Ragdollcatlady's Just a Little Patch of Weeds Farm journal

[ragdollcatlady]

Thanks Babs!

I have to say, the more kids they have, the more worry I have! So far Reese is doing much better keeping her little kids fed than I thought she would. She seems to either be mellowing out in her old age or maybe just prefers to have StinkerBelle with her since it is her daughter (she doesn't have to worry about who is queen or whatever). I would have had to bottle feed a couple of her 5 if they all made it....of course I would have gladly done it, short term troubles for long term satisfaction (and I do like bottle feeding, it is just a lot of work when I have to have a real job too.)

As far as size vs how many kids they will have....Ravi looks like she is competing for largest blimp goat and she still has a couple weeks left! I thought she was going to have like 10 kids last time so maybe she will just have 1 again!

I had a rough week already....

I woke up Monday morning to a helicopter right over my house with lights on the geese right outside my bedroom window and those horrible jets pounding, because the stupid pilot was supposed to be spraying the orchards around us. They should not be over my property at all, they aren't supposed to spray here. I don't want my weeds, animals, trees, anything on my property sprayed! I had let the neighbor know about the last time they did it, but I need to find out my rights now...... Anyhow, that was a very ANGRY way to wake up and start the week.

Then the next night around 1 in the morning I woke up kinda disoriented to a cat crying and slamming around inside my AC vent over my bedroom. It was the orange cat that someone dumped out here not too long ago. Turns out he is tame, my kid had to go up in the attic space and rescue him. I didn't have the money to neuter him or I would have taken him to work with me since we literally had him in our grasp, but I also don't want another cat, nor another mouth to feed. The neighbor had told me that as long as he didn't cause us any trouble (like killing our chicks and stuff like the last dumpees did) then she would feed him. I gotta let her know that he is actually tame and his name is now "Tim (the Terrible) Toolman Taylor" since he broke my AC ducting instead of fixing it.

I think the helicopter scared the peepops out of him and he got under the house, then made his way up through the walls to the attic. We closed off the regular access and haven't had any critters up there since so that is my best guess as to how he got trapped up there.

And then there was a gopher in my living room and my DH who cusses gophers six ways to Sunday, had to take him out to the orchard to let him go since " he is just a little guy"....Yeah a little guy that is just going to come right back and eat all the new plants you are trying to grow in the garden right now... (Don't tell DH but I hope Despereaux had him for dinner!)

I made some killer banana bread for dessert tonight, nice and moist!!!! I made one loaf chocolate chip, one walnut, and one regular. I actually can't stand bananas. The last time I tried to make myself eat one (only because they are supposedly healthy for you) I threw it up. But I can eat banana bread for days! I really believe it is the only humane way to eat a banana...give me brussel sprouts, broccoli or nearly any other vegetable and I am happy, but you can keep your bananas!

I think that's just about all the excitement I want for one week so please keep any more excitement away from me for a few days....I am all out of adrenaline and starbucks doesn't have enough caffeine to see me through any more right now... Thanks in advance, Me.

 

[babsbag]

What a week !!! I would be SO mad at the helicopter I can't even write what I would be saying. It is bad enough they have the crap next door to you, let alone on your property. GO GET 'EM. Any idea what they spray? In an orchard right now I would say an insecticide; is it a stone fruit orchard, like plum or peaches? And they wonder why we don't have any bees.

Hope the next week is better. Oh, about the gopher, off with his head. Around here it is ground squirrels that I detest.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

They are spraying walnuts. Some pesticide most likely. When the goats burp or breath in my face it smells like petroleum...... I plan on finding out exactly what my rights are.

Goose egg sales are steady!!! Yeah! I gotta pay off my lavender Gander so he is earning his fees right now.

I heard a silkie chick peeping outside in one of the pens right now hope a bunch hatch! Right in time to sell for easter!

The disbuddings I did on Spells kids and Prince didn't work so good, so I had to try again...I think Spells kids may turn out OK (looks horrible right now) but I am pretty sure I am going to drop some dollars to have Prince sedated and done again cause his look like little devil horns. Bummer!

It is time to disbud the next kids. I have someone that might be coming to look at kids tomorrow so I want to wait til tomorrow night or maybe Sunday.

I am trying to dust (only about 1 inch thick and a couple years of buildup on the books...... ) So I emptied one book shelf and rearranged things a bit. Feels good but I am not quite finished. I am a bibliophile...(sounds so dirty!! Right???!!) And I admit that I hoard books like I acquire goats .... so giving a bag full of books to a friend was quite an accomplishment! They were kids books, but I hoard those too (LOVE kids books!!!)....and a couple were those giant old (with a ton of pictures), animal books (national geographic type) with descriptions and details....I know her kid will enjoy them, he is really smart and she reads to him a ton. I am not really going through the books, but if I see something I think I can part with....

I installed a 4th box to the wall. That sounded weird. OK so I have some old Orchard Supply wooden crates that I bolted to the wall for shelves. I installed them around the wood stove for an old rustic kinda look. I want to use cute paper on the backs but haven't found some I like yet. I should take a pic for you'all .... but I think I messed up the camera.

Tomorrow the kids have a 4H dog show...wish them luck! They need it. Beaux can do great if he calms down but Leaky is special ed so probably going to get alot wrong... He is happy though so he should at least have fun!

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Kids did OK at the dog show. DD (with Beaux Jangles) got 1st in large dog agility, 2nd for off leash agility, 2nd for obedience, and 3rd for showmanship. DS (with Leaky) got 3rd in agility, 3rd in showmanship, and 4th in obedience.

At one point Leaky started to run out of the ring, someone stepped on his leash to stop him. He jerked hard and since he had a check chain on it hurt him and he freaked out! He wouldn't let the lady touch him, so she let go and he came running to us. We took his collar off and just put the leash on him slip style. After a break, he went back in but wouldn't go near the lady and refused to go near or past the tunnel where the incident happened. DS got him past that obstacle and then he got scared and balked again, so DD took Beaux to help guide him to the finish line. Rough day, he is fine, but I suspect he will have issues with training there now. He is a really sensitive dog and he took it really hard. I was planning on getting him a martingale collar already since he is so sensitive but didn't have the $15..... guess I can't wait anymore.

I sold StinkerBelles black and white doe kid. I am so happy! She is going to a family that I sold some chickens to a few years back, to be a show goat for one of the kids. Stinkers kids are long and her udder is better than Reeses so they should be really happy with how she turns out!

 

[babsbag]

I would like a few silkies, they are so cute. I gave the few I had away when I couldn't convince my LGD to stop tormenting them but the chickens have their own field now so that is not a worry anymore. Do you ever sell eggs for hatching?

As far as the walnuts, most definitely a pesticide for for coddling moth or husk flies. I can't believe that they still allow aerial spraying. Makes me furious and I don't even live there. I raise bees so that stuff is always on my mind even if it is only for the bees. So sorry you are dealing with the fallout, literally. They used to spray malathion, hope they don't anymore; living in an agricultural area can be dangerous but shouldn't have to be. I know as a beekeeper if I register my hive with the county I will supposedly be notified when they are going to spray withing X number of miles of my bees so I can keep the bees locked up. Yeah, right.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I do sell eggs for hatching, I also usually sell babies but of course, this year when I finally have an outlet to sell as many as I can produce, I have the incubator full of goose eggs! And I totally stink at hatching geese so I have to not mix the eggs. Chicken eggs can't handle the higher humidity goose eggs need. So I let the silkies do some hatching. We'll see how many they actually hatch for me. Usually I can't keep up.

I am angry on behalf of the bees too. I am not sure why, but the jujube trees didn't wake up yet...if they are going to. I hate the fruit, it tastes like mealy apples, but the bees usually swarm to the jujubes first in the season so I left them for the bees. Up until they sprayed, I was rescuing bees from the goats waters daily.....none now. I have 2 humming bird feeders that are just for water for the bees, but I still (used to) find them in the buckets.

 

[babsbag]

That is really sad about the bees being gone. They spray at night, as you know, so the bees are not pollinating at the time but there is a residual left over on the trees for days and days depending on what they spray. I understand that the farmer has to make a living too but it is still wrong.

When we meet up for the goat swap maybe I can buy some eggs from you too.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

I'd be happy to hook you up with some silkie eggs...I owe you for being so generous with me regarding the boer goats! You have given me such a great jump start to my boer herd!

I just took a deposit on Captain Jack! He is going to a local family, just a town away. They should pick him up in the next week or so.

 

[babsbag]

You might not like me when you meet this doe. She is an absolute brat, but Rocky is a sweetheart. I was worried about him being a little slow on the growing side of things but he has an 1/2 Alpine son out there that is GORGEOUS. Would rival any 100% boer in size. If I were you I would seriously breed her, get some good kids and send her packin' I don't know if you are going to win her over or not. A small pen is where she belongs.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

The family that left the deposit on Jack were thinking about it for a long time while they were here and the little ones were getting hot and restless, so I took them over to say hi to Andy....They were shocked at how big he is and we were busy feeding him weeds when mom and dad came over. They started gushing over how beautiful he was and wanted to breed him to their nubian girls. I told them I would think about it, but I don't like to do outside breedings because I am wanting to keep a CAE free herd and plan on getting everyone tested as soon as I can afford it. Andy however was already tested and is negative. They did offer to test their girls, but I said I would think about it. Of course if I ever sell him, they want to buy him. I cry when I have to give him vaccines....I don't see him going anywhere, ever!!!! When they realized Ravi is expecting more kids (probably just 1 kid) from him, they said they wanted first dibs on a breeding buckling with spots from him. I am supposed to be breeding for food....not money! But money is good too of course! Oh well, that is a good problem to have I guess!

I hope Bellinis sister will come around, at least a little. Rigatoni is growing on me. She won't come up to us and hates being handled, but she is happy in the herd and seems calmer without her horns. I don't know if the daily handling (and daily freaking out) after taking her horns off had something to do with it, or if she just feels safe with the herd "having her back" now that she is healed up. She has filled out and is really pretty. Hopefully we will get some babies out of her later this year. They don't have to be friendly to be good in the herd, hopefully the new kid will work out somehow. I doubt she and Bellini will remember each other but it would be nice if they did.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Oh My Goodness!!!!! I just checked on my 2 lavender sebastopol eggs in the incubator and they have both internally pipped, one has externally pipped, but at the wrong end....

I hope they make it...I have never managed to get my goose eggs this far....I always get them started off great until close to the end then they quit.... where is the biting your fingernail smiley when you need it????

I increased the humidity..... Come on baby goosens!!! You can do it!!!