Aside from getting the house done (for now, at least) it's been an eventful few weeks around here.
Next week a few of the stalls will be donated to Heart of Phoenix, a West Virginia based equine rescue program with the hope that the donated stalls will provide additional space needed for rehabilitation and training.
We used some of the stall dividers and wood to begin a new milking parlor, since we left our lovely heated and air-conditioned space behind at the old house. This milk room will have 2 compartments, a 12 x 12 milking area with storage space and an adjacent washroom with a stainless steel 3-tub sink and eventually, hopefully, a small water heater as well for ease of sanitizing equipment.
As always, Rog is focused on how to heat it most efficiently and if it is well insulated enough and I'm daydreaming about staining and painting certain areas and where I can hang all of my vintage metal dairy signs. A few door handles and some trim work left to go and we can start experimenting with heating options. Plenty of time to get things finished by the end of February, when our first kids are due.
This weekend I suppose we celebrated the move, the goats and the barn space. Translation- we cleaned stalls. All of them. The boys are still in individual stalls, so each had to be cleaned out by hand. Normally it's not too hard but they seem to be in a phase where they pull all the hay out of their feeders and spread it all over the pens. And then pee on it, of course. And then pee on us while we trim their feet. And then pee in their water buckets. And then pee on us again.
The girls were appreciative, we used the extra stalls to confine them while we cleaned and took down walls to rearrange pens yet again. Bellies are growing, hay is disappearing. Emilene is leading in the huge belly category, yet again. She is easily big enough to be carrying triplets now, but isn't due until around March 1st. Yikes....I think I offended her.
"The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals." - Melody Beattie
This isn't about my book. Although it could be. It is still waiting to be written to completion. It'll get done. Maybe when I retire. Or maybe sooner since the holiday rush at the office is now over and deductibles renewing will keep me slower for the next several weeks. We'll see...
We always have goals. Perhaps too many. Our primary goal is to make the new farm work for us, instead of us constantly working for it. Meaning, to get the pens exactly how they are most functional for us to clean and handle the animals in and out. To be able to work with the younger kids (who aren't so little anymore) without getting trampled because of inefficiently placed gates/exits. To get the Bucks some usable outdoor space for exercise while keeping them at a safe distance from the does. To *maybe* start shopping for another guard llama by years end, as Blessing is now 18 years old, we'd like her to potentially help to 'train' a newcomer.
To make enough hay that it might someday start to pay for itself. Weather permitting, of course. To fix/ upgrade some of our equipment to be able to handle the increased acreage with as few disasters as possible. To decide on a 'next step' - does a bigger farm mean adding bigger animals?
To return to showing the goats, on occasion and to re-appraise the herd to see if our breeding plans from the past few years have paid off. To re-focus on said breeding plans to improve our herd. We may have already taken the first step here, we received word that our new addition was born on the New Year. Can't jinx it yet, we'll pick him up in the coming weeks, more info to follow!
"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, you are making new things, trying new things, living, learning, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something." - Neil Gaiman
I recently made a mistake. I stated, out loud, that our breedings went smoothly this year and everyone 'took' on the first try, even the young stock. Then Charming came back in heat today, about 6 weeks after her breeding date. Grrrr. She wanted no part of being re-bred today. None. Hopefully it 'takes' this time, she would be the first of Bonner's daughters to come in to milk and evaluating her will help with breeding plans next fall, for certain.
Elliott made a mistake, too. Elliott is a young togg doeling- Elina's last daughter. She is a lunatic, as I may have mentioned before. Of the roughly 150 goats we've had here, she is the first who is hell bent on escaping. She has houdini'ed her way through tube gates, welded wire panels reinforced with 2" x 4"'s at the top, even a small opening used to access a feeding trough. When she is successful, she just stands there. There's nowhere else to go and the grass is definitely not greener on the other side of the gate. On New Year's Day morning, her antics caught up with her and we were greeted with this unfortunate sight.
I suppose it was inevitable, given her antics. But boy were we sick over it. And will she learn from her mistake? Of course not, she's a goat for shit's sake! This better not become a regular routine. Thank you to Wellington Vet clinic for zonking her and reducing and casting her broken leg. Over the next 6 weeks hopefully she will be on the mend and will have no lasting effects from her New Years adventure.
Elliott, sleeping off her hangover from hell. After her rough day, she has been bunny hopping around, eating and drinking like a champ. I think she enjoyed the extra lap time she gained while waking up from the anesthetic. We left her to wake up and recover in the center barn aisle while we were cleaning pens- Half asleep she managed to knock over a shovel, two buckets, tear apart two bales of hay, one bale of straw and almost dive head first into the water trough. Like I said, lunatic. She has since returned to the 'kid' pen with her cronies and she better not dream of trying to climb anything. I would hope the cast is restraint enough but her track record says otherwise. We will be keeping a close eye on her.
The New Year came in with a bang, never a dull moment at Capra Lane. Best wishes for a healthy and joyous 2016, may you revel in the simple pleasures of life.
