Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Adabelle
This is Adabelle. She was born here about 4 years ago to my doe Ocho. I sold her to some friends up the road. She just had twin bucks the beginning of June. Her first ever kids. I think they might be John Henry's or could possibly have been Tom Dooley's. She has elf ears and so do the kids. So who knows. Both the bucks were up there with her and another doe.
So the kids are old enough to be weaned and they were not going to milk her. And I need more milk. SO I asked if I could keep her here and milk her and the boys could be weaned away from their momma. He said yes. So I went this morning to get her. Abby and Sandy apparently don't remember her so I am keeping her in a separate lot next to the does til they get used to each other.
And while she's here she might as well be bred back again. So I'll put her back in with John Henry and put Zarah in there too. Sounds like a plan to me. I just hope now that she will keep producing milk. She should be quite full by this evening milking time. She looks good for having had twin bucks still nursing her.
SO I have added 2 more goats to the farm.Lots going on right now. And breeding will start next month.
There's a new buck in town
This is my new Boer buck, Lil Red. I went last night to look at some bucks at a farm over in Lafayette. This guy has a lot of goats. Nubians and Boers and some crosses. I settled on this little cutie. He's just 5 months old but already doing the bucky thing. He's really stocky and has the little Boer head but the thick nose and neck and really meaty. I decided to get a Boer buck to use with Sandy my Nubian who always has bucks. SO I thought I'd just breed for a meatier kid and either sell them or use them for us. I'll put Sandy and Penelope in with him next month. He's a cutie.
I had to move him and John Henry up front because the girls were all teasing them. Poor guys. And they are starting to really stink. Like bucks. This way the back yard can rest a few weeks and grow some more.
Is anyone else thinking about breeding these days? What is going on at your farms?
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sheep Shelters
Working for sheep sure is hard! But they need some shelters so it has to be done.
My friend Kenneth came today to help me put up the sheep shelter for the ewes in the South pasture. It's added to my new garden shed. It's 8x12 so they should have enough room to get under in a down pour. Later I will add sides to it. But right now I just wanted to get the metal roof on it.
Kenneth is very easy to work with. He's a lot like me and works til it's done. No need to take breaks. Just get 'er done! I like that. We work well together. All we need to do now is screw the roof on. We were right in the sun the last part of the day. This took 5 1/2 hours! He'll be back tomorrow to finish the roof. But it looks good so far. I am so thankful for good friends. And he's saving me $15.00 an hour!
I did this one all by myself last week. I had some pallets that I got for free from the pallet shop in town. And I had a sheet of the outdoor siding we had used for a pig shelter a few years back. And I grabbed several boards that I nailed across the top. And my friend at the hardware store gave me some tarps he was going to throw away for the roof. And when it starts getting cold, I can put plastic around the outside and another pallet in the front. So all free and used material for a pretty good and sturdy shelter for the 3 ram boys. I put them up front in that pasture for now til I can figure out the breeding arrangements in a few weeks. I'll be playing musical sheep and goats. Sounds like fun, right?
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