Where does the time go?

Over a month has gone by, hard to believe. We hit the ground running in the morning and don't stop till we pass out at night. I usually don't even know what day it is. A lot has happened in this past month, some good, some not so good. We now have 22 babies on the ground. They are so much fun to watch we can hardly stand it.
They run and jump and play. So, now I have to tag them. We have so many and their markings are so similar that it's hard to know who is who. Tagging is like getting your ears pierced. Not much fun but over pretty quick. This is one of my jobs. Castrating is one of my jobs also. It seems that I am going to get all the fun stuff.

We have now lost three momma goats. One had stillborn twins and I just knew something else was wrong. We took her to the vet the next day and I truly believe he misdiagnosed her, apparently a common problem with goats. Anyway she was dead the next day. We lost two more to pneumonia, again a common problem with goats especially if the weather changes are extreme, they are.

The temperature dropped 30 degrees in a couple of hours the day the storm hit. We had freezing rain then ice, then snow. We were housebound for 2 days. Luckily Reed and Sherri live out there and they fed and watered everyone until we could get there.

One of the biggest problems is that all the water troughs froze and goats don't do well with cold water. By next year we will have heated water troughs but this year we are still working on getting electricity. We lost another baby to dehydration (something I learned on my goat chat room) If the water is too cold they won't drink it. A baby dehydrates fast. It's all a learning experience, but a hard lesson. When it got cold the cows decided it would be a good idea to go in the barn with the goats. We think they trampled one of our babies. No more cows in the barn, another lesson. We also lost Molly. We got to the farm one day, Max came running and no Molly. We cannot imagine who has happened to her. We have searched the entire property for days. Talked to neighbors, we just don't have a clue.. We are hoping that she is hiding out having puppies but we just don't know. There is no evidence that something has happened to her. Max is lost without her.




But then we saved one. Twins were born in the middle of this cold one night. They looked okay, but the next day we noticed the one was unable to get up. She was dragging her hind legs and appeared lame. I got in there and held her up so she could nurse but she was really cold. So, after she ate I wrapped her up in a towel and sat in the truck for a couple of hours to warm her. I milked her mother (another first) and we took her home. Rory's son Sam and his girlfriend Cora and friend Mike, have been staying with us and helping out. We all got into the act holding and feeding her. Cora worked on getting her to stand. By the next day she was much stronger and we took her back to her mother. Again holding her up to eat many times a day. Long story but in the end here she is. And is she ever demanding. She loved the extra attention. In the mean time we have started on the house. It's like putting legos together, well, a little more involved, but I can't wait till they pour the cement.






















This last one is the view looking at the front of the house and this is looking at the house from the old barn. It will be nice to be out there. By the way, Rory bought me a present one day while we were out. And it's blue, my favorite color!!

And of course there's always the Bear. He will be 4 months on the 27th. We go to the vet for a checkup tomorrow and I bet he will weigh in at over 40 lbs. Can't house break him, I think he has ADD. He spends a lot of time outside and still goes to the farm with us everyday. He's a free farm dog now and gets to wander the whole from 40 that's fenced in. He loves it out there.

So, that's about it for now. Obviously there will be no Christmas or Hanukkah card from me this year so I hope you all have a Happy Happy and a Merry Merry. It will be interesting to see what the new year brings. Till next time..............