Milk Test at Prairie Wood Ranch

 

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!

Just Kidding Around

 

(Warning! This post started off short, but morphed into a much longer post. Visit the potty and grab some refreshments before reading)

Whoooeee! Have I been busy! Forgive me for not stopping by your blogs to visit, I’ve barely had time to even log onto my computer the last week, what with John not being here and all the extra work for me, the goat milk test I attended on Friday, the trail horse clinic I audited on Saturday, getting all three of my kidlets ready for baseball and softball starting up next week, and preparing and packing my twinlings for their annual homeschool camp down in Capitan, NM this week.

And……I’ve been able to squeeze in some time to organize and clean the barn, trade out my Abetta cordura stirrup leathers with my Henry Miller Plantation Saddle’s nice leather ones, that are already permanently, perfectly turned for the comfort and safety of my feet and knees.

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I also did some letterboxing in Albuquerque, with and without my kidlets. I always have fun on letterboxing adventures. Like this past weekend, when I was down by myself hiking the Rio Grande Bosque, and I discovered this snake blocking my path to the letterbox.

(He may not look big in this picture, but I’d wager that he was at least 4ft long, maybe even 5ft!)

I realized that I had probably walked right beside him when I was following the clues and trying to find the letterbox location.

Scared me. But I was relieved to discover he had no rattles and was just a ‘friendly’ Bull Snake. But I still didn’t want to turn my back to it, so I went back around to the main trail and trekked along for a little while to give the snake some time to move on, and then when I came back I realized that now I didn’t know in which direction the blasted snake went, so I grabbed a big stick and pushed it through the leaf litter as I walked to the letterbox location, and made sure to stomp my feet so any snakes in the vicinity would know to get out of my way. Whew!

Oh and check out the backyard of this house that was right alongside the path to the main trail. They’ve already got their pool set up for summer! Wow.

When I left my house that morning, there were a few snowflakes blowing around and I was wearing a thick fleece jacket! And by the time I was hiking that trail, it was in the 80’s and I had shed my fleece and was wearing a t-shirt. It always surprises me at how different our weather is up here in the mountains above Albuquerque, just 25 minutes away.

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Another scary encounter I had to endure was my visit to the mall last week, too. Well technically I never stepped foot into the mall, but the Boot Barn is actually attached to the mall. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike malls? I’ve not been in one for years.

Anyway, I had to go exchange the Ariat boots that Ranchman John bought me last month. Actually those were the first exchange because the first pair ended up being too big (a size 9.5 mens). And, the second pair rubbed my heels raw and caused my knees and legs to be sore because they were too heavy, and I figured out that men’s ankles must be wider than mine. So I decided to take that second pair back, too.

I tried on a women’s pair of Ariat Terrain boots in a size 10 and was amazed to discover that they fit perfectly! And they cost less than the boots that Ranchman John picked out for me, too! So, I traded in the boots that didn't fit for them AND with the extra refunded money, I bought a new cowgirl hat, to boot! (pun intended!)

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Oh and I had my farrier out to trim Apache last week, as well. She did great and was super well-behaved. My farrier made me laugh because I think he was smitten with Apache along with her size and demeanor. He admired her stocky build and sturdy feet and said that with time, especially up here in our rocky, hilly, rugged mountains (and not the soft, flat grassy valley where she came from) her feet will become even stronger and her frogs will grow healthier. He also said that he suspects that Apache may have some mustang in her bloodlines, too. I never considered that before, and find it interesting.

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Anyway, as mentioned earlier, (and the main subject for this post) this past weekend I attended a Milk Test over at my friend Lora’s place, Prairie Wood Ranch.  It was set up through our local organization, the Southwest Nigerian Goat Club, of which Lora is the President and my friend, Deanna at Cornerstone Nigerians is the Vice President, and who also is a Certified Milk Tester. Thanks to Deanna, and her talents, I am planning on having another give-a-way very soon, too.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few photos of some of the cuteness that was overflowing on Prairie Wood Ranch during my visit.

 

 

 

 

What we Mothers have to endure, eh? That’s one patient goat mama, don’t you think? 

 

 

“Wanted: Circus Job under the Big Top” 

 

 She was smiling at me, in a Mona Lisa sort of way, don’t you think?

 

The late afternoon sun was blinding me, but isn’t this tiny doe kid the cutest thing ever?! 

 

 I think his name should be Gizmo. He’s just a little bit freaky, don’t you think?

Sunday Stills ~ The Letter B

 

This week’s Sunday Stills Challenge was to photograph subjects that begin with the letter B.

I had fun with this challenge, as you will soon see…….

1)Bears at the Rio Grande Zoo, in Albuquerque, NM.

 

2)Bridle and Bit worn by my mare, Apache.

 

3)Boots at the Boot Barn, in Albuquerque, NM.

 

4)Buckles at the Boot Barn, in Albuquerque, NM.

 

5)Bridge on I-40, in Tijeras, NM.

 

6)Bicycle in Tijeras, NM, a meaningful Memorial for a bicyclist slain along this stretch of road.

7)Bubbles, in an experiment using my daughter’s bubbles from her bath, backlit by a light bulb.

 

8)Barn in Edgewood, NM, at my friend’s house during a recent goat milk testing meeting.

 

9)Bucket of ‘scrap’ goat’s milk.

 

10)Buck, in other words, a male un-wethered goat, over at my friend’s farm.

 

 

11)B*lls, B*tt and Bye-Bye!

Which ones were your favorite?

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And finally, one last B!

Bra, an award given to me by Sidney over at Science vs Tradition.

This award is for those bloggers who support us and  inspire us.  I choose to pass this award onto Ed over at Thoughts from the Road because he has been a huge support for many folks over the past year while inspiring all of us, who have chosen to participate in Sunday Stills each week, to challenge our photo taking skills and creativity. Thanks Ed!

Enjoy your Bra!

(To save your award, just right click and choose Save. You can choose to give this award to as many bloggers as you choose, just be sure to link back to them when you do.)