rachels.haven's Journal

[rachels.haven]

I'm technically not allowed to do anything at all except walk within 100 feet of the 100-200 foot buffer zone that the city declares. I'm a little peeved right now. The state says creeks get a buffer zone of 50f, but if the state has this high standard, Groton has to have the higher one! The guy does not care about my goats walking on it or pooping on it. He cares about the number of posts going up on my property, which I think is stupid because once they're up they're up and should be the only thing touching the ground. I'm suspicious the city uses this rule to control people and preserve the "quaint" lost in the woods look of our town while talking out of the other side of their mouth and saying they encourage and support farming.

I'll get this done. Or maybe we'll move because I don't want to feel like I need to sit on my porch all night and gun down every coyote I see. Sure be nice if I could have a border and a functioning "welcoming" committee to ward things off and only have to kill the stubborn things. Or DH might need to change jobs, who knows?

Today I cleaned stalls and coop and took no pictures. It's already getting dark.

 

[rachels.haven]

Sorry, guys, I'm upset lately. More demanding stuff from DH's job starting up again and the fence thing...and endless strep throat (I think we got the carrier treated this time). Moving here has been a bit of a stress marathon and it doesn't seem to want to let up yet.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

You have to be a " dumb follower" to live in Massachusetts. ...and it is quite clear that you are far from being dumb or a follower ..... I totally understand your fustrations

 

[rachels.haven]

I put a deposit on and on Monday somehow I'm bringing home Moon Mist LOG Purple Summer(...with 2 kids in tow, and no husband home, YIKES). I might kidnap DH in the morning for the trip so he can either be goat holder or driver. Yes, she has an orifice that doesn't point down, but she has great teats, great udder texture, good feet and legs, a lovely build, a great back and rump...she looks pretty close to perfect. I guess she could be deeper and longer but she looks nice and has a lovely temperament. She's also TINY. Saffron is a giant lamancha apparently. All the lamanchas were very short.

Blue Heaven had an udder texture that wasn't as fine and very small teats. She was built slightly nicer though. And Mr. Parker didn't seem to want to sell Angel, and I'm okay with that. It's tempting to bring home both yearlings, but I think I'd rather pick exactly what I want and focus on getting to know that goat. I'm also getting a standard goat milk stand. I'm sure it will fit Avalon and her babies too, but if not all I need to do is replace a hinge on my nigerian one and it works.

I'm excited for full hand teats and a second sweet goat even if she is NOT another horse goat with long legs(btw, I think Saffron's hips might be ever so slightly higher than her shoulders now that it was mentioned, but we don't have much level ground to stand her on so I'm not 100% sure...plus it doesn't bother me).

MY Angel and Olivia went to their new home today. The young woman who bought her remarked how Angel's udder reminded her of one of her sheep's udders and she seemed to like that. She's also in 4 H and babies will be sold to other 4hers (both of those does were bred by a family for 4H). I hope they make her happy!

I might be allowing a local goat person to stud their tested does to one of my bucks too, so maybe I'll make a little hay money back.

That's it for today. Paper work tonight, I hope.

 

[Baymule]

I'm glad that you are getting the goat that you want. She sounds like just what you want.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Exciting!

I’m glad you were able to see them in person before putting a deposit down.
Especially with milking does. There is no “perfect” goat but finding one that fits your needs/wants is so important. I see some does appraise 92 EEEE but have the worst hand milking teats. That score doesn’t do much if you have to hand milk!

Lamanchas can very a lot. They were originally a medium sized goat however some are breeding them to be Saanen sized.
Some want then to be 250#+ giants, others want them to be a medium sized goat as they were intended to be.

Certainly don’t discount your NOA doe! You can really do a lot with RG does.

 

[rachels.haven]

Aw, Saffron makes me happy. I could never discount her. She's a very gentle goat that wants to do what you want. Plus the hips thing is very slight. I'd need to get a tape measure out to make sure that's what I'm seeing. I think if she were a buck she'd be a 250 lbs monster and I think slightly smaller than that might be better. What she does have going on is a long back (the longest I've seen but if she's uneasy or excited she "slouches" and seems to want to become a smaller goat), a great rump angle, nice feet, good production even after being dried off and brought back into milk with no kidding, and a well attached udder with a texture like a rubber glove. She's also putting on weight on Nigerian milking rations. I'm hoping that means that when her production ramps up I'll be able to keep her condition good. I'm really grateful to have her. She's got a place here as long as I judge it the best thing for her. Plus, I like a goat that can clear what I guess is 8 feet up by standing on her hind legs (I need a picture of this, not sure the scale will be obvious, but it's kind of fun). I should also compare both goats height on monday. It's interesting.

Yesterday someone was shooting it up on conservation land and I got to discover that Bailey is VERY gun shy, but that's okay. She still hates coyotes. I don't need her to guard us from men with guns or hunt with me (also coyotes SHOULD hate guns too, right?). Plus we still have Badger who is not afraid. We were walking on the first leg of our walk and the guns started going off and she looked at me for permission and I gave it for whatever she wanted then surprised me by turning tail and running back to the barn trailing Badger and me behind her. Badger guarded her outside the stall door all day and made sure those scary gunshots didn't get inside-or at least that's what it looked like. His legs are still too big for his body and he can just barely squeeze through a cattle panel without getting stuck so he's still "small" and not very intimidating. So fluffy and soft too...Mom dog was super silky and soft too. I feel like cording a komondor is a crime against softness now. But I know why it happens. That coat wants to tangle and mat (and cord).

I've also started having him stay with the bucks in the stall at night, and both dogs in the buck barn pen during the day. They will be his goats to guard so I will not have to stall them at night (until we get the fence up, then Badger and Bailey can have free roaming privileges within the fence). Yes, they guard better in pairs, but the pens are only about 30 feet apart and small, and right now the situation needs it to be this way. He and the doelings have also started playing, and the does play like prey (who want to jump on puppies) and he plays like predator, and even though right now it's mutual it's a no-no, so I stopped it. After a loud night or two I think he likes the bucks. They are nicer than the does even in rut.

Yesterday got too busy for fence paperwork, so we'll try again tonight. Did chores, saw a goat, went to a kid b-day party, sold 2 goats, took DH to work because his bad director demanded EVERYONE work the weekend (and til midnight friday) because he wanted them to, got dinner on the way home and that took us up to dark and crash time. It was funny to see Dh's "secret" office location full of kids and family of engineers and programmers because their other halves and parents were being taken from them and they had nowhere better to go, and we just can't have that, now can we? Bad director did not work yesterday for some reason. Only...everyone else in the office.

But yesterday was still fun. I guess I'd better get moving now. Sunday morning is always busy with chores, getting kids dressed for church, and church and DH does not seem to want to wake up so I may need to own this morning. We're going to be late.

 

[Bruce]

How did DH get home from work? I'm not liking "bad director". What's good for the worker is good for the slave driver.

I guess here is as good as anywhere since you have goats. Maybe other "goaties" can chime in. One of the YouTube channels I watch includes dairy goats, 2 are bucks kept in a separate enclosure. The bucks are apparently loud and he's asking his viewers if anyone has ideas as to why and how to quiet them. The does and 2 kids apparently aren't objectionably loud.

 

[Baymule]

Is your puppy a Kommodor or a Great Pyrenees? Somehow I missed it and thought he is a GP. Separating him and the does is a good idea, I caught my puppy playing with the slaughter lambs and now separate them at night so he doesn't develop bad habits.

 

[rachels.haven]

@Baymule he's an intentional cross of the two. Their unrelated male Komondor was still too young to breed. So pyr for steadiness and size and Komondor for athleticism.

@Bruce I drove him home after hanging out in the parking lot. The kids came in to contribute to the general ambiance and test what they are developing. I was not allowed farther than the lobby. Director is leaving supposedly in 3 weeks. I'm afraid he's trying to make the project that was on track to finish the end of this year finish before he leaves so he can decorate his resume further. The result is that talent is leaving and the quality is not what is should be. I'm also suspicious that his leaving may be a lie. But I kind of really don't like him, so I may be hopefully just biased against him and he'll go. DH says he's refusing to go in today. I hope his Jewish co worker didn't go in yesterday.

In regards to the bucks, mine are loud too. It may be that way because some does are unbred, or because they can see or smell the does and they want to own them and keep them from the other bucks. Or they may just want to sing and tell the world the wonders of rut. I think my bucks are funny, but nobody cares about their opera here. Someone else may know more about silencing them. I'm really lucky I don't have to worry about that.