rachels.haven's Journal

[rachels.haven]

I think our family is just about at the point we could go to poultry shows and enjoy them (as opposed to wrangling feral toddlers). Maybe I can find one this summer and haul us down. I'm starting to be the main driver in the household now anyway.

 

[farmerjan]

I know there is the Delmarva poultry club and Maryland Poultry breeders... some in PA BUT... several had cancelled shows this year due to the Avian Influenza restrictions. Some of the fairs are not allowing poultry to be shown either...As the problem eases, I think there will be more restrictions lifted.
As far as I know the Old Dominion Poultry Breeders will have a fall show near Richmond at the state fairgrounds this fall, and our Va Poultry Breeders will have their fall show... that one is in Caroline County Fairgrounds.... always the weekend before Thanksgiving... on that Saturday. The website "Poultry Show Central" will list shows by region or by state...they seem to get most of them listed.

 

[rachels.haven]

This morning I attempted to breed one of my precocious udder dry yearling lamancha does for fall kidding. She was in heat and yelling for a buck, flagging and pacing. I planned ot breed her to a mini buck, who turned out gorgeous-he looks like everything that went right with old style Lamanchas but with a flatter, wider rump and he'd throw smaller kids for her. Last fall I wanted to use him but he ran away and was uncatchable every time a doe was in heat. This time I caught him, did a little maintenance on him and put him in a stall with the doe in standing heat...He checked her undercarriage for a weenie and then didn't want anything to do with her. After about 15 minute of the doe flagging and putting her rear in his face yet nothing from him I put him back in the pen with the other bucks and he was riding everyone. GREAT. Looks like if I want any kids out of this guy I'm going to have to try isolating him on his own for a few weeks and making it so the only goats he sees are the ones I want him to cover while he's at his most hormonal. Or get him collected with one of his brothers as the jump "doe" and use him that way and since my Ai game is not what it should be I'll probably skip that.

Still hoping for smaller kids I grabbed Homie, a red ND buck. She's red, he's red, should still be fun, right? He put the moves on her and tried to ride her once and missed because he wasn't tall enough and might have gotten a little fat here so he's a little lower than he should be...and she decided he was a punching bag. So I rescued him and put him back in the buck pen to join the conga line that's still going on (bucks exposed to does wind up being the front, of course).

Okay, so by now "milking" time has run well over. Mark wants to go to work, Shaun wants his morning goat milk ovaltine drink, and I smell like two bucks. So I think, Fine, and go grab Pepper, my lucky star's buck out of Little Orchard Pure Thrill. I just used him a few days ago to breed experimentals so I know he works. The drawback is that the last lady who owned him was older and/or overwhelmed and it does not appear that he's been forced through his paces as far as politeness, milkstand manners, and handlability. He's a bit of a stallion. So I trimmed his feet too and put him in with the doe and he got her bred in 30 seconds and I put him away and her away and I was done. So we're having late season purebreds instead of mini's that we'd keep and use the extra time to grow out for following fall breeding. And the kids might be larger and the doe is only 80-100ish lbs, but I wasn't about to use my other, slightly less gorgeous mini buck because he's slightly hocky and the doe is somewhat hockey, and all my ND bucks are too low to the ground to get her and she wants to kill them all anyway (usually seems to happen for me when the doe is more dominant than the buck is dominant and pushy).

So if all goes well, this year we're having a fall kidding season consisting of minis Precious, Tetra, and Dinga, experimentals Bean, Frost, and Baby, and purebred Fire 10 days later. And anyone I don't like the udders on will go for someone else's fall milk.

As a side note, my problem Lamancha buck, Dator, appears to have a massive grapefruit sized hematoma or abscess on the back of his head between his ears behind where his horns would be and looks like he has a boufant. It popped up after the experimentals and mini's went into heat so I suspect hematoma or an infection from rubbing his head on things. It could also be a bee sting. I've called the vet and I'm hoping for a call back. I think he may need antibiotics and I'd like advice on if it's better to see if his body will metabolize it or if it needs to be drained. I do not suspect CL, as Dator tested negative 4 months ago and it is very much not in a CL location. That buck seems to love dishing up problems for me and will probably be a once season wonder here (he's supposedly foundered, but his feet stopped shredding and actually look normal now, his shoulder is damaged from "tearing it up" with the other buck in his old pen, almost all his hair fell out all at once and is now regrowing, he needed treatment for both normal worms and tapes, and he needed to be de-mited). He did not get to participate in the late season breeding party.
Dator and his head bump. He does have a big old scur. He is a Kastdemur's buck with a Rockin'CB sire.

 

[fuzzi]

Pepper, my lucky star's buck out of Little Orchard Pure Thrill. I just used him a few days ago to breed experimentals so I know he works. ... He's a bit of a stallion. So I trimmed his feet too and put him in with the doe and he got her bred in 30 seconds and I put him away and her away and I was done.

Pepper knew his job, good for him!

 

[rachels.haven]

Pepper knew his job, good for him!

It shouldn't be that complicated!

 

[rachels.haven]

I'm preparing a quarantine stall for Dator to keep him in until I get the vet out now. I really don't want that to pop either way. That's a huge pocket and will leave a gaping hole.

 

[rachels.haven]

Okay, revising the situation from earlier, Dator is now in quarantine in the solid walled stall on the end by the door and the vet is coming out Friday to get a sample to culture. The floor has no mats and I'll get some straw tonight so if he's in there a long time it won't become a wet stall matted mess.
Poor Dator, I pulled him off an emerald, sunkissed field with his buddies to be in a (temporarily) bedding less stall with a hay rack and bucket all by himself. Gee, I hope it's not anything to worry about.

 

[Baymule]

Bucks are supposed to be bucks! Thats a lot of goat drama for a morning!

 

[rachels.haven]

They turn into sensitive bookish gentlemen out of rut apparently....

 

[rachels.haven]

...except when putting them back together. I may have yet another dud buck.