Goats in the news

 Want to start a goat farm?
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/cleanplatecharlie/2012/09/want_to_start_a_goat_farm_jojo.php

Drought Challenges Goat Dairy
http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/564530/Drought-challenges-goat-dairy.html?nav=10

New Grade A Goat Dairy
http://www.dailycommercial.com/081312goats

Goat Milk and Cheese a Big Hit
http://blog.syracuse.com/farms/2012/09/goat_milk_cheese_a_hit_at_the.html

Goats Gaining Popularity as Show Animals
http://thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_d93f87b4-e75d-11e1-9786-001a4bcf887a.html

Fair Week

 We aren't strangers to the 'goat show' world. On average, we try to attend a few in-and-out shows in the area to try to win awards and potential championships to help confirm that we are breeding in the right direction and also increase the value of our animals. This year, two lovely groups of my friends encouraged me to attend and show during the open class at the Lorain County Fair. Rog and I are faithful attendees of the fair for the past 15 years or so, it is one of the largest fairs in the state and takes place in a community local to my practice and to Rog's summer park gig. I've hesitated to attend many fairs, because most require that the animals are present for the entire week, which equals stress, french fries offered by visitors (adults, naturally...), close quarters with other animals that may not lead such a privileged or healthful life and lots of grubby hands that are irresistible to curious goat lips. With Rog already back in school, and offers from my friends to help with feeding and watering while I was at work, I gave in and brought 4 junior does, May, Esmerelda, Sage and Mona Lisa. My dedicated companions also had 4-H duties of their own to perform so they had planned to stay at the fairgrounds all week to facilitate the process and I opted to join them for a few evenings. Here's a little photo journal that sums up the week (not all mine, I was too traumatized to take many pics. Actually I kept my phone tucked away so I wouldn't be tempted to start a gallery of "people of the Lorain County Fair", I have to maintain at least a hint of professionalism while in public)

Infamous for causing massive traffic jams in the booming metropolis of Wellington, nearly 130,000 people attended this years fair. 

 

 

 

I attended my very first pig race. I can't fathom that I made it 35 29 years without witnessing this. The little porkers can fly when there are oreos at the finish line.

The fair provided me much needed quality time with the great love of my life...fried cheese curds. Move over elephant ears, Oh Boys and soggy french fries, you don't hold a candle to these guys. Salty, squeaky, what's not to love? My GI tract is now fully recovered.

The yearly NSTPA (?? ) tractor pull. I made up those initials, lets just say I didn't buy a t-shirt. Every year we go.  Every year seems longer and longer. Every tractor looks, sounds, pulls the same with the exception of a few flames and explosions every now and then. Every year the way home is filled with loud gutteral W-W-W-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A's from the drivers seat as we exit the muddy parking lot. Every year I pray for rain. This year, 5 hours in to the event, I found myself unknowingly rocking back and forth RainMan style in my seat out of sheer exhaustion. My eyes must have been involuntarily crossing too b/c noone protested when I politely excused myself to the tent.

A must for fair campground dwellers. Providing endless hours of entertainment to boisterous underage drinkers who call the fairgrounds 'home'.

The campgrounds are the picture of organized chaos. With inches to spare, the campers and RV's are organized into cubicles and figure-8 family cliques, generally arranged to seclude the inner circle which may hold anything from an outdoor kitchen, to a couch or a full sized refrigerator, a pool, a dance floor, or all of the above. The tents were few and far between, and we were in one of them, conveniently located near the porta-potties. Now, I'm no stranger to tent camping, and we certainly didn't let the intermittent rain showers dampen our parade. The tent provided a lovely daylight nighttime glow from the giant floodlights overhead that stayed on 24-7. It allowed us to enjoy the many trains that seemingly careened right through our tent until 1am, after which we were granted a reprieve until 5. Each morning the 5am train provided a thorough and reliable alarm clock, I actually woke up running for my life on more than one occasion.

So I admit, our tent probably looked something like this. Aside from forgetting the pump for my air mattress and just rolling it up and sleeping on it, everyone was quite comfortable.

We also had a screened kitchen and dining area where we enjoyed many non-fair-food meals. Ours looked a little different than this, our decorative light fixture and camo chairs helped us blend in.

We did spot this cool bug on our tent. 

The other campers decorated their sites as well. 

I learned all about the fair 'uniform'. It starts with daisy dukes. It is preferred that the shorts are so short that either the front pockets stick out, butt cheeks stick out in the rear, or both. I was quite comfortable in my Umbro soccer shorts that I've had since high school.

In reality, the scene more closely resembled this. The 'uniform' was favored by everyone, ages 10-70, size 0-20. When paired with a shirt proclaiming ' I pooped today', or 'Slut 1',  in a play on Dr. Suess, you truly are at the height of fashion. Some of my favorites were seeing a mustard stained Red Cross 'orgasm donor' t-shirt stretched precariously over a furry bulging belly. Perhaps he should seek out the 'Redneck in Heat' I spotted earlier. I was a bit horrified at seeing a sparkly pink 'Sexy 1' t-shirt on a 12 year-old. Can't wait to watch you on 'Teen Mom'!

So where is mom in all this? Strutting proudly in her daisy duke mom jorts!

Looking for dad. . .

The shorts generally should be paired with cowboy boots. The heels will accentuate your butt and help you look more like a farmer-type. I didn't see many of these beautiful leather boots.

But I saw plenty that resembled these.

Aviators finish the look.

Even the sheep were wearing spandex! What is the world coming to... Seriously, apart from a few spectacular specimens, the crowd was pretty enjoyable. The 4H barns were impeccably clean thanks to the kids on barn duty, the vendors were generally friendly, we spent time with goat friends, old and new. I was able to share the 'farm-side' of my life with co-workers, patients and other members of the community and of course, 'promote the goat' whenever possible. 

First year in 4-H, Miss Moon finished 2nd in showmanship in a large class that spanned ages 8-18, very impressive! The accolades continued when her junior alpine, Zaidee was named Reserve Grand Champion in the open class.

Capra Lane BS Sage was named Grand Champion Junior Alpine in a class of nearly 40! This counts as her 'dry' or 'restricted' championship leg. We were very pleased and are excited to see her compete as a senior doe after kidding this spring.

Mona Lisa, too was awarded GCH in the saanen class! She had already earned her dry leg at an earlier show, but still an impressive win. That meant 2 of the 4 Capra Lane does in attendance had to stand in the Best-in-Show lineup at the end of the day! Our Toggs rounded out the day with 3rd and 4th in their class. All in all, a good show for the barn 'newbies' and a very long week for the goats. Sunday couldn't come fast enough...

Goat noses are cute, as far as noses go. Soft, smooth, generally clean.

Not quite as cute when coated in green boogers and hay bits. The fair crud set in by weeks end. It then spread from the goats who attended the fair, to the baby goats that stayed home, and finally one by one through the milkers. Snot, congestion, fever, lethargy...my $50 or so dollars of fair awards was quickly spent on antibiotics for the goats.

The thing with goats is, when they don't feel well, they crash. They whimper and whine, hang their heads with a fixed spacy stare and sometimes play dead. All to screw with their panicky owners.

Just like humans, they need rest to recover. I *hope* I gave my last dose of antibiotics yesterday. A few more days of milk dumping and things will be back to normal around here. So will I bring animals to the fair again? Probably not. I don't have the time or energy to deal with the aftermath. Will I attend the fair again? Of course!!! I'll help with my friends' animals, help during the show, and dutifully sit through yet another tractor pull. I'll fill my gut with cheese curds, cheer on Hilary Rod-HAM Clinton at the pig race and comfortably retire to the tent and enjoy the sights and sounds of the fair. But next year...................I'll know what to wear.

Summer is winding down

I have to admit I'm a bit depressed to see summer end. Although it has been trying at times with the lack of rain, we haven't really missed mowing the lawn. The only thing growing around here is ragweed. And my nose is paying for it. I'm currently covered in an itchy rash on most of my exposed skin from harvesting turnips yesterday. We finally ditched our zucchini plants too and the cornstalks are cut and drying in time for fall decor for our friends. My first soybean harvest was a success, we should have a few lovely pots of salted edamame this week and the stalks were excellent supplements for the pigs. Eggplant was a bust this year, the plants withered and died for some unknown reason and the fruits were stunted and bitter, also good food for the pigs, although they prefer tomatoes.

We harvested just about as many small buttery yellow potatoes as we stuck in the ground this spring, kind of a bust also. Our first foray into sweet potatoes yielded several large lumpy bump things that look as though they were slashed repeatedly by aliens or something.We'll see how they taste...

In other farm news, the girls are starting to act like hussies, hanging out by the boys' pen and teasing them. Breeding season is looming as the nights get colder. The boys are already in full rut, stinking to high heaven, blubbering and mounting each other, spraying urine to and fro and being generally charming.

6 hens-a-laying... well, more like 25. The old have been successfully incorporated with the new. It was quite the endeavor, we were like seasoned sleuths sneaking up on them at night once everyone was roosting and resting for the night. We first sprayed them with an old bottle of Calvin Klein perfume we found to 'scent confuse' them into not recognize the newbies. They smelled fabulous. After the transfer, one by one (by Rog of course, I wouldn't willingly grab a chicken if my life depended on it) we loaded the coop and run with tomatoes and watermelon chunks. We were told by a chicken friend that the red color would distract them from fighting and pecking at each other. So far, so good except for a few minor skirmishes.

Tasty chicken on the way in less than 6 weeks! 30 little peeps hatched on August 1st, boy those buggers can eat! 50 lbs of feed every 5 days or so. We were gifted with one 'rare breed chick' as a bonus on our chick order. No idea what breed or sex, to me, he/she looks a little like a penguin. The meaties are outgrowing him by leaps and bounds but so far they are getting along. Not quite sure what I'll do with him in the future. If it turns out to be a rooster, it will be dinner. If its a hen, will eventually transition to the laying barn.

Baxter and Bettina are growing by leaps and bounds. 4 weeks after their arrival they are standing about 18 inches tall, they are starting to develop more mature features with reddening throats and little knobby things on their noses. Should be right on track for Thanksgiving.

A good way to use excess eggs...dutch pancakes with fresh raspberries from the garden.

Little Tinder had her first bee sting yesterday on her left front paw. After crying actual tears for a while and clumsily hobbling on 3 legs she settled in her bed but still elevated her left paw for sympathy. 

Kaelyn stood guard during Tinder's recovery period.

I recently experienced the noise, dirt, food, sweat and glamour *insert sarcasm* of the Lorain County Fair where we left with several goatie-awards. More to follow...

A little sad news

I am officially a blog-slacker. Its been a busy time, handling the drought, lack of hay and hugely expensive bales of hay, the garden, the ever-growing menagerie. A lot has happened, some good, some bad.

Rog has worked seasonally as the naturalist at Findley State Park for about 12 years. During that time, the old commissary was transformed gradually through a lot of hard work by ourselves and volunteers and mostly through donations with little funding into a thriving nature center visited by thousands each year.

Rog and park volunteers, hard at work.

Early in the morning last weekend we received a call from the park that the building was on fire. Once he arrived it was clear the building was a total loss, along with everything inside. The fire was attributed to a faulty surge protector which caused a heat lamp to ignite. The walls are concrete, so basically the building contained the flames so that the heat and smoke built up immensely, literally melting many of the contents.

Unfortunately, also lost in the fire were fish, turtles and all of our snakes. Cornelius, at 15 years old, had been a park staple since the opening of the center and was incredibly docile and gentle even for the many kids and toddlers that handled him over the years. He even refused to take a snap at Kaelyn when she bit his tail as a puppy. Of course, he was struggling a bit this summer and had not been eating with his normal summertime vigor. He may very well have been in his last days anyway since this year's breeding to Samantha resulted in no viable eggs. Samantha, though lovely, never held quite the same charm for me, she was a bit unpredictable and would not tolerate programs or crowds very well. Ironically, Arthur, who was our retained baby from last year, escaped from his cage about 2 weeks before the fire, so he is gone as well. One lone Russian box turtle is barely hanging in there with 3rd degree burns, luckily he found temporary placement with someone with vast turtle knowledge and the time to keep up with his schedule of antibiotic treatment and force feedings.

Samantha

Cornelius being passed around at the reptile program. Of course, it goes without saying the girls are always braver than the boys. I don't know this child and don't want to be sued in case anyone was wondering about the blacked out face...

The nature center also served as home base for the employees during most of the park special events. It was a cozy place to warm up the bean soup at Fall Fest and was the host site for many potluck dinners.

Per state policy, the buildings are not insured, but all those involved have pledged their assistance to rebuild. The tough part is, how do you put a value on animal skulls, sticks, rocks, leaves, feathers, etc that took 12 years to collect? And how do you valuate a full cow skeleton wired together in true dinosaur fashion? Countless field guides and textbooks carefully collected, park memorabilia, taxidermy mounts (they look like a horror film at this point), furs, traps, murals, computers, projectors for the outdoor ampitheater...there is much work to be done and many funds to be raised.

Luckily, the community of Wellington has a great deal of appreciation for the park that sits in their backyard. And the park itself has a dedicated group of "Friends of Findley" that work tirelessly with the community to back park projects such as the recently completed shelterhouse in the campground. Anything salvageable has been removed, a massive clean up and roof repair is next and the general consensus is to rebuild bigger and better than before. It will all be donation based, so all fundraising efforts are still in the planning phase. I will assist by updating in the future for any scheduled events. I'm also hoping to build and donate a small scale diorama of the park. I don't have to worry about ruining the surprise since Rog hasn't forcibly read this blog since last winter. So if anyone has any topographical maps of the area it would be much appreciated.

Unfortunately, Smoky didn't do much to protect this place. Even in times of ruin I can appreciate the irony and humor in that...

Smut Tuesday

Minds out of the gutter...today's topic - Corn Smut! We picked our first harvest of sweet corn the other day and cracked open a few ears to check them and most of them looked just great.

And then I heard a hushed 'whoa...' from within the cornstalks and found Rog staring down at this...

We poked at it for a bit as little fungal spores wafted into the air and somehow this triggered a memory from many late nights watching Andrew Zimmern eat weird shit. 'Wait' I exclaimed, 'I think its edible', remembering that in Mexico it is considered a delicacy and I vaguely recall seeing someone fry it up and put it in tacos. As usual, Rog doesn't believe me, since he is the resident nature trivia guy, not me. So this prompted a little research.

Corn smut, or huitlacoche (WEET-LA-KO-CHEE) is apparently packed with unique proteins, minerals and other nutritional goodies and is far more valuable than the corn on which it grows. It translates loosely to 'devil's poo'...sound appetizing yet? With a flavor described as nutty and earthy with a hint of fruity sweetness, the fungus is loaded with lysine which helps to fight infections and strengthen bones and may play a role in building muscle and keeping our skin looking younger. 

Facts about corn smut:

1) The smut spores are blown long distances by the wind and are particularly prevalent when there is much dust in the air.Check! We live in a flat wind tunnel.

2) They will germinate readily in the drainings from barnyard manure. Check! Poop abounds here...

3) Hot dry seasons are favorable for the growth of the fungus. Check! Can you say, drought?

4) Prevented by breaking off the pods before they burst and release the black powdery spores. Check! You mean those spores we poked and prodded at and allowed to trickle into the ground?

Are we on to something here? Soon will we see quarts of smut at Walmart? Or at least Whole Foods? I've read that these 'Mexican Truffles' are popping up in upscale restaurants all over the country now, but I doubt it will reach worldwide appeal, simply based on appearances and ability to freshly preserve it. Canned it has the appearance of a slimy cancerous black lung and I've got to believe it has a serious funk to it.

So did we try it? No, not this time. Maybe next year. Kind of like our first year in goats when we refused to eat any of them. Next year may be full of huitlacoche tacos, huitlacoche quesadillas, huitlacoche stir fry, huitlacoche salads, boiled huitlacoche, broiled huitlacoche, fried huitlacoche, huitlacoche sandwiches huitlacoche at the Harvest Party... For now, we'll leave it to the experts.We did, however, decide to live on the edge and break off the affected ends and eat the rest of the corn. And we tossed some of the fungus puffs into the pig pen so they could 'hunt' them from under the straw. They seemed to enjoy it...

More new additions

Welcome to Baxter and Bettina...fitting names for turkey, we think. Turkeys, right? Never had a reason to pluralize 'turkey' before. They are adjusting well to their new pen and chowing happily on the expensive wild game bird feed. Here's to a great holiday season!

And so it goes, the rain misses us once again. Stormy in the back...

Blue skies in the front.