All for Naught

It’s been two weeks since I put the eggs in the incubator so I figured it was time to candle them again.  I candled them on the 7^th day and saw that a dozen of the thirty were duds.  Well, they ALL turned out to be duds.  I cracked several of them open to see what was going on inside & saw that most of them had a blood vein, and one or two had embryos starting, maybe the size of a wheat kernel.  I’m not sure what happened.  I did start collecting the eggs during the coldest part of the year, and some may have been near freezing when I finally got to them, and some of them were up to six days old before they went into the incubator.  I had the temps pretty much set at 99 – 101 degrees and the humidity around 50% with the exception of one time about five days ago when the temp got up to 103.5.  Not sure if that’s what did them in, but I don’t think so because the eggs seemed to have died before that time.

So two full weeks down the tube.  I haven’t decided if I’m going to start more right away or if I should wait a few more weeks when the hens are laying more (and I won’t have to wait as long to collect enough for the incubator) and the outdoor temperatures are warming up.  I guess I’ll wait as if I did start more in a few days, they would be hatching when Nettie is supposed to be kidding.  I’ll have my hands full enough with her.  And I can also start focusing on starting seeds; I’m already behind on them and I really, really want to get a good garden going this year. 

On a brighter note, we celebrated Rhiannon’s 2^nd birthday today with a small group of family and friends.  The weather was still kind of nice, so I thought it would be fitting to have a BBQ lunch.  Hamburgers, Italian sausage, hot dogs, baked beans, coleslaw & a cheesy potato casserole that our neighbor brought.  And it wouldn’t be our little Ladybug’s birthday without……

Ladybug cookies!

Rhiannon got LOTS (too many Grandma!!) of presents.

The cookies took way too long to make, and it’s not like Rhiannon will actually remember them anyhow.  But I thought they turned out nice and they tasted good.  Besides, who doesn’t like sugar cookies frosted with sugar icing garnished with red sugar sprinkles?  Can you say "Sugar-induced Diabetic Coma"?

Guess What? Goat Butt!

A lare part of raising livestock involves frequently focusing on the back end of animals. 

 

Nettie, our Saanen doe, was bred last October and is due to kid in three weeks.  But for the past two weeks, her back end has been swollen and pink.  Something that normally happens only during a heat cycle or just before giving birth.  Since I’m pretty sure that she was successfully bred, I was a bit concerned that she had some sort of infection.  So I took her temperature -another lovely chore having to do with the backside of the animal - and it was within the normal range (101.5 to 103.5).  She hasn’t been acting odd and hasn’t been off her grain or hay, so I’m at a loss as to why the puffy / pink rear.

The other possibility I was afraid of is that she may prematurely kid.  So I’ve been checking on her about half a dozen times during the day and feeling her ligaments.  Basically, you feel for a loss of muscle / ligaments on either side of the root of the tail (yep, right above the butt.  I told you there’s a lot of butt-stuff going on here).  If the ligaments are “missing”, it’s a sign of impending labor.  Those ligaments loosen up to make it easier for the kid to pass through the birth canal.

Well, her ligaments seemed to be loosening up yesterday morning, but when I made my last goat-butt-check, they were back again.  Or I’m just thinking that I’m feeling a loss of ligaments.  I was going to ask Paul to check, but since he hasn’t felt her recently I don’t think he’d be able to tell. 

So I’ll be reviewing rear ends again tomorrow.  And the next day.  And the next.  Until she finally kids.  Oh, then I get to do it over again three more times for Annette, Ishtar and Cloud.

First Homeschool Outing

I finally found a web group that had information on homeschooling resources in our area.  Rhiannon and I met up with some local families at the library for Story Time yesterday afternoon and I think we did pretty well for first-timers.  Most of the kids were older than Rhiannon, two or three her age, and a few younger than her.  Being the newbies, we waited in the background to see what everyone else was doing.  The kids each grabbed a padded mat & sat down in the front of the room while the parents crammed their bums into the child-sized chairs and put diaper bags & purses on the toddler-sized tables. 

The theme for this week was President’s Day.  A short film on the origination of President’s Day started it off & then the librarian read a short story about George Washington.  We didn’t make it to page two of the book as Rhiannon had taken to running around the perimeter of the room, opening all the cabinets & collecting the little buckets of crayons.  Trying not to cause more of a disturbance, I picked her up, put the crayon buckets back as best I could, then went out to the main section of the Children’s Library.  After a few minutes, another mom & her toddler came out.  And shortly after, another anxious toddler & mom.  So at least I wasn’t the only parent who couldn’t contain their kid to the activity room.  We went back in to join the others when they started craft time.  Colorful crayon drawings of George Washington, red, white & blue paper stars for gluing together to make necklaces, moms snatching glue sticks from toddlers before they were consumed.  All in all, I thought it was a nice outing and we’re going to try to go at least every other week.  I know she isn’t really ready to sit down & listen to a story for a half hour, but at least I can get her used to the idea of going there and maybe she’ll imitate the other kids being “good” and sitting still.

Afterwards, some of the families meet at a local park for lunch & to let the kids run around.   Rhiannon seemed like she could use some more outdoor time so we went with.  I met three or four moms & their children (I’ve already forgotten names) and I’m hoping to be able to network more now that I have found a local group.  I’d like to eventually have a music tutor for Rhiannon and I’d also like to see if anyone would be interested in having a monthly get-together to discuss homeschooling outings or classes.  There are so many outdoor activities around here that I’m sure there would be plenty of people interested once the weather starts warming up. 

In the meantime, I think I’m going to take Rhiannon outside for some “Livestock Waste Management” classes.  Hey……I wonder if I could get a bunch of kids over here for a “class” like that?  Free child labor, yeah!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It was another beautiful day today, so Grandma, Rhiannon & I went to the park for a Valentine’s Picnic lunch.  Nothing really special to eat, just some sandwiches, oranges & pretzels, but that was enough.  Especially since Rhiannon wouldn’t sit down for more than ten seconds to eat; the playground beckons!

I made some special Valentine chocolate treats for Paul and my Mom this morning.  Well, and for me.

Who doesn’t like chocolates?  And they are so easy to make.  If you have a couple of bags of chocolate chips in your pantry, you probably have the rest of the makings for goodies in your kitchen.

I melted the chocolate in a double boiler (I think you can also do it in the microwave) and then started dipping just about anything I could find.  I dipped graham crackers, pretzels and cherries.  I’ve heard that some county fair had chocolate covered bacon, and had I thought to fry up bacon ahead of time, I would have even tried that.  Come on, who doesn’t like bacon??

When I was finished dipping, I divided the remaining melted chocolate into three bowls.  I mixed walnuts into one, shredded coconut into another and crushed peppermint candies in the last one.  Spooned out little globs of each onto waxed paper & put everything in the fridge to harden up. 

You could go a lot fancier on the chocolates, but I was running out of time (i.e. Rhiannon was running out of patience……Mommy will be done in just a minute, sweetie).  I was able to sprinkle some red sugar crystals on the pretzel rods.  I had wanted to paint some hearts on the graham crackers using white chocolate but just ran out of time.

I’m hoping to do some fancier chocolate candies for Easter.  Some old fashioned hard candies, the obligatory chocolate bunnies…..wonder if it’s possible to make jelly beans?  Hmmmm.  Maybe even make some marshmallows!  This time I’ll start a few days ahead of time though. 

Oh, and don't forget to check out the stores for discounted Valentine goodies to put in your stash for next year.  Red sprinkles can also be used for Fourth of July and Christmas decorations.  Nothing better than not only having the stuff ready for next year, but getting it at a deep discount!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Goat Shots

Nettie is due in four weeks so that means it was time for her annual CD&T shot.  It also means that we’re going to have MILK soon!!!!  I’m soooooooo anxious to get fresh milk again.  Chocloate milk, granola cereal with milk, cookies and milk, milk…….you get it

Anyways, back to the goat medicating.

Syringes, needles and medication.

We give the goats a yearly CD&T shot.  Giving the pregnant does a shot four weeks before they are due to kid will give their offspring immunity even before they are born.  The kids will get two more booster shots; one when they are six weeks old and one three weeks after the first booster.

What are you going to do with THAT???

This type of injection is given subcutaneously (i.e. under the skin as opposed to in the muscle or a vein) and is actually quite easy.  Just find a stretchy patch of skin on your goat so you can pull the skin up & make a little tent with it.  I find the chest area in front of the foreleg to be the best place.  Then press the needle through the skin (make sure you don’t go through one flap & out the other) and depress the plunger until all the medication is administered. 

Nettie, with her head in the feed bucket, doesn't even notice when she gets the shot.

Pull the needle out, cover the tip with the little plastic cover (or another material that will cover up the sharp end) and throw it away.  Please don't re-use needles.  They are cheap and easy enough to find that you shouldn't have to compromise the health of your animals to save a dollar.

You can use another syringe if you want to assemble all your shots at once, but I use the same syringe and different needles for each goat.
Also make sure to stick around for ten or fifteen minutes after administrating any type of shot just in case the animal goes into anaphylactic shock.  Although not common, some animals can go into shock and die.  If this happens you have to give that animal a dose of epinephrine like right now.  That’s another medication I suggest you keep in your animal medical kit.  Be nice to your vet and see if you can get some to keep on hand for emergencies.

We gave Nettie, Stormy & Chop Suey their shots today.  Stormy wasn’t bred this year and Chop Suey is a wether so I figured we’d get them done since we had the medication ready for Nettie.  Annette and Ishtar will get their shots when they are a month out from kidding.  I guess we could have given Pan his shot but I was too lazy to put on my stinky-buck-overalls.  We’ll get him next time.

If the previous years are any indication on how Nettie will react to the shot, she’ll be limping for a day and acting all “Oh, I’m sooooo hurt, please give me some animal crackers and I’ll feel better”.  Of course, she’ll run to you if there are prunes or crackers in your hand but when the snacks disappear she starts the sympathy-limping routine again.

Please do some research on your own or ask someone with experience if you are unsure how to assemble the syringe/needle, fill the syringe or how to administer the medication.   It’s a very important skill to learn if you’re going to raise livestock.  I’ve only given intramuscular and subcutaneous shots.  I’m hoping to have my vet teach me how to give intravenous shots and how to draw blood in the near future. 

Good Kitty, Bad Egg

I had almost given up on having the stray cat (Missing Barn Kitty) as an addition to our farm.  He hadn't been coming around during feeding time and after a full week of not seeing him or finding the food dish still full in the morning, I figured he found a better place to hang out. 

Monday night I took the truck up to feed / water the equines and on my way back home I saw a cat run across the dirt road about a 1/2 mile from our place.  I thought it looked like BK (Barn Kitty), but it could have just been wishful thinking.  Just for the heak of it, I put out some cat food by the barn again.  The next morning it was gone.  Yes, I know that there are plenty of nocturnal fuzzy creatures that can eat the cat food, but I was still hoping that it was him.

After evening barn chores on Tuesday, I did my crazy-cat-lady "Meow-meow here kitty-kitty-kitty" and put some more food out.  This time I saw him in the woods and he came trotting up to about 20' from his feeding spot.  He doesn't let me get near him, but at least he comes out while I'm there.

Last night I went out a bit later than usual to close up the chicken coop & feed BK.  When I called him for supper, he actually meowed back to me!  So we had a short conversation and I left him to finish his supper in peace.  I may try going out there earlier tonight and sit down near his food to see if he'll let me get a little closer.

The eggs have been in the incubator for a week now.   I candled all thirty of them and twelve of them were duds.  Being ever hopeful, I put them all back in the incubator.  But only because I had a hard time telling the good from the bad.  I had thought that by now there would be more "stuff" going on in there, but there was just a faint blood vein visible in the good ones.  So I'll wait another week, candle them again, then take the duds out of the incubator. 

Impromptu Apple Butter

I went grocery shopping last week to stock up on some of the items we went through on The Great Pantry Challenge; mostly frozen veggies and root-cellar type veggies like carrots, potatoes, celery, onions, cabbage and a few varieties of winter squash.  There were some apples on sale so I tossed a 5-pound bag in my cart.  I found out why they were on sale.

The apples seemed pretty firm, but when you bit into them they were starting to get that icky “mealy” texture to them.  Rhiannon didn’t seem to mind, but I just can’t stand it.  So we went through about a quarter of them before I decided that they were going to end up being chicken food.

But wait, I just spent like five bucks on those apples!  And although I like my chickens, the cheapskate part of me wouldn’t let those apples be tossed to a bunch of backyard poultry.  So I got out the good ‘ol apple peeler, corer/slicer thingy, some cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and a pot to cook them in.

Tossed the apples, spices, sugar & about a ¼ cup of water in the pot and let it cook for about ten minutes.  Got out my handy-dandy food-smasher and ended up with this:

I wasn’t going to bother canning it since it would just be immediately opened and eaten so I just put in in a mason jar & stuck it in the fridge.  There was exactly enough for a full quart.  We’ll have it with our oatmeal or on our toast in the morning. 

Don’t worry, the chickens didn’t get left out; the peels & cores went into the chicken bucket for their snack tomorrow morning.