Family, a Violet, and Tulle

We finally had a long awaited visit from my sisters family. They were supposed to visit last year, but they had a lot of uneventful happenings in their trip and never ended up making it out here to see us. One year later THEY FINALLY MADE IT! I missed them soooo much! I didn't want them to leave : (  It was so nice having family around.

Last year I won a beautiful tulle skirt from Kellie Arndt at http://kelliefalconer.blogspot.com/  . Click here for the link to her Etsy Store. My wonderful niece, Jolie, had promised to take pictures with her fancy shmancy camera when they came out, but of course there was a one year delay......

And it finally happened.

Yet we had such a hard time finding a good background. Its kind of impossible here, so we made do. Which resulted in very few good pictures. But here goes.

Then we ditched the garden (it had a giant rat running around in the plants) and headed out to Violet, our LaMancha dairy goat. She is the sweetest, but required lots of figs to stand still or she was going to abandon us, so she could find her own.

Violet making fish lips haha! She wants to look glamorous. 

There were lots of pictures of me talking to her. They are actually my favorite. I think they reflect me the most, because I am ALWAYS talking to the animals.

Violet talking back!

And my favorite of all.

Then it was Vivienne's turn. She was the greatest little helper while here. She didn't want me to take care of the rabbits and guinea pigs without her. She happily rinsed and filled all of their water bowls for me. Getting her dressed up and taking pictures of her was like playing with a little Tinker Belle.

And last but not least. After I was done taking pictures of Vivienne, Christian wanted to try one of these little citrus fruit that my mom has in the front yard. He has the best sour face!

 He is a sweet little dinosaur, who loved to bring pine cones from their hotel for the rabbits to chew on.



~A big thanks to Kellie for the wonderful skirt.~

Kimberly

Goodbye Summer

More like good riddance. I'm so glad Summer is over (for the most part anyways). I can't stand the heat anymore, it just makes me feel sick. I started out Summer by slicing my hand with a very sharp, dirty pair of hoof shears. It was a bad judgement call when a doeling started kicking her leg. With the little steri-strips the clinic gave me to hold the wound shut, I was kinda useless for a while, as if I used my hand for anything it would pop the strips off. I have been blessed that I hadn't had a wound like that, since a rabbit bite the end of my finger when I was around 3 years old. I did discover that large amounts of Ester-C worked great to keep my hand from hurting.

I wasn't going to have any baby bunnies in the Summer, because of the heat. Then I remembered "Duh, the does have nice cool holes they can kindle in.". So three litters it was. One doe kindled as expected in her hole, doe # 2 decided to use her house (because she was never able to dig a tunnel off of it, because the dirt is too hard in her pen.), and that resulted in a couple lost kits. One kit got lost when it blindly crawled off on a hot day. I think an animal got it. I had to put a second one down that got abscesses. So that left 4 kits in the second litter which were doing great. Then when they were about 3 weeks old my mom stopped putting food in the chickens feeders in the back of our orchard, because of rats. The chickens of course had feeders that she was feeding them with up at the front. Well this I guess caused all the rats to come up to the backyard and they ate the face off of one of the kits, and attacked a second that survived from litter # 2. I am so disgusted with rats and the things I have seen them do to animals over the years. I don't know how anyone can keep them for pets! They will eat your bunnies face off!

There was also litter # 3 by a doe I named Gypsy. I picked that name for her, because she was the one that ran loose at her previous owners place, and would return to feed her children at night. She had a nice hole and at kindling time spread a bunch of hair around her pen. I checked her hole, no babies. She filled in the entrance, they do that, but she was digging a tunnel in the other direction. She had milk, but no babies to be found. So after 2 weeks I had assumed she had a false pregnancy. I put her in with the buck for another go around. I thought it was strange that her milk hadn't dried up. I think it was only a few days later that baby bunnies appeared in her pen! 

Oh no! They were darling, but their mother was just re-bred, so I made sure to bump up her nutrition. I took the kits away a week before she was due and she's done just fine. She has some of the prettiest babies: castor, blue, blue otter, lilac, lilac otter, and lynx.

The garden didn't get planted till REALLY late. I can't remember if it was mid or the end of June when my mom planted it. We moved the garden area up to what was the main chicken area. As soon as the plants got past the shock of transplant they took off. Thanks to all that chicken manure. But unfortunately she had to replant many plants and seeds. The rats and ground squirrels think she planted everything for them. They ate off entire rows of beans as they emerged, and ate all the cabbage plants I started. She had to plant the beans 3 times. I guess third times the charm. We sure enjoyed the Provider beans while they lasted. My dad and I never tire of them. Just cook them with a little bacon and oh they are so good. That used up all our bean seed planting 3 times in one year. I had gotten Boyd Craven JR.'s books Backyard Meat Rabbits, and Beyond The Pellet: Feeding Rabbits Naturally for my birthday. He wrote about a heirloom seed company called Everwilde that sells none GMO seed, and have really good pricing. So I checked them out. They carried Provider seeds. Yay! And extremely cheap. I was concerned about the possibility of them selling seeds with chemical treatments on them, like I have received from some other places in the past. So I contacted them to ask. They responded that they only carried a few different types of seeds that come with the treatment on them, with a list of which seeds it was. Luckily it wasn't anything I wanted to order. So I placed my order and when my package arrived I couldn't have been happier. All their seeds are sealed in gold colored plastic packages that can be resealed with a ziplock type closure. I read that someone after getting dirty planting, put their pants in the wash forgetting they had put a packet of seeds in their pocket, and when they pulled them out of the washer the seeds were unharmed. I think that's a pretty good seed pack. Especially when its at no extra cost. Plus the seeds are supposed to last a lot longer in these packets vs. being stored in paper packets. We shall see.

I already have some comfrey growing in my garden, but it doesn't do a whole lot, because of where its planted. I want to grow a plot of it, so I can feed it to the rabbits. I have seen an advertisement running for years for comfrey root cuttings, so I used some of the money from bunny sales to place an order. I actually didn't even know if it was the time of the year to start their roots, and for once in my life I didn't feel like looking it up. I figured it wasn't the right time, I wouldn't be receiving them for a while. Not even two weeks after mailing in the order my little bundle of root snippets arrived. I followed the instructions they came with, and planted them in 4" pots, because I wanted to be able to keep a close eye on them, till they become a good size plant to put in the ground. The instructions said that they will start to emerge in about 2 weeks. Its been 3 1/2 weeks and I haven't seen anything yet. I'm not giving up. If they don't do anything I'll order some from someone off e-bay. There are a lot on there and they are better deals. 

The first day of June my mom and I had to drag all our stinky bucks home from our neighbors pasture. They had begun to come into rut and the does were coming into heat, including 2 month old doelings. What is wrong with these animals? Don't they know what time of year it is?! Their breeding cycle obviously doesn't have anything to do with day length. Just like they still don't know how pigeons know how to fly home. So over the past week our goats have been delivering kids. It started with a 7 month old doeling turning up with her own little doeling she delivered all by herself. Then my moms 8 month old doeling delivered a great big white buckling again unassisted. A 7 month old doeling had a set of twin girls. She had them after dark, so I helped dry them. They were fine the next morning when I checked them, but something happened later in the day. The mother took one a long way out into the field and it was laying their injured. I brought her home but she died. We think she got stepped on, and was bleeding internally. The mother wouldn't stay with the other kid. She was HUNGRY after getting 2 kids out of her, and just not mature enough. We brought the surviving kid home. She could have cared less. That changed the next morning when she woke up with a swollen udder. We brought her home,set her up in a dog pen, and gave her daughter back which she gladly accepted. Our mature doe Daisy had great big white twins, again unassisted. 1 doeling with LaMancha ears, and a buckling with big floppy ears and a big Boer head. That completed our out of season - kidding season. Or so I thought..... Since writing that earlier I went to check our goats for the evening to discover our doe Violet in labor! We didn't even know she was pregnant. She had a great big chocolate colored doeling. So who knows if the goats are done kidding, and to think this is going to start all over in March.

Kimberly

28 and counting!

We have had quite the eventful year in kidding with 28 kids born, and split even on bucklings and doelings. We only have one doe left to kid, but she's not due till July.

 This no name doe had her kids out in the back of the pasture on a beautiful day. They were already up and nursing when we discovered them.

 Jubilee checking on her kids.

 The First two kids born playing "sliding down the shed".

 Dolly, our spoiled bottle baby, lounging on the couch. She was born with severely contracted tendons (caused by lack of room in the womb) in her front legs. We have been splinting them, and it is working to stretch them out. She was also born with a waddle on her right ear, so cute.

 27 kids playing before the sun goes down. My favorite time of day to watch them.  There is a large hole in the ground from the squirrels, and they have turned it into a play spot. Kids will play with anything.

 Black twin doelings from Henna. Both turned out polled, and oh so gorgeous.

 My little buddy. Everywhere I go in the pasture he is right at my side or jumping on my leg trying to get me it pet him. He is soooo sweet, I hope we can find him a home as a breeder. I would hate to see him go for meat.

One more picture of everyone romping.

Kimberly

Raising Animals Isn't Always Rosy

***An update on my pictures of polled vs. horned in my last post. Both doelings are over 1 month old have not developed horns. So swirl or no swirl obviously doesn't matter. ***

We still have several does to kid. I waited as long as possible to put them with Kanga, since they are on the small side, and it will be their first kid. Last weekend Morning Glory went into labor, and her kid was stuck in a position with its head turned back. My Mom and I took turns trying to get the kid rearranged, but could not get the head turned around. We were left with only one option. Pull the kid out, and hope for the best. The kid was lost, but Morning Glory was OK. Goats are amazingly tough animals. We felt so bad for her. So has such strong mothering instincts, just like her Mother Jubilee. We left the kid with her, hoping she would realize it was dead. But she still cried for it when we took it away, and she is left with an udder full of milk. I wished we had a abandoned kid to give to her. She seems to be a little happier the past couple days.

I didn't have any good recent pictures of Morning Glory. 

Here is one of her when she was born.

 And one from last winter.

I'm so grateful we still have her.

My Mom's Diamond Doves had these cute little babies.

I took the picture a few days ago. Unfortunately they threw one of the babies out yesterday, and smashed the other during the night. They were doing so well. I found some larger nests my Mom had stored away. Maybe they will do better next time around with a more roomier nest.

Last Wednesday I walked out to the pasture in the middle of the day, and right when I reached the gate I heard a crash. There had been a huge hawk nest in the eucalyptus trees, and the clumsy baby hawk had flown back to the nest and knocked it down. The nest went crashing down through the tree branches. I hurried out to take a look. It turned out it knocked down another bird nest on the way down. I found two baby sparrows hiding in the grass. 

I brought them up, made them a nest out of a coffee can, and fed them. We used to raise many types of exotic birds, so hand feeding is nothing new to me. They were already feathered out, and yesterday they learned to fly from perch to perch, so hopefully they will learn to eat on there own soon.

My little guinea pig mops on the lawn.

While I had the guinea pigs out, this little praying mantis fell on the lawn.

 A pretty sunset.

Dandelion had this darling little boy this morning all by herself! What a nice surprise to discover this morning. 

Tired Mama.

Kimberly

Happenings and Lots of Baby Animals

Well it seems I sure haven't been doing well with keeping up with my blog. I think about things all the time to post, but never get around to actually posting them.

I have finally been able to see a Endocrinologist over the past several months. My doctor was trying to get me in to see one since last Fall. I have had so many weird health issues, that she said it was basically beyond her knowledge, and required a specialist. So after waiting, and waiting I have been sent to the most wonderful doctor. A Christian doctor that really spends a LOT of time with me. In fact I couldn't believe it when my Mom and I left his office the last time, and looked at the clock. We had been their about 2 hours, and he spent that whole time with us. (Yes, I drag my Mom in with me. That way she remembers all the things I forget to say or ask, and I don't have to repeat everything to her afterwards.) He is tweaking my thyroid dosage to get it just right. Not just within the normal range, but perfectly in the center of the normal range. I am very sensitive to the most minute change in dosage. He does a few tests to see how fast my muscles relax (which are relaxing to fast), and that also tells how off my thyroid is, but they are getting a little better. I can feel this difference, like I might actually be able to gain muscle strength with some more improvement. I am soooooo happy to have been sent to this doctor. Can you tell I am happy ; )

I have been on a gluten free diet for quite a while now, but have discovered more food issues. So now I am on a gluten free, dairy free, and peanut free diet. That leaves a VERY limited diet, but I don't feel dizzy every day from my right ear being clogged. The inside of my lips aren't swollen, and my stomach isn't hurting on a daily basis. And the strangest thing of all went away. I am only going to mention this for the hopes of that someone else out there that has this problem will find the answer. Because it is very embarrassing. My sweat smelled like cat urine. If something made me nervous or scared me, it would make it worse. I was always insecure when out in public about this, that if I started sweating that someone would notice. Although I don't think anyone did, because I was very careful and used antiperspirants. Upon removing DAIRY from my diet it is GONE! I told my doctor about this, and he said he had never heard of it before, and seemed to find it very interesting. All I know is that I tried google searching it, I could find people with this problem, but no one had an answer. So I hope that people will find the answer now, because otherwise that was just a very embarrassing thing to write about for nothing!

That is enough about my health, here are some pictures of what I have been up to, and some new babies on the farm.

 I slowly but surely built this four level cage, over about a two month period, for the guinea pigs. So they will have plenty of room. It was a clothing rack for hanging clothes in, that a store was throwing out.

 Linoleum floors to keep them from spoiling the wood, and for easier cleaning.

  

I went cheap, and made all the latches with scrap wood, and nuts and bolts I robbed from my Dads shop.

I just finished this one today. I made it last year to hold these 2'x3' cement mixing pans that work great for GP's, but they needed to be contained, so they couldn't jump out. I added wire mesh all around and doors. It's finally complete, yay. But unoccupied for now.

Vicky stepped on a bee. I put plantain on her foot with a band aid for a while. She hopped around on three legs all day, till the swelling went down.

 Tulip had this cute little girl that looks just like her daddy Kanga. She had her in the evening, and the next day when I went out to check on everybody, Tulip had something hanging off of her. I looked closer to discover it was a little mummified baby goat! I guess something went wrong and her body mummified it to protect the remaining twin. I looked it up and its kinda rare. She was perfectly fine, and never had any problems.

Daffodil had this flashy big boy. He is polled meaning naturally hornless which he got from his Daddy Kanga. Although he was presented normally at birth, we did have to assist in pulling as he was a big guy, and Daffodils first kid. My bothers 8y.o. son was over visiting and got to watch the whole experience. Afterwards he thought he was going to throw up. Boys! It was good for him to witness birth, even if it did churn his stomach.

After his bellyache wore off, my nephew helped me take these pictures. I was trying to show the gelatin coating on the bottoms of the hooves, that starts shedding off right after birth. It protects the mothers insides.

Jetta had twin girls! Who also look like their Daddy. You guessed it, Kanga.

 One doeling has swirls.

And the other doesn't. This is supposed to tell if they are polled or not. The swirls are supposed to have horns. We will have to wait and see if this is true.

 Sir Locksley and Lady Miriam (both Texels) a couple days before she had her babies.

 Proud Mama with her two little sons.

Running back to Mama.

Kimberly