Love My Goats!

  

A few years ago I had two Pygmy does.  They were horrid!  You could pet them, but they were hell bent on escaping.  After weeks of finding goats roaming the yard, the pair was re-homed to the home I got them from.  This little herd,  I am in love with.  I'm not sure if having bottle babies and milking one has helped, but they are wonderful.  Webby keeps the little ones in check.  The goats know exactly where there pen is, and if they feel threatened high tail it back to the safety of the fence.  I let them roam the yard, mowing the little bit of grass we have and enjoying slash and brush.  I love peaking out the windows and seeing my little herd happily munching away.  There's a sense of peace watching the group traverse the mountainside.

Rain!!!!

Unfortunately, we've had a fairly dry spring out here in the Rockies.  Colorado has been plagued with devastating forest fires for weeks.  We were even evacuated in one fire a little too close to home.  Thank God, the past few days have brought the glorious moisture down from Heaven.  The air cools, the pine pollen is knocked from the trees, and the fire danger decreases slightly.  The weather forecasters are talking more heat and less rain over the next week.  Tonight, I'll sit and enjoy the cool breezes slipping through the house and the rhythmic ping of rain drops on the metal gutters.

The Pollen is Upon Us

The hottest, driest days in mid-June seem to be when the dredded pine pollen decides to pop.  Temperatures "down the hill" sore into the upper 90s, and there is no relief in the mountains; we're in the 80s.  The heat forces the windows in the house to remain open in hopes that a cooling breeze will waft through.  The cooling breeze brings pine pollen on its heels.  

My home is currently covered in a thin yellow dust.  Try as I may to combat my stealthy adversary, it advances in droves.  My car is currently yellow, my floors gritty, and every available flat surface has fallen prey to the pollen.  Six times yesterday did I clean the stove only to return moments later to find it covered once again.  I toy with the idea of waiting to dust, knowing full well that my hard work will futile if I do.  Yet, I know if I don't try to combat my yellow enemy allergies will increase in my home.  

Now, I sit praying for much needed rains to come.  Rains that will wash our numerous pines of their pollen and bring cleanliness to my home once more.

Dances with Goats, Part 2

Life has been an adventure since the goats arrived.  Webby and I have finally settled into a good milking routine.  I'm still a painfully slow, clumsy milker, but the job is getting done.  After a week of struggling, frustration, and getting my hands kicked; I had my Goat Guru come out to see what was the problem.  It was an easy fix, move the milk stand!  I had been bringing Webby up to our deck to milk, which was too far away from the herd.  The milk stand was moved next to the goat pen a couple weeks back, and Webby is happy as a clam.  She's milked every morning around 8:15 am and gives me about 10 ounces of milk.  That may not seem like a lot, but I'm milking a very small goat who is still nursing a doeling.  At the moment I'm toying with the idea of milking twice a day to get more milk.  The sweet, rich Nigerian Dwarf milk is excellent in coffee.

Luna, our LaMancha doeling, is weaned and thriving.  I'm thinking of selling her because I like the smaller Nigerian Dwarf breed better.  Tanner, our recently wethered LaMancha, is weaning now and not too happy about it.  My future hope for him is to become a companion for Lil Bit.  Pipsqueak is sill as clingy as ever.  You can't open the gate to the goat pen without Pippy racing out to see you.  He has been wethered as well.  Buck goats are incredibly rude and disgusting, and I really don't want one around.  Pippy will get bigger, but stay sweet.  He's little Sweet Candy's best buddy, so I want to keep the dynamic duo together.  Bucks need to stay separated from the does for a multitude of reasons. 

My goals now for my goats are milk for coffee, cheese, and possibly soap.  I'd like to breed Webby this fall for spring babies.  Sweet Candy will be bred in the spring for fall babies.  This way I'll always have milk, and the sales of their offspring can fund my insanity.  The girls are also considering joining 4-H, so they can show the Nigis.  Webby is registered and the two little ones will be soon.  I'm looking forward to seeing this little enterprise grow and flourish.

Whew!!

I'm always excited for the summer season: the warm weather, break from school, getting organized, being lazy.  Summer never seems to work that way.  I look at summer as a time to relax, but we're always busier now than during the school year.  Play dates with friends, sports, and activities for the kids take up the majority of time.  I look outside and see a multitude of tasks that need to be completed before winter.  My schedule is filled with Westernaire activities and prep for football.  I feel guilty sitting down with a good book, basking in the sun; while laundry needs to be done and the house needs a good scrubbing.  I know some of these things can wait, but I can't help thinking of summer as a time to take back control of the house and yard.  Maybe someday I'll learn to relax!   

Sunday Night at the Ranch

Hubby is asleep in front of The Voice.  I do agree with this, I do find the show that boring.  Zzzzzzzzz!  Nathan has decided to chase the fox that thinks we're his family.  Chloe is wearing an orange wig, and has placed a pillow in her rear so she can be Nicki Minaj.  Ella is riding her bike wearing PJ pants and a rabbit skin coat.  Sammy is donning a cowboy hat and riding her bucking bike.   I am writing about the mountain crazy I am currently witnessing.  

Off to tick off a goat.  Baby is having a sleepover, so I can milk mama in the morning. Good night folks!

Dances with Goats

It has been nearly two weeks since WebiGayle and Sweet Candy, two Nigerian Dwarf goats, came to Big Buck Ranch.  Webby has definitely gotten more comfortable with me, but we still have our battles.  After a week in her little pen with her daughter, Sweet Candy, Webby figured out how to escape.  She'd hop onto the roof of her house, then onto the roof of the neighboring chicken coop, hop to the roof of the badly neglected rabbit hutch, and into the chicken run.  Poor Webby then gets stuck on the outside looking at the crying baby doeling in the goat pen.  After a day and half of high flying escapes, I added a cattle panel to the top of Webby's roof.  That stopped her temporarily until she discovered that she could get on the roof and hop over the gate.  Try as I might to keep her in, she figured out how escape even through the tiniest gap.

Friday, I spent my morning rebuilding my goat pen.  The fence line was extended to the edge of my shed/coop/ horse stall/all purpose building.  The gate was moved, climbing toys rearranged, and my two La Mancha kids moved over.  Pipsqueak, our 3 week old Nigerian Dwarf buckling, went to to join his buddies, too.  Webby has tried to get on the roof to figure out how to escape only to learn she can only hop back in.  Score one for me!

Now we need to work on milking time.  The new step up has slightly stressed Webby out.  There are new goats in her pen she needs to learn to live with.  Poor little Sweet Candy gets upset when mama goes off for the milk.  I'm learning how to milk, so I'm painfully slow.  Webby seems to get bored with me after a bit and kicks.  As soon as we're done she's trying to make a mad dash back to baby.  I am getting the hang of things.  This has definitely been a test of patience, something I pray about often.