A watched goat butt....

...never kids.

I've been in and out of the mucky, muddy, squishy goat area about every stinking hour.  And bringing in all the mud caused by the melting of yesterday's snowfall.  At least the snow is gone.

Still no visible contractions.  No dilation.  No plug, not goo, no nothin'.  Nettie had bedded down in one of the goat huts for a while (and immediately pee'd in it of course), but I attribute that to the fact that I finally cleaned it out and put fresh hay down in there.  She came right out when I tossed them another fork full of hay:

Are you going to look at my butt AGAIN??
Can't you see I'm trying to eat here?!?!

 The only kind'a sort'a sign of impending labor would be this:

Nettie has been holding her tail much higher than normal.  I would also expect to see her back end hunched over a bit more, but not yet I guess.

I suppose that this "delay" could just be a total error on my record keeping.  And honestly, I suppose I'm glad that she hasn't kidded yet as she still isn't quite as full in the udder as I would like to see.

So the wait continues.  

I swear, I wasn't this anxious when I was pregnant.

She IS! (I think....)

After checking on Nettie no less than sixty-four times yesterday (in the snow, yes, it finally snowed....figures), I have decided that she is, in fact, pregnant.

I have the kidding stall all fixed up so figured I could put her in there a little early.  I normally try to put off bringing the does in there until I'm positive they are in labor in order to keep it as poop-and pee-free as possible.  Because you know, as soon as they go in there they have to go to the bathroom.  

Bucket full of warm water.  Bunch of hay for munching.  Kidding kit all ready and in the barn.  Baby monitor hooked up (which didn't end up working anyhow because of interference from the power inverter) and my flashlights and handy-dandy headlamp all ready to go.  

Several days ago our spring-like weather finally gave up and made way for the "normal" winter weather.  Teens at night and only 30's during the day, but today is supposed to be near 50 degrees and above freezing at night thank goodness.  

One thing I didn't think about with such an early kidding (I usually plan on a late March or early April kidding) is that it's still going to be cold at night, and there's no way I'm going to keep a heat lamp out there with a curious goat in there!  I'm not really concerned about Nettie, but her babies could get cold.  So I scoured the internet for some quick and easy baby goat coats and sewed three of them up just in case.  They are pathetic looking examples, but I promise to get pictures once they are on the kid(s).

Oh, back to how I decided that Nettie IS pregnant:

While sitting with her in the kidding stall, waiting for a contraction or an arched back or straining or pawing or something, I saw what was absolutely, definitely without a doubt a kid pushing on the side of her stomach.  I thought I felt a kid earlier yesterday, but told myself it could be her rumen or other goat-gut kind'a stuff going on, although it really did feel harder than intestines.  Now I was almost positive.  

Now I just have to worry about her milk supply.  And if her milk doesn't come in within a day of her kidding, what I'm going to do with any male kids.  As much as I don't want to, I would bottle feed a doeling, but since the male kids are just going into the freezer anyhow, I can't see spending too much additional time or money for milk replacer to "fatten" up a dairy goat for the freezer.  A few people suggested putting him up for a freebe on the local trading post and I think that may be a good idea.

In the meantime, I'm off (again) to check on Nettie.  Hopefully she'll at least wait until daylight hours and until Grandma can get here to help me with Rhiannon.

Is she? Isn't she?

After checking (and checking, and checking) on Nettie as she's supposed to be kidding on Wednesday, I went back to my calendar to double check my dates.  And guess, what?  I was off by two days.  

But not by two days later, but two days earlier!  I obviously just wrote down five months later as opposed to the actual 150 days.  Nettie's kidding day is supposed to be TODAY!  And she's still saggy-baggy with no real signs of labor.  Her ligaments seem pretty much normal, but then I feel them again (and again, and again) and I think that they may be loosening up.  Or maybe I'm just hoping to feel that.  Then I feel her udder and think that it may be filling up, but her teats are still all saggy.

She'd been underweight at her last spring kidding with three doelings so I stopped milking her after the kids were weaned hoping to put weight back on her.  I also continued feeding her grain even though I wasn't milking her.  She got a top dressing of Black Oil Sunflower Seeds and Rice Bran on her grain as well.  Nettie was starting to get meat back on her and by September she was looking good enough that I figured it would be safe to have her bred.  

I though that the breeding went successfully as she never went into heat afterwards.  Her belly isn't huge by any means, but last year I wouldn't have guessed that she was even pregnant by just looking at her size, yet she popped out three kids!  

Did the breeding not take?  Why didn't I notice her go into heat again?  Did she abort without me knowing?

So.  Now what?

Well, nothing I guess.  It's not like there's much I can do about it.  I suppose I'd rather her not be pregnant if she's not going to produce milk enough that I have to bottle feed kids.  And we'll still have milk in a month when Annette kids (assuming she was successfully bred!) so we won't be milk-less for long. 

I'm still going to keep an close eye on her for the next several days.  And hope for good news, in whatever form I can get it.

The Logistics of Hay, Part 3

Some people get hay fever.  I get hay paranoid.

I guess in a normal year I wouldn't be so hay-anxious, but as most of you know firsthand, droughts across the country have been not only sending hay OUT of areas that had plenty of hay, but driving the costs UP.  It's not like our standard operating procedure is to constantly scrounge for hay, or have a J.I.T. kind'a system set up for livestock feed.  On the contrary, I do all I can to cram extra hay and grain in whatever type of storage system I can manage.  But last year we were, well, screwed to put it lightly.  Before the first cutting, we met the guy doing the hay cutting (he cuts & bales for thousands of acres around here) saw the pasture the hay was coming from, agreed that we would buy a trailer load (14 round bales) and he would deliver it (giving him a chance to make some more money, and relieving Paul of having to do it).  I kept in touch with him on a weekly basis.  But there seemed to be never-ending excuses, some of which were obviously true (the drought), but others not so believable.  He promised to call when the bales were ready for delivery.  After not hearing for him for some time, I called him.  He said that he sold everything because he didn't think that the hay would be good enough for us.  What???  To say I was pissed would be an extreme understatement.

So back to our hay acquisitions this past year.  After finding the not-so-much-ours hay was more than likely on it's way to Texas, we were able to get eight not-so-large bales (3'x3' instead of 4'x4'......but for the same price, of course) to add to the two large rounds we had in the barn.  But as the months went by it was obvious that it was going to be a very close call to make it through to the first spring cutting.  My hay panic attacks were back.

So this past fall and winter I have been on a constant lookout for hay.  Or let me be a little more specific; hay that didn't look like it had been sitting out in a field for a year and been used as cattle bedding beforehand.  I couldn't believe the stuff people were selling as "hay".  Maybe sub-par animal bedding, or the makings for a good compost pile, but definitely nothing I would want my animals to be eating.

Two weeks ago I drove by the local feed store and saw that they had several large round bales in the parking lot and about a dozen in the back.  Only a few hours later I drove back by the store and the ones in the front lot were gone.  I immediately called Paul at work and told him that we'd have to make an early morning run the next day to get some hay before the rest were sold.  I called the feed store first thing in the morning only to find out that they were already gone; they sold almost twenty bales in less than 12 hours.

Two days later I was passing the feed store again and went in to get a bag of goat chow.  Not that we were out of goat food, but I figured since I was passing by anyhow I'd just get another bag (and honestly, sometimes I just gott'a go shopping, even if it's only at the local feed mill).  When I was in there I overheard one of the employees on the phone saying something about a hay delivery first thing Monday morning.  When she hung up, I apologized for my eavesdropping, but said I couldn't help but overhear that there might be more hay in.  She said they were expecting a trailer load, but didn't know what kind of hay nor what the price would be.  Hoping for the best, I said thanks and went on my merry way.  At least there was another chance of us getting more hay.

Monday morning came around and I called the feed store.  They had hay in!  They hadn't had a chance to price it yet, but I told them I'd be right over and wait if I had to.  I packed Rhiannon into the truck and we zipped out to the store and there were already two other customers there for the same reason I was.   I bought three bales of "OK" looking hay for $65 each (last year they were $50 and much better quality).  We patronize that feed store often so they were willing to hold on to them until Paul could pick them up later that evening.  One went into the mule barn, the other two came to the house for the goats  No more hauling hay in the back of the car, whoo-hoo!

We really need to get a better storage solution for goat's hay.

So although we may have made it through to the local spring cutting, I feel a hundred times better knowing that we should have a little extra.  The fact that there is now one less goat to feed also helps some.  

Hopefully this year won't be as nerve wrecking as last year.  

And the moral of this story?  Don't count your bales until they're in the barn!

Savoring...

....the last bit of milk from Thursday evening's milking of Ishtar:

Yup, that's all that's left.  Technically there wasn't much anyhow (only a quart) as she's at the end of her lactation period and I was going to stop milking her once Nettie kidded and I had more milk again.  But that really IS it.  No more milk.

Because I sold Ishtar yesterday.

I've been going back and forth on what to do with her.  Although she's a great milker, I don't particularly care for her attitude.  Yes, I know there is a pecking order within a herd, but she's the Herd Queen that rules with an Iron Hoof.  In my opinion, one does not have to be a total bully to be Herd Queen.  Butting lower goats on the totem pole is acceptable, as is expecting to be fed first, petted first, led out to green pasture first.  But Ishtar took her position as herd ruler just a bit too far.  Maybe I was just being too motherly about it; can't everybody just get along??  But when Nettie was Herd Queen, there wasn't nearly as much pushing, shoving or head butting going on.  Last year I even saw Ishtar pick up one of Nettie's week-old kids by the scruff of the neck and fling it across the goat yard.

So I decided to put an ad in the freebie online paper and got a call on her that afternoon.  They came and got Ishtar that evening (darnit....maybe I should have asked for more $$).  I wrote up all of Ishtar's information including date of birth, dam and sire, breeding date, anticipated due date, and list of shots she's had and dates when she'll need others.  She will be part of a larger herd now; about a dozen other Saanens, Alpines and dairy crosses.  They don't sell the goat milk, but use it to fatten up calves.  

Although I feel like I should be saying that I'll miss her, I don't really feel badly.  Feeding time last night was very calm and orderly.  I didn't get trampled by Ishtar going into the milk parlor for her grain.  I didn't have to sweep up the "undesirable" goat food pellets that she spits or flings out of her food dish and onto the floor.  When I forked fresh hay into the feeder, there was no pushing or butting and I didn't have to scream "ISHTAR!!" at the top of my lungs.  

So not only am I savoring the last bit of milk (at least for another few weeks), but I'm savoring the relative peace and quiet that has finally come to the goat pen.

Saturday Oven Lovin'

I know there are several of you that share your recipes with us on your blog.  There are times when you guys are my "Go-To" place when I'm scratching my head trying to think of something to make for dinner, a different treat, or another bread recipe to try.  

If you want to share with a few more people, Tiny Gardener hosts a weekly Saturday Oven Lovin' where you can post a link to your recipe there.  

Here's my recipe for this Saturday:

Chocolate x 2 Cookies
1 1/4 Cups Butter, softened
2 Cups Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 Cups Flour (I used 1 c. whole wheat & 1 c. white)
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips (although white chips would probably look neat)

Make like any other cookie recipe.  350 degrees for 10 minutes.  They will be a little soft, but don't be tempted to cook them much longer as they will get too crunchy after they cool off.  Not that doing so stopped me from eating the over-baked cookies dunked in milk.

Chickens and Turkeys and Eggs....

Tuesday was a monumental day.  Well, not really monumental, but a kind'a big deal.  Not much happens around here so I pretend that every little thing is, like, amazing.  One of our new pullets laid an egg!  These chickens were our own barnyard mutts and hatched on September 1st of last year, so it's been five months and one week from pipping to laying!  Both on Wednesday and Thursday there were two pullet eggs!  And the best part is that they were actually IN the nesting boxes.  Well, one was in the nesting box, the other was on top of the nesting box.  What's that they say about horseshoes and hand grenades?  Good enough for eggs then, says I.

One of the (many) things I worry about is having all my chickens suddenly decide that it's a good idea to find a secret hiding place somewhere out in the woods to lay their eggs.  I've stumbled upon many a "secret" nest during our six years of chicken-keeping.  Under an old sink behind the house.  Beneath the not-put-together stack of greenhouse panels.  On the tractor seat.  Underneath the bulldozer.  Stuffed between the big round bales of hay.  In the goat house rafters.  Even smack-dab in the middle of the goat yard; although it could have been kicked there by another chicken wanting to play soccer I suppose.

The older hens have been laying more too.  I've been getting on average four eggs a day from them.  I guess that light in the coop is helping (yes, I'll eventually post on the illumination of the chicken coop) as well is the warmer weather and increased daylight.  Or it could be the extra helping of greens they've been getting:

Peck quickly Gloria, the crazy-screaming-broom-waving lady is coming!

What's left of the dormant cabbage plants.  Luckily I just picked the three
that had a decent sized head on them before the chicken onslaught began.

We've also been seeing and hearing the local turkeys a lot more.  I've seen them almost every day in the back yard where the temporary goat pen used to be; today I counted twenty-two!  There's lots of still-green grasses, clover and other delectables back there for them to eat so they've been having breakfast there lately.  I've been tempted to scatter some corn back there to give them a snack but then my next though was to take the rifle out and bean one of them so we can have a turkey dinner (how's that for a conflicting series of ideas; feed 'em or eat 'em). Yes, I know, we have a freezer full of homegrown Cornish, but turkey is soooooo good!  That's one of the things I'm hoping to add to our farm this year.  How great would it be to have a homegrown turkey for the Holidays?!

Not sure if we're going to get some heritage breeds from the hatchery or if we'll just get the boring whatever-they-get-in poults from the feed store this spring.  I'm leaning towards the heritage breed, but then I would have to buy at least a half-dozen because I'd have a moral obligation to keep a breeding pair around in order to perpetuate their breed.

Ugh.  I've been having anxiety attacks lately thinking that we're going to have to reduce our livestock numbers because of the high feed and hay costs.  And now I'm talking about breeding rare poultry.  Will I never learn???