Get Yer Goat

I found this great website!
http://www.cafepress.com/getyergoat/

They left the word "MEAT" off the end of this sign.

Thursday's happenings

Can skunks climb?

We have roosts that are almost 6 feet high in the very top of the chicken house. There is also a lower set of roosts, but for the chickens it's just a ladder to get to the highest ones.

Dana after enjoying her bowl of kefir.

Last night around 10 I was going to check on Dana's kids before bed and I heard a bunch of squawking from the chicken house.

So, I got my flash light and my not-so-trusty-deaf dog, and headed out. We made it as far as the barn when Hannah started to go crazy barking and I heard thundering hooves coming my way. I ran to the back of the barn and stepped around the corner quickly to avoid getting bowled over by Lily. Hannah was doing her best to hold her off, but it wasn't helping. All the barking scared off the chicken predator. All that remained was a bunch of Maran feathers and some very upset chickens.

I think it was probably a raccoon, considering it would have had to do a lot of climbing to actually snatch a chicken.

The chickens in the barn are a huge nuisance because of the mess they leave behind, but at least sleeping in there with the guard goats is safer than in the actual chicken house!

Kris and I are going to build a critter proof door tonight and then the trick will be to remember to close it every evening and open it every morning!

That LGD is starting to look better and better Teresa! How about we trade for Hannah? :o)

The people from Kerrville bought 3 milkers today! Dad and the kids talked Mom into it. So, we just have Juice left for sale, and one buck kid. Mum, do your friends whose buck died need another? These people weren't interested in Juice because she was quite scared of their loud little boys. Well behaved, not too rough, but loud! lol She took off and wouldn't come back, and I don't blame her. She had a hard life before we got her so it will take more time for her to trust anyone other than me and Erinn. So, they bought Belle, Latte, and Star Box. They put the two smaller girls in the back of their van and it was obvious Belle wouldn't fit. I offered to deliver her tomorrow since we have to go to Kerrville anyway. After they left I realized that our goat cage is at the Ogeas! Duh. Kris offered to stop and pick it up on his way home when he heard what I had done.

Almond was very very sick this morning. Thankfully I had Banamine and Nuflor on hand and dosed him up. He is feeling much happier this afternoon! Trying to bounce a little even. I hate to give an antibiotic but I know from past sad experience that he would have died if I hadn't given it to him. He definitely has pneumonia.

Almond, feeling better!

The chickens in the lean to are temporarily safe with Dana and kids sleeping in there! Maybe I should lock Hannah in the chicken house at night? :o)

Maliel came to get the couch, and very kindly stopped in Lampassas to get the feed that Teresa recommended. The goats and Pokey definitely like it! I'm sure Lily will too.

Thursday

Mooky had a fairly good day yesterday until late afternoon. He got so much work done! Around 4 he was trying to finish his afternoon list, and he started having a lot of joint and stomach pain. Soon, he couldn't bear to try to walk, so he rested on the couch a while. But, all in all it was a good day because we got ALL our school work done!
I am trying to sell 4 of my milkers because hay and feed are so expensive and it would cost a lot to feed them over the winter. So, a homeschooling family that just moved to Kerrville is coming out this morning to look at them. When Erinn heard they have seven kids her face lit up and she said, "One for each day of the week!" :o)
Kris has a 3 hour long dentist appointment scheduled for Friday, so I am planning to go with him and get some errands done while he is in the torture chair. A lady in Kerrville is offering a bunch of 12'x3' wooden tables with wire mesh tops for free! She said they were from their nursery that went out of business. We'll take the trailer with us and see how many we can load. Stay tuned to see what kind of good ideas we can come up with to make something out of them. What we are most in need of right now is a moveable chicken pen for the meat birds.
Dana and one of her kids have some nasty sounding congestion, but the other kid (Moonshine) is doing great. He's bouncing around being goofy already.

Moonshine

Moonshine is named after a goat we had named Crescent. It made perfect sense to Erinn. Also, she says "He illegally cute, and moonshine is illegal." :o) I LOVE these names she comes up with. Most of the time. Except for "Brownie."

F11 is my new best friend!! You never know how convenient a task bar is until you don't have it!! Isn't that a lot like life? We all need to stop and appreciate our task bars - er, I mean our blessings!

Thanks to Mum, Halcy, Teresa, and Alex who all so sweetly came to my rescue.

Computer Problem

I've got a problem! Every time Erinn uses this computer she accidentally does something and my task bar disappears! It's there when I'm in the Inbox, but when I switch over to a web page it is gone and I cant get it back!! I miss it!!
She is so sorry, and has no idea how she did it. I somehow got it back last time, but I don't know how. (Maybe she got it back by accidentally pushing something on the keyboard.) I have tried all the things you are supposed to try and it doesn't work.
Mooky was sitting up in bed at 4 am, pondering what to do about his headache and stomach ache when he smelled a skunk through his open window. He woke us up, but the skunk quickly disappeared and took his scent with him. Darn.
So, everyone went back to bed and I milked Dana and fed the babies a bottle. They are nursing as well, but I just need them to accept a bottle easily in case I sell them before they are weaned.
Go check out Erinn's blog!! http://painthorsepost.blogspot.com/
She designed everything herself, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Dana kidded today!

October 16, 2007

Baby boy #1

(reserved for Mary)

Baby boy #2

(Available)

This is Dana's 4th kidding at Four Mile Farm, and her 5th total. Other than her first kid which I dont know about, she has NEVER had a spotted kid, no matter which buck she was bred to. In fact, they have all been various shades of brown, except for the gorgeous cream colored (1/2 LaMancha) kid she had last year.

Surprise

---

Erinn (on her knees) hugging Surprise. She is almost too big now to sit in Erinn's lap, although she still tries.


Today is the day for Dana to have her kids!! I put her in the lean-to at 5:30 a.m. and she is not complaining a bit about being alone. She does have plenty of hay to eat, but normally she'd be wanting another goat with her.

Tana, that soap that we made while you were here has got to be the best smelling batch EVER!!! BUT, it's ugly and all dried out looking.... :o(


You might not want to use that for Christmas presents, so I will bring you some more soap at Thanksgiving.

Erinn's Post

Below is Erinn's very first post! She added the pictures and everything. :o)

This soap smells really good. But it doesn't look very good because we made it with cow milk.








Cattie sitting on top of the little red truck being lazy. Very lazy.

First day without AC!

It didn't get over 80 yesterday and we didn't have to turn the AC on at all!! YAY!




Mooky used to make spears and shields all the time, but rarely anymore. Here is his latest shield. It was so effective that Erinn wouldn't sword fight with him any more until he put it down. :o) It was nearly dark, and Kris was sharpening the chain on his chain saw. The goats were milling around, and the guineas were mad because we were under their roosting tree. Actually, we were BESIDE their tree, but they were NOT planning to fly up into it until we were gone. I don't know where they ended up sleeping.




We lost a chick the night before last, and possibly another last night to a skunk. We slept with the windows open because it was so cool, and at 5 this morning I smelled a skunk. It was such a strong smell that I thought he had sprayed right outside the bedroom window. Turns out he was just looking for another chick to snatch but hopefully we scared him off before he got anything. Kris went out with a flashlight and gun, but there was no sign of him and the smell was gone. Poor old deaf Hannah was sleeping peacefully. I guess her nose doesn't work any better than her ears! It's been over a year since we had any predator problems. We'll set a trap tonight.

UPDATE! The banty mama hen still has one baby this morning, although she is missing all of her tail feathers! I cant tell if any other chickens are missing.