At least two of our new hens have started laying eggs.   It will be a few more weeks until the eggs are up to full size, but for first eggs they are bigger than I was expecting to see.    We will be so glad to go back to fresh eggs from free range hens! 

In other news, today is day 141 for Tsunami and she is acting very much like she is ready to be done with the kids kicking her ribs.   Unfortunately temps are barely above freezing at 10am this morning so we will have to keep a close eye on her as babies born in these temps run the distinct risk of getting frost bite before she could get them clean and dry on her own.    And that means I may very well find myself sleeping in the barn tonight in a sleeping bag that is only rated to 40 degrees!   Can you say COLD!

Here is Tsunami a few days ago after her maternity trim - something she was less than thrilled to participate in. 

The OSU ultrasound and surgical castration clinic is going to be held on Friday, February 10, 2011 from 11am-4pm.    The dehorning clinic will be held the following Monday at the same times.  The clinics are free, but advanced registration is required and can be made by calling the large animal services at 541-737-2858.   

They will not dehorn pregnant goats, but if you have goats you want to have an ultrasound done on AND goats that need to be dehorned you can make arrangements to do both on Monday so that only one trip is needed to their facilities.

I checked with the OSU vet college today to find out when the annual goat & sheep week is going to beheld this year.   The students will be studying goats and sheep the week of Feb 6th - 13th, but they have not yet determined on what day they will have the ultrasound clinic. 

They will call me when they have nailed down a date and I will pass that info along so if you have does that are at least 30 days bred you can bring them to the University for an ultrasound.  

Prior registration is required, but the ultrasound itself is free.   They also usually have a free dehorning and surgical castration clinic offered during that week as well.   And I will get those dates published as soon as I get the info.

And yes, you read that right.  ALL of the specific training that these future vets are getting is ONE WEEK that covers both goats and sheep.   And it is precisely this reason that so many goat owners learn to do so much of their own veterinary work.

Had a bit of sunshine to welcome in the New Year and decided I'd better take advantage of it to get my least favorite chore done.   Because the only thing worse than trimming hooves is trimming the hooves of wet goats!

While we are out there we noticed that some of the ladies seem to be suddenly showing especially Tsunami (the mostly white doe on the right).   I think she is due the end of January or in early February, although it is possible that she isn't bred to Sparky, but is bred too Mojo which would put her kidding date in March.

Friday evening our friend Sarah gave us a handsome young blue Ameraucana dubbed Blue Jr.   He is young enough that he hasn't started to crow yet, but he does fluff up like he is thinking about it and he is trying out his mating dance with the hens who ignore him or scamper away.    We are looking forward to hearing his adult crow and are really hoping that he will turn out to have a melodic five note crow.  (Not all roosters do, some only have a screechy 3-4 note crow.)

Our previous two roosters were respectful of people and protective of their hens, although Shrek rode them a little too hard.  Hopefully JR will develop into a respectful protector of his harem. 

Last week we sold all our old hens and roosters with the thought that we would borrow my dad's incubator and hatch out replacement chicks.  But it didn't take long for us to decide that we missed the pastured eggs way too much to wait that long.
So yesterday we brought home eight new pullets ranging in age from 9-14 weeks old.  Three of the breeds are new to us and we are looking forward to seeing the variety of color.

Bekah is holding one of the two Delawares and we also got two Speckled Sussex, one  Golden Laced Wyandotte and three Ameraucana/Golden Laced Wyandotte crosses.  We have had the Ameraucana's previously and always get a kick out of their green & blue eggs.

The Golden Lace bunch were all hatched and raised by banty hens so I'm hoping that will be a factor in getting broody hens that will raise a flock of chicks.  That way we can raise replacement hens, and Bekah is "just dying to see a Momma hen and her babies."

Hopefully in a couple of months we will be back to getting those wonderful tasty eggs from pastured hens again!

There is a very good reason Mojave Blue has the nickname Mojo, he is one smooth operator!   Sparky Joe gets overly excited, Sunny is polite but gets right down to business and then there is Mojo.  He takes the time to really romance the ladies, and they all seem to love him for it. 

By the time I was ready to take Maple away from him today she was totally smitten with him.    That combined with the size of kids he throws makes him a good match for just about any first time doe.   The paring of him and Maple should result in some very colorful blue-eyed kids.

It is shaping up to be a very busy April for us with Mame' x Sunny due April 1st, Rita x Sparky Joe on April 5th and Maple x Mojo due on April 9th.   Millie is still scheduled to be bred for a June kidding, and Tsunami is anyone's guess.   I haven't seen a real strong heat from her since the time Sparky Joe paid her a visit, so it is quite possible that she is already bred to him with a due date at the end of January.

Our big sweet goofy boy is two years old today.  His yard looks out on the goats pen and he does a good job of helping us keep an eye on them.

Breeding season got off to a shaky start this year.   A couple of weeks ago Mojo & Sunny exploited a hole in the fence and went to visit the ladies.   Which meant for the first time ever we had to use Lute (Lutalyse) on the does since we didn't know who was bred by whom.   Unfortunately the dosage we got from the vet was too small, and we had to redo the injections.  

Today we were finally able to get Mame' bred to Sunny.   Her due date will be  around the 25th of March.  If the rest of the season goes according to plan. next up will be Tsunami x Sparky Joe and  Maple x Mojo due in April.  Then Rita x Sparky Joe in May and finally Millie x Sunny in June.   Although with the way things have gone so far I'm not guaranteeing anything at this point.  :)

In other news our pup Cleo turned one year old last week, and Izzy will be two years old in a couple of weeks.   Both of them are starting to get over their puppy ways although they still have PLENTY of energy!  Izzy sleeps every night with Ari and it is obvious they miss each other whenever we have been away from home.

I saw this posted on a goat forum and just had to share it.  The only thing the anonymous author missed was the joy I get from seeing my kids learning and interacting with "just a goat".

"Just A Goat"

From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a goat," or, "that's a lot of money for "just a goat". They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a goat." Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a goat." Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a goat," but I did not once feel slighted. Some of my...... saddest moments have been brought about by "just a goat," and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a goat" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day. If you, too, think it's "just a goat," then you will probably understand phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise."

"Just a goat" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. "Just a goat" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person. Because of "just a goat" I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a goat" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. "Just a goat" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away. I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a goat" but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a woman." So the next time you hear the phrase "just a goat" just smile, because they "just" don't understand.? ~Anonymous