This is my 300th post! I thank you all for following along and reading what I have written and about what is going on in my life on the homestead. I really enjoy writing the blog. I wish I could keep up with photos better. I keep taking them but getting them cropped and shrunk takes time and my PSP has some hang up and crashes a lot. :( I usually have to reboot. But, I do thank you all for being here!
I'm back up to number 22 for my goat herd and there are 11 kids in the house here doing CAE prevention and getting their temps regulated so they can survive outside without problems. It's still cold and damp out. We had snow this morning and thunder storms this afternoon.
I've had a couple more does kid and have 3 more to go. This has been my worst kidding season ever and some of that is because Bandit bashed in the barn and got in with the does too early in the season. This is the first I've ever had a goat abort and the first I've ever lost any kids in the cold. I have to remember that I also saved a buckling who was almost gone from the cold. We're still dealing with digestive issues with him but he's finally improving.
It's a lOT of work to milk and keep the colostrum, 2nd day colostrum/milk and milk separate and heat treat all for CAE prevention. I'm getting it done, but it's very time consuming. I'm down to 3 nipples also so there's been a lot of washing of them and feeding in an order that keeps things organized and flowing.
I also have 2 mini Aussies who have been a god-send. They truly do help. Alot of what they do is simply cleaning kids, slurping up slopped and dribbled milk, keeping kids company and helping get them where they need to be if they escape. The corgis aren't so helpful. However today Molly, who is OLD, practically blind and in rough shape helped clean and dry 2 kids. I watch them close due to the umbilicil stumps being long and fresh, but they don't mess with them. I find that amazing! Of course then the kids have bonded to the dogs and I and they nudge the dogs looking for food. The 2 mini Aussies take it in stride. Every now and then I'll see Cooper looking at me with kids butting him looking for food and he'll have a look as if to say "SAVE ME"!
Back to work. I have the last of today's milk heating up and need to wash a few more dishes of milk handling equipment so I can get it strained and pressed through the strainer so it won't clog the nipples. I have to make another barn check too. The corgi's need out of the crates for a while and potty breaks. And I have wet piddle papers all over the place to be tended too!
I'm exhausted!
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