Anxiously Awaiting More Kids

As we barrel through this winter one subzero day after another and one snowstorm after another, one thing that keeps my spirits up is looking forward to more baby goats! 

We have 2 more does, well 1 belongs to my son, that are due soon.  Our older doe, who had twin boys last year, is as big around as a barrel!  She looks like she is going to pop so I am hoping for twins again.

We do have a few more goats that are starting to look pregnant, but won't be due until spring.  That will be a fun time as there are about 10 of them.

One of the babies we had in December passed away on Dec 24th.  We had brought him inside due to he wasn't searching for something to drink.  He just laid there looking content and couldn't walk very well at 6 hrs old.  He never acted quite right so we brought him inside and he did drink a few times, but still did not act right.  

The other twin is doing amazing and she is growing like a weed!  She jumps around all the time and drinks like there is no tomorrow.  She is very playful and momma gets annoyed when we play with her.  Her mom is an old doe that had miscarried just before we bought her.  We weren't sure if she would be able to have kids or not, but I guess we got lucky!  She is, however, the crankiest goat we have.  

I have not been out to take pictures of the kid lately because it is all I can handle to be outside for chores in this cold.  I will take pictures to post soon, though, as soon as it warms up a bit!

Boer Goat Kids in December!

Just in time for Christmas this year we have had our first set of Boer twins!  Actually due on Dec. 27th, but with the big winter storm on our doorstep, it's not a surprise she would have them now.  The twins were found in the kidding stall in the barn having just been born this morning.  The little girl is solid red and the little boy is a bit smaller and traditional colored with a few paint spots.  

We moved her to the kidding stall only a few days ago and so glad we did!  She is doing well with them, cleaning them right away and now at least the solid one is nursing.  The little boy was a little colder, so we set up the heat lamp on him, hoping that would get him goin.  We just came in from checking him and he was still lying in the same spot.  We got him up again and fed him a little colostrum (go-go juice as my husband calls it) which did get him standing at least and wagging his tail!  He hopefully just needed that little "pick-me-up" and will be off and running in no time.  Usually, they don't drink much the first time, but he drank over 1/2 cup.  

We will keep a watchful eye for the next few hours to see if he drinks from her or if he is destined to be bottle fed.  We are hoping to keep him on her as they always do so much better with health and growth that way.  

These little ones are the highlight of the dreaded winter so far and they are just adorable!  Goat kids are truely the meaning of cuteness and just so sweet.  Soon, we will be thinking of names for them so any good ideas would be welcome!!

I cannot resist including a few more photos of them:

Artificial Insemination vs. Bull Breeding

As you may have read, we have a small herd of cows here at our farm.  Most of them are previous 4H projects that we have kept on and bred and kept most of our baby girls.  When we had a couple of them we would send them to another farmer to be bred for a couple months and retrieved them before winter snow hit.  We now, however, had more than a handful to breed.  My son's 4H heifer went to a neighbor for special breeding this year, so that left me with 6 of my own.  

Artificial insemination, as we tried last year, is very time consuming requiring lots of watching and scheduling from me and multiple trips by the vet.  It was very reasonably priced for 3 cows last year, but when we only had 1 calf this year he became one pricey calf!  This year we happened on a bull that was on his way to the salebarn that would cost me a pretty penny, but we could take him to the salebarn and get most of our money back by fall.  That was the whole plan, anyway.  

This black bull was a purebred Angus that had a descent temperament.  I have always been a little nervous to have a bull around!   But, he did well at staying away from us for the most part and we steered clear of him.  

The vet came to preg-check cows after the bull had been here almost 3 months and we no longer saw him breeding any of them for few weeks.  We had 4 confirmed pregnant, 1 probably that jumped the gate before she was checked and 1 possibly that we did not check.  We also had one negative heifer that had been with him for just over 2 months that we took to the sale barn with him.  That was a lot better breeding ratio that the AI last year!  

We sold the bull and only lost $300 on him, which is a small overall cost of breeding possibly 6 cows.  I was hoping for a little more, but one never knows what the salebarn may bring.  

Next year, we are planning to get a bull again as it is overall much easier and much greater breeding ratio.  The only downfall is the huge expense to get one and renting one around here is over twice as much as he actually ended up costing us. 

Artificial Insemination vs. Natural Breeding in Cows

My debate continues between artificial insemination and natural breeding our cows with a bull.  There are many pros and cons to both sides as I will list, but it really is a matter of preference for each farm hobbyist or full time farmer.  I know some farmers who AI all the cows and never have had a bull and some farmers who swear by keeping a bull.

By artificially inseminating cows there is no other mouth to feed, it is relatively low cost and no aggressive bull to worry about while out in the field checking or working with cows.  The downside is that it is very time consuming for the owner scheduling the vet, watching for heat and rescheduling the vet, watching for re -heat and watching for miscarriages down the road and heat again. 

Keeping a bull is a huge investment to begin with.  They are pricey, but if you can find a decent deal, when finished with him you may make your money back at the sale barn.  There is another mouth to feed and another animal to worry about getting hurt or worse.  Which would also mean loss of a huge investment and not having cows bred --HUGE RISK!  The benefits of having a bull are that cows are getting bred -hopefully- without any real work on your part.  Also, if he misses one or one doesn't stick he will get her next time around.  The overall successful breeding rate of bulls vs. AI is much greater.

 

With all of this in mind and our AI trial last year,and only having 1 calf, we decided to purchase a bull.  We bought a 4 yr old from a local farmer who rotates the 4 yr olds out to the sale barn.  Since we only wanted him for a couple months --I do not want to worry about having a bull who is not as tame as our cows in the pasture any longer than I have to!-- this would work great.  He is a full blood angus and looks amazing.  He has a couple curved front toes that don't affect his breeding capability at all and is the reason he will be going to the sale barn in a couple weeks.  Our hope is to make back most of our investment and come out no worse than we were financially and have pregnant cows to boot!

That is the plan and hopefully all works out well for us.  I pray every day that he doesn't get hurt.  We haven't had any issues with aggression or attitude.  He simply would just as soon be away from us and us from him.  He seems pretty gentle, but as I told the kids a thousand times "you just don't know for sure and cannot trust him".  Soon I am going to schedule the vet to come out and preg check the cows so we know where we stand and how soon we can sell him.  I haven't seen him on anyone this cycle so I am hoping they are all bred with some cute little ones that I can enjoy next spring.  It gives me something to look forward to all long gloomy winter!

Make sure to make today a great day!!!

Feeding Meat Goats



We decided to start raising some boer goats last year and have had a great time doing it.  There has been a ton of learning that has gone into it and thank heavens for internet for research.  There is, however, an abundance of information out there and depending on what type of goats you are raising some may or may not apply.

We had decided to keep pasture fed goats as our cows are because we believe this is the healthier way to go for us.  Since getting our first three goats last year and many more this year all have done well on pasture with supplemental corn based feed.  We also keep a mineral block with them that they eat on as needed. 

We did get a bit of a shock when taking our goats to the county fair this year (our first time).  All the goats there were bigger and more muscular than ours.  In talking with everyone there it seems that no one pasture feeds -they all grain their goats from birth to sale and mostly with show feed.  Since returning from fair we have changed our feeding program a little.  They are still out on pasture, but they also get a daily ration of goat feed.  This supplements them in protein and nutrients.  

After doing my own research on the different feeds on the market and available locally, we decided to go with Kent goat feeds.  We have been using the 18% kid developer since the fair and wow!  What a difference it has made in only 6 weeks.  I highly recommend their feeds.  It is costing a little more than pasture with the corn based feed, but well worth it!  The goats look more muscular, have more energy and just act healthier overall.  Next year a couple months before the fair the goats that will be shown will switch to Kent Show Goat feed.  

We don't raise "show" goats and have every intention of someday having enough goats to sell goat meat.  We firmly believe in having happy, healthy goats no matter what their purpose.  We believe the Kent goat feed is assisting us in our endeavor to produce quality goats whether showing or butchering them. 

    Each day is what you make it out to be. . .Have a great one!!

Easy Homemade Tomato Juice

This summer flew by so quickly! We have been so busy this summer that we have barely had time to take a breath.  We had a child graduate this year, then getting everyone ready for the county fair, birthday parties, the state fair and back to school! Oh yeah, and gymnastics all summer!  With one starting college, one starting junior high and a 5th grader life is BUSY!

The last couple weeks I have been busy canning tomato juice.  I thought I would share my recipe for it the way grandma did it.

I start by washing all the tomatoes (I always plant beefsteak because they are huge and I get lots of juice out of each one), then I cut off the tops.  Next I boil them in a large metal washtub until they are soft.

Next I smash them until all the juice is gone in my grandmother's metal juice collander.  This is fast and works great for getting all the juice out.  And the kids think it's fun!

I dump the bowl of juice in a pan to boil.  I usually add a little pepper and sometimes garlic and oregano.  I wash the jars in hot soapy water and sit them on a towel (the next step can get messy).  I put 1 tsp salt in each jar.  I use a plastic measuring cup to fill each jar with tomato juice until there is 1/4" space left at the top.  Immediately I put the flats and rings on the jars.  The jars get hot fast so I usually have to have an oven mitt on to tighten the rings.

I put all the jars of juice in a hot water packing enormous pan filled with hot water.  It works best to fill it part way, put the jars in and finish filling until jars are just covered.  This goes on the stove on med-high and boils for at least 10 minutes.  Then I take the jars out and set them on a towel to cool.  You can hear each jar lid pop as they seal.  When they are cool I check each one by pushing on the top.  If they don't push down they are sealed.  Any unsealed ones go back in the hot water packer or in the fridge to fix soon.

This is the way my grandma canned tomato juice when I was a kid and I always loved helping her!  Now my children enjoy doing it and hopefully they will pass it on to their children.  Life gets so busy these days that I love it when I can take a little time to pass on a tradition from older generations.

Have a great day and take time to enjoy the little things!

Baby Goat Kids Updates

Mystery, our first goat kid born on our farm is growing like a weed!  She is doing amazing.  She received her first CD &T vaccination last week, which she was not so fond of.  She stays close by her mama but is willing to venture out and explore.  For now they are being kept in the baby goat pen probably until the fair.  She will be shown at our county fair by my daughter who loves her immensely!  After the fair she will be weaned and go out to the pasture while her mama, Dazzle, goes straight out to pasture with the billy.

We also have had a set of twin boys to report.  The are both doing great and for now are in the barn with mom.  The day they were born mom was especially friendly that morning, which made me a little curious as to whether it would be that day or not.  She did not, however, have any of the signs our first time doe had, no hind end swelling or drainage. She was as wide as she was long -almost. We had been gone for a few hours and went to check her when we got back in the afternoon.  The goats were in our old barn in the back pasture.  When my daughter got close she said " uh, mom, there is something white outside the barn".  Well, it was a newborn goat.  He had slid under the door and when we looked inside his brother was with mama. The other big goats were with her while she had them and even Billy was standing near with a kind of watchful fatherly eye.  We hauled mom and babies up to the "good" barn in a large stall (actually one whole side of the barn).  We had been kind of hoping for girls to increase our herd.  They have done well there and love to run, jump and climb on our junk in the barn.  Some days Billy and the others lay just outside the barn gate as though they miss her and want her to come play. 

Last week the boys were vaccinated and banded.  I always feel sorry for the animals that get banded, but it looks so funny the way they walk just after.  They cried for mama when they got their shots!  They will eventually be butchered and sold as meat.  I have to keep myself from thinking about it for now, as they are so adorable and I love to play with them, but that is why we started raising goats!

I do think the other 2 girls with Billy have bellies that are looking a little pudgy and hopefully they are pregnant as well.  The more, the merrier!  All the bottle babies in the baby pen are about ready to go out to pasture and hopefully be bred. I am a little nervous that they will attempt escaping the different fencing, but all our goats will go anywhere following a bucket of grain, which makes it easy to get them coralled.  We will then move the newest mama and boys to the baby pen with mystery and her mama.  Our little billy is also ready to get to work!  

I would like to build one more nursery pen, but haven't decided where it will be yet.  It has been so busy around here that I find it hard to find time to write, but after the county fair I will have more time!  Hopefully anyway!

As always HAVE A GREAT DAY!