Snowbelle's funny behavior

Snowbelle is a LARGE Saanen/LaMancha cross. Both she and her mother never climbed, never jumped up on things, never ever were light on their feet. Snowbelle is also still recovering from a Black Widow Spider bite that had reduced her activity level for quite a while.

Until yesterday. When I buy feed, I load it in the van so that if we actually get rain or a heavy due before I can transport the sacks to the barn, they stay dry. If they were in the bed of the truck, they'd get wet, and the feed could be ruined. Dan helped me unload the sacks, and the van was momentarily unattended as we emptied feed sacks into the large trash containers I use for mouse proof storage.

When we went back out, this site greeted us. Snowbelle was IN the van. She had to take quite a prodigious leap, especially for a non-jumping goat!

Funny Goat Story

February 2, 2012

On Wednesday, we drove the blue buggy out to the goat pen, as Lonnie wanted some time to tame the new goat kids, Hi-Ho Silver and Tonto. I parked the buggy facing the goat barn where we could see all the goats and part of the browsing lot. I gathered up the bucklings, and they settled onto Lonnie's lap.

Lemon (their dam) is getting into this mothering business, and she walked around the buggy grumbling that she didn't have full access to the kids. Last year, her first kid was kidnapped by another doe, and poor Lemon never got to act like a mother. She just went directly to the milk string after her colostrum cleared out. This year, after the first two days, she figured out that these two are HER kids, and she's quite attentive now.

I puttered around, putting out feed for the horses, etc., and then sat with Lonnie and the kids in the buggy. The calico cat came over and draped herself across the hood of the buggy.

Lemon was still stalking around mumbling goat curses under her breath. As she approached the front of the buggy, I watched her face, and her thoughts were apparent. I warned her, "Don't you dare bite that cat's tail." Ha. I should have saved my breath. She walked straight up to the buggy, reached her head up, and gave the cat's tail TWO sharp tugs!

The cat simply moved forward about four inches and settled back down. See why I say she's the goats' cat? She's completely tolerant of them and used to their goaty ways

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.

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!

CAE links

Click on each topic to go to an article:

What is CAE?

Effects of CAE on milk production

Lactation, Somatic Cell Count, and Production

Mammary gland as target of CAE

Goat disease research in Brazil

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.

John Dettling, Photographer, visits Quirky Goat Farm