Jul 29, 2011

Ups and downs

Well, it was a sad day yesterday.  Ginger, our oldest Grandma goat died at age 14.  It was sort of expected by me and my sister, as she wasn't acting herself at all for the past week.  God gave her a long life and made her produce some beautiful goats!


1 Samuel 2:6-7
 6 The LORD kills and makes alive;  
    He brings down to the grave and brings up.
 7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
    He brings low and lifts up.


On a brighter note, we bought another goat...a beautiful Nubian doe and she's pregnant, due in August!  She's now the second biggest goat we own  :)



Is this a goat or an octopus?
Stay cool!
~Hannah

Jul 11, 2011

Weekend projects

WOW is has been SO hot outside!  The UV index was 110 yesterday and today it's 105, so you can just imagine...working outside can be exhausting.  Thankfully, our little ranch has accomplished a lot in the last few days!

SUNDAY July 10th
My dad was able to dig 4 holes for our new meat rabbit barn...and considering the fact that we are in "rocky soil" country, that is a BIG accomplishment!!

I got to trim all 17 goat's hooves yesterday and groom them all some.  I also started two new compost piles in my bins, since the compost I started back in April is done doin' it's thing and now the rich, dark soil is in the garden, feeding our plants.

After I was done with all of that, I decided to re-take all the goat's pictures and do more "professional", show type pics.  Here are all of the pics I took yesterday...

MERCYFARMS JC INDY
OAK WHISPER KWS ATHENA
MERCYFARMS MO2 OHARA
COSO FARMS RCBY HOLLY
OZARK HIGHLANDS MAUREEN OHARA
7 THUNDERS STORMY GAIL
UHOH BLUSH NOISETTE
7 THUNDERS COCOA CASCADE
MERCYFARMS SNICKERS CREAMSWIRL
7 THUNDERS LS WILD DIXIE
UHOH OREO DANCY PANTS
7 THUNDERS BABY DREAM BLOSSOM
MERCYFARMS BROWNIE SUMMIT
7 THUNDERS CLOUDY DELIGHT



JUST BECAUSE DC FUDGE BROWNIE (took this pic a couple days ago)

If you'd like more info on the goats above, please go to the "Does" page...Click Here

I'm also selling the NuMancha wether.  If anyone is interested in him, please contact me at:  bannerbonanza@yahoo.com  -  Here are pics of him...



MONDAY July 11th
I think I might know why our breeding season didn't go very well this year.  We own a buck, but he's about 10 miles away being housed at a friends house...so we would take our does over there when they were in heat.  Unfortunately, I heard that they can lose their heat on the drive there, and that might explain why the buck wasn't interested at times :)  So, since that didn't go over very well, we built a buck pen on our farm, that way the does don't have to travel very far and be all stressed out when the time comes to get bred.  We had already made the pen, and all I needed to get done was get a shelter up, but I haven't had the materials to do it.  Today, I finally mustered up some materials to build the temporary buck shelter and now the pen is finished and ready to house a buck!  Praise God!

Here are some pics of the shelter and pen...and yes, it's very "okie", but hey, if it houses a goat and keeps it dry for a couple of weeks, it's fine with me!


Inside of the shelter
I built it with 3 pallets, a piece of particle board and some junk sheet metal I had laying around.  It was pretty simple to build and almost free  :)  I'm planning on putting a tarp around the outside when it rains, but for now it's gonna be nice and "airy".

Stay cool!

~Hannah


Jul 5, 2011

New Arrivals!

Yesterday and today have been exhausting, but exciting at the same time :)  Yesterday, I picked up a free whether NuMancha (Nubian/LaMancha) someone gave me.  He's only 5 1/2 months old...look how stocky he is already! 

I'm hoping to either sell him or keep him to eat (yes, this might sound cruel to some people, LOL!)  Goat is SUPER good, especially when they're young...YUMMY and tender!

Then today I got 3 more goats, LaManchas of course!  2 are in milk and one is a yearling :)  I got them from Just Because Farms...they raise AWESOME LaManchas!  Thank you Jenny!
Holly
Athena
Holly and Athena did GREAT on the stand and it was a flawless milking tonight :)  They hopped up on that stand like it was second nature!  I'm VERY happy with the goats...they seem very happy here.
Fudge (the yearling)
Anyway, that was my adventure yesterday and today.

Goodnight everyone!
-Hannah