In the interest of trying to keep this blog focused mostly on me and my horse life, I started a new blog for the new additions to the farm and to keep track of the other livestock additions that may come in the future. Future goat news will probably be posted there as well.
A few girlfriends and I have been e-mailing about the weather. We are spread out quite a bit and not everyone has the same amount of snow. I guess one of the local news stations equated it to a donut; lots of snow around the area and a center area with relatively nothing. We’re closer to the nothing than the 18+ inches in many parts of the Puget Sound area.
The goats have been thoroughly enjoying their straw bale condo. So much so that they have started to destroy it! Goats will be goats.
Buster loves the snow. What lab doesn’t?
And the horses like the fluffy stuff, too. Much better than mud or being cooped up in the stalls!
The poor shed looks so forlorn!
And the pumpkins on the back steps just make a person get the chills looking at them!
TOO COLD!
One Wunderground station near us recorded a low temp of 9.5°F last night! That’s just too cold!
The horses, goats and dog now all have heated water buckets in the barn. Already had a stock tank heater outside, but since the run-in shed is no more, the horses get brought in at night and if the wind is blowing. The goats have a new straw bale condo set up. And the barn cats huddle en masse either in the barn or out in the hay shed somewhere. I have seen them venturing out and about in the sun today since there is no wind. Also, I spotted a little mouse in the barn last night when we were installing the heated buckets. Barn kitties must not be doing their jobs very well! Mouse looked cold scurrying around on the rubber mats int he stall.
To some that might not sound like a big deal, but this year for me, it seems to be a rare occurrence. It wasn’t a long ride, and I really wasn’t planning on riding, but things went smoothly so I figured what-the-hay. I am riding in a 4-day Brannaman clinic in a few weeks so I better start “cramming for the test” so-to-speak. And it’s not a Foundation class, so no groundwork warm-up during the class, although I would love it if there was!
My last serious riding was in a 4-day Peter Campbell clinic back in March. It was a great experience and I came away with lots of positive learning experiences. Unfortunately, I probably lost a good deal of what I learned because I didn’t KEEP riding.
I am happy to report that Paddock Boy even snapped some pictures as proof of my ride! Poor Toad wasn’t too happy with his girlfriend not by his side. Heheheheh! And Ginger and Pepper kept trying to get my attention as well.
It’s been a few weeks since we brought Pepper and Ginger home. And it’s been at least a week since I have posted any pictures or video. What they say is true about goats not liking the rain. They have been staying in their dry stall and only venturing out into the pen occasionally between showers. It has been a few days since they got their ration of blackberry cuttings, too. It was dry enough for me to cut them a nice big wheelbarrow load this morning. And they are really enjoying their scritching sessions with people now. They both can be rather insistent about it actually! Ginger isn’t too sure about me putting a camera right up in her face, but Pepper could care less!
Their coats are starting to feel nice and soft, especially Pepper. I have added a little bit of black oil sunflower seed to their diet to help with the itchy skin. If that doesn’t do the trick then I will start adding a touch of corn oil in a few weeks. Their body condition has improved, but they still don’t have as much muscle as I would like. Time to start working on the halter-breaking and going for walks. We also need to expand their paddock area so they have more room to move, or goat-proof a small pasture area for turnout during the day.
My favorite horse vet came today. He is gracious enough to take on my goat girls as patients on a limited basis. I have access to other vets in this area if he feels he is out of his element. I love my vet and his vet-tech fiancé.
Pepper and Ginger will be fine. Temps were a little elevated and both had a bit of respiratory stuff going on in addition to Pepper’s goopy eyes. Lucky me I get to give subcutaneous injections of an antibiotic once a day for the next week. They were both really good about the shots this afternoon, so I hope that continues when I am solo.
My vet hasn’t worked on goats in a long time, but he welcomes the challenge. I love him. Have I said that before?
Julie used to work on a goat farm and knew quite a bit about them. Ginger is definitely a Boer or Boer cross (primarily meat goats). She thought that Pepper is probably a Nubian or Nubian cross (which will please Paddock Boy). They are both less than 6 months old. They both agreed with me that they are on the malnourished side. Although, their bellies are quite pudgy now. I probably will have to do another round of worming (possibly a 5 day course of SafeGuard just like we do for horses). There is a condition that if untreated can kill a goat in less than 48 hours once symptoms are noticed. It’s related to worm infestations of 3 varieties all at once. Fairly common in the Midwest I guess. Not the same as bloat, which is also a great concern when radically switching diets. I didn’t have fecal analysis tests done, but may in the future. I want to get them healthier first.
From this:
to this:
in one week.
I was so pleased with the goaties today. The work with them in the past few days made the vet visit go really well. Of course, I did resort to hand-feeding and now they are super pushy, but I figure it’s a small price to pay with little goats. :) They’ll get bigger, but not as big as the horses.
And our little goatie girls will soon be consuming the various unwanted species around our place. Most notably the Himalayan blackberries and thistles.
FindArticles - Goats Advocated as Environmentally Sound Brush Control
Cattleman, The, Oct 2006
Plants Known To Be Poisonous To Goats
GoatWorld.Com
Edible and Poisonous Plants for Goats
Fias Co Farm
They officially have names now, and also have a new roof to their and Buster’s stalls. It was a good day and the weather was perfect!
Ginger and Pepper
