I hung up a coarse push broom head in the goat shed. That was a great success! Dixie was "gettin' after it" as they say. She spent a good ten minutes just scratching her disbudding area. Her tail was wagging like a metronome. Umbra (Shadow) carefully watched mom, then took her own turn, but she wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Dixie.
The mastitis test was negative, so I've been just working with Dixie, using warmer water than before & massaging well. Also gently scrubbing the orifice to get the last of the plug off before I milk. It got gradually easier & easier to milk the left side out, so I relaxed about it.
Then, this weekend I milked out a leathery patch of dried milk, I guess. It was freakish! The milk just stopped flowing and I could feel some resistance. I rubbed her teat between my fingers to see if I could feel anything and there seemed to be a knobby thing near the opening. Not hard, but like I said, leathery, pliable. Eventually I was able to work it out and man! did she let loose with a kick from around the world. There was a tiny streamer of blood afterwards, so I cleaned her especially well & put on some antibiotic cream.
The next morning, again a very thin streamer of blood, smaller than the previous. It came out in the strip cup & there were no more after that first bit. I discarded the milk, just to be safe. That evening, I got bright and decided to use a jar to milk, save the milk from the right teat and discard from the left. There was no streamer, clots or anything abnormal thank goodness.
So yeah, it looks like we're back on schedule, Dixie's mood is improving now that we've worked that out. She hasn't kicked since that leathery patch.
I got my wether back. He did a wonderful job of cleaning up the friend's fenceline but man was he happy to see his friends again.
When my friends brought him back, they stayed for a little while and M decided to check the beehive. He had gone to pick up a hive, so he still had all his equipment. They have built comb all through the box, only 1 frame was unfilled and they were finishing up the next to last one. He got stung once on the arm, since he wasn't wearing his suit, but no biggie. He did go and get the smoker after that though. Looks like lots of brood and honey yay!
On the rabbit front, Mommy 1 is still rocking along, her babies are now eating & drinking water, in addition to nursing. I think it won't be too much longer before they are weaned, but I'll leave them in with her until she starts kicking them off. They really enjoy moving into the tractor during the day, we rotate mom & babies, then does, then a buck. Mommy 1 has started hopping right to me when I open the door to put her out for the day. On the off days, the kids pull up grass & weeds & give them a bit of the kitchen trimmings.
Mommy 2 lost all of hers, we will give her another chance once the heat settles down. The others are separated from the two bucks, who both have their own cage. I can't decide which one to keep. I've thought about giving each doe a chance to breed, but good grief that would be a lot of bunnies, not to mention cages.
We culled #3 on Friday and let it sit in the fridge until Sunday, marinating in some lemon juice & seasonings. Then DH basically did a roast type thing in the crockpot. Lots of veggies, broth, cup of red wine and a ton of rosemary. Seriously, like 4 tablespoons. It was AWESOME!! Tender, juicy and very flavorful. And practically FREEEEEEE
What got DH was the smell of the meat. It was sweet. He had to demonstrate to everyone that showed up that weekend. "Here! Smell! This is NOT grocery store meat!"
I have sold 2 of the babies, and DH mentioned he might make a few cages since ours turned out so well.
I harvested our first garden bounty this weekend too. One big zuchini, 2 very nice yellow squash and potatoes. I planted some potatoes from the grocery store that had sprouted (yes, we still eat potatoes, just not as often or as many) Something had started eating one variety, I don't know what, but the sprouts died after several weeks. I dumped the buckets & rumaged through the basket & came up with enough potatoes for 2 meals for our family. Woohoo!
We enjoyed the squash & zuc sauted with butter, onions, mushroom & bacon. Mmmmmm
The potatoes were eaten with garlic, rosemary, butter & a little milk. They were fabulous!
Make sure the pile is way from the fence, so you don't get escapees.
It's a shame that they have such an ignorant mother.
