Tuesday, November 15, 2011

White Girls

Lily, doing what she does best, head in feeder. She will let me rub her tummy now, and she's starting to tolerate me touching her udder as I get her ready for milking in the spring. I think she might be bred. Will be doing a blood test soon.

Aster, who is learning the whole milk house routine. She has settled down quite a bit from the first couple of days where she ricocheted off the walls. She is in it for the cookies, as she doesn't eat much grain.

The dead part of Snowbelle's udder is starting to separate from the healthy part. I'm pouring a bit of iodine in the crack to prevent more problems.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Quirky Goat Farm - SOUTH

"The Office of Multiplicity" - formerly a two bedroom home built by Bohus Kubena and a couple of other Czech gentleman who used recycled lumber. It was rebuilt and remodeled by Lonnie and five of my former students.

The garage/storage shed next to my office. As you can see, it has issues with age, gravity, plumb, and level. It works to keep hay and lumber dry.


The Workshop - formerly known in town as "Joe's Place", a beer joint and domino parlor, owned by Alvin Svoboda's parents. Dan's dad drank many a beer there. Alvin gave me the building and I had it moved here, across the street from our house. Lonnie remodeled it and rebuilt much of the inside. We have lots of tools.

"The Blue House" - built approximately 1918. Dan's family moved into it when he was about three, I think. The house was built by the family that owned the town's lumber company at the time. We remodeled it after his mother passed away, adding a bathroom, new siding, double paned windows, etc.

Casa de Kaspar - built in 1979-80. This view is from the south. The house is L shaped, with the pointy corner facing north, and the open angle facing south to catch cooling breezes!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Sad day on the farm

There has been a problem with our herd queen's udder. Late in her pregnancy, her udder experienced quite a bit of apparent engorgement. She was uncomfortable, and hugely pregnant. I figured she was having multiple kids and didn't worry much. No fever, etc.


She has only half an udder, as she experienced an injury prior to my ownership of her. She's successfully raised twin kids for me each year.


She passed her health check for travel across state lines in April.


Shortly after our arrival here in Missouri, she kidded and gave us two beautiful Saanen cross doelings. The next morning, she was shivering and droopy eared and running a temp of 107 degrees. The vet was out of town for another week, so I called Yarrow, my go-to-rescuer. She helped out with meds and advice and support. THANK YOU, Yarrow. The doe's fever went down, and she became more comfortable except for part of her udder.


The remnants of the right side of her udder were enlarged and hard. It almost appeared as if she had mastitis in the 'blind side' of mammary tissue that remained. She has two areas of hard tissue, each about as big as a softball. She lies down only on the other side, with her right leg held up and out a bit so as not to press on the swelling.


She's not making her normal amount of milk, so I've been supplementing the doelings. They are both dam raised and bottle fed.


The veterinarian returned and came out today. He examined her carefully and we talked extensively about what I had seen and what had been done for her. He determined that the swelling is not mastitis, but tumors.


I'm completely flabbergasted.


She will be mom to these kids as long as she's comfortable. The tumors are already so large, that I don't think she'll be with us on the migration south to Texas in the fall.


She was one of our first 'real' milk goats. She's our herd queen, although she's not been acting in that capacity much lately. Her registered name is Bright and Beautiful Orange Ice, but we just call her Orange.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Due dates

Louise - in Missouri - February 2
Actual: February 7
1 doeling, 1 buckling

Lemon - February 12
Actual: February 8
1 buckling, stolen by Cocoa

Snowbelle - March 4
Actual: March 3
Vet assisted: 2 doelings, 1 stillborn buckling

Cassie - March 10
Actual: March 4
5 bucklings

Princess - May 5

Orange - May 8

Cocoa - May 17

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Goat diseases

C.A.E. = Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis
This is a serious goat disease. It is in the same family with the HIV virus.

In goats, it can cause arthritis, ruin an udder, or kill kids by attackinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the nervous system.
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Click HERE for more information about C.A.E.

Click on this link for an article that explains the connection between CAE in milk and positive tests in humans for HIV.

Info about CL, a disease that can pass to humans
Click here

Johne's Disease = a 'wasting' disease in cattle and goats. Has been linked to Crohn's disease in humans.

Click HERE for more information about Johne's.

Important links - Click on title of each item

Extensive goat care information.


How to disbud a baby goat (remove horn buds)


Disbudding video.

How to draw blood for testing


Using an elastrator to castrate bucklings


How to test for Mastitis

Milk flavor issues

How to tell if your goat has parasites

How to Trim Goat Hooves

How to use goat hobbles
Note: You can also get a curb chain (for a horse bridle) and use it in the same way.

Where to buy goat stuff

Milk Stand Plans

Click here for pic of milk stand modifications to make it more stable

Homemade Milker

The pump is a Durvet 65 ml Fixed Dose Pour-On Applicator. The syringe body is 35 cc with the threaded type needle end, but the needle is removed. The vinyl tubing came with the applicator (I only used half of it), and I used a small hose clamp and super glue jel to make sure the hose stays on the syringe body.

When in use, you are not constantly pumping the mechanism. After the milk starts to flow, it's pump....wait....wait....wait....wait....wait....pump....repeat.

I do finish out by hand, but that's usually just a tiny amount.

To clean it after milking, I run extremely hot water through it, then soapy water, then clean water. A couple of times a week, I run bleach water through it, too.

I am not selling these, just showing what you can make for about half of what they sell for.