Gettin' in over our head.....

[jwstewar]

The barn is insured, while it would have been bad had we lost it, it would have been worse had Ally not opened the barn door so they could get out to the pasture. The way the barn was filled with smoke, even with this relatively little fire, we would have lost at least some, probably all, of them. That would have been worse, yes, they are insured, but it would still be hard to replace them - especially the emotional attachment to some of them. Some are livestock, some are a little more special and a little more than that.

 

[jwstewar]

I also meant to post we received the water bill on Tuesday from the "Love Letter" they had sent us about the excessive usage - I didn't realize there was such a long time between reading and them sending the bill. Anyway our normal water bill runs 50-57 a month. This month is was $71.32. I'm glad they caught it, but at the same time that doesn't really seem all that "excessive" considering we have higher bills in the summer when we add water to the pool. I was pleasantly surprised that is all more than it was. I can handle that.

 

[jwstewar]

Well we are up to 11 babies. Unfortunately the last 4 are "useless" we did some experimenting with our registered buck and our toggenburgs (registered, but we can't get the paper work). They are super cute, but they are bucks, therefore, they can't be registered so we can't show them and their off spring can't be registered - thus the useless part. They will either end up being taken to the stock yard, sold to an individual for meat, or sold to someone as a family pet or a brush eater. Still have 3 more that we tried to breed this year. We think 2 are pregnant, but still not 100% sure, they aren't due for a while yet - fingers crossed. 3rd one isn't due until May so at this point we don't have a clue. She is our "sickly" Midnight that we just tried to breed to get her a "milking star" at the show so that it would transfer to her off-spring that she had last year. Her daughter is one of them that we are hoping is due in a month or so. If Midnight isn't pregnant, not a big deal, we will try again next year. If she is and kids successfully, it'll probably be the last time she gets bred. She is just too weak to handle repeated pregnancies.

 

[jwstewar]

Well, we are up to a total of 30 goats now. A few weeks ago we purchased 5 Boer/Nubian crosses that we are bottle feeding. Hopefully they will grow well enough so that they can be bred in August/September for wethers for next year's fair. We also had our one Alpine Selena gives us a single buck the same day we purchased the 5 B/N Xs. Unfortunately that was a bittersweet day for us. The day before we had to have Midnite put down. It was a hard decision, but it was best for her and for the safety and health of the rest of our herd. We then in turn had to have the rest of the herd tested and will have to continue to do so every 6 months.

As far as the rest of the baby situation goes. We sold a Pygmy/Boer back in January. We received an email from the folks that he still had one testicle. Monica and I neither one really ever looked at it that close as we were the ones that banded him. Unfortunately it looks like he got our little Pygmy as well as our little Lamancha before he left. The Lamancha should be OK with delivery though those will be some pretty messed up kids. Boer/Pygmy/Lamanchas????

We are still working on getting the barn up to speed. I was making pretty good progress for awhile when we had nice weather. Then the rains started and the tractor broke down. So that has put me out of commission on that. I did buy the service wire to run electric to the barn and also the breaker box and supply breaker for the barn. Now I just need to buy the conduit/supplies. A buddy is supposed to bring a trencher down so we can run the trench for the line. Hoping to do it soon, but the tractor is a higher priority and besides right now it is probably going to take lots of cash to get it back up and running even doing the work myself. So no conduit right now. Hopefully within a month or so.

Did get this automatic waterer installed for the girls. They seem to really like having fresh water always available to them. The filling of it as they were drinking scared them the first few times, but they seemed to have gotten used to it now.

Getting ready for our first show this Saturday. It is a Boer show. We will be taking 6 to it. Our Sr. herdsire, Jr. herdsire, the kids' market wethers, and 2 young does that we had born this year. Speaking of market wethers. We had weigh-in for them last weekend. They are have to weigh 50 lbs. by the fair which starts August 2nd. Alex's Market Goat weighed in at 66 lbs. and Keagan kept complaining how little his goat was. It weighed in at 40 lbs. We've never weighed in above 34 before.

 

[jwstewar]

Not much has happened with the barn since I'm still working on the tractor. We have managed to sell a couple of the ToggPines as we call them, though we are still holding them until the buyer gets his fence repaired and they return from vacation. We also sold one of our Boer Does that we had born. We had planned on keeping her because she had a really nice structure to her, but the night before the Boer show we noticed she had a bad teat structure that wasn't apparent at birth. Of course, the judge picked up on it and disqualified her. My daughter was so upset and embarrassed by being asked to leave the ring. So we ended up selling her with full disclosure to the buyer.

Then a funny story. We sold one of the Toggenburg does last Friday. I even ended up delivering the doe for a delivery fee last Friday night. Saturday they called. The doe was sad and they wanted her sister. I agreed to delivery on Sunday morning. So then Sunday morning they call back. They don't want the sister nor do they want the first goat. They asked if I could come get her and we could keep the money. So I went back and got her. I'm glad they did that vs. neglecting her. So now they are back up for sale again.

Then my daughter won a LaMancha doe from one of the dairy clubs we are in. We picked it up on Sunday. The only stipulation is, we have to give back the first doe out of it (or another doe). Then the folks from a couple of years ago didn't live up to their obligation including giving the paper work back. So if we can get the paper work back (which they said they would do, if Ally picked that goat) we will get that goat as well. We will also provide a doe for the "price" of that one. Then from the lady that donated these does to the club, we are also buying another LaMancha doe. She is a Permanent Champion - meaning she has been named a Grand Champion at 3 different shows. Ally could have picked her, but since she is a Champion, she really shouldn't be shown in competitions any more. But we want her because she has an absolutely perfect udder. We think she will help us develop our line. Though we have thought about 1 of the kids taking her to the fair, not sure yet though.

 

[bczoom]

Why did the people give it back?

They want one, then 2, then none all in a matter of a weekend. Sounds pretty indecisive.

 

[jwstewar]

They were an older couple that had goats before. They also raised some type of Puerto Rican horses. I think they remembered the good part of goats, but not how much work the milking and caring for actually was. When we got there Sunday they said that before they started building a building closer to the house (they already had a VERY nice barn the horses were in) and everything that they had better slow down. I think part of it had to do with the milking. I think she realized the milking wasn't easy and she may have had a touch of arthritis in her hands and the milking agitated it. They mentioned come fall they would ship their horse back to Florida. I asked what would become of the goat and at that point they said they would ship her too. I thought Millie was all set. They said they still have horses in Puerto Rican horses as well. They seemed like real nice folks. Hate that it didn't work out, but glad the goats weren't neglected.

 

[jwstewar]

Pretty good weekend at the Flowering Goat Farm. I got the tractor back running Friday morning. Friday evening another couple came and bought the Toggenburgs (Millie & Zuri). These are the same ones that were bought and returned a couple of weeks ago. This man and woman seemed really happy with them. They also already had several other does in milk, so that is a plus. Saturday afternoon another gentleman came and purchased the two remaining Toggpines. He seemed happy with them as well. I then borrowed a trencher and got the trench dug to the barn to install the electric line. Unfortunately, during this process I barely hit our propane line (the tank was off). However, when I hit, I thought I hit the water line because I had put it in the black poly lines like you use for water lines. So I went to town to get supplies to fix a water line. Only to realize when I cut it, that it wasn't the water line but the gas line and that it wasn't damaged until I cut it to fix it. So back to town to get parts. Ended up with the wrong connectors. So back to town Sunday morning to buy a flare tool and flare fittings. I work and get it put back together and kept monitoring the soap bubbles. Seems like increasing the size of the crescent 3 times finally got it tight enough. My ribs are sore now from laying on the ground tightening those flare fittings up. So I then actually starting putting some of the conduit together that the wiring inside the current shop will be run in. Then we had to go a load of hay, so that was about all the progress for the weekend. Need to return the trencher tonight and heavy rains the next 2 or 3 days, so probably not much progress again until Friday.

 

[jwstewar]

WE HAVE POWER IN THE BARN!!!!

Actually I finally got it hooked up last week. This isn't the full barn wired with power, but the breaker box and a duplex outlet that I can run extension cords from. At least we don't have cords running through the yard that every time it rained would kick a GFCI outlet in the shop. GRRRR. But the breaker box is mounted to the wall, supply line in 2" conduit feeding it, Ground rod driven into the ground with ground strap, and then one 20 AMP branch circuit on GFCI fed via 12 ga in PVC conduit.

All wiring will be in PVC conduit and will connect to PVC boxes for a couple of reasons - I can only find PVC boxes that have a side opening (I essentially want to make a T - supply coming from the right, dropping straight down to feed 1 outlet, but also continuing to the left to feed the rest of the stall. I think I've got a handle on out to do this. I also feel like the PVC boxes will "mount" a little more secure vs. just the 2 metal tabs on a metal box. Here is where I have a question (hint TC18Ohio), I want all outlets to have a cover, but I don't want to use weather proof while in use covers as I'm mainly trying to protect from dust and the goats will just break the plastic bubbles. So I'm wanting to use traditional metal covers. Is it permissible to use these metal covers on a PVC box? I know if I were to use a metal box they would be grounded via the box and the ground screw, but with the PVC box that isn't going to happen. I haven't found plastic covers other than the bubbles (and don't think they would last, even if I did).

 

[OhioTC18]

Jim, You can use the metal covers. They will get their ground via the attachment screw.

 

[jwstewar]

Thanks Jerry always the wealth of all things electrical.

Here is a picture of my install of the box. Yes, this is inside, don't let the weeds fool you. I had left this part of the part unfilled until I go the electric in so I didn't have to dig it back out to run the conduit. Once the tractor broke down the weeds took over the dirt that I was hauling in. Since I'm not pouring concrete I'm not worried about organic matter and settling. The goats do a pretty good job of packing the dirt anyway. After about a week it gets hard as a rock. They sure did like these weeds. They loved being able to graze in the barn. By the next day, these were all gone.

And yes, this is still a bit low and requires more fill, but I need to put some reinforcements under the man door. The builder didn't put anything under it so it will bend pretty badly if you step on it. I'm going to put a 4x4 under it and then 2x6s attached to the 4x6s on each end of the 4x4 to support it. Then I can finish filling in this area. I did some staging of dirt last night closer to the barn so I will be able to haul it in quicker now.

 

[Jim_S]

Yes, this is inside, don't let the weeds fool you

We also have indoor and outdoor weeds at our barn

 

[jwstewar]

Not much progress has been made on getting the barn wired. Between getting ready for the state fair, going to the state fair, getting ready for the county fair, going to the county fair, and finally recuperating from two fairs, not much has happened since we just returned home on Sunday. But we had pretty successful fairs. First at the Ohio State Fair, we had several Dairy place 1st or 2nd in their class with a couple winning best udder. My son also took Reserve Grand Champion LaMancha. Then on the meat side, we had my son's market wether place 6th out of 15. Then my daughter showed a little Boer Doe that comes from our goats - she placed 5th out of a class of 15. Then the biggie, my daughter won Meat Goat Intermediate Showmanship and Dairy Goat Intermediate Showmanship at the State Fair.

Then we came back to the Ross County Fair. I get this class name confused, but it is basically Senior Does a year old, in milk. My son placed 1st in the class and my daughter was second. Then in the Senior Does 2 -3 years old, my son was 3rd and daughter was 4th in the class. Then back to the meat side, my son was 4th in his class with his wether, again this was with our genetics. Then Ally showed her little breeding doe again, she got 4th this time out of a class of 20 or so. Ally's market wether didn't do great, it didn't have enough rump. We were trying to keep weight down because he was so big (98 pounds) and that is where he didn't gain. Probably should have fed him out and walked in the ring at 120 - 130 pounds. From a showmanship side. Ally won Dairy Goat Intermediate Showmanship and Keagan was second. The judge said it was actually a pretty difficult decision, I was proud of both, but especially Keagan. He really stepped his game up to put pressure on Ally - even in the 2 weeks since the state fair. Neither placed on the meat side, but Keagan almost did. We think Ally missed it because of so many in the class she ended up shoved in a corner and the judge couldn't see her. But he really watched her during the Master and you could tell by the look on his face, he was wondering why he didn't place her. Then the GREAT BIGGIE. Since she won her Showmanship class, she was eligible for what we call the Showman of Showmen. This is the Showmanship winners from all of the large species: Beef, Dairy, Horse, Sheep, Pig, Meat Goat, and Dairy Goat. They then have to show all of the animals except for what they won with (except hogs, they've already gone to market, they take a test). Each will then be ranked on how they show. 1st place gets 7 points, 2nd place 6 points, and so forth. Out of a possible 42 points, Ally won with 38 points. I was so excited, I was screaming out loud. I don't do that very often.

I think we have 2 more shows coming up yet this year and that will wrap show season up. We've already started the "next season" and that is breeding season. We had a farm bring 2 Alpine does over to breed with our Alpine bucks on Monday. Just waiting on them to come into heat. We also have 3 Boer does lined up for breeding as well. Just need to wait a bit for those. Probably in the next couple of weeks.

 

[bczoom]

Wow, that's a lot of wins! Congrats to the entire family.

"My son also took Reserve Grand Champion LaMancha."
Your son races cars too?

 

[jwstewar]

Wow, that's a lot of wins! Congrats to the entire family.

"My son also took Reserve Grand Champion LaMancha."
Your son races cars too?

He would like to

 

[jwstewar]

Thought I would post a little update. Still been working on the wiring, but that is a very slow process. By having to boot the goats out, I'm limited in the time because of having to let them eat breakfast, have to stop early and let them back in for dinner, then don't forget the days it is windy or rainy that I don't want to have to lock them out, and then just plain can't forget the days of something else to do. I'll get it, just not as quick as we would like. Anyway, breeding season is underway. We got 3 of our 4 Boer does bred by one of our Boer bucks. We were afraid to put our yearling buck with her because of him hurting her and then our other buck is her brother - and that is just gross We also got our 3 Alpines bred. 2 to our French Alpine Buck that used last year. And the 3rd to one of our off spring whose mom has a really nice udder and mammary system. Hoping that he will bring that to the line and help her offspring. We then took 2 of our LaManchas to a friend's house and had them bred with a really nice buck she had from a farm in Michigan that raises probably some of the best LaManchas in the country. We then had a friend AI another one of them with some semen that we bought down at the livestock expo in Louisville. And finally our fourth, just waiting on her to come into heat again so we can AI her as well, Monica finally got her equipment to do it herself yesterday.

So since all words are boring, thought I would post a few pics.

First is just looking back toward some of the stalls that we have built. These are mainly used for kidding, but as you can see, we also use one of them for hay storage. Speaking of hay, we made a deal. We bred 5 does for another farm in trade for 150 bales of hay. Worked out well for both of us. We also agreed that we would buy the rest of the hay he had for the year. We don't have to find a supplier and he doesn't have to find buyers.

2nd is some of the other stalls as well as the girls heated water buckets and their hay feeder. If you look real close, in the background you can see our red Boer buck that was born in February.

Next is the corner Northwest corner of the barn. You can see that I've finished hauling the dirt in and you can see a couple of circuits of conduit. Of course, you can also see extension cords still in use.

Fourth is the Southwest corner. This will eventually be the milk room. You can see the floor drain and the sink drain there. Since we don't plan on using these much, they just drain to a dry sump. You can also see the water line that comes in. It has heat tape and insulation wrapped around it. I had just added the electrical outlet for it. After this picture was done, I slipped a piece of 8" green sewer pipe over the water line and strapped it to the pole to keep the goats from eating the insulation.

Fifth is just a picture of the gates across the front door and the ramp I had to build to access the barn. Along with a pile of dirt I have pile for later use.

Next are some of the kids in their feeder. They've all but gotten too big to be in here, but they still squeeze in and eat. Keeps the big goats from picking on them.

Another shot of them eating.

And the last picture was taken Sunday after I had given them their morning grain and they had moved on to their morning hay.

As you can see, still lots more work to do in the barn and still a lot of money to spend. It takes time, but we are getting it the way we want. The OSB and insulation help the barn a lot. Keep it warmer winter and cooler in the summer. Still trying to figure out something for a ceiling for those same reasons and also the biohazard aspect of birds living in the trusses and pooping every where.

 

[OhioTC18]

Jim,
It's looking good. Those goats are nice looking animals.

 

[jwstewar]

Thanks Jerry, never in my wildest dreams did I dream that I would be doing something like this. Of course, I still can't believe how much all of this stuff costs either. $8 for a feed trough doesn't sound expensive, but when you have 15 of them, plus 8 more expensive ones for shows, and then buckets, show water buckets, heated water buckets. It really adds up. I can't imagine the money that "real" farmers spend on stuff. It is fun, a lot of hard work, just hope that we can start recouping some of our expenses next year. Would've been a bit better off, but the 5 Boer/Nubian crosses that we bought just didn't grow quite enough to breed when we need them to. Since we lost out on that, that cost us at least $1000 of selling the babies. Oh well, we would rather wait a year to bring them and keep them healthy vs. breeding them too young/small or like now to close to when we would need them to breed next year. We try to treat them the best that we can and take care of them the best that we can.

 

[jwstewar]

Kidding season has started. We started with the little Pygmy name Skylar almost 4 weeks ago. She wasn't supposed to be bred, but accidents happen. We weren't sure who exactly got her (we didn't know she was bred until mid December). We just knew it wasn't a Pygmy as we don't have a Pygmy Buck. So when it came time to deliver we were curious of how many and who. And BTW, since we knew it was a full size buck, we were worried about losing Skylar. Didn't want to lose the kids, but was more worried about losing Skylar. We had done an ultrasound and knew she had multiples - which was a good thing. First little guy came out, he only weighed a pound or so, and just not real energetic. He was an Alpine Cross - ah, we had our culprit. It was Nite, he was a buck from last year that we sold at the first part of December. The little buckling only lived about 30-40 minutes before he passed. So then a little doe came out. She was an Alpine Cross and weighed 3 lbs. and something. Then another little doe came, it was, now get this, a Boer Cross. It was by Max, a Boer buck from last year. She weighed almost 4 pounds. Then finally a 4 baby, another doe, came. She was also an Alpine Cross. All 3 of the little does lived and are doing great. We've kept them in the house and they are bottle babies that we are feeding 4 times a day. We have someone supposed to come purchase them on Saturday.

We've then had 2 of our Boers kid. One gave us 2 does and a buck and the other gave us 2 bucks. Our kids will take 2 of the bucks as a market project and then we will sell the 3rd. We are also currently on baby watch for our 3rd and final Boer for this year. When we ultrasounded her, we couldn't tell if it was 3 or 4 babies in her. A goat is pregnant for around 150 days but can go as early as 145 and will go typically before 155. Today is day 156 for her. Poor Monica has been in and out of the cold the last couple of days keeping an eye on her.

While I'm at work, I'm keeping an eye on her through my phone using the barn cameras that we got for Christmas. They have been somewhat of a thorn in my side as we are right at the fringe of what wireless can reach. I've used range extenders (overloaded it with data), but a supposedly longer range router that could be used as an extender (that has driven me crazy), bought software to allow us to record and monitor through a dedicated PC, bought extra long distance supposedly high gain antennas. Everything has been kind of frustrating, because sometimes it'll work and sometimes not. And it seems to be a mish-mash of everything cause me grief. For whatever reason, Monica took the new, crappy antenna off the one stall camera and went back to the original stock antenna. Since she has done that, we now have both cameras working and both have worked without dropping signal for almost 27 hours. We'll see if it continues.

Our dairy goats are schedule to start kidding late this month and potentially through the end of April. The good news is, we've sold all of our bucks left from last year and nobody even negotiated price. They've ended up going to several different states. On even better news, we should be breeding 15 Boers for Market Wethers this summer/fall for kidding next so we could potentially be selling 30 or so market projects next year. Even better news, we have everything sold for 2015 that we will produce and decide not to keep, even better, better news, we've already started a waiting list for goats that we will produce in 2016.

 

[OrangeBuggy]

My brother and sister in law have four mini, dwarf or what ever they are goats. All male, no milking. Cute little buggers, they are really neat.