SBC/GW's Journal- Spring shows DONE! & Update

[Southern by choice]

Thanks @Baymule


Forgot to mention- I DID take lysol wipes and wiped all the bowling balls down and the finger holes. I would have loved if everyone wore gloves but I got that look of ... too far mom, toooo far.
Hey, it's flu season! Kidding season! Last year was a nightmare with everyone getting the flu in kidding season... no repeats!

Poor guy at the snack bar- paying for food and he puts the receipt in front of me for me to sign... I carry my own pen because I cannot touch a pen that 1000 other people have touched... but Oh, yeah, that's right I DON"T HAVE IT! My lysol wipes were at the other end of the alley... I am trying to pull my sleeve down... My son says, I'll sign. whew! The snack guy was so cool about it.

Goat poop... no problem
Afterbirth.... no problem

a pen

 

[Wehner Homestead]

I’m the same way though. With DD2 and all her medical issues, I’m just as bad!

 

[Baymule]

Thanks @Baymule


Forgot to mention- I DID take lysol wipes and wiped all the bowling balls down and the finger holes. I would have loved if everyone wore gloves but I got that look of ... too far mom, toooo far.
Hey, it's flu season! Kidding season! Last year was a nightmare with everyone getting the flu in kidding season... no repeats!

Poor guy at the snack bar- paying for food and he puts the receipt in front of me for me to sign... I carry my own pen because I cannot touch a pen that 1000 other people have touched... but Oh, yeah, that's right I DON"T HAVE IT! My lysol wipes were at the other end of the alley... I am trying to pull my sleeve down... My son says, I'll sign. whew! The snack guy was so cool about it.

Goat poop... no problem
Afterbirth.... no problem

a pen

 

[Bruce]

Goat poop... no problem
Afterbirth.... no problem

a pen

There are WAY more germs on a pen used by a ton of people that you'll find in goat poop or afterbirth. DD's science class back in HS did a bacteria culture project. Most bacteria found:
On a drinking fountain? Nope
In the bathroom? Nope
On the pen in the nurse's office? BINGO!

 

[Southern by choice]

Busy week for me.

Subject 1
I was a big girl and got my monthly statement handed in! I chair the DNA testing for the MDGA. I am responsible for the info, applications, ordering/sending test (through UC Davis VGL) processing and sending results. I keep track of the financials as well.
I have to say I am really impressed with how the mini Nubian breeders do such a great job testing their herds for G6S! Also impressed with the parent verification.
The casien testing is also being utilized! I plan on doing my herd, one at a time.

Subject 2
I also had a meeting last night. Several years ago I was asked by our county's extension service to be on the livestock advisory committee. My one vet (neighbor vet) referred me. I met with our agent and that was that. The advisory committee are all folks in the community that do a lot of outreach and care about the education and care of our particular kind of livestock. I represent the dairy goats. We have cattleman, meat goat, poultry, a vet and some other representatives that I can't remember what they do. Anyway, last night was a recap of 2017. It was good.
We have a great agent! I really want to encourage those that have sheep, horses, meat goats, wanting to raise a calf, etc to utilize your extension services if you have it available to you.
Soil testing, growing pasture, managing pasture, and a variety of other things can save a lot of money and time! A neighboring agent says all the time, if you want to grow livestock you need to know how to grow their food! His first degree is in horticulture. He's really something to hear! Awesome!
Dairy goats are really a different ballgame. We talked about that last night too.
Dairy goats are gaining a great deal of popularity yet many have nowhere to turn to.
One of the things I noticed and shared was although we have several Dairy clubs and great ones at that, many newer goat owners are homesteaders. Homesteaders are utilizing their goats for the family's food. These are people that have no interest in showing, no interest in registries, no interest in milk-test, no interest in appraisals.
Often the classes through the county are sheep & goat... but it is primarily info based on meat goats. Much of the suggestions for management do not apply to dairy goats.

Many things that are critically important especially in dairy goats are "hands off" "not touching that" subjects. LOL
So... the meeting was good. She shared pics and a glimpse of some of the farms she has worked with. It was encouraging because we do all the same steps when we get someone asking where to start. Sometimes I feel like 'does anything I am doing make a difference?'. She reminded me of why we were asked to be on the advisory committee. She said there are some people that raise and sell livestock and once they are sold that is the end of it, and then there are others like you all that care and really want to help others succeed.
Sometimes I think I care more than I should. Maybe I'm just old -fashioned and my family background is one of building up others and lending a helping hand in whatever way you can. I am so blessed and want to be a blessing to others. I love seeing people succeed and watch hard work reap good benefits.

After the meeting I talked to our agent for a few minutes about some things I have been seeing, observations really about DG management styles. I'll share that in a bit.
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Subject 3
We are prepping for kidding. We will be using the lambar this year. Well, trying it anyway... we will see how it goes.

We are going to do something that we haven't done before...
(Back story) We have retained for 2 years to build our program since it turned that way, prior to that we kidded, sold kids and that was that. Our numbers are higher than what we will have in the end but it was necessary. This year we will only really retain some minis. I haven't focused energy on them because the energy, time, resources were primarily for the Lamanchas and Nigerians.
(Forward) We have A LOT of FF this year as well as seasoned does and we don't plan on keeping any because we a) don't need to and b) out of space. We are going to offer Bottle babies for sale at 10-21 days old. After they have been disbudded and are doing well on bottle etc. at a bit of a discount. We will still have a screening process and BB's (Bottle babies) will only go to those with BB experience and existing farms. There may be exceptions but mostly I want to make sure they are going where they will be properly fed and cared for.
BYH has shown me how often people get BB's and they had no idea of what to do... so sad... and the kids die. Mostly from malnourishment.
It is easier for us to part with kids then goats we bond so tightly with. I may have a milker or two as well.. that I'm not sure about.
We will also be participating in the DHI program.


I have a subject 4 but I'll wait on that... to be continued...
I realized this post is a lot to read already.

 

[Mike CHS]

I hear some negatives about the Extension folks but we have had nothing but good liaison with them. They have asked us to participate in what is known as School Day at the county fairgrounds this spring. They use the day to expose students that live in town to how the rural part of their community raises the animals that many seem to think are produced in the store. They have not had any sheep farmers available to participate so we were glad that they asked.

We also have a couple of teachers that bring small groups of students out to see how sheep are handled.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

That's so interesting I wish we had something like that here. Maybe they do in Wichita or Topeka but here in Kansas City we don't have anything like that. Heather and I are looking into the 4H clubs in and around our homestead to see if we can find a group of people like you who teach, explain, mentor to families wanting to get into the different animals.

 

[Bayleaf Meadows]

I'm applying to be a 4H leader. I hope to help suburban kids get experience with urban livestock. It's a branching out of my need to have helpers when I am away for which I've already established a posse of neighborlings. So now I hope to step it up a notch and get them some resources and competitions and hands-on projects. Say a prayer that it all comes together.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

It’s called 3rd grade Ag Day and the FFA and Farm Bureau plus some with local ag niches put on presentations as a field trip for the third graders. We have two FFAs in our county and the event is at our fairgrounds. Local businesses and farmers provide equipment and livestock while donations from businesses are used to feed the volunteers and FFA members. It’s really neat. I was a “tour guide” my first year of FFA then presented vet science one year and beef for three years. It was a great learning opportunity for the 3rd graders and we learned from public speaking and putting together an event/presentation and where the learning deficit was.

 

[greybeard]

She said there are some people that raise and sell livestock and once they are sold that is the end of it

I hear some negatives about the Extension folks but we have had nothing but good liaison with them. They have asked us to participate in what is known as School Day at the county fairgrounds this spring. They use the day to expose students that live in town to how the rural part of their community raises the animals that many seem to think are produced in the store. They have not had any sheep farmers available to participate so we were glad that they asked.

The opposite is true here, and I believe it goes back to what is being discussed in this thread, with so much emphasis on 4H/FFA, students and small farms. The county agent idea (I'm showing my age using that term) was initiated in the early 20th century (actually..a little before) to help farmers/ranchers be better producers and solve existing problems within the sector, and it pretty much stayed that way up to and thru the 1960s but in recent few decades it has changed a lot.
County agents in this state now spend so much time, effort and $$ resources on 4h/FFA, youth in general and on hobby farms that it's almost impossible for a commercial producer to get any assistance other than his office assistance trying to hand you some brochure or handout.
Nutrition or mineral problems? Forget it. They'll just refer you to a feed mill rep or "Go talk to 'Bob Smith' over on FMxxx, I think he had the same problems and may have figured it out". One of our previous agents flat told me he didn't have time to do anything with commercial operations and we were the ones that are supposed to be able to tell everyone else everything about anything in the cow business.

The same one that was going to come out here when I was palpating cows, and brought a 4H group out so they could learn. When I handed him a pair of ob gloves you'd have thought I had ask him to eat some of what we were cleaning out. Had to go get my wife to explain the procedures to the kids as I loaded the alley, worked the cows thru the sweep and operated the chute and did the dirty work while agent sat on a feed trough and watched. Might have been the first time for him other than watching a video up at TAMU.
He sure looked the part tho. 'All hat..no cows' as we're prone to say.
(my wife don't care for any of it either, but at least she knows what I'm doing, what I'm feeling for and can and will work the headgate.)

Invasive plants? Nope, refer you to a herbicide rep, or hand you a Tx AgriLife Weed Busters booklet.


Good with 'book learlin' I guess but I doubt ours knows which end of the cow gets up first, but can tell you all about anything youth related and how much time he spends with 4H. I'm all for teaching kids, and work with them myself, but the Agrilife mission statement isn't only about the county fair, 4H and youth. The producers are the ones paying the bulk of the taxes that fund that office, but get little in return.

Within the broad context of this mission, the agency will:

• Foster the improvement of agriculture and agribusiness.
• Improve the stewardship of the environment and Texas’ natural resources.
• Ensure a safe, nutritious food supply.
• Strengthen Texas families.
• Develop leadership skills and productive citizenship among youth* and adults.
• Enhance economic security and financial responsibility among the people.
• Improve the quality of life in Texas families.

*Has now become the defacto #1 priority of our county extension service, at the expense of all the rest.
The one at the top, gets the least amount of attention, but it wasn't always like that.
I'll still go to the youth auction with my checkbook, will probably donate another heifer or steer for some kid to raise and show, but I doubt I'll darken the county agent's doorway again.