Spectacular!

That is the one word that best describes my new buck.  Red is amazing.  I am so excited about my future herd sire!

Happy Goat Baby!

Woohoo, Milk!

I have just started locking the two bucklings in a dog crate at night,  so I can milk their mama in the morning.   Today I milked my usual two, Webi and Erudite.  Then I milked Dauntless, who hadn't nursed  her boys since the night before.  I ended up with five cups of milk at the end of milky, milky time. Tonight I got another pint plus of milk from my three does ending my day with about  a half gallon of milk.  Score!!   The extra milk is perfect  with a bottle baby in the house.

The Rose Petal Diaries-Entry #1, May 3

Thursday, April 30, Rose Petals the goat came to stay at the Ranch.  Her mama had rejected her and my breeder friend was having trouble getting her to take a bottle.  Luckily, I have plenty of extra hands to help in such an emergency.  The first battle was to get little Rosie to take a bottle.  Nigerian Dwarf kids are tiny, their mamas' teats aren't too big either, so I've found that Gerber baby bottles do the trick.  By nine o'clock at night, I was beginning to get her to take a bottle.  Friday, she spent her day with me, eating every 2 hours give or take.  I got 16 ounces of goat's milk into the wee one, yesterday she drank 20 ounces.  I've given her Nutri-Drench and Probios as I try to get her rumen working properly.

Rosie has become buddies with every cat and dog in the house.  Her first night here, our lab mix, Buster couldn't keep his eyes off of her.  Yesterday, Rosie played "tag" with Boo, the cat.  We are all smitten with this tiny, blue-eyed creature.  As I type this, one-handed, Rosie is resting on my lap.  I'm seeing her get stronger, more active each day.  Her rumen is starting to kick in, AND she's starting to poop.  A basic function Rosie was struggling with.  I was just going to keep Rosie long enough to get her eating and build her strength.  Now I think she's found a forever home at Big Buck Ranch!

Kitty, Goat Baby Playtime!

https://youtu.be/utfRvInKFPk

Feeling Frazzled

I've been going 0 to 60 since last week and the hectic pace is quickly catching up to me.  "If I can just make it one more day," screams in my head.  Kid's schedules, managing the Ranch, part time work at a nonprofit, and the deterioration of the cleanliness of my house are taking its toll on my body AND my sanity.  Seriously, you do NOT want to come over right now, yuck!  Thankfully, my littlest ranch hand, with a servant's heart, is stepping up to help her poor mama.  She is there when I need her, only getting frustrated when she doesn't get the credit she is due.  God bless her, and her sisters for calming poor mama down when my head is spinning and my plates are crashing to the ground.  What I wouldn't do without the calming influence of my hubby and kiddos in the midst of chaos.

Stuck in the Muck, Yuck!!!

A week ago the Colorado Front Range Foothills were blessed (note the hint of sarcasm here) with over two feet of snow.  Over the past week that two feet has melted into a disgusting, stinky, mucky mess that I am helpless to do anything about it.  To add insult to injury, the past few days have brought more rain and snow to the Ranch.  My chicken run has turned into a nasty cesspool, and my goats are hopping from tire feeder to tire feeder to get out of the muck.  I'm tired of the rain, the snow, and winter for that matter.  I'm ready for warm temperatures, dry weather, and a chance to clean pens.  I'm getting grumpy with the gloom, and the only critters that seem to not mind the weather are the ducks!