Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[Britesea]

Hubby used to raise Togs, and he found a wonderful buck named Charmer. The seller had 2 bucklings and decided to keep the one with better color. LOL, Charmer beat his brother out in every single competition they ever did together. Charmer also became something of a legend on the West Coast for throwing magnificent does. Even a decade later, hubby could go to a goat show and pick out Charmer's granddaughters and great grands. The moral is: if you have a buck that throws good daughters, keep him.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That is a very good argument for Dusty! Yippee! He IS a very nice buck. For a big guy he's very easy to handle - except when hopping over stock panels to get to the girls... But, can't blame a buck for being a buck. I think he'll be here for at least another season.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Last night while milking I had a brilliant idea, lol. I'm milking 8 goats right now and it takes right about an hour from start to finish. That includes bringing the does in from pasture, getting them in the milk room, cleaning their udders, milking, hand stripping and then moving on to the next goat. Not too bad really, BUT, I'm sitting there milking a goat with my new milker that is actually set up to milk TWO does at a time and started wondering why I'm NOT.

My main stumbling block is that I don't have two milk stands.... hmmmm... So, I start thinking about another option. From back in my showing days I have a wash stand. Unfortunately, it is not raised, it sits flat on the ground, but it does have a 'head holder'. The other unfortunate issue is that it's sized mainly for pygmies. BUT - none of this is fatal. I'm going to try to place this rack on a raised platform and use it for my smaller goats. Hopefully, it will work. I have actually milked with it sitting on a hay bale in the past so I have high hopes that it will work.

I went out this morning to find that one of the male pigs had escaped his pen, gone through the pasture and had gotten IN to a pen next to the girly pigs. I know how he got out - but have no idea how he got IN! I had planned on putting the mama pig with a boar this weekend....and in another couple months I'll breed the young female too. I've heard it's best to go ahead and breed them pretty young so that they don't build up fat deposits that would make future breeding more difficult. No idea if that's true because I'm a very novice pig person... I guess we will find out!

HOT HOT HOT today, but I need to get back to it.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Trimmed 20 minutes off my milking time by doing two at once. I expect it will get better when the does feel more comfortable about everything being changed up on them. The 4 that had to use the new stand were not happy about it - nope, not happy at all. And, I have to say that it's not perfect... I still need to do some fine tuning. It's harder doing two at once, lol. I totally forgot to watch the filling of the jar today and ran it over so I had to do some extra cleaning... Yep - it's a learning curve for all of us. But, I think it's going to do nothing but get better!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Looks like we're going to have bacon bits!!! Put the escaped boar back in his pen last night and found him WITH the girls this morning. Kind of funny, cuz the other boar isn't escaping looking for a girlfriend. EH...

It's amazingly cool today...if you call 91 cool. I almost need a sweater, lol!

Critters are feeling their oats too...acting all silly. It'll be interesting to see if the cooler temps help milk production because it hasn't been wonderful the last few days. But, with a heat index of 115 I can't blame 'em.

Thought I'd lost a doe yesterday. One of the old gals was a bit sluggish the other day so I checked her eyelids and sure enough she was looking mighty pale so I hit her with a wormer. The next day she looked a bit perkier - but the next day - which was yesterday I couldn't find her allll day. I kept checking the sky to see if any buzzards were gathering. I even walked out into the pasture a little bit but it's too tall to see anything out there anyway. (hoping to get it mowed this afternoon if my son brings my tractor back). But, this moring she certainly didn't miss breakfast! I have no idea where she was hiding, but glad to see her back.

Back to it...

Happy Sunday, ya'll!

 

[Mini Horses]

I spent 5 hrs on the tractor mowing Friday! Hot. But a little breeze made it ok. Was a good day, regardless. Now we probably won't get rain for weeks just to try to kill the darned grass....ain''t that the way? About 3 more acres to mow this week. Then some fencing issues to fix. Always something.

Glad your doe is ok. She probably found a cool spot and stayed there. Funny, I watch the skies for buzzards, LOL. Hey -- some days you just don't know.

PIGS!! Maybe you didn't have a big enough mud hole for him to relax, so went looking for an adventure. My 2 girls and one boar moving to another field in next 2-3 days. Gotta move some hog panels and them. Probably Tuesday job. We'll see what "comes up" that's more urgent. Gotta love a farm!

 

[creativetwinszoo]

Hmmm bacon!!!
Ugh your weather sounds like what we've been getting out here, its been varied 120's for a few days after we got back from a funeral trip and thankfully cooled down a bit! Make sure to keep hydrated as your working hard and take breaks! Won't do anyone good (especially you!) if you end up hurt or with heatstroke!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Just have to post a pic of the new pup.

Cowboy is a blast a minute!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Been a crazy, emotional week. My DD is having drama/trouble in her marriage. Lost her truck because "somebody" wasn't making the payments and she wasn't being notified.... So, Wednesday I went and bought her a truck (she will be making the payments!). Slight possibility that she will be moving back here for awhile - or equal possibility that she won't. Limbo sucks!

We'll be heading to her place tomorrow to deliver said truck and find out the details of her life. Might need a mama intervention.

Hasn't been a good week to be a goat here either.

I stink and I've gotta go to bed.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

[Mini Horses]

Be strong. Seems kids never, well -- been there. Bailouts are always emotional & costly, for everyone. Welcome to the "sandwich" generation. It is tough to juggle elder parents, grown (?) kids and your own life. The farm work adds responsibility but, often is the only release/quiet time/happy time you have.

I find that setting a few fence posts help. Pound that rascal into the ground!!! Or dig a hole!! I really, REALLY get behind the pounding!!!!!!!!! Releases a lot of tension I just got my 49 y/o son out of my garage aptmt this month, after 10 months!! Been a long year...........

Have another glass of wine