Mad Cow Kisser

One doe down... Two to go.

2010-09-27T04:58:00.001-04:00

Out last night with the goats... For a while the does had been
persistent on the fence... No hot wire on that section of fence on the
does side, do have some on the buck side however. Unfortunately for
them I would have liked to hold off breeding them for a while longer...
Breeding now would bring a birthing date about February, which is
probably not a bad time, the kids would have about a month or two on
their mother before the full spring growth but I would have liked to
give the does another month or two before breeding. Turns out my one
doe had other ideas... No... She didn't tear down any of the fences
but she was making it perfectly clear how she was feeling and very
loudly... Miss Pebbles was strutting the fence tail wagging and
screaming her bloody head off!.. According to her she was wanting some
badly, so I let her have it... Let me tell you that keeping three
bucks is no fun when you are trying to get one doe bred... THREE
BUCKS! Only one gets lucky but they all want a piece of the action...
Picture trying to hold one doe and fend of two horny bucks... Yup!
That was a circus! Oh... Yea... Had about 30-45 minutes till a storm
came up... Started raining on my way back in and the heavy rains hit
as I was getting to the front door... Oh well... I got two happy
goats that got what they wanted. Fingers crossed... Hope all goes
well.

Welding...

2010-09-13T05:21:00.001-04:00

Well... It looks as if I may be able to add welding to my list of
skills... With batteries no less!!! Always of valuable skill to have
on a farm! One of the threaded rods attached to a plate with on the
mower which connects the cutting deck to the mower broke off... Took
the mower for a quick cut run and held so far! Ye HA!

Sorry... No pictures.

Bucks & Does... Heave WHOA!

2010-07-22T20:58:00.001-04:00

It's like they say... Great fences make for good neighbors... And if
it don't hold water it wont hold goats... They proved it right
tonight! Gave them all some pears... Still hard... Charlie got one
(he was being his normal stubborn not having anything to do with
people... His loss!) but Mack got the most of them tonight... Doc and
the Does would not try any. I then pulled a shared water tub from
under the fence and emptied it so I could clean it and refill it...
Part of the purpose of the shared tub was to block a gaping hole under
the fence due to the way the ground slopes... Oh... By the way....
That said fence is part of what separates the bucks and does. I took a
stop over at the buck shelter to check things out then turned on the
water and got a brush to clean the tub, meantime the does made their
way under fence and said hello to the bucks... ACK! A lot of luck and
a few minutes of scrambling I got them and put them back where they
belong.

Try Try Again... Not so fast.

2010-07-20T04:28:00.000-04:00

I thought I found someone whom had all I was looking for and got my
hopes up rather quickly... Hey... Mention farming and people are a
little uneasy... Mention dairy production and they run, I definitely
felt she was worth all the effort. In my efforts to open myself up and
giver her a chance to see the person behind the profile, I tried just a
little too hard. She blocked me. Changed my profile to show I screwed
up (as usual) and say I am sorry (wise advice from a great person I
once knew growing up)... I can only hope god shines on us and she by
chance looks again at my profile (or reads this blog) and gives me
another chance.

Storms & Power Outage...

2010-07-19T04:30:00.000-04:00

Power went out last night.... From 6:30PMish to 9:20PMish... Called
the power company and got 8:00PM that the power would be back on...
Nothing happened... Called again and got 12:30AMish... Lovely... No
shower or dinner (went and had a bowl of cereal), dinner is no biggie
but the shower was wee bit of a problem! Wasn't sure work was going to
happen this morning but I am up and soon enough will be on my way.

Weekend & Stuff... Storms!

2010-07-18T18:12:00.000-04:00

Perhaps not much happening here this weekend... Had in mind to watch
barrel racing in Raleigh but no details have been posted about the show
actually happening... Just says more info coming soon. Sometimes my
brother and I head out to Crabtree Mall and get some lunch... We walk
around for a while and look at the stores and see what is new. After
that, before we leave, we get ourselves some Dippin Dots! Brother got a
call for work so I'll just be resting for the weekend... Nothing big
that really needs to get done that I know of... Unless somebody finds a
way to make something need doing!... Keeping fingers crossed!

In looking for some weed information I found we have/had Gooseberries
(Edible) here... and that Sheep Sorrel is edible. Did have one weed out
back... Couldn't reliably identify it... Not sure if it was Hemlock or
Cow Parsley... Earlier in the year I started pulling it and dumping
it... Next thing I knew the does were watching me and one decided to
sample what was in the bucket... So it turns out they like it and have
been keeping it in check.

We had rain here Saturday... Calling for isolated storms here today and
tomorrow... Like to see them storms that pop up in the evenings and
give some good rain for a while. Nothing this morning... But as I type
this a storm is rolling in... Radar showed activity nearing so I went
out to take care of a few things... Meantime I heard thunder in the
distance so made a scramble to get the goats in... I put them out front
to take care of some weedy mess in front of the house (kudzoo mainly).

Meantime I'll disconnect the internet then make up some lunches for
work.

Shared blog...

2010-07-16T21:07:00.000-04:00

Sent the link for my blog to that woman online... Her profile says she
is shy... And she seems to be quiet... Being a shy quiet person
myself (I have changed a lot over the past few years... I give horses
and time at the barn credit for that!), I have sent her a few messages
perhaps to see more of the person behind the profile without her
feeling like she has to be the first one to open up. Not much from her
yet.

Show and stuff!

2010-07-12T20:53:00.000-04:00

Got a bit too much sun over the weekend... Assisted at a horse show on
Sunday... Didn't think to take a hat... Felt my face getting a little
dry and tight, somebody mentioned about sunscreen but didn't really
want to be using it. So I got a bit burnt.

Been watching my one goat... He was wobbly for the past few days...
Still not right but seems to be much better... I moved my goats around
and the bucks have been knocking their mineral bucket over... I need to
figure something out about a better shelter... In the process I had not
given them any mineral... Searching online, vitamin B deficiency looked
to be the likely culprit... Need to keep an eye on that.

Starting to go back in to a drought a bit here... So I hear, and agree.
Need to see some good rain.

Barn owner having some camps again this week... She cleaned some
coolers that needed doing... I cleaned some stalls and water buckets...
Then we cleaned out a loafing shelter that was a little overdue.

Online Dating...

2010-07-12T20:50:00.000-04:00

Made the greatest find yet... And she looks to be responding... She is younger than
me and lives a bit far away... Dublin, Virginia... Four hours about.
But she has got all the right stuff... Dairy, Country, Non-Smoker.
Very Attractive... She has pictures of herself hugging cows... My
kind of person! Truly one in a million!

Near miss lightning streamer/indirect strike?

2010-06-05T19:47:00.001-04:00

Spots along a large surface root... Seems to have some bark blown
off... woody fiber looks to have gotten very hot!

Pebbles...

2010-04-17T10:09:00.000-04:00

Pebbles on the right, SNOBOL at left.

SNOBOL...

2010-04-17T09:54:00.000-04:00

SNOBOL... Or for some, Snow Ball. As you can see she is pure white.

Two new arrivals...

2010-03-22T15:36:00.000-04:00

Been a little busy over the weekend...
Got two new arrivals... Sandi & Doc.
A pair of Myotonic goat kids, same birth twins from same mother, about
3-4 months old.
At the moment I am looking to get at least one more doe so I can move
Doc in with the other bucks.

Sandi: Doeling...

Overtime Rant...

2010-02-14T10:58:00.001-05:00

Loosing my job is always a thought in my mind... I kept mine, somebody
else lost theirs... I am still paying a price.
It is ironic that people and employers depend on each other to survive
yet employers cut people as business slows down...
When you think about it, it is backwards...
Cutting workers eventually cuts your profit which eventually means
employers eventually cut more people... See the vicious circle?
For the employer I work for, their response has been to cut out second
shift and dump the work onto first...
I am not saying that there has been enough work for two shifts, but
having spent months working 10 hour days and sacrificing my time begs
the question...
Would it not been worth keeping both shifts and reducing the number of
days worked?
Working less than eight hours a day every day would be a kick in the
backside, but working two or three eight to ten hour days and
maintaining your workforce seems like a more tolerable move to me.

First snow of 2010...

2010-02-09T19:31:00.000-05:00

Posted a bit late but...

Trailer For Sale / SOLD!

2010-01-21T19:39:00.001-05:00

With a little bit of regret I have sold the trailer... Good trailer
for the price to start but way too big! Considering I have no adequate
truck to pull it with, and no good land to raise cattle, selling the
trailer seemed like the best business decision to make... Keeping an
open trailer, which should be kept under a shelter, meant a trailer
that was losing its value.

First Snow 2009-2010

2009-12-18T15:58:00.000-05:00

Tiny Lizard...

2009-12-02T16:06:00.000-05:00

Taken Saturday, August 16th, 2008

New hay feeder...

2009-11-30T05:14:00.000-05:00

Some pics of the new hay feeder I put together.... Holds about 3-4
trashcans packed with hay.

They are really a few super simple homemade pallets... A few 2x4s on
top of a pair of 2x4s.... The 'V' section uses porch rail stiles which
are only about 36" so the bottom rail is raised about 4-6" from the
bottom and that happens to work out good for making the 'V' section.

After that put 2x4 plywood boards on top to keep the tarp from settling
on the hay in the rain and causing mold problems. I used t-posts to
hold the mess together... Then put metal chain-link fence posts over
the t-posts to hold and protect the tarp a little better but they will
probably make better lightning rods.

First post via Mail2Blogger...

2009-11-23T16:34:00.001-05:00

Forgive me blogger, it has been over two weeks since my last post...

Not much going on around this neck of the woods. I'll mostly give a
brief run-down.

E-Mailed response to property for rent advert... 50 Acres in Granville
County: log cabin, 15 Acres cleared/fenced/pasture, 2 Acre pond, creek
runs through it. $700/Month... Far above my estimate of what I may be
able to afford by myself... About $300-$400/Month at most... Even
then I know I may likely be stretched in the course of making a jump in
raising livestock.

It has been a just over a month since the cows were taken to market...
I miss them and am reminded of them from time to time. Goats are
enjoying the extra time spent with them now... and they have been more
accepting of the attention... Although I am not sure if the goats need
it or just how much, being winter they are getting supplemental feeding
they would normally not get during warmer months. So that helps.

During that last big rain we had, our skylight re-sprung a leak... I
threw some patch mix on it several times before and after looking at
the roof around the skylight I decided to re-shingle around it... Was
not exactly the smartest thing to do... Certainly not the easiest...
And at the moment it was a had to do it thing which ended up with me
working on the roof after dark with a headlamp. So far no leaks.

Thanksgiving is upon us... My aunt invited anybody whom wished to join
them up north in Delaware... I accepted.

Goats feet

2009-11-04T04:47:00.002-05:00

Trimmed goats feet yesterday evening... Something that has been needing to be done for a long time. I picked at their feet from time to time but taking care of the calves took high priority...
Had to chase them down many times and did the best I could to run with them all while holding onto the foot... They were tied to their run line, but they still had plenty to go. Charlie calmed down a bit towards the end, started nibbling at me and mouthing me which I kept correcting him for as that quickly turns to biting. Mack was worse! Yeah... He calmed down a bit too towards the end, but I also let him get wrapped around the post so he couldn't move... Didn't stop his mouth from trying to take a chunk out of me multiple times!... I hauled off on him a few times... He has bit me good in the past... Left a fair sized bruise on my chest!... Close to a prominent place. Mack got himself wrapped around good on the pole... I started to feel sorry for him so pulled him loose and retied with a little slack... That is when he calmed down a bit. I had been out with them for over an hour and light was quickly disappearing, so I wrapped things up and fed them.

My first efforts at doing their feet were hampered by not knowing what a goats foot should look like and also not knowing how to use a hoof knife... I have tried many different methods to trim down their feet but to no avail... Last night was a luck shot that paid off... I just managed to get it right and slowly did the best I could to take slivers at a time off their feet... Despite their raising a ruckus!

The hoof knife is NOT an easy thing to master... and one can easily make a mess using one... However, a hoof knife is simple but very powerful tool! Takes a lot of time and patience to learn for both the user and the animals! But well worth it.

Insanity IS

2009-11-03T21:01:00.002-05:00

Fire from each wall
Pain and madness inside me
Insanity IS.

Anger and hatred
Frustration and sadness
I sit in the darkness alone.

I got a new girlfriend..........

2009-10-29T04:57:00.002-04:00

Yeah... Sure... My luck! NOT!

However in goat talk.... Charlie seems to be making a complete turn around... Normally Charlie is a goat that runs from me, I got him as an older goat and as older goats go, building trust with him has been a long drawn out ordeal hindered by trying to raise a pair of cows. Last night Charlie for lack of a better way of putting it, in goat speak, Charlie was courting me. Not necessarily good for many reasons... They can do what ever things they want kept between themselves. He was blubbering, tongue flapping and tapping me and the ground with his foot eagerly expressing his interest at me... Now that is bad in that can quickly turn to attempts to mounting and even head butting from aggression.

Ferdinand & Ricardo - Expense & Statistics Report

2009-10-25T16:32:00.000-04:00

Weights Via Weight Tape, therefore are estimates.

Age at purchase: ~1 Week
Final weight: ~754 Lbs
Length of stay: 438 Days

Known Costs Breakdown:

Calves, 2 @ $50: ($100, 6.65%)
Vet, 3 Visits/Calls: ($297.00, 19.75%)
Bags Milk Replacer: 5 ($234.75, 15.61%)
Bags Calf Starter: 23 ($292.89, 19.47%)
Bales Of Hay: 21 [10 4x4 & 11 4.5x4] ($552.00, 36.70%)
Mineral ($27.40, 1.82%)

Total Known Cost of Rasing Calves: $1504.04
Net From Cow Sales: $802.96
Investment Loss: $701.08

Ferdinand:

First Recorded Weight: ~91 Lbs
Weight Gain: ~663 Lbs
Average Daily Gain: ~1.51 Lbs

Ricardo:

First Recorded Weight: ~85 Lbs
Weight Gain: ~669 Lbs
Average Daily Gain: ~1.53 Lbs

2009-10-20T17:58:00.000-04:00

Got the cheque back from Carolina Stockyards Co...

Looks like they sold as Holstein Feeders...

Combined weight 1545Lbs @ $54.00/CWT amounting to $834.30

Deductions were:

Yardage $2.00

Beef Checkoff $2.00

Insurance $1.34

Commissions $26.00

Deductions totaled $31.34

Net $802.96

Not bad. Price was a little softer than I expected.

2009-10-20T04:48:00.000-04:00

Perhaps it could be said that I have gone to the goats. I stopped by CVS yesterday and got them a hairbrush... Tried TractorSupply, but they did not have what I liked. Still think something like a paddle would have been better but they seemed to like what I bought well enough... Mac is fairly tolerant nowadays and charlie does okay sometimes, holding on to their collar helps! Their feet are still crap... with the cows gone I may hopefully be able to make better progress correcting that... Toes may actually not be that bad, but I think I am dealing a bit with a case of high heel syndrome. I try paring the base of the foot down but surely not enough... I don't know what a good vs bad foot looks like... nothing to compare to.

Cows are gone....

2009-10-17T23:56:00.000-04:00

Ferdinand and Ricardo... not the best picture.

Sad, sad day... The cows are gone... I know I'll miss them... I should know soon enough what price they will bring... Things I'll miss.. Oddly enough, their putting their nose up to me and letting out a burp! And givin scratches. Sitting with them... Having them rest their (big fat) head on me.

Found out the truck would not pull the trailer I got after I put the cows on it... Not surprising really... the truck I am using is a Ford Explo(d/r)er... Basically a Ford Ranger chassis with an SUV body... NOT suitable for pulling a trailer... Not even sure about pulling small stock trailer with that. Gotta give it credit though... Pulled a little utility trailer with a mid-size (5Ft? roll) hay bale (500-750+ Lbs range)... Did fine... No problems.

It had been a long hard road raising the calves... I would love to have a hand in raising many more... Cannot do it here though for many reasons... mainly too many animals on not enough land. My adventures in agriculture had also had frequent incidents of creating family friction.
Not sure where to go from here... Leasing property is kind of off the radar... Although I do not have high hopes, I am open to and looking for cattle share opportunities. For now I have no choice but to resume with the goats... At least I know where to find does now! Thank you craigslist!

Oh Krap...

2009-10-14T17:24:00.000-04:00

Looks like I be entering the blogger world... Who'd a thunk it? Don't expect much you! A little late to be braggin about my calves/yearling cows, they will be heading to auction tomorrow.

I am a Pennsy yocal... Brought into this world via the folks at Crozier Chester Medical Center, one February day in the year of 1977. Raised in the city of Aston and lived there till the day we moved in late November 2004.

Always had a soft spot for stuff like horses... Never took enough of a chance to find out why until having moved to the Carolinas where I spent the last four years of my life working with those wonderful animals! And since then I have taken on Guinea Fowl, Goats and rasing a pair of calves... Even managed to spend a few weekends observing at a dairy farm before they decided to quit milk production.

So? What shall ye find here? Too early to say... Perhaps a little bit of everything.... Maybe nothing! My interests carry along many topics... Horses, Agriculture (Goats, Cows, Dairy, Grazing), Computers (Hardware/Software/Programming)... Pull up a seat if you dare and set a while, rest yer feet if ya dare!

BSE.