More Normal

Well, after the last two weeks of horribly cold weather, we are back to more normal temperatures.  I am not complaining about because we need the cold to help reduce illness.  But I’m not going to deny that more normal is better.

When I get home, they are waiting for me and demanding feed.

Look at the big chunk of ice I had to dig out of the water tub because my heater was too small to keep up with the horrible cold we had.

the ice is still frozen solid

It’s much better not to have to deal with that.

Daisy

Maybeline just got her drink

It makes chores much easier to do in the evening when it’s not so stupid cold.

Pretzel and Popcorn

Buffy

I have the buck room door open for Joy and Antigone.  Heck. I might even move them back to the main herd.  If Antigone needs it, I can always put her back in overnight if she can’t get herself into the barn.  She is such a cute little wimp.

Antigone

I’ve been leaving the heat lamp off during the day in the Morton building.  I might even start opening that door during the day to get them some fresh air and let the humidity out.  I’m actually cautiously optimistic that we’ve maybe hopefully made it past the worst of the winter.

More Updates

After the horrible experience last year where I had girls abort due to a bacterial infection, I checked with my vet.  We are finally getting a solid ground freeze.  We rely on that every winter to help reduce the amount of bacteria and parasite eggs in the soil.   It’s been three years since we had an adequate freeze.

Daisy

And since Daisy and Melba are due in March and April, they will not benefit from this current cold snap.  That means, they will get antibiotics to hopefully prevent any losses this year. I hate to do that, but there is no way to test and see if it is necessary or not.  I’m not going to risk it.

Melba

I can’t even say 100% that Daisy is bred, but Pluto usually lets me know when she’s in heat, and he hasn’t done that in ages.  So I’m guessing she is.

Pluto

Melba is really starting to look round.  Of course, I have no idea who bred her since she busted in with Gabe and Donkey.

Gabe

You’d think it would be easy–tan baby means Donkey; black baby means Gabe.  But that’s not actually certain because Melba’s mom is also black, so she could have either one herself.

Donkey

Oh well, I really don’t care as long as they arrive safely.

Some Updates

Well, I thought I was going to not have a post today between the cold weather, work, and life just being a bit complicated right now.  But I grabbed my camera last night, and I can give you a couple of updates on things I’ve already mentioned.  First, Wanda is still doing really well.  The meds for her back have really helped.  And she isn’t even making me chase her to give it to her anymore.

Wanda

Gabe is really doing well in the Morton building.  It’s warm enough in there that all the food I give him can go back to filling him out.  That was a very good move for him.

Gabe was in conversation with Wanda

Because I moved him, I’m not sure whether or not Joy got bred.  But I’ll keep watching and see if she comes back into heat.

Joy

So Donkey has been by himself for a while, which isn’t the best because goats are social.  He gets to see the other goats, but he doesn’t have anyone to play with.  When I got home from work on Tuesday, I found that he had been playing with the table.  I had it standing up in there, but he had it completely upside down and right in the doorway.  He also managed to dump his water bucket with his room rearranging.  Goofy buck. But I guess it keeps him entertained.

Donkey was thirsty after dumping his bucket.

Greg still makes me laugh.  He is just such an ornery character.

Greg jumping on me while I was taking Gabe’s picture

Although, I’m not sure how much longer he’s going to make me laugh with this kind of behavior–jumping on me while I was trying to take Gabe’s picture.  He’s starting to get big.