More Posts

I know I'm posting an awful lot lately in comparison to usual, but I actually have more free time lately. It is so very nice to have some time to just relax, to spend extra time with the goats, and to get caught up on projects! In fact, right now I am working on a couple of belated Mother's Day gifts. One for my mother and one for my grand-mother. I didn't have any time Mother's Day week due to being a florist.

I am making them a couple of custom My Little Ponies. It is a popular hobby amongst some circles. You boil the ponies, pop off their heads, rip out their hair and rub off their paint with nail polish remover. Then you can either use the base color, or dye them. You can then paint designs on them and add clay pieces. Most people then re-hair them with higher quality hair than the original. I buy a very satiny, almost real feeling hair called "saran." It's a bit spendy but it is beautiful. I'll have to post some photos of them when I am done, even though they are not related to the goats or horses.

I thought I'd post a few more photos of Fae that I took today. She is now two weeks old and very bouncy. She is an extremely adventurous little kid. She spend most of her time in Poit's pen playing with her rather than with her dam, even though Poit is certainly no kid. But Poit loves her and tolerates her climbing all over the place.

As I said, she thinks Poit is the best play thing ever. I really love Fae, I just wish she loved me. She is terrified of me! Honestly though, I have spent very little time trying to play with her. I find that newborns need you to spend as much time as possible in that first week of life to be very accustomed to you. She was born at the worst time for me to give her that attention with the chaos of my job. And of course I had to disbud her before I had much of a chance to get her used to me, so now I'm the devil. To top that off, she had a very goopy eye yesterday. It was just covered in eye goop and glued together, so I took her inside and cleaned it up and flushed it, so she just figures I'm a beast who likes to torture her. Luckily it seems she just got something in her eye, because it is fine today. It was red and irritated last night and I was worrying about pink eye. Then my own eye tweaked out this morning and was weepy so I started wigging out that whatever it was could have somehow infected my own eye. Of course it was just my contact being mad at me and both Fae and I are back to normal in the vision department.

I have been talking to the owner of Bellafire about purchasing a jet black doe they have named Latifa. She had her listed for sale quite awhile back and I had asked about her then, but she decided she didn't really want to sell her and kept her. She put her back up for sale last week and let me know, but also said she was giving the breeder first shot at her. The breeder has not replied, so she has marked her on her website as "sale pending" to me. So I feel pretty secure in announcing that we will be purchasing this pretty doe. She is just beautiful, very dairy and angular. She will hopefully be bred to Goldenbrook Farms MR Fireworks, who is a beautiful, very wide and deep gold buck with blue eyes and moonspots. I've seen the kids from the exact same cross this year and they are stunning. I think a buck kid from her would be a very good prospect for me.

Bellafire NIC Latifa

(Poppy Patch Nicolodeon x Purple Camas Farm Zena)

She has a gorgeous udder. Apparently she does not like to show, at all, and she fights on the milk stand. Traci loves her but is very into the showing aspect and wants to find her a home where she can be a brood-doe only. I'm excited! I don't know if I'll be able to pick her up with my doeling out of Peggy or not if I want her bred because she may need a little more down time and I'd end up with kids in the middle of winter. But at this point I may end up with kids around January anyways out of Prayer, a doe I'm getting from Camanna. So I'm going to be having to set up some winterized pens in the barn anyways.

Bellafire ? - New Doeling

I just had to write another post with a couple of photos of my new doeling from Bellafire Farms. I believe she will be ready to come home in mid-July.

I LOVE her color. Those diluted, reddish markings are so wonderful! Look at her rear leg angulation. She already looks so level and long at only a few days old. She knows she is sexy, posing like that. Ha ha.

I disbudded Fae today. A bit late, but they hadn't broken the surface so I believe I caught them in time. Usually I will disbud doe kids from multiple births at a week, but singles always seem to be more developed at birth and need it done sooner. I always do bucks kid in three to five days after birth due to their horn buds already being so developed.

I got an email from Camanna today asking if I'd rather buy a couple more bred does in place of my kid reservations. I'm seriously considering it. I really like the first choice does I have selected but am not quite happy with my second choices (although they are all bred to the two bucks I really want kids out of.) It would be amazing if she would let me choose which bucks they were crossed on, and I could choose to breed one to Lucky and one to Monet. As long as they are both very nice does with nice, proven udders I would have options for a buck kid from either. Prayer is nice enough but I have only seen her first freshening udder and Moondoggie is too young to be proven as a sire yet to keep a buck kid out of the cross.

Jolie is already looking better! I shaved her almost two weeks ago and she looked pretty thin. She had such a shaggy coat this winter. I kept feeling her bone structure and it felt like she had enough fat cover, but she just looked so dang skinny after her coat was gone. She is also in a weird growth stage with her butt up in the air, so she looks really ugly right now. She was bred a bit earlier than I intended and I think her kids are bringing her down a little. Her FF udder is absolutely beautiful though. Near perfect in form and shape with a very respectable capacity for a first time mom. I moved her to my dad's house the day after I clipped her and upped her feed considerably over a few days. She is already fattening up and I hope she evens out over the next few months. She may be for sale in the future, but I want to give her a chance to mature some more before I decide. With that udder I would love to keep her in my herd. The only thing wrong with her conformationally is that her front end seems a little shrunken and is definitely downhill. If it is just a phase I believe it is something she can grow out of. She isn't quite a year yet after all.

-Jolie's udder 12 Hour Fill-

Can I RELAX Yet?

This last week was Mother's Day week. I'm a florist. It was hell. Mother's Day is pure insanity for a florist. People assume Valentine's Day is the craziest of the year, and it really isn't. I get wire orders over my computer from 1800 Flowers and I always have to shut it down one or two days before the actual holiday. I just run out of flowers and time. I end up getting three or four hours of sleep a night for five or six days and arranging flowers until ten at night. Normally I would get a good two week break afterwards, but I have a full schedule of classes my last term of college with the same professor and she is a slave driver (and a complete moron.) All I know is that this coming weekend I am just going to hang out with my horses and my goats and relax in the sun.

I got some photos of my boys all clipped up. I am very, very happy with how Gizmo is coming along. He is now registered as Tualatin Acres Opera Ghost. He has a white mask that reminds me of the Phantom of the Opera, one of my favorite movies.

He still has a lot of growing to do. You can see the wrinkled skin over his shoulders. It is really loose and it feels like a puppy that needs to keep growing into himself. He is nine months old, so I expect him to gain a little more height and fill out through his yearling year. He is uphill and has nice length and depth of body with a level top-line. His biggest fault is a lack of a brisket, which he gets from his dam, but if he also gets her beautiful udder genetics I'll be happy. He isn't really good at setting up, so I'm lucky he behaved this well. I think he was a bit tense and could have looked a bit better, but I'm happy with this shoot. He has super correct legs when viewed from the rear, perfectly straight in every way. I see so many bucks who at least toe out, such as Tomahawk. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to show him (or Tom) at the Megabucks show because of the holiday and my job. I don't know if I will get to show him this year, since all of the other shows I'm planning on are doe-only. In any case, I am ridiculously excited about his future kids! Plus he is a loving little doll.

I was able to get a good photo of Tomahawk. He looks much nicer than he did going through his funky growth stage. Yet there are some things I don't like about him. I love his length of body, which really doesn't show well in this photo. He is uphill and very sharp over his shoulders. His dam definitely improved on his sire, but you can still see his sire's major faults in him. Mainly a lack of rear leg angulation and a steep, kind of strange looking rump. And then there is the fact that he toes out behind. Not much, it is very slight, but it still irks me. His dam has a pretty nice udder and I think he is a good herd sire for someone with plenty of does strong in his weak areas...but I just don't think he is right for my herd. I have several very nice does coming in and hopefully a new buck kid soon. I don't have room for too many bucks, so I am selling him.

Sherry gave birth on the very first of the month. I was honestly not expecting it, but then it is hard when you have no clue on a due date. The evening before, her ligs were pretty mushy but still there. I figured she would go the next day some time, but wasn't concerned about that night. She still had some filling to do in her udder as well. I clipped up her udder and when I put her away her ligaments were tighter. I got up in the morning and stepped out on the deck and saw a kid in the pen. I immediately wondered how Westley got out. I had put Jolie's kids up for the night with Dakota's kids so she could fill over night. Jolie's kids were continuously in Sherry's pen and the little kid was just as big as he was and marked similarly. I then realized the colors were off and ran down to the pens. Sherry's ligs were coming back and she had passed the after birth. The kid was already dry and bouncing about and half of Sherry's udder was deflated from being nursed on. She gave me a single doeling. I was surprised by a single out of a doe that had quads every single year, but was very happy for a little girl. She is absolutely gorgeous. Level, dairy, elegant, beautiful legs...I'm just beside myself over this girl. And with dad's flashy white to boot!

I have been calling her Fae. The first thing she reminded me of was an elf with her huge ears. You can't tell in this photo, but they are like airplane wings. I thought elf sounded dumb, but fairys are pretty and have pointy ears. So Fae it is. I think she will be Roc N Ewe Faery Lights if I am correct about the ranch name that needs to be used. Definitely my most exciting keeper of the year.

Lady is growing like a weed. All of Dakota's kids are. They are six weeks now, and only a couple of weeks until two of them go to new homes.

These kids are great examples of what Tomahawk can produce when crossed on the right does. Lady is long and level and very refined. I adore her pixie-like little face.

-Dakota's buck kid, Tramp, says hello...-

My first reservation of the year panned out in a beautiful doeling. She is such a strange color, but I'm ecstatic. She is a traditional buckskin, yet the black markings are diluted to a dark red. She literally looks apricot colored. It is very awesome. She was my second choice doe, but now I'm very happy when hearing about her udder that my first choice doe didn't work out for me. I have at least a month to wait for my next reservation to kid. I've also been offered a pure black doe bred to a gold and white buck with moon spots and blue eyes. I definitely plan to accept should she decide to sell to me. At this point it is tentative as she hasn't made a final decision. She also offered to allow me to use the same buck to cross on a few of my does, which would be more than amazing. If it all pans out, I will have photos next post. I should have pictures of my new doeling in the next week.

And some clipped photos of Sherry. Now this is the evening before she kidded. So she is starting to get posty and is dropping out her rump, although its not super noticeable in this photo. I am very happy with this doe. She may have an old school, blocky head, but I like her build. She has great capacity, a smooth top-line is uphill and she is wide and deep. She also has a very nice udder, although I will have to work at it to get it full to capacity. She only had a single and I haven't milked her at all yet, so her production isn't very high at this point. She is really lacking in the brisket department, but she is a very nice girl. I'll breed her next year, hopefully to the gold and white buck I mentioned. After that she might just turn into a very friendly pet as she will be an older girl.

SUNSHINE FEVER!

GOATS:

I'm sorry, I can't contain my excitement over this glorious sunshine! The wet weather leaves me fretting over mud constantly. Normally I buck it up and deal with the mud, it is unavoidable at certain times of the year. But new babies and mud just do not mix well with me. I feel like they can be so fragile their first couple of weeks, I don't want any little thing to be less than optimum to give them the best start. Pearl's kidding was the worst as her babies came the very end of February when it was still snowing up here. I was terrified of them becoming chilled while afraid the heat lamp would break and burn the house down.

Dakota's kids are flourishing. They had a little diarrhea today, but only minor. I'm fairly certain it is due to the fact that they have discovered how yummy mom's grain is this last week and have been trying to get into it. I think they pigged out a little much the last couple of days. I decided this evening to move mom to her overnight pen before giving her any grain. She gets some at night and in the morning while on the milk stand. This way the kids won't have anything but fresh hay and mom's milk and a few little nibbles of grain I give them while doing evening feedings. I will treat them for cocci anyways. I always do a preventative at this time.

They will start to get a small, regular ration at six weeks and be up to my normal kid ration at eight weeks at which point they will finish their weaning. They are with mom all day and alone together at night. At six weeks I will only leave them with mom for half a day, at seven weeks I will only let them be with mom for a few hours in the afternoon, and in the eighth week they will only get an hour with mom a day. This entire time their grain ration will go up as time with mom goes down. By the end of that eight week they will be ready to go to new homes and will be on a good diet of hay, alfalfa pellets and a little grain.

Some photos of Jolie's kids at a week old!:

Firelight Ranch TH Poppet

This is the doeling. She is very elegant! You can't see the levelness of her topline in the first photo, but I wasn't going for any good conformation shots this time around. I love the little speckles around her right eye.

Viking. He is already reserved as a wether. He looks odd in the first photo because he is lifting his left hind leg. He is such a ham and a sweetheart. He was dis-budded today and was a bit resentful I think.

I have been having a lice problem since I brought my new doe home from California. I don't know if she brought them with her or what, but I know goat herds get them from time to time. I kept spraying everyone (and everything) with Permectrin II as per the dilution instructions, but it just wasn't happening. So I decided to just fill a bottle with half water and half pesticide and those little buggers just dropped off my goats. I even used it on the newborns and it didn't negatively effect them, though I was worried even with many reassurances that it was safe. I'm very pleased with the stuff ad long as you use plenty. I'm so happy they are bug free!

The first show of the year will be here in only two weeks! I am freaking out a bit because that is Mother's Day weekend, and I am a florist. I'm planning on getting all my deliveries done Monday through Friday and being closed on Saturday. So hopefully I won't be too run down the morning of the show. My boys are still being little brats about leading and setting up, so I am going to work with them hard every night for the next two weeks so that we are good and ready to go in the ring. Gizmo is still a midget. I hope he isn't too much smaller than the others in his age group. Here is to some great placings!

HORSES:

I believe I mentioned that I sold Romeo. If not, I sold Romeo. It's been probably a month now. I miss him. If I knew he was in a good home I'd be at peace with the decision. Its not that I think he went to a bad place, the people seemed knowledgeable and in love with him....I just haven't heard from them or gotten any updates. I've been lucky with my other "baby". He is a grey Arabian gelding with a really cool "blood marking" on his face.

This is a photo of him at his new owner's place awhile ago. It's been several years since I sold him. The woman still owns him and loves him to death. She swears she would never part with him for the world. There is always the possibility that she will have to sell him, but she truly loves my baby to death. Shahn was one of the horses I was very attached to, and I cried when I put him on the semi truck to send him to California. I'm so fortunate I can keep tabs on him and see photos of him as he goes through life.

I wish with all my heart that I could have kept in touch with the people who bought my first horse. I was seven when I got him, and he wasn't even two. He was a light dun pinto with a black and white mane and a big spot on his neck. He also had appaloosa spots on his rump. I learned to ride on a green, skittish horse. I got dumped every way imaginable, ran off with, drug, rolled on, bucked off....all with that horse. And more! But I had him until he was eleven and he was dead broke by that point. The people who bought him belonged to my 4H club, and the girl was my friend. But her mom was insane and decided that everyone in our club was "evil" after we told some dirty jokes at county fair and forbid her to speak to me. That horse was always easily fat when I owned him, but they nearly starved the poor thing and I have no idea what became of him.

Tequila, was a bay Morab I had for six or so years. That horse was like a puppy. He would do absolutely anything you asked him to. He had the biggest heart and the biggest try. He knew when little kids and beginners were riding him and babied them. If you started slipping he stopped immediately. He tried big jumps for me even though he was scared. He swam in irrigation ditches, slid down mountains and could bow, count and say yes. I could ride him bride-less and bareback over jumps. I am still convinced there will never be a better horse. I sold him to a little girl when I decided to show registered Arabians. She sold him shortly after when she lost interest and I have no idea to whom. I heard someone bought him and put him out to pasture the rest of his days, but I don't know if that is true. I wish I knew.

I've had a lot of horses, dozens and dozens, but those three are the only ones I was very, very attached to. I was also attached to Romeo. I had him for over two years, since he was just a fresh weanling. I broke him and we spent a lot of time together. He is a ham and a doll who has nothing but love for people. He has never been given a reason to fear humans and he put all his faith in me. He was stubborn and lazy at times, but he always listened to me. I will have to see if I can't convince the buyers to send me some photographs.

Calypso is due in as early as two weeks! She is on day 303, which gives her seventeen days until the lowest average of 320 days. Although I have seen plenty of maidens who go from day 315. She started bagging up quite early, so I figured she would be closer to the 320 rather than the later average of 340. Today she looked liked she had dropped some, one side of her croup area is starting to get mushy, her udders are tighter than ever, and she is losing muscle and resistance in her tail. Her vulva hasn't lengthened and the lining is still a normal pink, so I'm sure she'll hold out at least another couple of weeks, but I'm expecting a foal sooner rather than later. But guessing with horses is foolish. They are much more difficult than goats. Goats are easy in comparison if you know how to feel for ligs correctly.

-Calypso Last Summer-

Above is a photo of Calypso's babby daddy when he was at our place a couple of summers ago. He is homozygous, so I am excited for a little tobiano foal. He is a red dun. Calypso is a bay roan. I would love a bay dun or a roan foal.

Things Happening Way Too Fast!

Well, that is partially my fault. :) I have gone from two reservations this year to four for starters. I initially had a reservation with Bellafire Farms and one with Cammana. I still have those reservations, but have added two more from Camanna as well. Beyond that, my first choice doe from my initial reservation with her farm is bred to a different buck than in my previous post. She is bred to Dill's D Lucky Image, who can be found two posts back from this one. He is currently one of my favorite bucks being used by the farm along with Monet. I changed my second choices as well, but they are not finalized. My second reservation is a pretty gold and white doe bred to the same buck (Dill):

Camanna CS Ambrosia Gold

TX Twincreeks AB Cresendo x Suagar Pine MW Amaretto Cream

This photo really doesn't do her justice. She is just beautiful, and I love her color. Nabbing a kid that is a carbon copy of her in color and markings would be amazing.

Again, second choices haven't been finalized, but Arabesque is out of the mix. I'm focusing on does bred to Monet, found two posts back on this blog.

I am also possibly purchasing this doe, bred to a black and white buck with tons of moon spots:

Camanna ZH Say Your Prayers

Old Mountain Farm Zagnut Haze x Mountain Quest AE Molasses

The photo of her udder is her first freshening, and I have to say I'm impressed. First time udders are generally much less capacious. She is overall a nice doe and I am excited to potentially purchase her. The buck she would be bred to is Poppy Patch WL Moondoggie, a very long bodied little guy with nice udders behind him. She may be bred soon, but I may have to wait until late summer or early fall. She herself has some moon spots, and I am excited to be able to add more of these neat markings to my herd.

Sherry is definitely pregnant. I felt kicks today and she is starting to form an udder. Still unsure on her due date, although I am not guessing sometime in May. I think she probably has an entire month to go, but it is really difficult to say. I am so very excited that she is indeed expecting! Here is to at least one boy and one girl, because I have decided I will definitely be keeping a doe and a buck kid from her if she provides me with the opportunity.

Pearl kidded in late February with triplet bucks. Unfortunately, one was stillborn. He looked under-developed, with shrunken little eyes. He came first and I am certain he was the kid I felt sitting on her rumen. He was so evident up there that I am feeling he probably got head butted by one of the other does and killed in the womb. Unfortunate. I put her kids on bottles and sold her a couple of weeks after kidding. She was a more coarse type of doe and I was not very impressed with her udder this year. It was rather small while still well shaped. I have one of her daughters who retained all of her good properties while being improved on where her dam had weakness by the sire. One of her buck kids was sold on the bottle, the other succumbed to what I believe was Floppy Kid Syndrome. Both he and his brother were being fed the same exact way, and his brother was just fine. Yet he collapsed one morning. He bounced back with supportive therapy to completely normal behavior to simply crash again and die. The vet out here was absolutely no help. He just shrugged and told me he had no clue how to deal with sick goats. It is so frustrating to be on our own medically! I have enough medicine to start my own pharmacy!

-Poor little Louis about a week before he passed.-

The remaining buck kid is doing great with his new owner and will be coming back to see me in May to get castrated.

Dakota also kidded, the last few days of March with quadruplets. One was so very, very tiny. She couldn't breathe correctly and died quickly after finally managing to latch on to mom and take her first drinks. I think she aspirated the milk. The remaining kids are vibrant and healthy, two does and one buck kid. The buck is already reserved as a wether along with one of the does. I am retaining the littlest girl. She has such a dainty face, she almost looks like a little alien. She is a carbon copy of her sire as far as coloring. I can't see a thing wrong with her, she is just that perfect. I will have to take some new photos of her now that she is completely unfolded and sure on her feet.

1 Day Old

3 Days Old

I already sent in her registration forms. Her pending name is Firelight Ranch Lady in the Water.

Her sister is pending as Firelight Ranch Compass Rose.

1 Day Old

3 Days Old

I have been calling the little boy Tramp. He would make a great buck, he is looking very handsome but he will also make a great little pet.

And yesterday morning, Jolie kidded as well. She had a very smooth birth with twins. One buck and one doe. I'm really lucking out on does so far, besides the first birth. I really want at least one girl from each of my next two kiddings. Poit is enormous, so hopefully she has enough in there to give me a good chance of girls. I am so nervous about her kids though. I was warned by her breeders that her first kids were unhealthy and died. I am relying on a hunch that she was simply malnourished as were her kids, but I don't know how I will deal with it if she produces a bunch of dead or sickly little kids. Sherry supposedly produces quads every single year, so we shall see how that goes.

Firelight Ranch TH Poppet

Jolie's Doe

1 Day Old

Viking

Jolie's Buck

1 Day Old

It has been so long since I updated this blog that I have had three kiddings! Poit and Sherry are my last two, if Poit is indeed expecting. If not, she is morbidly obese and needs a serious diet. Her tummy is so tight, I can't feel for kids in there at all, and she isn't forming an udder yet. Her pooch is very tiny but looks suspiciously bred. I have never had so much trouble determining pregnancy in a goat, so it is a wait and watch game. My mare is due very soon as well and Mother's Day is the first week of next month (and I'm a florist, it is like D Day) so May should be a sleepless month for me.

I've calculated my doe count for 2012 after I count all my current animals as well as the doeling I retained from Dakota and my reservations. 10. If Sherry and Poit give me girls and I keep one from each I will have 12. Although if Poit gives me crooked legs on hers or sickly babies, she will be sold as a pet, and that will keep me at 10 should I retain a doe from Sherry. With my two bucks plus a potential from Sherry as well that puts me at 12-15 goats! I think I will keep Tomahawk if he does well at the Megabucks show in a few weeks. I plan to take him to one in Red Bluff in May as well and see how he ranks. I should at least see how a couple of his daughter's udders turn out before I decided to sell him. I'm quite impressed with his kid's so far. I have only seen the toeing out on one kid.

MORE....Cant....Stop.....Buying Goats!

Well..... I am picking up a new doe on Sunday (hopefully.) I stumbled across an ad on my local Craigslist for a herd dispersal of double registered Nigerian Dwarfs. So of course I went to the website for the farm and my jaw nearly hit the floor at the deals I saw. So I ended up putting a deposit down for a pregnant doe, due in April. I can easily recoup the purchase price from a single kid whether male or female. These are quality, fresh lines as well. Add the two doelings I am getting from reservations this spring and summer, and I should have a pretty diverse herd. Her name is Roc N Ewe K Sherry, pictured below:



(BRB Kakoakis x Roc N Ewe JM Sugar Shack)

The only drawback is that she is turning eight years old. She has a limited few years in the breeding shed, as I don't like to breed a doe past nine or ten. Nigerians can easily live to be fourteen or fifteen if you don't keep breeding them like goat factories when they are the equivalent of an eighty year old human. I think her worst flaw is lack of brisket, and she could stand to be more level out her rump and more dairy in general. She is a little "old school" in style. However, the buck she is bred to is strong in all of these areas, and Sherry is a long bodied, correct doe with sharp shoulders and good angulation. The owner claims she milks out well and always produces better than herself, making an excellent brood doe. She has also won one championship class as a dry doe. Her owner said that she has produced quads for the past few years and has never required assistance. Yes please!

Since I sold Val this month, I needed a new buckskin anyways. I had someone inquire as to if I had any does for sale. They wanted a 4H project, so I offered them Val, my last grade doe. She should have kids by Tomahawk in May as a first timer. She is missed, but I decided I needed to commit to a fully registered herd. I like to keep a lot of colors and patterns in my animals (although conformation, udders and overall quality are obviously more important) and I have fondness for buckskin. With my luck, however, I'll end up with a ton of buckskins. I want to retain a doe from Sherry, and she is a buckskin crossed on a buckskin, so my chances that all of the kids will be the same color are high (although dad has really fancy white.) My first choice from Bellafire is a buckskin. I am secretly hoping for a doeling that is the sire's neat color from that pairing. And my first choice doe from Camanna is also a buckskin. So I could possibly end up with not one new doe of that color, but four.

In any case, this is the buck that Sherry is bred to:



Little Dipper Big R Spender
PGCH Shooting Stars WS Ransom x ARMCH/CH Castle Rock Rainy Day Fund 2*D

He has two GCH and a RGCH. I love this buck. He is very refined, uphill and he has a great extension in his brisket, something most of my herd needs work on. His dam has a beautiful udder as well and I have seen pictures of his FF daughters that are quite impressive:

Dam's Udder:



I wonder if I shouldn't keep a buck kid from this pairing? I have been having my reservations about Tomahawk due to him toeing out...but decided to wait until I can shave his big furry coat and get him to the Megabucks show...and see how his kids turn out, before deciding whether to replace him or not. And then there is tiny Gizmo. He is so very small! He just doesn't seem to be growing. He has nothing wrong with him. No cocci or worm loads, he gets plenty of minerals and grain, etc. He is interested in ladies finally and is very correct and beautiful, just minuscule. I plan on bringing him up here next week to our new place to see if getting away from Tomahawk helps him prosper any.

We finished a nice roomy pen with two separate paddocks at our new house. Jacob never built me a shelter as promised, but I managed to acquire two massive dog carriers for giant canines and get a roomy kidding pen built with good cover from any elements. I want to bring Pearl, Dakota and Gizmo up Saturday. I will probably bring Sherry directly here as well. Pearl is getting ready to pop. She is due March 1st through the 3rd. Her ligaments are starting to sag and her udder is filling:



I'm not highly impressed this time around, but last year she tripled in size the day before she kidded, so we shall see what the final outcome is in concern to her udder. My bet is triplets, as I can feel and see one sitting on top of her rumen, and can feel one on either side of her rib cage a few inches behind her front legs. Maybe more? EGADS! I need to sell either her or Dakota this year. I'm pretty sure it will be her. I like her, and there are things about her build that I am impressed with, but I think there are more things about Dakota that I really like...besides her wicked personality and her propensity to destroy things. We'll take them both to a few shows and see who does better. That compared with how they both milk this year and how easily they kid will give me my answer (I hope!)

Deposits Paid!

GOATS:

I have my deposits down on my reserved doelings from Camanna and Bellafire. I am beside myself with excitement! I won't be bringing my Camanna kid home until August or October, so I have awhile to wait on that particular bundle of joy. My first choice will not be due until August, and my second choice is due in June. Ideally that will mean that the breeder will hold any doe kids from my second choice until weaning time, when my first choice will give birth and we will know if she is going to give me a little girl. I have some photos to post directly into my blog.

The girl below is Camanna CS Sweet Harmony, aka Glenda. She is my first choice from Camanna



She is of the type I really like and would like to incorporate more of into my herd. She is very refined and elegant with dainty bone. She is uphill with great length of body and perfect teats on a beautiful udder. I love her neck and her overall angularity and dairy character, just look at how sharp she is over her withers.

She is not being bred to the buck she was scheduled to when I chose her. I really loved that buck and was a little disappointed when I saw the change, but when I saw photos and bloodlines on her new date I was just as thrilled. He is just as stunning and comes from star studded Rosasharn lines. He is so very angular, dairy, uphill, level, refined and has stunning legs. There is nothing I can see in him that I don't love, and his family is chock full of amazing milkers! I also love that he is gold and white. I am bound to get some flashy kids from this cross. He can be seen below:



Rosasharn SP Monet
(ARMCH Rosasharn SW Soporro *S x ARMCH Rosasharn Tom's Bit-A-Lilly 4*D 2*M)

My second choice, Camanna TC Arabesque is here:



And she chose to cross her on Dill, who I loved and was going to be crossed on Harmony. So basically, either doe is bred to a ridiculously exceptional buck! I might see how my finances stack up in a few months and see how my bucks do this show season (and see if Gizmo grows anymore or shows any additional interest in girls), and I may just get a buckling from one of these girls!

Dill's D Lucky's Image:



The girls from Bellafire are due much sooner, so I am greatly anticipating their kiddings. My first choice is due May 2nd, Pholia Farm HB Macy Marie. She was sonogrammed with triplets the end of January. Her photo is below:



My second choice, Poppy Patch Peggy Sue (sonagrammed with three) is due the end of April to the beginning of May.



I really love both of these girls and their bloodlines, so I don't care which one I get a kid from. They are both bred to the same buck, and that is one of the reasons I want a kid from one of them as well. He is an amazing, incredible buck:



Rosasharn S Decoroso

With animals like this coming into my herd, I may start to stand a chance in the show pen! Pearl is due in about four weeks now give or take a few days and she is getting absolutely enormous. I still haven't gotten a goat pen set up at our new place, or a goat shelter or kidding pen built. I am planning to set up the pen on Friday, but I am relying on my best friend to build the shelter and kidding pen and he hasn't taken a single step towards building either. I might have to try and construct something myself or see if my father will give it a go. I have all the supplies ready and waiting.

Gizmo finally seems to be growing a bit. I am positive he is worm and cocci free (as free as a goat can be.) I have been dosing him with some vitamin gel and have finally convinced him to love grain over the last few weeks, so with the additional nutrients I hope he will catch up to the height he should be at. He still isn't interested in girls beyond sniffing rear ends and curling his upper lip, but that is a bit more of an interest than he took last month and he is still only six months old. I think that if I get him away from Tomahawk he might gain some confidence. I plan to bring him up here and let him hang with the pregnant girls until they give birth and then give him a pen where he can see the girls and feel like he has his own, undisputed harem. I feel like Tomahawk is pretty superior and might have let Gizmo know that all of the girls are his and little Gizmo accepts that.
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HORSES:

I took Romeo on his first trail ride! I started him in August I believe, and put ten or so rides on him from then until October. I hadn't ridden him since. I took him out to the trail area, longed him for only five minutes or so and did some ground work to check his responsiveness and attitude and hopped on. He didn't spook or flinch at a thing. He didn't even mind the giant fire helicopter practicing dumping water over the wild life area. The only thing he stared at warily was a downed tree, which he then walked around quietly. We even waded through a knee deep, wide puddle. I am very proud of my boy! Now he just needs to finish growing and fill out. He is going through another growth spurt and is super gangly.



~Romeo out on his first trail ride right before I mounted up.~

And FINALLY, photos of my new gelding, whom I received in November. I present Chief, in all his furry winter glory.



~His hip looks smaller than it is because it is angled away from the camera. He has an enormous hip! My best friend, Jacob is riding and is 6 foot 3 so he dwarfs Chief who is about 14.3 hh. That is Jacob's Greyhound/German Shepard mix.~

Chief was super calm. Not a thing bothered him and he was a pro about everything. He was great for Jacob and will be great for my new friend who I am going riding with next Wednesday and who is a complete beginner. He was a solid, confident presence for Romeo to go on a ride with as a youngster. I really love him and can't wait to see if he can run, slide and turn so I can use him to do some fun events with such as reining and team penning. The only problem I had with Romeo on this trip was getting him OUT of the horse trailer. It was his first time in a straight load, which he jumped right into both times. He didn't want to back out because of the drop and the inability to see behind him and it took some serious convincing, but he didn't lose his head. :) AND, I can really feel Calypso's foal doing crazy somersaults. She is expanding like crazy! I can barely keep up with her feed increases!