And then there was one

After 10 weeks of love, loss, joy, giggles, and smiles all of Pearl's pups are in their forever homes.  Each one has gone to an amazing family, that fits them perfectly.  Little Fifi Jo gets to stay at the Ranch.  She'll be a family dog, her mom and dad have the guarding thing down.  Jo Jo is smart as a whip and is catching on to potty training and commands quickly.  Now the hard work begins.  I feel like I'm finishing an episode of Too Cute.

Big Buck Brothel?

Our current house guests, Rosie and Jade.

It's that time of year again; the air is getting cooler, the leaves are turning, and there is a heavy, musky odor in the air.  That's right, it's ruttin' season.  Not only are the local deer and elk bugling and carrying on, but my bucks are horny little buggers.  My buck pen, nicknamed San Quentin, is a flurry of hormones.  The boys try to entice the ladies with sexy tongue wags, the Flehmen, and everyone's favorite peeing on their faces.  

The Ranch has been the site of many breeding adventures, which started with my does Webi and Erudite.  I'm anxiously watching them for signs of heat now.  Does come into heat every 21 days, my girls are at that mark now so here's hoping.  Then a breeder friend of mine brought her doe, Gypsy, to the Ranch last weekend for a "playdate" with Red.  The latest houseguests are two adorable Mini Lamancha goats named Rosie and Jade.  Rosie has been courted by both Red and Valentine in an effort to find her the proper suitor.  At this point, I think one of them as gotten her.  Rosie's sister, Jade, is not quite in heat yet, but I'm watching her closely hoping that the pungent odor in the area and exposure to bucks will trigger her heat cycle.  

With all of this activity, I'm hoping there will be bunches of kids running around come March!

Silly Goat

This is Kosi, a gigantic Nigi.  She is on loan to Big Buck Ranch at the moment for a little added milk production.  One of my star milkers, Webigayle, is being dried up and bred for spring babies.  Kosi, recently weaned her triplet boys and is now enjoying some peace and quiet on the Ranch.  

I love her udder!!  As a bigger goat, her teats are fantastic.  Yes, as a goat breeder I spend most of my time discussing teats and balls.  Ugh!!  Kosi's teats make milking a breeze, easy to grab, easy to milk when she's super full.  To make this girl even more special, she is a dream on the milk stand.  Ready at the gate come milking time, calm on the stand.  She helps make morning milk time a breeze!!

Walk the Line

The best way to find weak spots in your fence is to have puppies and goats.  I walked into my kitchen this morning, looked out the window and there were adorable pups rolling down the hill outside.  They found the weak spot in my dog run fence.  These brilliant little fluff balls figured out how to escape the goat pen a couple of weeks back, now with some digging and wiggling they've found out how to escape their new enclosure.  Needless to say, I'll be securing a fence today instead of taking it easy.

A Girl's Best Friend

For the five of you who actually read this, you know I breed Nigerian Dwarf goats.  Some Nigis have fabulous, easy to milk udders.  Others, like Sweet Candy, have itty bitty tiny teaties.  When a Sweet Candy's udder is full you get stuck with teats you can barely get a finger around.  Last weekend I was gifted an Udderly EZ hand milker.  The heaven's opened and smiled upon my milking.  The Udderly EZ fits around a teat, after a few pumps the milk is expressed using a vacuum seal.  Even the tiniest teat is easy to milk.  Early morning, full udder, Sweet Candy is a dream to milk!  I can't explain how much I love this new toy!!!