To Market, To Market

Saturday morning at the Globe-Miami Farmers Market. Of course I was up at 4 to feed little goat and do all the other chores. Then load up and go to market. 

I mostly had Goat Milk Soap and Lotion. Been just a little too busy this week to pick greens or pack up some plants. Maybe next week. 

Little goat was a big hit at market and there was no shortage of baby sitters. 

Came home, fed the baby, unpacked the car, took care of some paperwork, ate lunch, fed the baby, started to do chores when the storm hit. Why do monsoon rains always have to come at milking time.  I ended up milking with girls tied up in their pens. They were not thrilled with the change in routine and we had some spilt milk. 

Put away the milk, fed the baby, edited the video and went to bed. I’m baaaaad. I didn’t even wash dishes. 

Farmer Friday

Dreamed all night this little guy didn’t make it. I was almost afraid to touch him when I got up because it looked like he hadn’t moved all night. A little weak but alive. And after 1 1/2 ounces of milk pretty frisky. 

Doing the usual morning chores. And there are Midnight’s twins in with Chocolate and Gazelle. I put them back where they belonged. 

They did it again so I just put Midnight back in the pen. So far things are good. 

Got caught up on processing eggs, just 3 days behind. 

Little goat was hungry after his nap. 

Made deliveries to Superior. Did chores. Forgot to get a picture of Storm on the milk stand. One side of her udder was getting full and tight. Milked out a pint of colostrum for the bottle baby. 

Another pic just because. 😛

Not sure which one has longer ears! This is bottle baby’s brother. 

Dark thirty when I got done outside and even then probably forgot to water something. 20% chance of rain tonight. Fingers crossed. 

And a Crazy Thursday

Midnight’s boys doing fine. 

Storm’s boys doing on AM check. 

Went and got feed. Added some shade cloth to Storm and Esmarelda’s pen. Did the usual chores. Cleaned up and went to lunch with a family friend. It was 100° F at 11:00 am. By mid afternoon it was 110° and Storm’s boys were struggling, especially the little black one. So they got to come in the house and cool off. Midnight’s boys were panting a little but seemed ok. And all of the adults looked fine. 

Did the usual evening chores. It was still really hot but I put the kids back with their mom. Got milking done and checked on them. Little brown baby was up bouncing around. Little black one was going downhill fast. Just too hot. So he’s probably going to end up as a bottle baby. Part of the problem is he is still wobbly on his legs and having a hard time staying close to mom. And while mom doesn’t hate him she’s not paying as much attention to him as to the other one. 

One of Midnight’ boys found a way into the pen next door. I hustled him back to mom. Not sure what Gazelle and Chocolate thought. 

Stayed up late to make another batch of orange blossom lotion. Washed up milk things, some people dishes and lotion equipment. It’s 10:00 pm and barely under 90°.  I hope they are right that it will be cooler tomorrow. 

My Wild, Whacky, Wonderful Wednesday

First chore of the morning, hay the goats. Midnight’s boys are doing great. 

Major agenda item, fly control. Mocha, Latte and Posie share a small pen and they all pee in the same spot. Wet manure draws flies. All the wet bits get dumped in chicken pens. The chickens will scratch through it, eat some of the waste hay and pretty much all the fly larvae. I mucked out about 35 buckets. To say I’m a bit behind is and understatement. 

I cleaned the milk stand and the area around it. I put a good bit of lime down to help dry things out. While I’m loathe to use it loose I did scatter some fly bait just outside the pen. 

This little garden looks a bit sad. I’m not sure if it’s infested with nematodes or not.  A dwarf mulberry, two figs,  a rose and some random stuff in there. It might just need more regular watering. So I watered while I cleaned the goat pen. 

And an exciting find while I watered the potted tomatoes. 

Unmolded the soap from yesterday and made another batch.  I also made another batch of lotion. 

Storm didn’t get up right away when I took out afternoon hay. 

She was in labor. It was 106°. Fortunately we got a little bit of a breeze. And the sun was starting to go down. 

Twin boys. The little black one was first and didn’t have his legs in quite the right position. The front legs should both be extended so the kid comes out feet first with its nose resting on the legs. This guy had one foot barely under his chin. When I hooked that one and got it straight I realized his other foot wasn’t out. His leg was curled under and it was pretty easy to get hold of and then he just plopped right on out, followed quickly by his brother. 

The black boy is a bit smaller and weaker than his brother; he keeps doing the splits when he’s trying to nurse. So I held him up while he got his first drink. And at first Storm wasn’t too sure about this nursing thing. Amazingly Esmarelda hung out and seemed to just ignore everything going on. Of course she is most interested in filling her stomach. 

I went on and started milking (about 45 minutes late, everybody was hollering for their snacks). Almost done, I went to get more grain and the little black boy was laying all covered in hay dust, with his head turned back and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. 

In a terrified panic I ran in and scooped him up. Whew he’s breathing. But not very lively at all. Maybe too hot? Maybe didn’t get enough to drink?  I grabbed the bottle from the kidding box and since I was in the middle of milking I grabbed the warmest jar and poured some in. Once I got him to latch he ate with gusto and downed about 1-1 1/2 ounces. (Good amount for newborn!). 

Whew. Ok back in with mom but I’m worried you are going to get lost again since you aren’t as sturdy on your legs as your brother. Finish milking, feed chickens, fill water buckets. Get milk put away. Thaw some frozen colostrum and break a canning jar while I’m at it. 

Boil more water, get out more colostrum, wait for it to hit 100°

Talk with my friend, another goat keeper. She reminds me some B complex might help. So prep a syringe ( it’s an injectable).  It’s after 8 and full dark. Go out with my headlamp and sure enough little guy is separated from brother who is sleeping and mom is eating hay. Sigh. He just keeps falling down and the pens slopes so he ends up down hill. Not interested in the bottle now, hopefully that means mom has fed him some more. A little B12 by mouth and a B complex shot in a teeny little hip. Put him over with brother and mom comes to snuggle up with them and chew her cud.  Fingers crossed we’re good in the morning.  A cup of tea, finish writing this and now it’s waaaay past my bedtime! 

Zzzzzzzzzz

Tuesday 6/14/2022

A lot of Tuesday was the same as Monday. Up at 4:00, outside by 5:00. Feed, water, check babies. Mmm we think Esmarelda is pregnant after all. Her udder has begun to grow just a tiny bit so at this point I’m going to guess early August. 

Baby check. 

The flies have been horrendous and while the stinky traps work well they are expensive. So I bought bait crystals. Yes they are poison, especially to invertebrates ( relatively low toxicity to animals and humans) so I really don’t want to just toss them everywhere. Experimenting with DIY bait stations to keep it dry. A plastic jar with windows cut out. We shall see. 

Milking time. Midnight was first and after talking with one of my goat keeping friends her udder is probably fine and unless she develops symptoms not likely to have mastitis. The we milked Posie and now it’s Mocha’s turn with Posie and Latte looking on. Bambi goes last. 

I made a batch of Lavender soap and an experimental batch of Orange Blossom scented lotion. And now I’m too tired to do the dishes. Well they aren’t going anywhere and I’m going to bed. 

Monday Monday

Oops that’s a bit blurry like my eyes at 5am. Forgot to mention yesterday that I dismantled a chicken tractor in the front yard and moved it to a fallow garden space. So this morning I moved the oldest chicks in, been trying to get this done for 2 or 3 weeks now. Then in the afternoon I moved some chicks from the house to the big brooder coop. 

I salted and put away the cheese 

Cooked some duck eggs and ate my egg and cheese burro while I 

Watered the potted plants so they don’t die. Got done just in time to leave for work. 

It was 95°F when I got off work so after checking on everyone I set up and made a batch of Goat Milk Lotion with Lavender essential oil. 

Then washed up and made a batch with Lilac. 

After washing up some more dishes I took the goats their afternoon hay and did a baby check. The twins are doing good. 

Storm is due Sunday but could go earlier. It is a full moon, after all. 

Esmarelda says Hi. 

Did the usual afternoon chores, feeding, watering, collecting eggs, milking goats. Washed up milk equipment. Labeled all the lotion. Time for bed. 

Sunday is Just Another Day

Up at 4:30 outside at 5:00 to hay the goats. Started a batch of soap and started laundry to wash. 

The cheese I set last night is ready to drain. 

Shade cloth up but I ran out of zip ties. 

Found a chain for the gate. 

Hung out the pile of udder washing rags I washed earlier 

Took hay to my buck Bentley who is staying at my friends house for now. He got a hoof trim while I was there. Realized I was missing a meeting at work. Went anyway because I need zip ties. Meeting was over of course. Realized I had no cash and new debit card hadn’t arrived yet. So go home for $, go back and also get feed. 

On the way home. It’s not even 10:00 am. It was actually reading 100 down on the highway. 

Check on goats. Got a big piece of tin off the back of the pen so they have more airflow. Water goats and chickens while I’m out there. 

Get to taste a White Marseilles fig for the first time. Yummy. Thomas Jefferson brought them to the US from France. 

Finished this batch of soap. Unscented with colloidal oatmeal. 

Check weather. Supposed to rain next weekend. But we have already exceeded the predicted high for today by several degrees. 

Afternoon heat check. Chocolate (in back) and Gazelle are fine. I have decided to move Gazelle along so message me if you want to know more. 

Got the chèvre draining. 

Put away all the milk things I washed last night. 

Had toast and cheese for lunch. 

Went out and checked on everyone again, filled up water buckets, wet down shade cloth and of course played with baby goats. 

Feed & water chickens, pick up eggs. Get ready to milk. Midnight’s udder feels hard so I coax her the milk stand by carrying her twins. So then Chocolate and Gazelle are yelling because they want to go too. Midnight has the tiniest teats ever!  They’ll get bigger but it was hard to get much milk out of her. She did super standing for her first milking and after they went back to their pen her boys were nursing. I hope that relieved some pressure. I’ll check her again in the morning. 

Bambi is last in the milking line and I decided to move her and Bashful in together in the new pen. Bambi isn’t very nice to Esmarelda, always butting her around. I’m afraid if Storm and her kids get in the way the kid would get hurt. Anyway took some coaxing and manipulating with a pan of grain to get Bashful in. Bambi immediately began yelling and testing the fence and gate. Cross my fingers I did a good enough job. 

I grabbed my clippers and trimmed some tree branches to give them something to do. But there was still a lot of yelling even past dark. On the other hand Storm and Esmarelda didn’t seem too concerned that Bambi didn’t come back to their pen. 

By the time I brought the milk in the house it was going on full dark. So I filtered milk, washed up all the milk things, a few people dishes, got a bath and went to bed.