The livestock go for a stroll.....

Fancy our huge donkey

Yesterday, I came home from work and a neighbor hustled to the door, panting that they needed help with the donkeys. Fearing the worst,I looked for my vet kit and he said, No! They are loose! Two neighbors and my son had been chasing the donks through the ten acres of brush we have yet to fence.



Molly and Fiona, awaiting dinner

Well, someone (ahem) managed to open the gate to our lower pasture and all the girl goats and girl donkeys were roaming the countryside. Goats are easy-- shake a little feed in their direction and they're yours. Donkeys, well, a little more challenging

My three jennys have had very little training in any consistent manner. They do loves hugs, the dears, and will allow brushing, hoof picking, and haltering. I eventually want to teach them to lead and pack, maybe even ride Fancy. But right now, their main job is discouraging predators like coyotes and bobcats from eating the baby goats, and, boy, do the jennys love baby goats!

Anyway, I hightail it to the barn for halters and leads and returned to find my grown son with his arms around Fancy, the largest donkey (super large standard). Reaching around I get the halter on her and a lead rope. She is not happy. Thinking like a donk, I realize that the neighbors are what is spooking her. One of the neighbors had also caught a donkey, Fiona, and had haltered her-- but the halter was upside down, with the throatlatch over her eyes! Oh, boy.  (Note: Sadly I had no camera handy...)

Fancy had some glue on her hooves (that's donkey-speak for "I ain't movin'"), but I took the time to allow her to decide to be led and I did not allow the neighbors to whoop and wave their hands (obviously not familiar with equines at all). Eventually, I got Fancy ambling over the field towards the pasture gate. Fiona, blinded by the halter, came reluctantly behind us, praying, I'm sure, for release from the blinders.

We get to the gate opened wide and Fancy calmly walks in, followed by Fiona. The third jenny? Well, that's Miss Molly, who is the mother of the other two. Being a bit older and some wiser, she came with the other two, unhaltered, and had a little grin, her lower lip trembling. Maybe a clue to who opened the gate? Nonetheless, all three were safely returned the goat herd, excited over their adventure.

There was no danger of the donkeys reaching a road or danger, thank goodness. Good lessons all around. Although they do not have good lead manners yet, the donkeys do trust me, and trust and patience won the day.

 

 

In other news, Danny has a functional bathroom in his house, we still need rain, and we got a water well on the 4041 property.

Intermittant Kidding, wethers on the way

The last month has been busy. Immediately after my last post, I ordered business cards online. A lot goes into the look and feel of a card--- color, fonts, placement, graphics and information. I used a cute little pic of After-You as my good luck charm.

Sadly, a few days after I sold him, he died of quick-acting pnuemonia. As a rancher, I know that animals will die, but it was a bit hard anyway. He was too young for a pneumonia vaccine, but I'll always wonder if there was something I missed. He was a cute little fellow and I'm glad he's on the front of our cards.

Jupiter and Sister have been growing at a prodigious rate. I can barely pick that buckling up! He is a lot more social than the doeling. If you enter his pasture, he will run up to be picked up. A true goat puppy, gently pawing at your feet to remind you that he is there. He's definitely the 'adventure' goat so far, curious and fearless. He's got a protective streak as well, guarding Sister when she wants to nap. She's more shy about getting picked up.

The donkeys are quite taken with the goat-puppies and provide good protection. Surprisingly, Fiona has turned out to be the donk most intrigued. When the kids are tired and lying down, she will hover nearby, keeping the grown goats away. I love watching her tiptoe over them, carefully placing her hooves on dirt, not fur. I've also watched delivered well-placed kicks to errant adult goats, reminding them of who is in charge.

So, last week I anticipated more kids from Khaki and the pygmies, Oreo and Doublestuff. As usual, I was wrong! But they are sure to kid this week while I'm gone. Maybe.

All three have good udders right now. Khaki is arranging the kids in their tight quarters, murmuring to them in nanny-speak. Oreo is wider than she is tall, and we might rename DoubleStuff to include a treble portion. Only time will tell. We have two pens set up for mommas and babies. I am hoping that the Cookie twins will bunk together, but you can never tell which does will be jealous or will steal kids.



I'm hoping to have a lot of bucklings v. doelings. I plan to keep the doelings from good mommas (mothering is a heritable trait), but sell all the wethers and other doelings. In March, Doll (multi-colored) and Belle (red) will deliver the first kids sired by Billy BA. He's currently relegated to the Triangle with Z1, ZeeZee, Fea and the wethers. That way, he won't bully the pregnant does or prevent them from eating feed. The three does with Billy should kid in May or June.

Then there's Freakazoid, the screaming La Mancha. She is pregnant and should kid by May. I hope the father is not Stupid.

Merry Christmas from el Rancho Asno Blanco

As we near the end of our first year in operation at el Rancho, I feel blessed.

The animals are a constant reminder that simple things have value. The donkeys are always happy to see us, braying a capella  in that mournful longears voice. The sound lets me know my presence is both valuable and wanted. The goats remind me that staying together and working together is both safer and more enjoyable-- it can keep the wolf from the door!

The new kids remind me that when you need to bounce, bounce!

And sometimes you just need a nap.

Some things have been really challenging, like realizing that I can no longer work straight through without a break for several hours, and that sometimes I just need to sit and rest my feet. Bending over to tie ground-level wire  is a no-no, so I bought extra pairs of jeans because the seat of the pair I'm wearing is probably wet and/or dirty. I got a new warshing machine, so that's not a problem at all! I also sit on the ground to trim goat feet, but more importantly I sort the goats so that I can do the ones with the hardest hooves first, before my hand strength gives out. Work smarter, not harder. (I do try to heed my husband's advice!)

Being at el Rancho, 10 - 20 miles from a store, also brings out the Girl Scout in me. Be prepared!  Thus, the back of the car has my 'vet box' containing all types of med, syringes, needles, and tools for the goats and donkeys, as well as ibuprofen for me. There are halters, ropes and head ties, random tools, feed and treats. Extra t-shirts, towels and trash bags. Plus stuff that usually resides in a car! Recently the back seat has held bags of wood shavings for the baby goat house, a few sacks of goat feed, and Christmas presents!

And gloves, lots of gloves. I almost always have on gloves at el Rancho. If my hands don't hurt and I'm doing little things, I wear thin leather gloves (do the goats care that they are kid gloves?). I also have some thick cowhide gloves, Isotoner nylon stretchy gloves, cotton gloves, and Mechanix gloves with knuckle guards. A bad enough rap or twist on the fingers can find that hand out of commission for a day or two, so I am careful.

At the end of the day, some of which are long, it's all worth it. My animals are healthy and content, the family is closer to making the big move to el Rancho, and I am still able to get out in the fresh air and work. Now is a great time to remember those you love and tell them so.

And for heaven's sake, don't forget to hug the donkeys!

Goats!

Oreo and ??

We have a herd! Last week we picked up six goats and this week we picked up four more. I still need about four or five more meat does, but we are definitely in the goat business.

The first six were bought for cheap off Craigslist and are pygmy/Nigerian dwarf goats. One polled black buck, a brown nanny, two black agouti does, a white La Mancha wether, and a tan wether.  I found them in Navasota, about a zillion miles down a narrow gravel road. The owner was selling them. He had a good perimeter fence, but was surprised that the goats were eating the wooden posts holding up the porch on his fake log cabin house. Duh. When we drove up, Dan noticed a horse standing on the front porch. We got a little closer and discovered there were two horses on the porch (the sorrel was camouflaged against the faux logs). I had to move the palomino to ring the doorbell, but they weren't home. 

Brown doe, Whitey, Stupid and wether

Went around back and saw that one doe had jumped out of the three foot high pen he built. The palomino tried to help me corral her, but we ended up waiting for the guy to come home and help us shove them all in the trailer. Don't think this guy knew much about livestock. The wife said the horses get on the porch and ring the doorbell, which is kinda funny, but odd.  This was a weeknight and by the time we got to the farm, it was very dark. We pulled in, opened the trailer and had to drag them out. The donkeys were not well-pleased. At all. No-sirree-Bob. We left the trailer at the farm with the door open to give the goats a place to hang out. 

Things settled down a bit after a few days. This week, we picked up a boer buck, two boer-type does, and a huge white wether from a woman in Wellborn. I visited her one day and liked the two-year old buck. She also had the two does. I made an offer to buy the buck on the condition she sell me the does, too. I could tell she was attached to Belle and Doll, but she had decided to go with dairy goats instead of meat goats. The next day, she let me know that she would part with them. We rolled up to her mansion and loaded the girls in the trailer, thinking it would be easier to load the buck if the girls were on board. Dan backed the trailer to the gate in the buck pen and we got his large self loaded. At that point, the seller turns to me and says, "You need to take Billy (he's the wether). He's too rowdy for the dairy does and he'll be lonely." Uh, okay. So we loaded him, too. 

Doll and Belle

This time, we got to the farm and it wasn't quite dark. The donkeys and goats were hanging out together in the picnic area like old friends. We opened the trailer and got the buck out. The two does are like teenage girls at a party who don't know anyone, all skittish and noisy. We stayed a while to make sure the two bucks would not kill one another.

Oreo and Billy Bad

Today, I got out to the farm and saw the donkeys near the fence when I drove up. I rolled down the window and told them to meet me at the picnic area. They never showed, so I went looking for them. Found them guarding the goats! Convinced them to come with me and the entire herd followed me to the round pen. Gave the donks their boosters first and turned them out. I coerced the goats into the pen and shut the gate. For the first time ever, Molly McButter (momma donkey) started making donkey sounds! The donks were distraught, so I let them in the pen with the goats. Then we gave the first six goats their initial 8-way vaccine (the boers were already vaccinated). So thankful for the help from the Dans in catching and holding critters. I realize that I really need a goat stand/headpiece to use to do this work. Most need a hoof trim, so that's on my list of things to get.

Oh, the names? Well, they are acquiring names.

Stupid-- what both Dans said when the little black buck walked up to the boer buck with an attitude.

Stupid and Billy Bad

Quisling- the large white wether-- D3 noticed he's always looking out for himself. 

Billy Bad A$$- the Boer buck. 

Belle and Doll- the yearling Boer does came with these names and answer to them.

Whitey- the other white wether. Likes to lock horns with Quisling

Oreo- original name of one of the pygmy does. She a black agouti with a white middle.

So the three without names are the brown Nigerian/pygmy doe (she is the head doe in this herd), the tan wether, and the other black agouti doe.

I have applied for a Scrapies herd number and plan to tag all of them, especially the kids, who will NOT have names...