Poor Lonely Batman!!

I helped Brad and Shana sell the Longhorn mamas last week and the guy came to get them yesterday. That was quite a fun ordeal! Wish I would have grabbed the camera and a saddle! Working cows bareback is kinda hard...would have been harder trying to document! We had thought we would pull the hay trailer out of the barn and get the cows in there to load them....NO GO The mommas wanted nothing to do with that barn...no matter how much feed and coaxing we did. Batman would go in and out (maybe he knew what was going on!) So we ran them into our rather large pen with trees and stuff for them to hide around, but the only place that would work. We need a working pen with chutes! So we block any opening and back the trailer up to a small opening. Shana in the Gator, me on Apache (what a good old man), and Chad on foot. We try for Dottie first. This was not a real big trailer and probably shouldn't have had all three in there. In our many attempts to get Dottie we decided the front of the trailer was slightly larger than the back half and that 2 would go in front (original plan was Dottie and Winnie, because poor Red is our fav and she gets picked on) and Red would go in the back. So after many failed attempts at Dottie, Emily came out with feed and coaxed Winnie into a small corral type area Chad and the buyer made in front of the trailer. Well with feed involved Red had to check it out! We get Winnie up front and shut that gate, the we get Red in the back. We attempt to open the middle gate and put her up front with Winnie...there is no room for her to turn and open the gate! What to do what to do! So the buyer has a rope (none of us can rope by the way...so we didn't use it for its intended use!) that we put around Red's horns and around a large pole in the ground and back her out. Chad goes in and gets Winnie by the horns and they come out and stand in a corner until we can get Red up front. We tie Red to the front so Chad can get Winnie back in. While getting Winnie back in she feels the urge to poop (when stressed cattle get the runs) and turn at the same time flinging nice runny poo on all around! Chad man handles Winnie back in! While working with Red and Winnie, Shana and Emily work on getting Dottie closer to the area. We have the buyer's wife hold a bag of feed outside the trailer, since nobody can get close to the back of the trailer with Dottie checking things out! We don't want to scare her! Dottie walks right in to check things out! So the guy got there at 8:30 am and we were trying to convince the girls to go in the barn! No luck! We got back to the house to wash poo off and get to work with other projects for the day (Shana laying tile in her house, she moves in by Thursday! Chad working on the back deck of Shana's house) at 10:15ish so not even 2 hours to load 3 longhorns into a rather small trailer without a working pen and chutes! Not to bad! 

So in memory here are some pictures of the Longhorns and their past calves! 

Dottie

Winnie

Red

Socrates, Dottie's first calf

pic coming soon

Dottie and her 2nd calf

Sir Cornwallis, Winnie's first calf

pic coming soon

Winnie and her second calf

pic coming soon

Batman, Red's first calf

pic coming soon

Red and her second calf (the only heifer!)

Our House

Here are some pictures of the house now that it is done.

Kitchen (please excuse my countertops...not enough storage for goat milking supplies, egg gathering, and soap making!)

Again excuse the box of milk jars!
Livingroom as seen from couch. Bathroom door is out of view to the left and "bedroom" is out of view to the right, altough you can see a tiny bit of the comforter.
Livingroom from front door
From laundry room looking through kitchen and livingroom into "bedroom"
Messy desk in laundry room
"closet" in laundry room
Don't mind the mess on top of the washer and dryer (not enough storage space for all my soapmaking stuff!)
"bedroom" originally we had the bed turned with the headboard against the windows and you could walk along both sides, but the foot stuck out into the livingroom area, so we turned it and it fits perfect and there is room between the bed and the wall to have a small nightstand (you can see my lampshade over there) and to make the bed.
Here is my little bathroom! 

So here are the few construction pics I have of our house.

Here is the wall Chad built up to cover the open loft, the kitchen, and the bathroom door. 

This is a view from the frontdoor

Here is Chad working on the wall of the loft area above the porch, his ladder is in our "bedroom"

Here is Chad putting the metal on top of the laundry room

Meet Miranda

Say hello to Miranda the Serama.

And here she is with the giant Tina!

Getting a Serama Hen

I am hoping to go sometime this week and pick her up....more to come when I get her!

Bye Bye Dottie, Winnie, and Red

Saturday (9/20/08) morning I listed the Longhorns on craigslist and got an email rather quickly from someone interested...wanted to know if the papers went with them and their ages.  I emailed back with the info and got a reply asking to come see them that afternoon! So I said of course and left a phone number. Half not expecting a call....I have listed them in the past and got nothing, but this time...he called, came out, and wrote a check! He will be back this weekend (9/27 - 28/08) to pick them up and haul them to their new 100 acre wooded and creeked home!!

I will miss you girls, but atleast you are going to "retire" not become someone's dinner!!

Ike Ike Baby

Yo, TX, Let'​​s kick it!

Ike Ike Baby,​​ Ike Ike Baby
All right​ stop,​​ evacu​ate and liste​n
Ike is here with some big ambit​ion
Peopl​e,​​ close​ your homes​ up tight​ly
It’s blowi​ng like a hurri​cane daily​ and night​ly
Where​ will it stop?​​ Yo-I don'​​t know
Turn off the light​s and let’s​ go
To the coast​line Ike rocks​ like a vanda​l
Start​ up the car and watch​ me drive​ like an anima​l

Dang,​​ hardw​are store​ sales​ boom
Ike’s​ killi​ng my plans​ like a poiso​nous mushr​oom
Deadl​y,​​ evacu​ate they tell me
Anyon​e left will be charg​ed with a felon​y
Love it or hate it, you bette​r get away
Ike will hit the bull'​​s eye, the storm​ don'​​t play
If you’r​e on vacat​ion,​​ Yo, Ike stall​ed it
Check​ out the eye while​ the bands​ revol​ve it

Hurri​cane Ike Ike Baby,​​ Hurri​cane Ike Ike Baby
Hurri​cane Ike Ike Baby,​​ Hurri​cane Ike Ike Baby

Now that the peopl​e are jumpi​n’
With their​ stuff​ packe​d up and the gas done pumpi​n'​​
Quick​ to the road,​​ to the road no fakin​’
Pass McD’s​ get a burge​r with bacon​
Burni​n’ ‘em and follo​w the symbo​l
I go crazy​ when I hear some imbec​ile
Revvi​ng,​​ in a soupe​d up Pinto​
Now I can roll,​​ it's time to crack​ the windo​w
Rolli​n’ in my Chevy​ Tahoe​
With my windo​w down,​​ I can feel Ike blow
My lapto​p’s on stand​by,​​ Waiti​ng for some Wi-​​fi
This spot hot? No – and I gotta​ fly
Kept on pursu​ing to the next block​
I buste​d a left and I'm beati​ng the clock​
The light​ was red

Yo -- so I conti​nued to I-37 to San Anton​io
Wish I was there​ in a blink​ like a jeani​e
How I’d love to be sippi​n’ a marti​ni
Jealo​us '​​cause​ my girl’​s livin​g fine
She left yeste​rday and was there​ by nine
Ready​ to give my homie​s a call
My homie​s actin​g ill becau​se their​ car just stall​ed
Humid​ity,​​ the air is stick​y as hell
Ike’s​ on his way, the weath​erman​ yells​
Movin​g towar​d the gulf coast​ real fast
I’m in my car, can’t​ give it no gas
Bumpe​r to bumpe​r the inter​state​’s packe​d
I'm tryin​g to get away befor​e Ike attac​ks
Polic​e on the scene​,​​ what can it mean?​​
They hooke​d me up, now there​’s anoth​er lane free
If you’r​e on vacat​ion,​​ Yo, Ike stall​ed it
Check​ out the eye while​ the bands​ revol​ve it

Hurri​cane Ike Ike Baby,​​ Hurri​cane Ike Ike Baby
Hurri​cane Ike Ike Baby,​​ Hurri​cane Ike Ike Baby

Yo man, let'​​s get out of here!​​ Word to your mothe​r!​

Pretty Posing

So these are just random pictures! I was taking some shots of Lily for an online goat show and Daisy wouldn't leave us alone, so she got to post as well!!

Daisy's Hiney

Daisy eating the camera cord!

Chouli trying to look like a 2 legged kid! Almost Chouli, but I think they have 2 legs in back, not 2 left legs! (Ok I know her front right is down to, but it is almost perfectly lined up with the other so that it almost disappears)

Lily's profile

Temporary Goat Barn

In preparation for Hurricane Gustav's winds and rain we decided the goats needed to be able to get out of the rain. Prior they had a small plywood covered area and the 2 dog houses you can see in the middle of the left side of this picture. Here is a view from one corner of the pen, showing 95% of the pen, the covered area where their water is (the plywood), their climbing tub (cement water trough turned on end) and the barn. The tarp isn't attached at the bottom, it was pinned up, but you will see later what happened there!


Here is Chouli and Rosey checking out their new digs. The ladder isn't staying.
Lily exploring the tunnel...see why the tarp isn't penned up anymore! lol I have yet to have the camera with me to catch it, but I have come out to find Daisy, Ginger, and Lily sleeping in their "tent"

Dinner time! Even with 5 buckets, Chouli and Rosey still eat out of one!

Lily a little upset that I woke her up.Ginger snoozin against the barn door

2 MORE goats

Here are my 2 newest goats! They are a Lamancha and a Nubian. They are both 18 months old and bred. They are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association.
Meet the girls: Rose is the white Lamancha (she was born on Valentine's day last year and when I looked up Love related baby names, Rose jumped out at me and my MIL joked about when I was going to name an ol goat Rose!) The Nubian, doesn't have a name yet...the naming committee is still out on that one! She was born on Shelby's birthdat last year, so I was going to give her Shelby's nickname, Fluffy, but decided to let Shelby pick a name for her!




Bella snoozin by the girls!

Bella and her Charges! She isn't real happy about not being with the horses, but she better get used to it...there are 3 more moving in in the future!!

Poor girl doesn't have a name, she was going to be Fluffy...still might?!?!

Rose seems to be the boss of the little 2 goat herd!
She gets between the Nubian and anything else!

My first attempt at making bread!!

So here is my first attempt at making my own bread!
Here you have the doe in the loaf pan Here is the dough in the oven
Here is the doe with the first slice (I need to work on my slicing!)
And here is the finished product!!!

The herds dinner rations

Chickens - Free range on grass for anything they can find, including leftover(spilled) horse, cow, and goat grain. Free choice layer pellets to keep eggs nice and healthy. (although with all they eat in the pasture they rarely touch the pellets!) A sprinkling of scratch grains in the morning.

Cows - Whole oats, alfalfa pellets, and a handful of black oil sunflower seeds with free range pasture, supplemented with Bermuda hay when needed. Free choice Bluebonnet Tech Master loose minerals.

Horses - Whole oats, alfalfa pellets, and a handful of black oil sunflower seeds with free range pasture, supplemented with Bermuda hay when needed. Free choice Bluebonnet Tech Master loose minerals.

Goats - Free choice bermuda hay, Bluebonnet Tech Master loose minerals, weighed daily amount of alfalfa pellets. On the milkstand the girls get whole oats with a handful of black oil sunflower seeds.

Dogs - Nutro Max adult dog food (had a hard time finding a quality dog food without sunflower oil (Jesse is allergic to it!) Didn't want to go the Max route, but can't pay twice the amount for half the feed!!

New Milkstand

So I was using an upside down dog crate up against a fence and a pole with a rope around it to tie to Lily's collar when I would milk her. We got two more goats (only one in milk right now) and I decided I needed a real milkstand. So I printed directions from the internet and had Chad get to work building me a stand!

Chad decided instead of making legs for it, he would use an old garden cart we had that we probably aren't likely to use. So here is the pre-milkstand cart
(seeing if it would be big enough for Ginger)

I forgot to get pictures of it when it was just the base. Basically it is very tightly set into the wagon, so if we wanted to (with some work) we could get it off and put it on legs. This picture is Chad working on the headgate, but also shows the base.

Finished product! (We plan to put a rubber mat on top, as our chickens like to walk on it and a rubber mat would be much easier to clean poop and spilled milk off of!)

Lily giving it a go!