I'm Seeing Moonspots

Hey, more babies were born yesterday morning.  See, I was waaaay off on the due dates (21 days!) for the two does that I bought last summer.

I had to go to court for my CASA volunteer job in the afternoon, but I could see that she was in early labor in the morning when I went to the barn to take the goats out.  Also, she didn't want to go out, which is very unusual for her.  So, I spent the morning watching her.  I was afraid I was going to miss it, but she had her first one about 15 minutes before I had to go get ready to leave.  Thankfully, daughter-in-law was willing and able to take over my midwife duties and she made sure the second was born safely and I didn't have to worry about losing any.

First one born.

These babies were from a doe with what is called "moonspots".  People who have goats seem to really like the moonspots.  The are pretty cute.

Second one - black like Billy, moonspotted like the mom.

 

Aw.  I *heart* him.

Will have to come up with a flower name that also has "heart" in it, but all I can think of is a Bleeding Heart.

Oh yeah, and...

The guineas started laying eggs this past week.  The eggs are about half, maybe three quarters the size of chicken eggs.  I haven't eaten any yet, so I don't know how they compare.

Yum, Bacon

Because everything should taste like bacon.

We have this shop in town that is a discount grocery.  The owner buys up lots of products from other retailers that, say, might be ready to expire, or the packaging might be damaged, etc.

He gets weird and unusual stuff and it's fun to shop there every once in a while.  I can try out different products without risking too much money if the product is no good.

I bought this bacon salt yesterday.  Had it on my popcorn last night and, oh yeah, it was good.  So, I had it on my egg this morning.  Also, yummy.

I had a bit of an intestinal problem this morning, but didn't think much of it.  As I was eating my bacon flavored egg, I got to thinking, "How do they make salt taste like bacon, anyway?".  I read the label.  Which is something I always do before I buy something, but for some reason, I didn't even think about reading the label on this impulse buy.  Uh, mistake.  Ingredients:  seat salt, paprika, corn, syrup, wheat flour....  Who puts wheat flour in salt?  

J&D's Down Home Enterprises does, that's who.

And, yes, people, apparently just a few shakes of seasoning salt containing wheat (gluten) can mess with a celiac's gut.  

Ugh.

Entryway Landscaping

I'm finally getting started on the landscaping for the farm entryway.

This is the before picture.  When we had the columns rebuilt, we discovered landscaping timbers, long buried, from the original owners landscaping 30 years ago (you can see the straight line in front of the columns).  Tom pulled those out, then dug out all the weeds so I had a clear area to work with.

I used 8x12x2 concrete blocks to edge the area that I'm going to fill with plants.  Hopefully, this will keep the grass from encroaching too much into the planting area.

I'm going to fill it mostly with an ornamental grass and could use some suggestions.  I just need one kind of grass - one that looks feathery and soft and grows about two feet tall.  I thought I had it figured out and was going to use Mexican Feather Grass, but apparently, that can be invasive because it reseeds itself.  Livestock doesn't eat it, so I can't have a grass like that reseed itself onto our pastures.  I need something that will grow in clumps, but not be invasive.

Any ideas?

Who Vacuums Their Barn?

I do.  Yep, don't be hatin' on me.

After hours of mindless waiting, sitting on a stool or standing by the wall watching goat's behinds, it finally occurred to me that I could actually be getting something done while I waited.

Those of you who know me, really know me, know that I love to organize.  Give me something to organize and I am a happy camper.  I don't like mundane, ordinary house cleaning, but I like to take a big mess and make it orderly.

So, my mind started thinking, "Which big mess, out of all the big messes in this barn, can I tackle and actually get done before the kids are born?"

I considered the tack room.  Oh, how I'd love a tack room that I can actually walk into and find what I need.  I could actually store...tack, or feed, or other livestock stuff.  But, sadly, that is a project for longer days and requires men to move boxes. 

 So, we have this little shelf right outside the tack room that Tom has been piling things on for five years.  It was covered in dust and debris and spider webs and I didn't know what else because I have always been afraid to touch anything lest I touch a spider.    

So, I dug around in the spider and junk filled tack room for one of the old drawers I saved from the old kitchen and I hung it right above the little shelf; stacked Tom's cans of stuff on that, rearranged stuff, threw stuff away, cleaned the webs and dust off, and voila! Nice and tidy.

I was on a roll, then.

Dust covered spiderwebs abound up in the rafters and they coat the stall walls.

**shudder**

I couldn't take my shop vac into the stalls with the goats in labor, but I vacuumed what I could reach. Just look how clean those poles and rafters are!

Clean stall doors!  Aaahh, that feels good.

Now that some of the goats are out in the pasture with their kids, I can get in there and vacuum the rafters free of their spiders...and hope one doesn't land on my head.

But, before I can do that, I have to wait until Tom finishes his task.

Cleaning a mountain of poopy bedding out of the stall.

More of That Long Sixteen Hours

Next up was the grey Kiko.  Last year, I thought she didn't get pregnant, or might have miscarried because she never did get big or look pregnant.  But she surprised me and had twins.  This year, she really surprised me and had triplets and she still didn't even look pregnant.

Thankfully, I recognized her signs on Friday morning and stayed in the barn, ready to assist if necessary.

**Warning:  Graphic pictures ahead.**

This is after a few minutes of pushing in earnest.  What can be seen at this point is the sac containing the baby and the fluid.

What we should be seeing here, within the sac, is little white feet (the kid's feet always have little white caps on them that fall off later).  We are not seeing the feet here because...

oops, this baby is breech.  She came out rear end first, but it didn't seem to bother the momma.

Now, here you can see the little white feet.  This was barely four minutes after the first was born and momma barely got the face of the first one cleaned off before she had to push this one out.

And, plop, he landed on his head, but at least momma wasn't standing (as they sometimes do).  As you can see, he is fully encased in the sac.  Sometimes, the sac breaks before the baby is all the way out or as the baby pops out.  Sometimes, it doesn't break at all and, if the momma is busy with the previous baby, she might not get to the other one, just born, and not able to breathe.  That sac is tougher than it looks.  I ended up breaking this one and clearing the face just enough for it to cough, clear it's nose, and start breathing.  Then the mother took over.

About 20 minutes later, surprise!  She started pushing again and out came a third.  She was standing for this birth, so I kind of caught the baby on it's way down.  Her sac broke, but it broke across her back, leaving her head still completely covered.  Momma started licking her, but as soon as one of the other babies made a sound, she was instantly distracted and left the newest just lying there.

This one, just minutes old, started nursing while momma was cleaning up the third.  

And, that distracted Momma who went back to licking the nursing one.  Evil goat showed some uncharacteristic tenderness and helped clean the newest one, who, coincidentally, looks exactly like the baby that Evil lost, although I doubt that means anything to a goat.

Just a few hours later, everyone is cleaned up and dry.

A Busy Sixteen Hours

As predicted, Evil goat went into labor on Thursday night.  When I went down to the barn at around 9:00, she had triplets.  Sadly, one of them had died.  It was completely encased in the sac, so I'm sure it must have suffocated while she was busy cleaning up the first two.  She had triplets last year and did fine without me.  I think I have finally learned my lesson...even though they do fine with multiple births during one kidding season, that does not mean they will do fine the next time.

As usual, she positions herself between me and the babies.  

Evil was in the stall with Buttercup, who was, herself, in the first stages of labor and aggressively trying to steal the babies for herself.  I had to get Husband to help me move her to another stall.

Having learned my lesson about leaving them to labor alone, I stayed with Buttercup (aka Butterball, Buddha, Big Bertha) until her babies were born.  She had her standard chunky twins.  They're almost identical.  Hers came about 45 minutes apart, so there was no danger of neglecting one.  I helped clear their heads from the sac anyway, just to be safe.

More Kids

Well, just when I think I might know a little about animal husbandry and goat kidding, the goats have shown me that I don't know as much as I think I do.  I was congratulating myself on pinpointing the exact date of the first goat's kidding, but I'm completely off on all the other goats.  Daisy the Nubian kidded yesterday, the 12th.  She's the only one I thought I wasn't sure about.  I had estimated she was due either on the 3rd or the 11th and was supposed to be the last to kid.  Ha.  None of the other goats have kidded yet.

In previous years, Daisy has always had triplets and sometimes some of them die.  I wanted to try my best to be there at her kidding so that I could make sure the babies survived.  It was a long ten days of checking on her every 2-3 hours.  Finally, when I checked on her at 7:40 in the morning, it was obvious that she was in labor.  So, except for a few quick dashes to the house for a bite to eat, I stayed in the barn with her until the kids were born...

  the first one, a male, at 1:45 (not quite dry and trying to suck my finger*)

and the second one, a female, at 2:00.

  No triplets this year?!  Too bad, because I have a buyer for two of this doe's little girls.

 * Daisy's teats are so enormous that it's hard for the babies to suck right away.  So, each year, as soon as they start trying to nurse, I help them by holding the teat at an angle that is easier for them to get their mouth on.  I have learned that this is as good as bottle feeding them, without the actual hassle of bottle feeding.  They end up associating me with feeding and it makes them very sweet and tame.

I call this wide load Boer doe Buttercup, but Buddha or Butterball, might be more appropriate.  She has got to be at least two feet across.  Even though she is pregnant, there is no reason why this goat should be this big.  She's pretty enormous during the summer when all she gets to eat is pasture.  I think if a Boer breeder sees this, I might get hated on.

And, here's Evil the Kiko.  I can't believe how big her udder is this year.  It looks like she could be carrying a kid or two just in her udder.

She'll probably have her babies tonight.  Some signs that labor is imminent:

(1) udder fills up.

(2) the spot right in front of her hip bone hollows out (you can see that in this picture, see the indentation right in front of her hip, below the spine?)

(3) doe hunches up like she's going to urinate, but doesn't

Pics

Just like to share pics of the new babies 'cause they're so cute.

Feetie, For Warm Feet

Husband is an inventor, has several patents, and works with lots of patent lawyers.  One of them sent me a gift...one of his own inventions.

It's like a Snuggie for your feet.

The package says it has "patented radiant barrier technology", that you can "take it anywhere", you can "Feetie with friends" (You know, sit around with your friends with Feetie on your feet.  I plan on trying that this weekend), that "one size fits all" and that they are "warm and cozy", oh, and you may have "seen it on TV".  Yes, I can attest to the fact that their advertising is true and correct.  Well, except that I'll have to get my son-in-law to try it, because I'm not sure his feet will fit.

The Feetie even comes with instructions.

1.  Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.

2.  Place both feet fully within the Feetie comforter, and snap the opening closed between your legs. (Unless, of course, you're like me and like to cross your feet at the ankles or knees while they're resting on the ottoman).

3.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the comfort and warmth.

And, a warning!

1.  Do not walk or stand while using your Feetie comforter.  (I should have read that warning before I used my Feetie.  Believe it or not, I did try to stand and walk with the Feetie on.  I didn't crash and burn, merely shuffled along, but I can tell you that you do not want to forget that you have it on your feet and then try to get up and walk away.)

2.  Never place the Feetie in a microwave oven.  (I can assure you that I will not try to cook my Feetie, but someone out there just might.)

Now...if they'd just put a pocket for the remote control on it, it would be perfect.

What the Dog Drug Up.

We currently have two large skulls laying about in the yard that the dogs brought up and chew on from time to time.  Ginger is still in her chewing puppy phase so skulls are not enough for her (and neither are boxes, boat covers, flower pots, plastic toys, old sheets and towels, etc.).

So, this is her latest chew toy.

Thank goodness, nobody is home.

The Big Thaw

Whew, we just had a big freeze on Sunday with lots of sleet.

This looks like snow, but it was actually a hard crust of ice, in some places a couple of inches thick.  I felt sorry for the birds so I tossed birdseed out onto the ice.  We had tons of birds all over the yard.  Of course, most of them flew out of sight every time I tried to take a picture.

We couldn't leave the house for about two days because the roads were treacherous.  It stayed below freezing for more than 48 hours, which is unusual for east Texas.

It finally warmed up enough to thaw the ice and looks like spring.  That's winter weeds, though, and not grass, so I'm not getting too excited.  We still have a bit of winter to go.

The dogs are sunbathing.

The Midnight Trouble Makers

Two days old now and very active.  They like to sleep under their heat lamp and stay cozy.

This is the one whose little ribs I felt in the uterus because she was blocking the way.  What a sweet little face.

I'm thankful that the weather was not like it is today on that midnight run to the vet.

And here's that silly hen that was lost.  She's quite happy in the barn.  If she was sitting on a nest, the eggs won't be viable now because they'd have gotten cold while she's out gallivanting around.

Bizarre, but Good!

Our Blue Andalusian hen is not gone after all!

We have all our pregnant does tucked away in the barn because they're all due to kid in the next few days and we're having below freezing weather and sleet.

I went out to the barn to do the last labor check of the night.  When I walked in the barn, I heard a hen clucking...walked over to take a peek at the baby goats and there was the lost hen, just scratching around like she belonged there.

The only reason I can think of that she disappeared for that many days (aside from going on 'oliday) was that she has some eggs that she's sitting on up in the hay.  She either lost interest or came down for some food and drink.  I just left her in there.  If she's gone again in the morning, at least I'll know where she is.

Yay!

Broody Hen

My Copper Maran hen (at least, I think that's what she is.  She accidentally got thrown in with a group of Black Astralorp chicks last summer) appears to be broody.  She's been sitting on a nest for three days.  I decided to slip a few eggs under her yesterday.  She tried to peck me, but didn't jump out and go running off in a huff.  That's a pretty good sign.

Daughter-in-law has been thinking about trying to raise some chicks, so she might move this hen and her eggs into a separate cage and take over her care.

Unfortunately, I lost one of my hens this week.  She was my one and only Blue Andalusian (such a pretty chicken) and I hated that I lost her.  Coyote must have snuck up and took her because she has disappeared without a trace.  I'm especially bummed because she had just become of age to lay eggs.

Kidding Season

We started off the season with a bang this year.

I used an on-line gestation calculator on the ABGA (American Boer Goat Association) website to calculate the approximate due dates for each goat.  Back in October, I took note of which doe was bred on which day.  Billy kind of concentrates his efforts on one doe for a day or two, so I just observed them each day to, hopefully, get a more accurate due date for each of them.

Apparently, my method worked pretty good because yesterday was Pansy's due date and she went into labor at 7:00 last night.  Usually, she has her babies when I'm not around and I just arrive to see her cleaning them up.  As luck would have it, I went to check on her right after Wheel of Fortune and I could tell that she was in early stages of labor.  So I stayed to watch, hoping to video it on my new GoPro camera.  (That was not to be because I didn't have it charged and it died too soon).

Daughter-in-law came out to sit with me and watch the birth, but by 8:45 Pansy had birthed nothing but a bubble of the water sac, which burst and then...nothing.  It was fairly anti-climactic.  I remembered reading somewhere that if a kid is not born within an hour of the doe starting to push, then something was not right and someone would have to do something.  By 9:45, no baby had made it's debut and that someone was going to have to be me.  I did not want it to be me.  I did not want to do something.  Waiting for nature to take its course sounded like the best option to me.  So, we waited.

10:45 and still no baby.  So, Daughter-in-law went and got her iPad to do some googling for me.  I had her go to the Fiasco Farm website first, because they're the kind of bible of all that is goat.  That site said there should be a baby within an hour (that must be where I read that).  Other sites said anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, there should be a baby, otherwise, the babies might die or have brain damage from lack of oxygen.  We were at the two hour mark, so it was time for action.

The websites said to get gloves, make sure hands or gloves were clean and feel around in the birth canal searching for feet.  I don't know about anyone else, but that is not enough information for a novice like me.  For those of you who are in this situation or might be in this situation in the future, read on.  This experience doesn't make me an expert, but this information I sure could have used last night.

OK, so I got my rubber gloves and slathered them with Purell Advanced (Purell Advanced is the only hand sanitizer that really does kill 99% of germs.  Tom had done the research back when the flu season started).  I couldn't put it off any longer, so...I went in.  Yes, I put my hand inside the vagina of a goat.  This is the something that I did not want to do.

It was surprisingly easy.  She was very slippery, so I didn't need a lubricant as the other websites had suggested.  I was very timid, so I started out with just a few fingers.  I quickly realized that more than a few fingers needed to go in and that, if a baby goat (or two or three) was going to come out of that canal, then surely my hand could go in.

So, in went the hand.  I couldn't feel anything that felt like a baby goat part, least of all, bony little feet.  I put my hand in a little past my wrist and this was where I really felt like I could use more information.  How far is too far?  How gentle did I need to be?  Was I going to puncture some vital organ or poke and eye out?

I got in there far enough to feel what I thought was tiny little ribs.  If that was the case, the baby was sideways across the birth canal and nothing was coming out and I decided that we needed some expert medical intervention and went to call the vet at 11:00 at night.  She said to bring Pansy in and she'd meet us at the clinic.

So, I woke Tom up, he hooked up the trailer (no small feat in the dark), and Son helped me pull Pansy by the horns and hoist her up into the trailer.  As you can imagine, she was not at all thrilled to be shoved into a trailer in the middle of the night in the middle of birthin' babies.

We arrived at the clinic at midnight.  Dr. Missy (a new, young vet fresh out of vet school) slathered her arms (up past her elbows) with some sort of cleaning agent (meant to ask her what it was so I could have have some on hand).

  (Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this because I forgot my camera and my iPhone pictures did not turn out well)

It turns out, the baby was, indeed, sideways and tangled up with her brother.  The Dr. worked for 45 minutes sorting them out, turning them around and getting them out.  Pansy was not happy and she bellowed loudly, but she did not try to get away or stop the doctor's activity.

The second kid was doubled over sideways and after a lot of digging around, the doctor pulled him out back feet first.  Both kids are healthy and vigorous.

Tip #1: Be prepared to go in past your wrist.  Dr. Missy had her entire arm inside the doe.

Tip #2:  You do not need gloves.  Just clean your hands real good.  It is hard to know what you are feeling with gloves on. Clipping your fingernails is a good idea. 

Tip #3:  Don't be afraid to dive right in and sort out body parts.  Find the two front feet, try to align the head up with the feet and PULL.  Nice and steady.  The preferred way is front feet first, but it is possible to pull it out by the back feet.  Of course, you want to be as gentle as possible, but from what I observed, the doctor was rummaging around in there like a kid looking for his favorite toy in the toy box.

Tip#4:  It is possible for the babies to survive at least three to four hours after the water breaks.

Tip #5:  Have meds handy if possible.  Penicillin to prevent infection, Oxytocin to help the uterus contract, and a tetanus shot.  If you don't have them and it's the middle of the night, get them as soon as you can the next day.

Thanks to Daughter-in-law for hanging in there with me and taking pictures.

I need a nap.

Vardo, Part Four

Wallpaper!

The wallpaper finally arrived from Lowes.com.  It's risky buying wallpaper over the internet because I really didn't know how the colors were going to turn out in real life.  The "red" in the print turned out to be a little on the pink side, but it'll still look good with the planned red curtains.

It took me a day and a half to install the wallpaper in the slide-out.  Thankfully, when I unscrewed the window trim, the windows didn't fall out on the ground.  

I need ideas on covering the sofa.  Possibilities (1) taking the cushions off completely and putting a futon mattress in it's place; (2) Making a slip cover.  I don't really want to take off the old fabric and recover it.  If I take it off, then it's off for good.  The fabric is clipped on with really stiff wires underneath.  Not fun.

In the meantime...curtains and crown moulding.

My Disgrace

So, my equine loving neighbor called me a few days ago.  She said her farrier would be at her place this Tuesday (today) and could she have Pony's feet trimmed.  Ah, there's nothing like a horse person noticing that you've neglected your equines.  Yes, I have been neglectful.  To my credit, I did notice that Pony could barely walk.  I did check on her and made a mental note to myself to call the farrier.  I did let a week go by without doing that (my terrible procrastinator self).

I deserved to be disgraced and I was.  But...all is well.  The farrier came over and trimmed Pony's feet and she's walking better already.

While the farrier was here, I was able to slip little donkey, Sophie, in there, too.  Her feet were so long that I don't know how she could even walk, much less run (but she could and did).  She was not happy about the feet trimming.  After working on a very upset Pony for a while, they gave her a break and started on Sophie.

After quite some time of kicking and thrashing, the farrier and my neighbor (who was a great help) decided to lay her down....

...and hold her down.  Neighbor layed across her and held three feet in his hands while farrier clipped away.

This might look easy, but this was a moment of calm during several storms.

Sophie kicked and thrashed and flailed and got her head stuck in the fence.  (Her head was behind neighbor's shoulder between the two fence slats).  Everyone (but me because I was standing there, useless, taking pictures) was bloody by the time it was over.  I've gotta hand it to them, neighbor and farrier stuck it out, stayed in a good humor, and got 'er done.  When it was time to let her up, they had to pry her head out of the fence, scraping her eyelid in the process.  Poor little thing.

Then, it was back to Pony.  I don't have pictures of this because I felt like a dope standing there taking pictures while they were struggling with a rearing, jumping, twisting, falling, fit throwing Pony.  I should have stuck it out, though, because it was really something to see.  It's a good thing she's little or she could have caused some damage to life and limb.

But, it's done and I'm on the farrier's schedule, which works better for me since I put off phone calls to schedule those kinds of things.

Happy Avengers Day!

Liam attended a Valentine party today.  The children exchanged Valentine cards and ate lots of sweets.  This evening when we asked him what today is, his answer was, "Rebengers Day!"

Why would he think that?