Bambi Had A Swollen Jaw

 

Poor Bambi! Her jaw was all swollen up the other day. At first I thought maybe she had a bad tooth or something happened with her mouth, but she was eating and drinking fine. So I think what happened was she got stung by a wasp or bee, there have been a lot of them around the water buckets lately.

And now most of the swelling is gone, just a little hard knot right on her jaw. I think it will be gone in a few more days.

Just a Little Catching Up Part 1

 

Just trying to catch up a bit here since I haven't posted since Oct 2022. Things just got so crazy and I was trying to work on videos so this space was neglected. Trying to do better! This was how big Digger Dog was at about 6 months. He's even bigger today of course!

This video is from November; things have changed a lot since then!

In November I sold the 4 wether kids which helped the feed bill a bit.

In December Chocolate gave birth to a single doeling, Christmas Evie

And then Gazelle had twins

And a look back at 2022. I'm hoping to post a some more catch up posts the next few days and then keep up with at least a weekly roundup.

Security Improvements

Just as I was starting chores this morning I hear a goat kid hollaring in distress. And find Midnight and Chocolate have hopped the fence again. One of Midnight’s boys was hollaring because he couldn’t find mom. 

Got them back in and worked on changing out the pintles for the gate so it won’t fall off every time I open it. 

Then things began to get complicated. It looked like Chocolate was coming into heat. She was even trying to ride the little bucklings.  So I slipped her into Bashful’s pen and yep she’s in heat. So likely December babies to come. But in this pic you can see what happened later. Gazelle and Chocolate began fighting through the fence. They bent up a brand new cattle panel. Mostly dented from Gazelle’s side. 

So I found a metal beam from an old shed we tore down and wired it right across where they were butting heads. That seemed to put a stop to it. 

Stopped to unload the car and clean up the driveway to get ready for hay delivery. I scored this cool packing crate yesterday. With some legs and some beefing up will make a great hay feeder It’s about 6.5’ long and about 2’ wide. 

But it’s longer than this little roof so started to add on. I got the T post set and another pallet put in place and was scrounging around for some long enough 2x4s to make the roof wider when Gazelle started pounding the fence so had to stop and fix that like I explained before. 

Puppies are like toddlers. When it gets too quiet you better go check. In this case Digger was just napping in his mud hole. 

I did work over here where they are hopping the fence. 

I found a long board to add in. I meant to cut some weed trees to put in the gaps but by then it was getting really hot.  It was 81°F at 5:00 am and by 10 it was miserable. 

I did manage to change out the biggest pad on my cooler. That by the way is a blue pad.  It was so clogged up with lime no air was getting through. Hopefully I’ll get the other 2 sides done tomorrow. But changing out just one side made a big difference in air flow in the house. 

Went to feed the bottle baby at noon and Digger decided he needed to cool off in the goats water. Of course I had to clean and refill buckets after that. 

And at milking time the storm rolled in. I got Posie milked ok and then Mocha and I got soaked   I didn’t even strip her out like I usually do. But that’s ok since she’s still nursing Latte. 

Then I put stuff in the shed and ran to the house sopping wet. Dried off and changed my shirt. Waited for the storm to pass and finished up milking. Fed Digger and the bottle baby. Trying to decide what to have for dinner. Something simple.  I’m too tired to think. Good night. 

More Heat and Humidity

Got outside before daylight to move some more chickens around. 

Worked in a garden spot pulling out Bermuda grass and some weeds. Planted a fig tree from my friends. Forgot to take a picture but also planted out a row of chives. This area is fruit trees, flowers and herbs. It’s been a bit neglected and areas that didn’t have permanent plantings were super dry. So I made some furrows and watered heavily. Have some more plants and seeds to put in once the ground is actually wet. 

I have NO idea how the tarantula got in the bathtub. Caught it in a jar and put it back outside. 

Digger is growing!  

Ever feel like you’re being watched 

Did all the usual chores and ran some errands. Found a new pair of pants in my size (30x30s are really hard to come by) and scored a cool packing crate that will make a nice hay feeder. 

And in other news Chocolate *may* not be pregnant after all. Because today it looked like maybe she was coming into heat. Bashful certainly thought so!  He was talking to her all afternoon. 

While not quite as hot as a few days ago it was just as humid and miserable and still no rain. 

And good night 

Hot and Humid

The weather has been miserable this week, 105°+ and very humid with almost no rain. The heat has been giving me a headache in the afternoon. Today I even took a nap with an ice pack on my neck. However that has not stopped the goats. This morning when I moved Posie and Mocha to the hill pen I heard a noise as I was latching the gate and turned around to see Midnight hop the fence at that short spot. And Chocolate had followed her by the time I got down the steps. Put Chocolate back in just to have her do it again before I could get to Midnight. So quick I grabbed my loppers and cut some burro brush and stuffed it in the fence. Got the girls put back and was about on time for work.  

How I left them. 

They were still in when I got home. When I got up from my nap I cut and stuffed in some weed trees. Hopefully that will help. 

Got everyone fed, watered, milked. And that’s about all for today. 

Woot. It’s Done!

5:00 am. Good morning. Little goat. 

Storm and bottle baby’s brother 

Feed Digger his breakfast 

6:00am hay all the goats and check water buckets 

Feed the chicks. This year’s hatches were about 90% male 😒

Feed all the adults 

6:45am off to work. Back about 11:00. Feed me, the bottle baby and Digger. Fill some water buckets. Digger likes to drink out of the hose. 

Ran some errands. Came home and while it was hot it was cloudy so I got the gate set on the new pen. Moved Midnight’s boys in. I want to start separating them some during the day. 

They didn’t seem too concerned that mom wasn’t around and paid no mind to her hollaring   

Milked Posie and Mocha then Midnight. After milking I put her in with her boys. Then I went and got Chocolate and Gazelle. Then I milked Bambi and Storm. 

Chocolate is checking the fence out. I realized that I had forgotten to screw the pallets to each other and I hadn’t finished wiring one of them to the T post so it was wobbling. Got that done. And then it was dark. 

Ate some dinner and going to bed. 

PS. This should have posted on Wednesday but somehow didn’t finish upload

To Market to Market

Eggs

Goat Milk Soap 

Goat Milk Lotion 

Found a few small tomatoes 

Swiss chard

Had a lovely time at the Globe-Miami Farmers Market this morning. Sold out of some lotion scents. 

The goats cracked me up this afternoon. That’s Digger going to explore the hill pen. Bashful’s pen and Posie’s pen have line of sight to that area and they immediately began “telling” on him!

This afternoon made a batch of lotion and did some laundry and dishes then all the usual chores. And now, again it’s way past my bedtime.  Zzzzzzz. 

Wonderful Wednesday

The girls are still a bit suspicious of the puppy but are at least eating even if he’s in the pen, as long as he’s not noisy and doesn’t get too close. 

Early morning watering because I didn’t get here last night. I think I saved most of them. 

Today’s project, make this nematode infested garden space into a goat pen. 

I hauled a lot of the bigger rocks to add to this retaining wall. 

This boy is quite a water dog. 

And likes to play in the mud. 

I think I wore him out. 

Gazelle, the hay hog. 

The mmmm. Bambi, that bulge on your right side is mighty suspicious. (Goats rumens bulge on their left   Babies bulge on their right). 

Puppy is not sure he wants to come out. Tink the cat was just of the picture and he wasn’t too sure what to make of her. 

I did make progress on the new pen and got some more pallets to hopefully finish up the pen tomorrow. And of course did all the usual things… dishes, laundry, feed, water, milk, feed the puppy and the bottle baby and now it’s waaay past my bedtime. Good night