Trials and Tribulations of Spring

   Well, it turns out that EVERYBODY is pregnant. Apparently, Super-goat Louis was able to corner Shadow where us lesser mortals have failed. However, that means Farmgirl MUST catch her sometime in the next two weeks so she can wormed and vaccinated. Anyone know where Goat Roping classes are offered?

     Babies are 5 weeks away, which is a little scary, because Tiny and Bailey look way farther along than that. It's already to the point that when Farmgirl brings fresh hay, they look at her and groan, "Oh man, you mean I have to get up?? Can't you just bring it over here and put it on the ground in front me?" Usually, fresh hay and grain delivery are stampede-worthy events.

    Farmgirl is very nervous about this year's deliveries. Last year was her first year to go through that, and she felt SO blessed and thankful that everybody came out feet and head first, just like they were supposed to. Tiny and Socks were even nice enough to have babies in the middle of a very nice day. Books and You-tube videos are great, but there is no substitute for real-life training.  Farmgirl is nervous that perhaps they've decided that this time, she needs real-life lessons in problem deliveries. It's already been a hard year of health problems for 4 of the 5 girls, with lots of vet visits and anti-biotics. In fact, Socks has renamed Farmgirl. She is now known as "the B----- with the needle." Socks has gotten more shots than everyone else put together, and now she is almost as hard to catch as Shadow.

   Everyone is hoping and praying that we do not have the progressive and fatal CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis - kind of like dairy goat AIDS) on the farm. Socks has very swollen knees, and has been limping for a week. That leaves Farmgirl with basically two possibilities: mycoplasma or CAE. On the off-chance that it's mycoplasma, Socks is getting hard-core anti-biotics until the results of the blood test come in. Farmgirl knew this might be a risk...she bought her first girls from the goat equivalent of a puppy mill, back before she knew anything about goats and what to look for. She thought about testing for CAE last year, but didn't feel comfortable drawing blood at that point. If those tests come back positive, then Farmgirl will have to be very vigilant about delivery so she can take babies away as soon as they come out. Ugh...bottle feeding was not in the plans this year. If Socks has it, it's a safe bet that everybody has it, since the original three are sisters. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

  

Half Way There!

     Spring teased us last week. GORGEOUS skies and temps in the 70s made it hard not to jump the gun and plant the vegetables. But Texas natives know: February is always a tease. It seems like in most of the years we have had big snow storms, they come in February. Good thing we waited, because Winter came back last night. We just keep telling ourselves - and the dogs, and the goats, and the chickens - that we're half-way to Spring. Soon the sun will stay out and the mud will dry up.
     We're also half way to the arrival of kids (the goat kind). The whole family is impatient to know who's pregnant, but not impatient enough to pay for pregnancy tests. Belle and Tiny seem to be showing...enough that if Farmgirl were a betting woman, she would lay down a large sum that they have at least twins tucked up in there. Socks and Bailey are normally fat to begin with, so it's a little harder to tell if that extra bulge is hay or babies. It appears Farmgirl was right about Princess Shadow not liking other goats anymore than she does humans. She looks awfully skinny to have any buns in the oven. It's probably a good thing, too. Everyone else remembered how to get up on the milk stand, and Bailey seemed to learn how to do it by watching the others, so they all got shots. Shadow, however, wouldn't even come out of the pasture, much less get on the stand. Farmgirl can't seem to catch the the little speed demon, either. So she is full of worms and germs, and will be until someone can manage to corner her.
     Finally, we are over half way to getting eggs out of our new pullets. We are expecting to reap that benefit in mid-March. Farmgirl couldn't believe her luck...she managed to sell those three roosters for $5 each! She can't imagine why anyone would PAY for a rooster, let alone pay that much for three and not even try to negotiate. This old guy didn't want to eat them, though. He was looking for boyfriends and protectors for his flock. So that leaves Farmgirl with 5 hens, and these ladies will be living in the coop ALL the time. Hawk from Hell still shows her face around here every now and then, just to see if Farmgirl has let her guard down and given in to the free-range temptation. Maybe if these girls never experience the free-range lifestyle, they won't know what they're missing. Farmgirl plans to be very diligent about moving the coop every two days to help them keep the boredom and the bugs at bay.