Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season!
A special thank you to Tractor Supply and NorthernLite Photography for the Santa photo!
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Superior Genetics Awards for Glory & Nibbles
I am delighted to share the news that both Glory and Nibbles earned a Superior Genetics designation this year!
The Superior Genetics designation indicates that the animal is in the top 15% (85th percentile ranking or higher) of their breed according to the Production/Type Index (PTI) ranking. There are two separate PTI ranking lists: PTI 2:1 which emphasizes milk production and PTI 1:2 which emphasizes type/conformation. I’m especially thrilled that both Glory and Nibbles qualified on both lists with Nibbles coming in at an astounding 94th percentile (top 6%) on production.
And while we’re celebrating the achievements of these special does, I’d like to note that we now have two bucks out of SG does: Sweet William out of Glory and Xylo out of SG Pocket Sized TB Xara from Honey Meadows farm in New Jersey. We are expecting great things from these boys as we seek to improve our herd with every new generation.
To learn more about the ADGA Superior Genetics program and how the scores are calculated, visit Superior Genetics FAQs.
Bale Grazing
I’ve been reading about “bale grazing” as a method of feeding hay to cattle in the winter and have wanted to try it. In bale grazing, you unroll your hay onto the ground rather than feeding it out of a hay feeder. This spreads the manure around the field rather than concentrating it around the bale feeder, adds carbon from the waste hay and helps seed the pasture. People claim there is also very little wasted hay feeding this way.
Sometimes fate has a way of pushing you down the path. The cattle were out of hay this morning and needed a new bale but the tractor refused to start in the sub-zero weather so it seemed like the perfect time to try out bale grazing since there was no way to get the bale up into the feeder without the tractor.
The boys were away at town so Kati and I used the pickup and a tow strap to haul a bale out into the pasture and then pushed it down the hill to unroll it in true “get it done” farmher style. 🙂 The cows seemed to approve of the results. I’ll watch to see how much waste we have and how long the hay lasts as compared to using the hay feeder.
And for a little sub-zero fun, Kati practiced driving the pickup truck down to the hay shed and then bale-surfed all the way out to the pasture.
Nibbles’ Twins
Nibbles wrapped up our 2016 kidding season by giving us twins on July 16th. This was during our county fair so I was driving back and forth between the fairgrounds and home to watch the (human) kids show their animals and check in on Nibbles to see how she was doing. This extra driving paid off with my being home when Nibbles was finally ready to deliver.
The babies were very large (both over 4 pounds) and she needed help delivering. The buckling was particularly difficult because he was positioned upside down and backwards and needed to be turned before he could be delivered. By the time he was out safely, both Nibbles and I were exhausted.
Nibbles got a dose of Banamine for pain relief – yep she was sore – and a course of antibiotics to prevent a potential uterine infection from my hand being inside her to re-position the babies. She recovered from her delivery without any complications and has been a great mom, as always.
For their part, the kids were none the worse for wear. They were up and nursing immediately after birth and pestering their poor mother incessantly – completely oblivious to the stress they had caused the poor midwife.
Most births proceed uneventfully, but sometimes a doe needs help. That’s why I try to be present at all the birth of all our babies. (And why I have the vet’s phone number in my cell phone.) Thankfully we got through 2016 vet-free. Hoping for the same for 2017.
Windy’s Girls
It’s been a busy summer and I haven’t found time to post a new blog lately. I guess that’s what happens when kidding season extends into the summer!
Windy kidded the evening of June 6th with 4 tiny chamoisee doelings. We were surprised and delighted by such a large number of kids from a yearling first freshener. Windy was being a very good mother to them but unfortunately the weather was horrible-dipping down to 40* the day after they were born and then climbing into the 90s with high humidity. Sadly, we lost two of the babies to weather-induced pneumonia after an all out battle to save them. It was a heartbreaking loss, but we are thankful that two of the sisters survived and have gone on to thrive.
Windstorm (Windy) is Kati’s goat and Kati is a fan of the youth book series Warriors, about the adventures of clans of feral cats. So Kati picked a Warriors theme for Windy’s kids who will all be named after characters from the books. So without further ado, I introduce Briarlight and Mapleshade…
Two New Champions
We are so very proud of our girls’ performance in the first show of the 2016 season at the Little Falls, MN Goat Show on June 4th. Both Amanda and Windsong earned a Grand Champion and Stormstruck came home with a Reserve Champion. There was a great turnout for the show with 24 entries in the Nigerian Dwarf Junior show with about the same in the senior show.
It was chilly, rainy day with a stiff wind so the goats were pretty cold and not particularly happy. We had clipped the week ahead of time when the weather looked like it was going to be warm. I’ll have to make a note to leave them fuzzy next year! We waited until the next day to take their pictures so we’d have sunshine for them pose with their ribbons.
In addition to Amanda and Windsong, we brought one other Junior, Josephine, who placed second in her class of six. The poor little thing spent most of her day wrapped up in Clayton’s coat to keep her warm while waiting her turn in the show ring. Really wish I had gotten a photo of that! 🙂
We brought three senior does in milk: Stormstruck, Glory and Taffy. Stormstruck and Glory each placed first in their class under different judges with Stormstruck going on to win Reserve Champion and Taffy placing second in her class of yearling milkers.
Daisy’s Doeling
Daisy kidded on April 30th with a large (4.3 lb) doeling. We had to pull pretty hard to help get her out but once out she proved to be quite healthy and alert. Daisy recovered quickly too and went right into new mother mode without skipping a beat.
As you can see, she has stunning blue eyes and and a beautiful colors. This is the first Ziggzag daughter so far and she’s quite the little darling. I can’t wait to see more of his kids.
Glory’s Buckling
Glory gave us a big, beautiful, blue-eyed buckling late in the evening (9:40 p.m. to be exact) on April 25th. Glory doesn’t believe in letting you know that she’s close to delivering so it’s a bit nerve wracking when she’s due. About the only sign she gives of impending labor is loosening ligaments, which I’m sure she’d find a way to hide if only she could! Much to her chagrin, the final barn check for the evening caught her laboring so we all settled in to wait. The birth went smoothly and little guy was up and trying to nurse within 10 minutes of being born. He’s such a nice boy, we’re planning to keep him a buck.
Taffy’s Kid
Taffy presented us with a cute little Chamoise buckling on April 13th about 5:30 PM. Luckily we were there to help because the little guy had one of his front legs tucked back and mom appreciated just a little bit of help in getting him out. Taffy is proving to be a very attentive mom and we’re happy with her mothering skills. The little guy already has a home reserved as a pet wether and he certainly enjoys people and being held. We all know the highest goat wins and being held by a person automatically makes you the tallest goat in the kid pen!
Sunshine’s Doeling
Sunshine delivered a sweet little doeling on Tuesday April 5th. I had been advised by Sunshine’s previous owner that Sunshine was secretive about kidding and she proved true to form. Clayton checked on her after school and there was no sign of impending labor. Two hours later, Sunshine was napping with her dry, content baby tucked against her, with a smug look as if nothing had happened.
I finally found time to get some photos of this long, dairy girl playing outside in our lovely 70* weather. We’ve nicknamed her “Lopsy” after a friend. I think it suits her for now. We’ll see what ends up on her registration papers!
