Growing Little Ones!

First off, I am sorry that I am just now realizing that I didn't post about this sooner! These precious little ones were born on May 30, 2015 (the first one hundred degree day of the year), to Lone Star South MsMcallie and Jaune Ranch Pygmies Powerstroke. As of this morning, they are 16 days old. The little buckling (more silver of the two) has been larger all along. Here is today's update on weight...

This morning, the silly little family HAD to have the fresh pellets, not the ones the knocked over last night. 

This is the little doeling i the weighing bucket. She is so sweet and loves to cuddle! 

I don't know why I cannot get this photo right side up, but weight today is 3 lbs 12 oz. Late last week she was 2 lbs 4 oz. So while she is markedly smaller than her brother, she is still growing.

And here is the little buckling. When they were last weighed, he was at 3 lbs 14 oz. 

This morning, here he is at 4 lbs 14 oz. Oh, goodness, he will be a big one!

We had been supplementing the little doeling with additional milk early on, when she was having trouble i the heat of the day. At this point, she hasn't wanted the extra milk, though we continue to offer it. Both little ones are eating some hay, and enjoying the crumbles from mama's hay pellets.

Such a treat watching them grow!

Obediah's Adventure

One of the things about being a farmer is cultivating and growing things, only to let them go. This is certainly true about breeding livestock. We work with the best livestock we can find, and do our best to match them with others who will complement them in the best interests of the breed standard and future generations.  Some, we train to visit nursing homes and schools, some are show animals who are also breeding stock. Some of the little ones are sold as show animal projects for 4Hers, or as breeding stock for other farms.

One of the hardest things we do is to say goodbye to these friends who are certainly a part of our farm family, but in order to move forward with our breeding goals, or to function as a farm, we have to say goodbye and let them move on. Some animals will grow old with us, like the rather senile and goofy Treasure, or Huey who happily lived out his years with us. This fall, Obediah moved on to another 4-H family.

Obediah loved being an uncle and cousin at Patriot’s Dream, but he loves to go to shows and meet people, too. Since Bailey has been working more with the therapy animal program, he wasn't getting to do as much of the travelling and visiting and showing that he loves.   Obediah moved on to live with friends of ours, where he will be shown in 4-H and is doted on by four youth and their parents. He has also become buddies with a miniature horse named Frankie.

When Obediah first moved, it was a big change for him. He had never seen a miniature horse before! Within a week, though, they were teaming up to pull pranks and sneak into the chicken feed. While this sounds crazy, pranks are a hallmark of the pygmy goat personality, and let us know he was settling in just fine. The family’s neighbors had somehow no idea that a goat and horse lived there.  I find this quite surprising, since Obediah had long known to come running when called\. This means that anytime we stop by. or anyone comes through the yard and says Obediah, he runs to the gate of their pen talking and demanding an ear scratch!

At Patriot’s Dream, we free feed alfalfa pellets, so that there is always food available. So Obediah has never worried for food, he would just go get a mouthful when hungry, then go back to playing with his buddies. Some of you likely know that this doesn’t always work with horses, and Frankie gained weight having Obediah around. So he new family put the boys on a feeding schedule.

Frankie takes his food very seriously, and Obediah takes fun pretty seriously, so he started dragging the feed bucket while Frankie was trying to dig in! Obe’s new mama asked whether he was being a bully, or something was going on. They had already asked that anytime we were by, Bailey check and make sure he wasn’t getting too chubby or skinny with the adjustment to life in his new home.

It turns out Obediah had lost a little weight with this feeding schedule thing, so how were they to up Obe’s feed without letting Frankie get too fat? These are the moments that my friend Kate talks about being a flock or herd social director! We came up with a plan of stashing some pellets in a spot where Frankie could not get tot hem, but Obediah could get them anytime. Unfortunately, either Obediah was helping Frankie get tot hem, or something else was off kilter there, so Obediah’s new family as giving him extra a couple of times a day by himself. Frankie isn't too sure about this notion, but Obediah loves the extra attention, so there is a good bit of attention for the animals to keep everyone happy!

Another thing Obediah is loving about his new home is that there are several chickens who wander his pen every day. He and Huey used to let chickens ride around on their heads. After hawks moved in to the field down the road from us, we had to keep the chickens under a much closer guard, where they are only free ranging under supervision. So Obediah is enjoying have chickens around again, he loves anyone to play with. Before he left our house, he gave some young Polish pullets a ride...

So as much as we would love to have our animals with us forever, for others to enjoy the love and fun of goats, there have to be breeders, and for the animals to have full lives, they need homes with devoted families. And we are glad that Obediah has found a special one. I heard someone talking that they will be looking for a friend for him, too…

Playtime for the Little Bucks

Sometimes, you just have to rest up for the fun, right? 

After a nap in the computer chair, followed by a bottle or two,   Patriots Dream Let Your Light Shine was ready to go back out to play with his friends in the buck pen.

Obediah believes that playing turtle with parts from a plastic house is th best game ever. Second, in his opinion?  Hide and seek with the same thing!  Still, he is a good uncle and plays head but softly with the young bucklings too.

Daddy Powerstroke let's them play balance on his back, but I can't seem to get a picture of it!

Funny how they don't want to have their photos done with the fun stuff, as soon as I pick up the camera, they stand up and stare at me! 

Playtime With the Big Boys

Shine is too old to play with the does now without constant supervision, but really loves to play with the big boys. Daddy Powerstroke is kind and cuddly, and Uncle Obediah is the goofy rough and tumble uncle. Bailey was working in the doe pen yesterday, and I was seeing to ,y grow out pen a nd geese nearby, so snapped these photos through the fence (they all just want pet if we are inside the fence, so from outside was the only way to catch the fun!

Obediah rears up on his back legs, and Shine rears up too. Then Obediah drops to all four a few inches shy of a head but, and lets Shine heat but him.

Obediah allows Let Your Light Shine to push him all over the pen, as though he is winning  a great wrestling match! Shine loves every minute of it, going like gangbusters, racing around and acting all goofy tough. They talk and ma and play in the cool morning hours with great abandon.

Here, Obediah allows Shine to shove him, shoulder to shoulder, moving in a circle like he is spun off balance by the little one. Shine really needs the time with other goats, Obediah and Powerstroke are really missing their old buddy Huey. The play time is really important for all of them!

Every so often, they take a short break for a snack at the hay feeder. The bog boys share one side, leaving the other for the little one to have room. Shine just thinks he is such a big boy like his daddy and uncle! He prances around in between mouthfuls, tail wagging and singing to us as if to say, "Did you see that? I am BIG!" You just have to love the youthful exuberance the little ones bring to the herd!

Baby Buckling Update- 8 Weeks Old

It is hard to believe that the precious duo is now two months old!

On Thursday, Bailey got their hooves done again, but they refused to cooperate to get on the scale on Friday afternoon. Here are some updated photos and their weights....

Let Your Light Shine is Mr Curious. Since he still spends about half of his time in the house, he is very comfortable inside. He has gotten into several capers lately, from trying to sneak onto the counter to steal cookie dough to jumping on Bailey's back to sneak a ride to

borrowing from Shadow Paws' book and sleeping with his head on Bailey's pillow.

Let Your Light Shine weighed in at 19.74 pounds, And he is trying hard to catch up to his brother!

At least we know all that milk is actually going somewhere!

He also loves a good ear scratching...

And chin scratching! He knows he has it good!

Freedom's prayer, his mama Silver's favorite, isn't too sure about the house though, so we had a harder time getting any decent photos!

He did ask to go out and return to his hollering mama from the get-go!

Freedom's Prayer weighed in at 20.6 pounds! Still growing beautifully, and while he really didn't show it off in the house, he is growing beautifully and maintaining the great looks that earned him the first title in his prospect buckling class.

Even if he won't stand still for the scale!

I do love the goofy look he gave here though!

We feel very blessed to have them doing so well and Shadow is loving have Shine in the house to play with!

Treasure

Hello, my name is Pawpawnin Double the Treasure, Treasure for short. I am an eleven year old (born 14 March 2003 to Amber Waves Double Take(sire) and Pippi’s Pygmies Princess Kresta(dam)) pygmy goat doe who loves to cause trouble and prank, well, everyone! I moved to Patriot’s Dream on 27 May 2007. I have a cute white belly band and a scur that curls in towards my head. 

Often when the humans come outside, I like to play dead then jump up and bleat in their faces- they freak out! When the other does are on the play castle, I like to get under it and drag them around until they are screaming and looking for a way down. I have two of my half-sisters on the farm, Glory and I share a dad (sire), while Silver and I share a mom (dam).

Being that I’m the tallest and longest of my herd, I make a better brood doe than show goat. My babies are often earlier developed, and more conformed to the score card, while I am not. I have delivered some champion babies, but now I am retired. I also prefer being a brood doe, playing with the kids is a great pastime. My nephew and I play and romp in the barn, he’s learning to prank the humans too! The others don’t appreciate me teaching him such things, but playful is in the description, they’ll just have to live with it. 

Saturday Night- Baby Buckling Update!

Saturday has become the day to try to look at the baby bucklings side by side, weight them and look at growth and health. So after we worked on the new doe barn project this evening, Bailey brought in Freedom's Prayer and of course Let Your Light Shine and we enjoyed a good bit of baby love.

The boys had been playing hard together while we were working. Coming in led to some sweet cuddling with Freedom's Prayer. Both boys love to nuzzle up under our chins, and sometimes they show their silly attitudes for the camera.

Freedom's Prayer definitely had the head and the thick muscling of a pygmy buck.He also has the attitude, though I think that despite the house goat/ bottle baby mentality, Let Your Light Shine does as well.

It is impossible not to enjoy them as little ones.

Well, of course there was time on the scale. Freedom's Prayer is growing by leaps and bounds, rather like he chooses to do everything as a pygmy goat kid! He weighed in this evening at 17.10 pounds!

That look seems to say, "Oh, yeah, I've got it!"

Then he was ready to jump out of the bucket on the scale and let his brother have a turn.

Let Your Light Shine is still a  good bit behind Freedom's Prayer, though he made significant gains this week himself! He now weighs an even 15 pounds.

Shadow Paws likes to hang out and clean up any drips when he is drinking bottles. Besides, the little guy is her only four legged house mate fter she lost her older brother a couple weeks ago.

I think Shadow Paws wanted attention of her own by the time all was said and done, because she took to goofy antics with a ball in the floor. Sometimes Shine will roll the ball to play fetch with her, but she was laying upside down chewing on it and making goofy faces!

That was a pretty big jump for both boys this week. At just over six weeks, we will see what happens next!

Always a Project to Keep Me Busy

This weekend was Charlie's Birthday. We packed up two cakes, and he picked up pizza, and we enjoyed the Arizona game with his Mom, Dad, Grandma and Uncle. Wyatt and Bunky were so funny about the scores up and down, of course we were rooting for our home team, my alma mater, but it was not to be. So we enjoyed sunshine cake and the family time and a good game anyway!

I got working on the garden Saturday afternoon. I have been wrapped up in pen building, seedlings, sprouting, baby chickens and baby goats and haven't gotten much done. Not to mention work and home schooling, right?  So I wet down a corner of the garden by the asparagus which just won't give up, got to pulling weeds (yes, it was the easier corner) and got the new blueberry and grape plants in.

The asparagus is just left of center. It always fights through a little on its own, but once I get things on track again it will come back I believe. Notice the hose? Cannot get the sprinklers o turn on, but we will work on that and until then I can get it done with a hose.

That is the little ten by four or so patch I got weeded. About one twelfth of the garden. Baby steps, right?

I really have my work cut out for me, though on Sunday, Charlie went in and burned a lot of the tall weeds so I can get to raking, pulling, and tilling faster.

The garden as a whole. Yup, lots to do. But it will get there!

The gander is being so very protective of his goose, who is sitting on seven eggs. They are an adorable couple. When he gets bored, he goes in and chases Shadow for fun, though, at this moment I had just changed out the feed and water in their regular enclosure, so he walked all the way back to where she decided to nest by the swing set, hollering for her all the way, and made her come back to eat.

I rather believe she just got up then to get him to pipe down and be quiet, though she does love the water when it is freshly changed each afternoon.

Shadow Paws is absolutely in love with the baby goats. She wants to be the babysitter, but we then babysit all of them, as this is her first time with baby goats. This little one had a hard time getting the suction going on mama, so we were syringe feeding for the first four days, trying a bottle but not getting anywhere. The other one only took a day, and this one had to go with us on Sunday so we could keep food in it. After a bath Sunday night, he took a bottle for me! Not much of it, mind you, but when his brother went out, and mama took him, and then this guy went out, his mama was climbing the pen gate to get to him, and he LATCHED ON! Thanks goodness!

He did get to visit the Sunday School classes at church, along with seven baby chicks, as they kick off the Easter units, and was a huge hit!  He did beautifully, and eventually we decided he on his name. But he evening, Bailey had both of their names.

So, introducing Patriot's Dream Freedom's Prayer on the left, and Patriot's Dream Let Your Light Shine on the right .

I also baked a large batch of egg shells. Did you know you can bake them at 350 degrees to kill any bacteria, then grind them up to add calcium to the hens' diet? Well, here is one batch!

Well, here we go, off to start another wild week as we get ready for county fair and the heat to set in. Hope things are beautiful where you are, and you are feeling all of the wonder of Spring!