Devonviolet Acres

[Devonviolet]

We are hoping that at least one of our sons will make the move to TX. DS3 and DDIL1 both want to come but he can make so much more in CA. However, this Covid thing is really got them upset. DS2 and DDIL2 might come out if DS3 relocates. Her family live close to us now though and she might not want to move so far from them, although 3 or 4 of her siblings have moved to other states. DD2 and Doofus would be willing to move too but they might have a problem due to his first child and the baby mama. They prevented her from moving out of state with the 4 year old, and she will probably try to stop them too. DS1 is not married and will come with us. He will help with the sheep ranch and get a job. DD1 and her family will not move. DSIL1 could transfer to Austin but didn't like Austin when he was there before they married. We can travel back to see the grandchildren while DS1 stays at the ranch - that is what we do now when we travel to TX. The main problem would be all of us getting together at the same time. Life is what it is.

WOW! You have quite the family dynamics! It’s great that your DS1 is there to help with the ranch. We don’t have any help on our homestead. We have tried to find someone to hire, for projects here, but in the end, if we don’t do it, it doesn’t get done.

I have wanted to have 8 trees cut down, to let the sun get through to the raised bed kits, that I want to build for a potager (potoshay) French Kitchen Garden. Ultimatey we had to do iit ourselves.. Yesterday, we started doing it ourselves, by cutting down a big oak tree and smaller nut tree, of some sort. We cut all the branches off the trunk and carted them to the burn pile. My body is really sore today, so we will wait a day or two to clean up the oak branches. Maybe we will cut the next two trees down next week. It will eventually get done. We have had to learn to be patient and realize that things don’t happen quickly here on Devonviolet Acres.

 

[Ridgetop]

You can only do what you can do in your own time. Luckily on the ranch there is a dedicated garden area where Mrs. MacD had her family garden. I want to plant some bare root fruit trees when we go back in January so by the time we move back they will be 2 years along to bearing. We won't have to do much more than clear the weeds that have grown up there, rototill and fertilize. Then all the refuse from the lamb jugs and eventual rabbitry can go into the garden. I don't know if we will have chickens since I have allergies to bird feathers. We can probably buy our eggs locally for less than it will take to raise them. Or we might get a couple and use a moveable house for them. By building the laying boxes os they can be opened and the eggs removed from outside the pen, I won't be breathing any dander. When we had chickens before I would cough up a lung for 3 months after cleaning the coop! Not taking a chance on developing bird lung like my mother.

I thought you were giving up your goats due to allergies. Did you decide to get some that you are not milking now?

 

[Baymule]

I don't have any chickens now. But I have a friend not too far from where I'm moving to with lots of chickens and I can get eggs from him. For now, I can get eggs from my own flock that I gave away. LOL

 

[Mini Horses]

Free eggs are the best. . So my friends say.

 

[Devonviolet]

You can only do what you can do in your own time. Luckily on the ranch there is a dedicated garden area where Mrs. MacD had her family garden. I want to plant some bare root fruit trees when we go back in January so by the time we move back they will be 2 years along to bearing. We won't have to do much more than clear the weeds that have grown up there, rototill and fertilize. Then all the refuse from the lamb jugs and eventual rabbitry can go into the garden. I don't know if we will have chickens since I have allergies to bird feathers. We can probably buy our eggs locally for less than it will take to raise them. Or we might get a couple and use a moveable house for them. By building the laying boxes os they can be opened and the eggs removed from outside the pen, I won't be breathing any dander. When we had chickens before I would cough up a lung for 3 months after cleaning the coop! Not taking a chance on developing bird lung like my mother.

I thought you were giving up your goats due to allergies. Did you decide to get some that you are not milking now?

Yes, I sold our dairy goats, because I realized I am allergic to goat’s milk. I was so bummed!!! I waited a while, and then decided to keep our Myotonic buck, Danny Boy and buy a couple of Myotonic does, so we could raise goat meat. I am allergic to lamb, but so far, I don’t seem to be allergic to goat meat.

We currently have seven goats:
Danny Boy
Melody (Mama goat) and her two kids from thiis Spring
Dan the Man (Dan for short) and Moonshein Sonata (Sonata for short)
Crescent (Mama goat) and her two kids from this past Spring
Danielle and Soxy
Crystal - a doeling I bought this past Spring - she is now 8 months old and a nice size goat, so
We will be breeding her to Danny Boy on her next heat, which should be soon.

Both Melody and Crescent are already bred to Danny Boy and are due to kid late in March.

All the adult goats, and Crystal are registered, so after the first of the year, I am registering our farm, so I can register the kids and sell them. This coming year, I want to buy a commercial Boer doe, and breed her to Danny Boy. I’m thinking with his size and a nice size Boer doe, we should get some nice meaty kids, that I can sell for meat.

You mentioned planting bareroot fruit trees, so they are closer to fruiting when you move here. That is very smart.

We planted two apples (Fuji and Gala), an apricot and a peach tree when we first moved here. For some reason we never got any apricots, and finally two years ago we finally had lots of blossoms, for the first time. Then, four months later, I noticed that the leaves were shriveling and turning yellow. When I took a closer look at the tree, I realized the whole tree was leaning over. On closer inspection, I realized that the main tap root had totally rotted off, and we were able to pull the tree out of the ground. I have never been able to figure out why a fruit tree can be healthy enough to put on lots of blossoms and then four months later be rotting off at ground level. The year before I had bought another apricot tree, to cross pollinate the first one, and that one seems to be doing fine. This will be it’s third Spring, so I am hoping for blossoms and fruit this summer. I absolutely LOVE apricots!!!

Last year, we bought a Bruce Plum tree. It is still small, so I am not expecting fruit for another couple years. I also want to add a pomegranet tree, Turkey Fig and persimon tree this coming year.

That’s a bummer that you are allergic to chicken feathers. I like @Baymule’s suggestion to find a neighbor to buy eggs from, or better yet, provide them with the chickens, and help with feed costs, for eggs in trade.

 

[Devonviolet]

I was working on adding photos, yesterday, when I got called away from my computer. Let’s try it again.

Danny Boy - What a HUNK!!! And Such a sweetie! He is polled and just LOVES to have his head scratched between his horn buds!


Mama Melody - Mama of Dan and Sonata, born this past Spring.


Dan the Man (Dan for short)


Moonshein Sonata (Sonata for short) with Mama Melody


Here is a fun shot of Dan on Mama Melody’s back. She is such a good mama goat! She didn’t even mind when her kids did that!


Mama Crescent - Mama of Danielle and Soxy, her two kids from this past Spring:


Danielle - She looks a LOT like her sire, Danny Boy


Soxy - looks like her Mama, except for the brown points she got from Danny Boy


Crystal - a doeling I bought this past Spring. She looks a lot like her mama, who regularly has three kids at a time. She is now 8 months old and a nice size goat. So,
we will be breeding her to Danny Boy on her next heat, which should be soon.

 

[Baymule]

Such pretty goats!

 

[Mike CHS]

I really like those. There is a festival every year in Lewisburg (except during a pandemic of course) called Goats Music and More Festival that features them. Some of the farmers here have started calling them Tennessee Meat Goats.

 

[Devonviolet]

I really like those. There is a festival every year in Lewisburg (except during a pandemic of course) called Goats Music and More Festival that features them. Some of the farmers here have started calling them Tennessee Meat Goats.

If memory serves me, there is a goat beeder, here in Texas, who has cross bred Myotonic and Boer goats. She has copyrighted the name Tennessee Meat Goats, and has said she will take legal action against anyone who uses that name for their goats, unless they bought their herd stock from her or uses a registered goat, that came from her stock, which is outrageously expensive! To be fair, everything I have read some says her goats are amazing, with regard to excellent meat quantity/quality and parasite resistance

If you go to https://floridameatgoats.com/HistoryOfMyotonics.htm you will see a history of Myotonic goats. Here is a partial quote from that history:

“The uniqueness of Myotonic goats has given rise to many different colorful names. Throughout the years they have been called the Tennessee goats, Fainting goats, Nervous, Stiff-Leg, Wooden-leg, Fall-down, Scare and Tennessee Meat goats. All these names are used to describe goats that are Myotonic and express the gene for Myotonia Congenita.

Myotonia Congenita is a hereditary neuromuscular condition which causes the muscles of these goats to become stiff, or lock up when excited or startled. If the goat is running or becomes off-balance while in the process of ‘locking up’ they may fall over with legs in the air! After a few seconds, their muscles relax, they jump up and go on their way as if nothing ever happened! The goats do not pass out or lose consciousness as in fainting, but instead remain awake and alert through the stiffening of their muscles. There are also varying degrees of Myotonic expression. Myotonia does not affect the lifespan of the goat. Different species of animals share this same gene for Myotonia. Although very rare, Myotonia Congenita has been documented in humans. It is called Thomsen's or Stiff-man Syndrome. Myotonia can also be found in Tumbler pigeons, mice & sheep. On an interesting note, it can sometimes be induced in humans by the use of cholesterol lowering drugs. Myotonia is a neuromuscular condition.

The first recorded goats with Myotonia within the United States date back to 1880 in rural Tennessee. In the early eighties an old man named John Tinsley appeared at J.M. Porter's farm near Caneyspring in Marshall County, Tennessee. He brought with him what he called a sacred cow and four goats that stiffened and sometimes fell over if startled. It is told he wore a small fez-like hat and spoke with a brogue. He wore strange clothing and where he was from remains a mystery to this day. Dr. H.H. Mayberry of Marshall County, Tennessee offered to buy the four goats. He was refused but in the fall of that same year Tinsley brought the goats to him and sold them for the sum of $36.00. After the purchase, Tinsley worked on the farm for about three weeks but would never eat at the table. He always took his meals in the barn where the sacred cow was kept. After this, Tinsley went to Lick Creek in Maury County, Tennessee. He married an old lady by the name of Barnhill. On her farm, he made an excellent corn crop. One night after the crop was in, he left with his sacred cow without telling his wife, and was never heard from again. The goats held by Dr. Mayberry were three nannies and a billy.

From these first original goats, Mayberry raised a number of others and sold them in different parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. The goats filtered their way throughout the southern states. A few people kept them separate from other breeds of goats or tried to preserve the original type animal. Many others simply ran them with their own herd of goats. Not all farmers had fences in the south and many of these goats also intermingled freely with the local herds producing offspring with the Myotonic gene and so introducing other genetics into the breed. These goats were once a common sight on the backroads of the South. Many studies and experiments on Myotonia and the hereditary aspects of the gene were done throughout the history of Myotonic goats.”

 

[Mike CHS]

Most of that history took place where we live which is what the goat festival is based on.