmares so much as  hysterical fits of laughter.So I decided enough was enough and turned to my trusty animal behavior modification kit! Duct tape being the main tool in my kit and this time a piece of PVC pipe. You all may think this  was easy. Yeah right. It was not! The Boy had to hold/wrestle her while I had to try and tape this to her horns. I have seen folks wrangle gators easier than it was for us taping this piece of pipe  to Dolly's horns !

Dolly spent the whole morning behind the barn hiding in shame..yeah this shames her but not being drained by her overgrown kid and being humped by a giant dog all the while with her head stuck in the fence. Dumb as a stump I tell ya! But that is OK she is still one of my favorites despite her lack of IQ points.   Jack will be seeing the vet in a few weeks for a little snip snip but that only cures half the problem and really, if Dolly wouldn't get her head stuck everyday Jack would not be able to take advantage of her like that. So for now Dolly will have to wear my version of a goatie dunce hat!

Once again..Duct Tape Saves the Day!!

Hot Dog

It was 98* here today with a feels like of 103*!   I don't care what anybody says, that is hot folks! Good Ole Jack has found his way to beat the heat...

That WAS the goats water,lol! No longer,it is now the official Jack soaking tub!

 Hot as it is I am temped to make him mover over and let me in there with him!

Southern Nights

I went outside last night and the singing of the night creatures was so loud! In fact you can hear them in the closed up house. I though I would share them with you all,this is the sound of a southern night....

Super-duper,Extra Special Baby Goat!

Doodah had triplets! Now, Doodah always has triplets and very pretty triplets at that, so that is not  the extra special part. Although it is impressive. Ole Doodah must have got to thinking,"How can I top the usual beautiful triplets I have every year..."
 And just look what she did! This little boy,we named Roger, has a black heart on his nose!

Way to go Doodah,way to go!

The Sisterhood of the Goat

Hello everyone! It seems I have had trouble blogging these days. I just can't  make my self sit down and do it. So today I am doing a repost from waaayyy back in September 09 of how we got into raising goats. This is for  The Sisterhood of the Goat! If you have goats or love goats this is the place to find more folks just like you!


GAA or Goat Addicts Anonymous 


Hello,my name is Melodie, and I am an addict.A goat addict.I didn't mean for it to happen.I just tried one,a Pygmy.I didn't know Pygmy's were the "gateway" goats!

Really,it's Heidi's fault.Yep, that children's classic led us down this road of addiction.It got the boy in it's goatie clutches first.

You see,when we first moved down to the Houston area we rented a house in one of the many burbs.Hubby was in Norway,our stuff was in storage in Northeast Texas.Me and The Boy stayed in this house a week with nothing but a blow up air mattress,a few cooking items,a wooden pin ball game and a used copy of Heidi.We were waiting for Hubby to fly home so we could drive up and get our stuff.

I know,Heidi is not exactly military obsessed boy reading material.I read it out loud and he really enjoyed it.I found out soon why he liked it.Yep,you guessed it,the goats.From then on it was nonstop,"Can I get a goat?"

We told him he couldn't have one while we lived in town.Finally we moved to the farm and for Christmas he got a bottle baby Pygmy, Butter Bean.


He was soooo cute and sooo tiny.So when I learned they need a friend,I had no problem finding and buying another goat.
The Boy became a walking encyclopedia of goat knowledge.Actually,The Boy is a whole set of encyclopedias on various things,explosives,tanks, weapons,aircraft...you get the picture,but the new volume was goats.

This is a dangerous addiction,it gets a hold of a person before they even know what hit them!It starts out as a child's pet.You find yourself looking for excuses to go out in the goat pen.When you walk around you no longer see beautiful wild flowers.Instead you think," I wonder if the goats would like to eat that?"You start looking for things to entertain your goats,new toys for them.Before you know it you are no longer watching TV in the evening because you are out watching the goats play.
You can't go anywhere because,really,who will take good enough care of your goats!When you go out you realize your clothes are covered in goat hair or,even worse,you get to church and the front of your dress is hairy!
That is just the first stage of addiction.Then come the excuses.You find yourself making up excuses why you need to buy more goats.We could milk them and make soap,we can sell their babies to help pay for their room and board.Yeah,yeah,that's what we can do!!!I am at this stage.The Boy is far worse off,the only thing keeping his addiction under control is his lack of a job to support his habit!If he had a job every dime would go towards goats and goat accessories.Sigh..that is the life of a goat junkie.
Laugh if you want.Everyone says it won't happen to them.Trust me GAA is full of folks who thought that same thing!Hitting rock bottom won't help either,there really is no hope for the poor folks who succumb to the goat addiction.
Even if you are reduced to living in your truck,you will some how get a camper shell and fill it with your goats.You will sneak them into parks to graze.People will point and grab their children close when they see you pass by covered in hair and smelling like goat,"The crazy goat person!"

Like most addicts,we want everyone else to share in our addiction!So come on,it's just one baby Pygmy goat! I can hook you up.I promise nothing will happen,you'll love it......