Catlinite, our 6 yr old gelding guard llama is our resident baby sitter. He takes his guard llama duties seriously and is a terrific protector, but he also cares for his little goaties and tolerates a lot of silliness, too. He breaks up head-butting battles and herds his goats back to the barn if he spies danger. And he allows them to curl up beside him on cold windy days. I don’t think he would ever admit it, but it’s pretty easy to see that he actually likes having his goats around.
(Note: There were no goats harmed…or eaten…in the making of this photo.)
See the photo below? Keep an eye on my doe Angora goat, Luna and my wether Nigerian goat, Mud Pie, over on the right. Yesterday I happened to spy them through my bedroom window while they were up to no good.
Also notice Latte, my doe Mini-Mancha goat heading up the hill away from Luna and Mud Pie. I think she was a little miffed……
Oooh! La! La!
Ooh! Baby!
Nibbling on her neck!
Whispering sweet nothings in her ear!
I have no idea! *gasp*
Whoooo! Some cuddling, too!
”Hey. Did you hear something?”
”What are YOU looking at, pervert!
This week’s Sunday Stills Challenge was truly a challenge, but lots of fun, too! It was impossible to use any archives because the main challenge was to capture a photo with BOTH the low tech subject and high tech subject in the same photo. Not something that typically happens naturally.
So here is what I came up with:
1. Oil Lantern vs. Battery Lantern
2. Hand-written Letters vs. E-Mail
3. Candle vs. Lightbulb
4. Acoustic vs. Electric
5. Hay-Powered vs. Gas-Powered Transportation
6. Hand-washed dishes vs. Electric Dishwasher
7. Dictionary Book Search vs Internet Search Engine
8.Cooking over an open-fire vs Microwave cooking
9. Weed-Powered Weed Eaters vs Electric Weed Trimmer
10a. Recording history via Petroglyphs vs History Book
10b. I just couldn’t help but include this photo with my Dobbie girl, too. Which one do you like better?
11. Baking bread in a wood-fired Horno vs an Electric Breadmaker
“Hey, how’s this thing work? Is this the ‘On’ Button?”
Which photo is your favorite?
After a week of going up to the main paddock almost daily with gloves, trimmer, step stool (to sit on and take the ache out of my back and knees), and my water bottle in hand, I’ve finally got control of all the sage by aggressively cutting, trimming, and pulling…..and a whole lot of sweat and sore muscles.
It’s finally gone.
You can see the *Before* photo with This Link.
Here are the *After* photos:
(You can still see the stumps of the sage left behind, which I’ll get help pulling them out with the tractor soon) Oh…and it rained not long after I took these photos. Not much, though. It sure is dry and dusty around here. We only got enough rain this summer for about 3 weeks of grass growth. It’s all dried up and brown already.
A couple of you asked if Bella might have gotten sage sickness too, because of the way she acted so out of character and bucked my twinling Jax. It’s possible. Bella really liked the back paddock and spent much time in there. After we sent her back to the horse rescue, I did a walk-thru of that paddock and noticed that two sage bushes had been destroyed, as if she had attacked them.
(Here’s a pic of that back paddock. Bella destroyed the sage bushes, so it’s sage free)
And she had also eaten the bark of the juniper and pinon trees, too. Apache doesn’t even do that. But considering that Bella was staying here to help her lose some weight and was only getting one flake of hay three times a day, and no grain, due to her insulin resistance, it’s a real possibility that the change in diet, eating less food, caused her to be hungry enough to binge on large amounts of sage.
Which is kind of sad if that happened, because I really liked Bella and felt she fit in well here, even though she had health and boundary respect issues. Apache really seemed to like Bella, too.
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This is a view from the back of the main paddock looking towards our house. Notice all the sage is gone now. Only the yuccas and trees are left. You can see the large grey log, just left of center, that Jen and I are sitting on in my blog header.
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Apache seems quite confused about the loss of all of her yummy sage shrubs.
(Do you have any idea the amount of courage it takes me to get anywhere near the backside of my mare? I about had a panic attack after this photo was taken, because I was sort of wedged into the corner of this paddock, between two fences and her body, only about 3 feet from her butt. She had come to me for some scratching and petting when she got jealous seeing me petting Annie, my neighbor friend’s mare.
And when I was done petting her, Apache turned away to walk up the hill. I didn’t relax until she was over 10 feet away from me. whew! After getting kicked in the face, the back side of any horse is not ever where I want to be.)
Apache did stay very close to Jenna and I the entire time we cleared away the sage and weeds. I caught her eating the sage and some other weeds while I was pulling them out. I think she was mostly doing that because she wanted me to stop pulling sage and pay attention to her instead.
During all the clearing of the sage, I also discovered a couple of other suspect weeds that I’m removing, too.
Does anyone know what this weed is? It’s those green mounds down to the left and right of Jen’s feet. She took a break from hauling weeds to love on Val’s Arabian mare, Annie.
Close up. Notice the little berry-like fruit. They remind me of mini unripe tomatoes.
After doing some research on the Guide to Poisonous Plants Search Feature, I’m guessing Horse Nettle, which can be toxic to horses if eaten in large amounts. ugh! It’s growing all along the fenceline and I watched Apache grab a bite of it just the other day.
I also found this plant.
I think it’s a Chinese Lantern or Ground Cherry, a member of the Physalis family, which can be poisonous to horses if ingested in large amounts, causing colic, bloat and diarrhea. What a mess!
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I had some help clearing the weeds. My daughter Jen loaded up piles of sage and weeds and hauled them up to the hill to the goat paddock and compost pile.
And the goats and llamas sauntered down to help munch on the little bits of sage and weeds that I missed.
Apache really likes the goats and tries to groom them and nibble on their tails.
Unfortunately, the goats aren’t as open-minded about Apache’s attention and usually run-off. Except Latte, my mini-mancha doe. She seems to be a little more tolerant of Apache’s affection and curiosity.
Apache really likes Dobbie, too. She’s always trying to nuzzle and lick my little dog.
Apache tolerates the llamas, but sometimes tries to herd them around, which usually ends up with Apache getting spat upon.
But the llamas really like Dobbie and try to nuzzle her, which leads to Dobbie running away and hiding behind me.
(That’s Catlinite, my gelding guard llama sniffing, Dobbie. And my sweet Angora doe, Luna is walking down on the left)
This is Cataleya, Catlinite’s half-sister. She’s my good llama who enjoys going for walks and getting out and exploring. I taught her how to carry her own pack. Catlinite, on the other hand, is a worry wart and doesn’t enjoy stepping off his own home turf.
And Dobbie likes to pretend she’s a herding dog when she’s around the goats. They don’t seem to care for that behavior very much, and are always sure to let her know. Dobbie still has fun anyway.
(In this video, you get to see Dobbie “herding” the goats, me getting pestered by a goat, and Apache feeling left out and coming over to join the craziness)
Last Friday I drove down the road to my friend Lora’s house at Prairie Wood Ranch, I hadn’t been by to see her since I bought my mini-mancha doe, Latte from her 2 years ago, even though I got to work with her at a couple goat shows during that time. My friend Deanna of Cornerstone Nigerians had contacted me to let me know she would be coming up from the valley to be the official goat milk tester at Lora’s ranch and she had some of her wonderful homemade goat milk soaps for me, so “would you be able to come over?”
Well, I had the farrier coming over at 4:30pm, but I said I’d be right over afterwards. I had never been to a milk testing before and was also excited to catch up with my dear friend Deanna and Lora, too.
When I arrived everyone was inside Lora’s house enjoying a delicious potluck dinner. After we had eaten our fill, we headed outside to get started.
Lora has a very nice set-up for her goats with lots of space, food, play areas and resting areas.
Double-Mint Goats
“Come on into the barn. All the milk testing action is in here”
“See I told ya. Welcome to the inside of the barn, two-legged creature. Got any treats?”
My buddy, Deanna. This was actually her first milk testing event, though you’d never know it. She did an awesome job and was very thorough and professional.
Dairy Herd Improvement Research, (DHIR) testing involves weighing milk produced by each individual goat. A good milking doe should be producing at least six to eight pounds of milk on a daily basis.
In addition the Milk Tester takes a milk sample from each weigh sample, and submits the samples to a DHIR laboratory to measure butterfat, protein and somatic cell count. Somatic cell count is an indicator of overall udder health. First, ear tattoos are checked on each goat for identification. Nigerian Goats are also height measured at the beginning of the test, too.
The first testing involves milking out the goat and weighing in, usually in the evening. The following morning, the goat is milked and the milk is weighed and samples are taken.
The final testing is done that evening, when the goat is milked for the last time, and the milk is weighed with samples taken. The does earns points based on ‘Days Fresh’, ‘Pounds of Milk’, and ‘Butterfat’. The total points are added together and if they equal 18 or above, that doe earns her Milk Star.
(Warning: Don’t play this video while you’re at work, or while anyone in your house is sleeping……and even if you do decide to listen to this video, you still may decide to turn the volume down. It’s very very loud!. These were the sounds we listened to during the goat milk testing)
After the goat milk testing was completed on that first night, we went back to Lora’s house for dessert, and then went on a farm tour. We saw Lora’s Mom’s Angora goat. Lora’s Mom is a fiber artist and uses the mohair to spin and knit.
A couple of bucks.
Lora also raises Boer Meat Goats, too.
And she breeds and raises paint horses.
This little boy was born a couple months ago and was sold soon after. Lora didn’t even have to advertise. Someone drove by and admired her stallion and wanted to know if he was for sale. He wasn’t, but his son was.
He'll go to his new home as soon as he's weaned. Check out that blue eye. I love this side of his face, too. Very unique.
And this is his Dad. HIs name is Domino. He’s one handsome boy. And even though I already knew he was a stallion, I was still surprised at how puppy dog-like he was. Very affectionate, friendly, and gentle.
It was impossible to get a good full-body photo of him because he wanted to be right beside me all the time, petting and scratching him. He reminded me of a cat and how it wants to always rub against your legs so you’ll bend down and pet it. What a sweetie!
He didn’t like when I moved away and would nicker at me until I walked back. He sure is one handsome fella!
Lora also breeds and raises Corgis. Along with her Nigerians and Pygmy Goats, she sells and ships them to folks around the country. On her website she has listed the animals she has available for sale. Most of this litter of puppies is already sold. They'll go to their new homes once weaned. They are just too cute!
This is the Dad, in the background. The Corgi in the front is her second female, who is due to deliver her puppies very soon. They were both very friendly, sweet and active. Almost impossible to take a photo of them. They were moving all the time and wanting to be petted and loved on.
These are Lora’s Great Pyrenees Livestock Guardian Dogs. Typically they have free reign of the property, but with the gate open and all of us goat people there for the milk testing, Lora had them temporarily locked in their kennel. This puppy was so cute….like a little polar bear!
It was a great day and a very fun visit. We enjoyed yummy food, conversation, animals, and loads of laughter.
The End……………
No really………………..The End!
