Love is in the air

Here is an outline of Capra Lane's 2014 Breeding / Kidding schedule.

Alpines

Luna

And Charlotte LA 87 VVVV as a first freshener

Are both bred to Bugs. Not a terribly flattering picture but he appraised very well, earning an 88 VVE, E in head, rear legs, feet, back and rump - all the important parts! By doing a few outside breedings this year, we are hoping to keep Bugs around longer as we will have more that can be bred back to him in the coming years. 

Sage is bred to

+ *B Roeburn's Limerick Shamus, LA 91 EEE. Shamus is part of the Addi-Hill herd in Ashland, here is a link to his page. Shamus has many beautiful daughters and we are planning to keep a kid from this breeding, hoping to balance Sage's dairyness with a little more substance.

Cammile 88 VEEE is bred to

*B Windrush Farms Kona Samson, LA 90 EEE, also a part of the Addi-Hill herd. Here is a link to Samson's page. Cammile was bred to Samson last year as well but unfortunately did not have a doe kid so we are hoping for the best this year. Cammile is lovely but can use a little more refinement and smoother blending and we hope this will be a good cross. Of note, Samson also sired Sofia, my favorite kid from last year.

Claire is bred to

Cow, as you may recall from me describing the assault that took place. Awww...aren't bucks cue when they're babies? Before the stink takes over? Cow is sharp and flashy, you can clearly see where he gets his name. 

For good measure, here is Cow's dam, Desi. You can view her pedigree, as well as Cow's at M&R Klingshirn farms, here is a link to their site.

This is Lark, terrible photo of an uncooperative kid! She is a first freshener so in the interest of convenience, she was bred to Mickey, our Saanen buck. I usually do not spend money on breeding first fresheners, given I've not been able to evaluate them until after they come into milk for the first time. Year 2 brings more careful planning with regards to breeding.  

Sofia! My favorite. She is not bred, I just needed an opportunity to put her picture up again...

Saanens

Massey LA 89 V+EV and

Luci  LA 88 EVEV were bred to 

Mickey, our saanen buck. The Massey-Mickey cross has served us well, 5 daughters so far, all have won in the showring and and are sweet, calm and quiet. Luci gave us triplet bucks last year so hoping for better luck this time around. Mickey appraised 87 VVE, E in back and rump. 

Mona Lisa was bred to Capone, our Togg buck out of convenience, she came into heat on a day when scheduling a 'date' with a far away saanen breeder just wasn't possible. 

Toggenburgs

Elina LA 89VVEV was bred to

Capone. Another repeat breeding waiting for a doe kid that's 'just right'. I've sold a few from this cross and they have shown and milked well for other herds. Elina is getting up there in years so I hope to get a keeper this year.

Emilene LA 87 VEE+ and 

Macy LA 88VE+V are bred to 

GGF Alpha Snowbuck's Jerry, from the GGF Alpha herd in Wellington. So far, his daughters look fantastic and he is very correct. Excited to see some kids from this breeding. 

May LA 86 VEVV as a yearling in another crummy photo. She's a quiet one in the barn, very timid but has a pretty perfectly shaped udder. Naturally I didn't take a photo with it full, but she may turn out to be a winner for us. She is bred to GGF Alpha I Am a Jersey Boy, son of CH GGF Alpha Redbird's Jersey. No pic available.  

Emmette, pictured here sometime between May when this photo was taken and present time turned into a roly poly puffball. She is my first fattie kid. She's enormous. I conveniently bred her to our Saanen buck, Mickey for grade kids as
Capone is her sire. 

The kids are coming!

And soon!

Part of me is excited.

And the other part wants to vomit.

We start kidding February 3rd with Luna and end the season on March 20th with Lark. Here's hoping for an uneventful year filled with textbook births, doe kids and warm weather...

Pigeon phone home. . .

Guest Blogger: Rog
Why? We're talking homing pigeons- they give me the shakes. I may add some commentary, just to keep you all awake. I'll print it in red.

I want to duck and go fetal just looking at this pic. 

There are 5 species of birds in the family Columbidae. This includes the now extinct passenger pigeon, rock doves, mourning doves, ring necked dove (turtle dove) and the homing / messenger pigeon.

Translation: pigeons and doves are essentially the same thing. 

The difference is in the homing range - a dove can range 5 miles and a pigeon can range 1500 miles. A skilled homing pigeon can fly up to 115 mph for 15-16 hours non stop.

Homing pigeons have been used for friendship, food, religion and communication for thousands of years. We will start with religious purposes. In ancient Greece, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, used the dove, ie homing pigeon as a symbol of love. Noah, when searching for shelter while on the arc, released a pigeon in search of dry land. Behold, the pigeon returned with an olive branch. This was a sign of hope for all mankind. Even today, doves are used in weddings and funerals as a sign of love and peace.

Historically, each city would have its own set of homing pigeons. Olympiads would take their pigeons with them to the Olympics and release them upon winning to send word to their hometowns of their victory.

Soldiers would also carry pigeons during battle and release strategic messages notifying of danger or requesting help. Common people were banned from owning such tools of power.In World
War I, the US Navy had a department of messenger pigeons. There were up to 15 pigeon bases placed around US territories. The most famous pigeon of all, who is immortalized at the Smithsonian was named Cher ami. Cher ami saved a battalion of 500 men who were being fired upon by both enemies and friendly fire. The pigeon was shot 2-3 times in enemy lines but lived to deliver his message. It was awarded many medals and honors and even had a wooden prosthetic limb made after it was amputated post injury.

Fun fact: Cher ami was honored as a 'he' but was discovered to be a 'she' on taxidermy.

In the most recent wars many terrorist regimes still employ homing pigeons and ban the public from doing so.
Pigeons can be companion animals, some prisoners have them. Mourning doves that call outside in the morning will always return to your house. So please make friends, today.

At one time, the passenger pigeon was hunted in such great numbers it led to their extinction. They were bombed, shot down, harvested in mass quantities and fed to slaves as cheap food. they were exported to Europe and fed as squab, a delicacy that most do not connect with pigeon.

I became interested in pigeons upon hearing a presentation given by Denzel St Clair of Queen Right Colonies.  I then decided that there would be an interest in this species. Since there are so many programs on raptors and endangered birds I thought this was an overlooked bird that deserved some attention. They are cheap, easy to raise, no permits necessary, minimal facilities needed. I then wrote a grant expressing the need to inform the public of this great natural servant through my role as naturalist at Findley State Park. I hoped to link the function of this species with todays' trend of frenzied text messaging and hoped that young people might be interested in the original text messengers.

Through trial and error it took a whole summer to train the birds to fly and come back to their loft, given that they weren't born at the park.

Translation: several escaped during training and flew back to Denzel's. Some of the original clan of 'borrowed' pigeons were discovered by cats and Rog was greeted with headless pigeons at pick up time.

Now I can do programs and release the birds at any location in the park and they will return to the loft located at the nature center.

As my seasonal work came to a close at the park, I worried about the safety and care of the birds who would no longer receive daily attention. I was strictly forbidden from bringing them home, since someone is scared of birds. So I went to the park, put them in our cat carrier and brought them home.

Surprise! I told Amanda that they wouldn't need any attention and they would only need fed and watered every 3-4 days. The two boys settled in without difficulty but I noticed they seemed to be fighting more than usual. As the weather grew colder one of the birds spent more time in the roost box and wouldn't come out. When I reached for him he batted me with a wing thrust and a low cooooo. Usually they are pretty friendly so I tried again the next day when my parents were visiting. This is what I found.

Shock. Awe. Eggs! A new adventure. The eggs will become homing pigeons who think that this is home. Our house, because this is where they were born. I can sell them, give them away, relocate them, but they will come back. Amanda is going to kill me.

That $^&D%#@!!!! Lying @$*&! He knew they were a breeding pair. They weren't fighting! What kind of naturalist is he???

A long time ago, she told me 'no way' the pigeons are not coming here. She said if I brought them home she would get another dog. Meet Luna, the newest misfit wonder to join our family.

Dial - A - Llama

As we better our goat herd, we've become more concerned with predators. We live in an area abundant with coyotes, although our Amish neighbors do a pretty good job with population control. Also abundant are domestic dogs- strays, free-roaming and otherwise. We have a fairly secure barn with high tensile electric fencing around the perimeter but every year we hear horror stories of dog attacks and mauled goats, adults and kids alike from others with seemingly 'secure' barns.

Options for protection include guard dogs, donkeys and llamas. We decided on a llama for several reasons, ease of feeding, cleanliness, less aggression to our own dogs and strangers and the size/ height intimidation factor. At times there are people we wouldn't mind scaring off. ..

Name: Blessing  (female)

Age: 14 years

Experience: Retired showgirl, past guardian of sheep

Likes: eating, grazing, kushing

Dislikes: dogs, coyotes, her halter

I went to meet her in Bristolville. Intimidated- yes. Full of questions- yes. Did she spit at me - no (this is what 99.9% of people ask me). I was relieved to see that she is fairly small for a llama, others at the farm towered over me, while she and I look eye to eye. I learned that llamas do not understand 'touch' so are not meant to be cuddled or petted. A-OK here, I'm a little petrified. 

A week later I brought her home. We constructed a catch pen, where we hoped to allow her to acclimate to the goats and vice-versa, where we could train her to come in at feeding time, and where we could catch and halter her for foot trimmings, vaccines, etc. She trailered easily, rode home and unloaded without difficulty. 

A stand off.
Goats: "Mom, what the hell is that?"
 Llama: "New mom, what the hell are those?"

We took things slow for a few days. We kept her haltered and secluded on day 1. She ate, she drank and she didn't trample me to death. *Win*

By day 2, I used a lead rope to lead her around the barn and the pasture perimeter 3-4 times. She didn't seem fond of the chickens or their skittish movements. She didn't care for the bucks either, they blubbered and grunted at her as if she would be their newest conquest. By the third trip around, she relaxed and started to graze a bit. She did stare longingly at the neighbors alpacas, humming every so often, making me feel bad for moving her from her friends to my collection of misfits. 

We left her halter on so I could catch her more easily, along with a short lead rope so I didn't have to get so close. She led very well, all in all. I brushed against her a few times and got a little scared about her reaction but we seemed to be tolerating one another well.  This isn't her, obviously, I was too nervous I would scare her with the camera flash at first. 

By day 3 the goats seemed to adjust to her presence so I let her loose for a few hours and caught her at feeding time and brought her in to eat. Amazed things were going so well, we got a little cocky. We let her loose, except for her halter. She immediately ran to the far corner of the pasture and kushed down and stayed there all night. At 5am morning feeding, its still dark, as is Blessing. I really felt like a moron walking around the pasture whisper-yelling 'Blessing!' while shaking a feed pan. I also felt my skin crawl because I was certain she was staring at me. Next task, change her name...Blessing....Bless....Bess....

Well, hello! You might notice that my halter is off now. After a few days of screwing with my new owners I caught on to the routine. I come in eagerly at feeding time and herd those pesky goats out of my private dining room. I also created a poop pile in 'their' pen, far from 'my' pen. Yes, I poop in the same spot every day. I'm very refined. 

You want me to watch them? They're such savages. I even saw one of them poop right in the water bucket. And that white one? She poops lying down. . .

As far as we know, Bess hasn't had to use her skills yet. She is certainly on high alert and hauls ass over to the fence when I let the dogs roam on the side of the house. She has integrated well into the herd. Its been about 7 weeks and the whole transition has gone much easier than we anticipated. She shares hayfeeders, water buckets and mineral tubs. She tolerates Sage, one of our yearlings who is constantly underfoot and uses Bess as a personal bodyguard. 

She leads the goats in and out at grazing time and tends to herd them between her and the barn. On cold windy nights she will sleep inside, positioned just inside the doorway so she can still scope things out. She comes when called and takes treats from our hands. I've yet to trim her feet, so that will be an adventure I'm sure. Still a little wary around her, but that's ok, we have no plans to snuggle up any time soon. 

So now that I'm a llama owner, I have to become a 'llama person' much like we became goat people. I did a quick search, just in time for Christmas. 

Fear the llama. I admit it... I still do.

OK, this sign is sort of funny. I would be happy to hang it on the milkroom wall. 

This one isn't bad either. I may wear this. 

Rog is going to need a shirt too. Wait....this is a little disturbing. Scratch this one.

Maybe a tie is more fitting?

Will need 100 for our closest family and friends.

If any of you see me wearing this, please put me out of my misery. 

Website updates

My main farm site, www.capralane.com is nearly updated. Photos, pedigree info and breeding plan are posted, a few little sections need editing, but things are coming along.

We should welcome the first kids in early February with an explosion later in the month. As I write this I realize I just bred 6 does in 24 hours. And then I banged my head on the table.

A comedy of errors - Part 2

When it rains, it pours, right? Two nights ago while doing chores, we noticed one of our turkeys was "off ". As in near-death, "off". A google search later, we fed electrolytes and antibiotics and quarantined the sick bird, who had some runny poop but healthy skin, clear eyes, no respiratory issues, a mystery. The morning greeted us with not one dead turkey, but two. . .

The lone survivor. We're going to give this one a little time to make sure it isn't ill as well, then get one more for company. 

It will be a mystery, whatever illness reached them, it acted fast with no symptoms until about 12 hours before death. We've had a good track record so far, considering poultry diseases are not easily diagnosed or treated. We can always have chicken on Thanksgiving! If this guy doesn't make it, we won't be adding anything else to this pen this year.


With all the harebrained things we take on, the daily routine can sometimes be a little harrowing. Work has been more challenging than usual and changing healthcare trends aren't helping matters.

Part of commuting means I'm often the last home, and I don't often get to spend much time on dinner. Last week I had an earlier day than normal and planned to take full advantage of it. I love to cook, and I like to think I'm fairly skilled at it. So what I did next I can only describe as:

im·bro·glio

imˈbrōlyō/

noun

1. 1.

   an extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation.

   "the Watergate imbroglio"

   synonyms:

   complicated situation, complication, problem, difficulty, predicament,trouble, confusion, quandary, entanglement, muddle, mess, quagmire,morass, sticky situation

I scanned the fridge upon arriving home to find a bag of shredded hash brown potatoes on the shelf. Oh great, these had to be frozen, what can I make?? I wasn't in the mood for breakfast-for-dinner, so I decided to surprise Rog with one of his favorites that is usually reserved for holidays when someone else is cooking...cheesy potatoes, or as his family affectionately dubs them,  funeral potatoes. I didn't grow up eating much 'American' food and therefore these types of recipes aren't ingrained in my brain as they are for most people. Not that I don't like these things, I really do. I just don't know how to make them.

First rule of cooking:  collect your ingredients. Failure.

I had emptied the potatoes into a bowl and added grated cheddar cheese. So far so good. I knew from the past that they usually have cream of chicken soup in them. After scanning the pantry, twice, I realized the campbells kids weren't going to suddenly appear so I popped open a can of cream of mushroom. Close enough, right? They are all over salted, jiggly and a little creepy.

Next I added some chopped onions. And black pepper. Then I got stuck and had to admit defeat and look up a recipe. Sour cream. . . hmmmm. None to be found. In the back of the fridge I found a container of french onion dip that someone brought over for a gathering. Close enough, yet again. The butter was no problem, I would never dare run out. Into the oven it went with bated breath and crossed fingers and toes.

Sure doesn't look like mom's. Still, I refuse to accept defeat. Corn flakes!! No corn flakes here. After searching through everything crunchy my options were wheat thins, peanut butter filled pretzels or these:

Things are deteriorating by the minute. I quickly crushed up a handful and tossed them in the pan before Rog pulled in the drive. To overcompensate I grilled a big sirloin, taking care to mark it with impressive geometric grill marks to detract from my assumed potato failure.

And then I made kale chips. I'm really good at making those and they look "fancy".

And then it was the moment of truth.

Really stinking good. All the chuckling, head shaking, lip biting at my sorry attempt to create one of Rog's favorites, and it was really quite tasty. Packed full of fat and artificial things but by golly, I had cheesy potatoes!

I took this really nice picture of the sedum and sea oats while I was grilling. Plant photos are an excellent distraction for a naturalist. He certainly wouldn't be upset if I made crappy potatoes, but he certainly would ridicule me at family dinners for years to come, for example the shortbread cookie incident of 1997 that we still relive from time to time.

Waiting for breeding season to be over, hoping the turkey will be ok in the morning, hoping the wall in the buck barn holds up and we don't have an unwanted 'visitor' in the does pasture.

Can I learn to love one of these?

Hmmmm. . . 

Charming isn't really the right word. . . 

Update: The other turkey croaked too. Recently we talked to another turkey grower in our area and he had widespread losses this year too, and I ran it by a vet-friend who offered - "What do you do with a sick turkey? Kill the rest."  Probably a pretty accurate statement. Although I mourn the loss of my fresh Thanksgiving turkey, I'm not exactly a bird 'fan' so I keep repeating the Adam Sandler Thanksgiving song, adding "No turkey for you, no turkey for me. . . "

And yes, we're getting a llama.

And yes, I find them a little creepy.

And yes, I'm terrified.