Breeding Season Approaches

It's that time of year again. Breeding Season! I know this without looking at a calendar. The bucks are pacing up and down the fence line, peeing on their faces, and grunting with an exaggeration you hear only this time of year.

The does, on the other hand, aren't helping. They're wailing like cry babies, strutting their stuff along the fence lines (driving the boys crazy), and otherwise being obnoxious.

I chose this line of work as a profession only AFTER having completed graduate school NOT in the animal sciences. My graduate work was for me. I needed to know I could do it and do it well. But once you learn how to learn, you can tackle any task.

This learning task wasn't a curve but a spike for the first few years. You know you've growing as a breeder when you don't have to call your vet every time someone gets hurt or bleeds, or needs annual shots because YOU know what to do. But it's nice knowing she's a phone call away.

So why do I do this? I'm passionately in love with my goats and their milk. Goat milk is nectar from the Gods. Besides being delicious, its beneficial properties are almost endless.

Birthing the babies every spring is exhilarating. Observing the bonding between mom and babies, ignites a flame within me that warms the entire barn.

Watching the babies grow, identifying the best confirmation and future breeders impacts our herd's integridity beyond measure. We're getting closer to producing the goat confirmation that I like. Imagine that! Being able to do that is truly a miracle.

So from not knowing how to milk to breeding goats for a specific look/confirmation is quite an acomplishment for this city girl.

Several pictures have been uploaded to our website for your preview.

Family is always first

Family is still the most important thing in the world to me. Like many of us, I lose sight of this from time to time: Thinking of my businesses, dogs, cats, chickens, goats, milking, laundry, and other day-to-day tidings.

Absentmindedly focusing only on the now and could be, I was immediately reminded of family when I received a call from the manager of my mother’s apartment wanting to know what happened last night. That's a scary question coming from anyone but from where my mother lives, it became a sharp, significant concern. As the story unfolded I became acutely aware that mother could no longer live alone. She's 86 and has dementia.

For the past four years, she has been surrounded by wonderful people. Neighbors who dropped by for a chat, visited for a few minutes, took turns checking on her, calling her to see how she was doing, and offering to do something to help. Many kept her company until her next nap or the next football game came on TV. Thank you all for what you have meant to mother. But a time comes with neighbors can no longer provide the care and concern that is needed. It is time for family.

I received my call this morning. By the time I arrived at her apartment, the nightly puzzle began fitting together. Mother is getting more confused in the evenings than during the day. Her frequent falls aren't helping either. Sometime she doesn't remember falling much less remember whether she's taken her pills or not.

She took the wrong sleeping pill last week. I so carefully counted each and every pill as I put them in the her weekly organizer but she managed to pick out the pill she wanted to help her sleep. Trouble is that it was a strong pill. We decided to let her sleep it off while we talked about increasing our care. We hovered over her for three days. She's fine -- just confused and forgetful.

She's home with me now so I can watch her more carefully. Between the four dogs and our alarm system, we'll know where she is every minute of the day.

Mother is taking a nap now but when she awakens, will she remember where she is. Apparently dementia strikes in the blink of an eye as her memory fades and she becomes confused. I’ve seen a bit of it in her but I suspect her confusion will increase. Hopefully slowly but it will increase.

I’ll continue producing my goat milk bath products whenever possible. But please know that when mother calls, I will be with her.

Prayers are most appreciated.

Dehorning season has begun

I still haven't decided which is the best technique to use when it comes to removing horns from our babies. In the past I've disbudded when they were 5 days old with a iron. That takes time to learn how to use and the babies are taumitized for about 10 seconds.

This year I thought I'd try cutting them off after the babies were about six months old (in the fall or winter so there will be no flies). Well, yesterday was our first day. Mind you, I have never done this before. (Like so many things out here this, too, is a learning spike.) The first horn I cut was at a slant. Terrific. Now we have to fix that. OK, I clearly need more instruction. Off to the vet we go ... .

Dr. Betka removed horns from three of the four little boys. Jordan and I got our lesson on the fourth little guy. Oh, she makes it look so easy. sigh ... .

Anyway, the boys were so bloody that we left them at the vet's office for about three hours so the blood would dry. They're home now, bloody faces and all. We'll start cleaning them up as soon as we can catch them again. They're a little sensitive right now; and, did I mention mad at me?

I might get within camera range. IF they let me take pictures, I'll upload a few.

Seeing how this process is going, I'm not sure how I'll do this next season. We'll see how dehorning the rest of the babies goes. Check back ...

God's Country Outfitters Albemarle, NC Oct 3 2009

We had a delightful time at GCO's festival: donated products to hospice for their auction, met customers, spent the day OUTSIDE in the fresh air, and got to play with our little goat, Natalie.

Kids of all ages came to 'pet the goat'. Many folks said they came by looking for the crying baby when they noticed that the sound led them to a GOAT. Imagine their surprise!

I'm amazed at how many folks had goats in their youth. Love your stories! Yes, goats are truly amazing creatures.

Natalie wasn't in Jordan's lap all day. It just looks that way. But this time Jordan didn’t leave Natalie’s side. (Thanks Jordan) At the Badin Festival Natalie had a meltdown when she ran into a metal chair trying to get away from several children who came running to pet her. My back was turned working with customers when I heard the metal chair fall and ruckus.

NOTE: Hey guys, you scared the baby! Remember, she’s a baby (only six months old). Parents: Please ask your children to approach the goat slowly so she’ll be curious and want to approach them. I know, easier said than done. When I was their age, I ran everywhere, too.

Anyway, the rodeo happened so fast we just waited for the ride to settle down so we could help everyone relax and untangle themselves. No one got hurt. Everything worked out well and Natalie settled down quickly. Lessons learned: Keep a closer eye on the goat.

Natalie is a professional now. She’s attended two festivals where folks came to see her and pet her. She’s a real show-off, full of herself and absolutely wonderful.

Nope, she’s not for sale but a few of her herd mates are. Some goats are forever-goats; Natalie is one of them. She's a lap-goat for now but soon, very soon, she'll outgrow Jordan's lap. Hang in their Jordan.

Sour Mouth Within Goat Herd

In the general scheme of things, I'm relatively new to goat breeding. My first two goats arrived in the fall of 2003 (or there 'bouts). You can imagine how steep the learning curve was! Well, we lost the first two ladies to tetanus; a devastating disease and sure death – no recovery – slam their dead! I'm amazed at how quickly/easily these little guys die; but, that's another story.

Now, I panic whenever anyone sneezes, coughs, has diarrhea, doesn’t eat, or separates herself from the herd. Coccidia are another red flag, but, again; that’s another story.

The first time I saw sore mouth I thought ugh what now. It’s a good thing I have a wonderful vet. Anyway, I called her and described the sores on Willie’s mouth. She calmly explained that sore mouth was a virus, it’s highly contagious, can limit the goat’s ability to eat because the sores are painful, and nothing can be done about it. You just ride it out. Noooooooooooo, I didn’t want to hear that.

We have to do something! All of my boys are at risk now. Do you have any idea how hard it is to do nothing! Sigh … .

No, I was going to do something! But what? I could catch sour mouth. I could spread it to the dogs! This thing is nasty! To top it off, Willie was in rut. That in and of itself is nasty (rut is when the boys come into ‘season’ and attract the ladies by peeing on their face; I’m not a goat, don’t see the romance here, but the goat ladies love it.)

Quarantine. I’ll quarantine them! A quarantine area is an absolute must on a goat ranch! Once you have a designated quarantine area, you will love it. A quarantine area is a space where no noses can touch; where no sneeze splatters can reach anyone else; well lit, good ventilation, and where the entire space can be sanitized.

Now, what do I use for sanitization? That depends on the cause for quarantine. My favorite sanitization tool is fire but you really have to be careful with this one. Clorox is good, but by all means check with your vet.

Well, my vet was right, again, (thanks Dr. Amy) we all made it through Willie’s sour mouth, no one else got it, and Willie is doing fine. We figure the sour mouth came from an outside goat that I had purchased a while back. At the time I hadn’t heard of sour mouth (rookie). Sigh again, since we’re going to certain issues as long as we have goats, the quarantine area seems to be a ‘requirement’.

Concrete floor, washable walls, good ventilation, fresh water, close to the ranch clinic, and isolated from the herd. Just what you needed, another project.

Happy Goating!
I’ll get ready for the next story …

Goat Milk Bath and Beauty at Badin Festival

Festival season is always my favorite time of year. We attend as many local events as we can because they are so much fun. I get to meet you and talk with you about your skin care needs; and thankfully, many of you share your beauty care regimes with me. Skin care is important to all of us, at any age.

Most of these venues allow us to bring a goat so we double our fun.

This year we brought Natalie. She's five months old and was a perfect lady. We didn’t know how she would react because this is the first time she’s been off the ranch. She met oodles of new friends who wanted to pet her and even allowed a baby to play with her ears – for a moment. However, when she did get stressed, she jumped onto Jordan's lap. Yup, Jordan was a busy lady, too. Natalie was exhausted and slept all the way home.

A special 'thank you' goes to Jordan's friend, Mia, who helped with the soaps and the goat. Mia, you made our event even more fun and stress-free. Thank you for being with us.

Our goat milk bath soaps and beauty lotions were received very well. Thank you for all your comments and suggestions. As usual the favorite essential oil aroma was lavender. I'll make more lotion today.

Lemon was introduced as our newest soap and coordinating lotion. Most folks liked it for its citrus sensation and agreed that it would feel tingly on their toes.

I'm working on our festival schedule and will publisher it as soon as it's more organized.

Thank you for coming by our booth. It was fun to see how many of you used the magic word and received a free soap sample. Be on the lookout for the next magic word so you can get your next free soap sample.

Happy soaping, Pat

Favorite Goat Games

We all have favorite photographs. This is just one of mine.

Meet my husband Bob and Sherry Red. It looks like she giving him an ear smooch but she's REALLY after his hat. It's straw.

The good news is that it has a metal band around the rim and has survived many a goat mibble. The bad news is that the goats outnumbered him one day and got the hat.

Bob likes his new hat almost as much as he had become accustomed to his 'other' hat. It's a new straw had so now we have a new game to play.

Let's see how long the new hat looks new. Shall we?