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babsbag
Herd Master
The county is not interested in maintaining our road. And that "river" is protected by Dept. of Fish and Game so we can't build a pond. It runs through the property that we are hopefully buying and I can't even let my animals near it, it is considered highly erodible land. I have a friend with an excavator that will dig out for another culvert this summer but I don't want to foot the bill alone...We will see.
My third doe to kid decided to be number two. All
day today she was talking to me, every time I walked in the barn Juliette would call out to me so I knew that something was up. After the evening feeding I put her in a kidding pen. This is where it gets interesting.
She is in a pen with Lyla and her week old kids on one side, and the other side is empty... I feed Alondra in there. A few hours later I go to the barn to check on her and as I get near the barn I hear Francis doing his "get away from my doe/kid" snarl which is weird as he isn't near the kidding pens. Then I hear Lyla snorting and pawing and acting stressed and I am thinking it is for no good reason and wondering what is up with her. WRONG. Juliette has somehow undone one side of her kidding pen and she is in the center aisle of the barn, in a corner, screaming...very much in "I am having this kid now" mode. Francis is on the other side of a stock panel making sure that nobody gets near that corner. I am really glad he stayed in the barn with does and didn't join the center aisle party as that might now have been a good experience for Mia and Alondra. He is very protective of the does and kids.
Lyla has also pushed on a panel and gotten out through the same gate and she is in the barn aisle as well. And guess what...Alondra and Mia are also in the barn aisle. My heart is in my throat wondering what condition I am going to find the kids in as I know that they are certainly together. Alondra has not been around kids at all and Mia was a terror last year as a pup. Well I am happy to report that the kids are fine, not a slobber on them.
I am rounding up kids, fixing pens, and watching Juliette out of one eye and sure enough she has a kid. So I grab the kid as I don't want Mia and Alondra to get too excited about the blood and I put him in a pen and then grab Juliette. I get him dried and dipped and the doe is already starting to pass the afterbirth which is weird as she is a big as a house. There has to be another one in there and after about 15 minutes she delivers a doeling. Strange, I don't think I have ever seen this before, maybe this time they each had there own placenta??? Anyways, one buckling, one doeling, no chewed up kids. Pens are put back together for the night and will be reinforced tomorrow. The other doe is in a pen too, just in case.
What a night. Sigueme is on patrol tonight and she can bark all she wants. Love that dog.
No pictures of the kids but here are the two girls outside of the kidding pen. They are wishful thinking.
@Mini Horses I did not pull these kids to bottle feed, these three does were an oops, the rest aren't due until March and later. I am at least 3 months out on the dairy and that would be a miracle...I could sure use one of those right now.
I have had a few snags and I am beyond frustrated. I installed a suspended type ceiling in the milk room and I hated it. It is called Ceiling Max and it can be installed right up against the ceiling joist to get the extra ceiling height. It looked horrible. Gaps everywhere and I spent hours working on ways to force the panels tight against the grid and after two days I gave up, took it down, and I am waiting for another tongue and groove system to be available next week.
I had installed the same grid in the milking parlor and stopped before putting the panels in, glad I did. I took it down too. So in the parlor I switched to corrugated panels for the ceiling which I really like, I still need to finish the trim around the walls and some screws in the field but it came out nice. I would have used it in the milk room too but the milk room needs to have all the seams caulked and I felt that there was going to be a lot of caulking and it just wouldn't look as clean and tidy.
Here is the ceiling, minus the trim, which will help hold it up, so it is currently a little floppy on the edges. The hole is for a fan.
This has been an expensive mistake.
Next frustration point is the floor. It needs another coat of epoxy paint. I was afraid of that when I did it to begin with but I was hoping I could live with it, but I can't. It has cracked on one seam, and I also added too much anti-slip grit. I was going to live with the grit but since the crack showed up I will just give it a quick sanding and another coat. Fortunately I have extra product...now if I only had extra time.
Tomorrow I will be painting the floor in the equipment room and painting the trim for the ceiling. I might get the trim up, not sure. I have a bunch of errands to run before the next big storm shows up on Wed. I have two hand wash sinks to install so I might start on those this week too.
DH is working on the electrical but unfortunately he has a 'day job' and will be gone all week. Milking stands will be getting made this month, I am delivering the head gates to them next week and then they will start on the stands. So things are progressing, it is just taking F O R E V E R and I am learning that I am not as young as I used to be.
I also have a tack room to build on the barn so I can reclaim a kidding pen that I am currently using. I will need that pen and more come March.
My third doe to kid decided to be number two. All
day today she was talking to me, every time I walked in the barn Juliette would call out to me so I knew that something was up. After the evening feeding I put her in a kidding pen. This is where it gets interesting.
She is in a pen with Lyla and her week old kids on one side, and the other side is empty... I feed Alondra in there. A few hours later I go to the barn to check on her and as I get near the barn I hear Francis doing his "get away from my doe/kid" snarl which is weird as he isn't near the kidding pens. Then I hear Lyla snorting and pawing and acting stressed and I am thinking it is for no good reason and wondering what is up with her. WRONG. Juliette has somehow undone one side of her kidding pen and she is in the center aisle of the barn, in a corner, screaming...very much in "I am having this kid now" mode. Francis is on the other side of a stock panel making sure that nobody gets near that corner. I am really glad he stayed in the barn with does and didn't join the center aisle party as that might now have been a good experience for Mia and Alondra. He is very protective of the does and kids.
Lyla has also pushed on a panel and gotten out through the same gate and she is in the barn aisle as well. And guess what...Alondra and Mia are also in the barn aisle. My heart is in my throat wondering what condition I am going to find the kids in as I know that they are certainly together. Alondra has not been around kids at all and Mia was a terror last year as a pup. Well I am happy to report that the kids are fine, not a slobber on them.
I am rounding up kids, fixing pens, and watching Juliette out of one eye and sure enough she has a kid. So I grab the kid as I don't want Mia and Alondra to get too excited about the blood and I put him in a pen and then grab Juliette. I get him dried and dipped and the doe is already starting to pass the afterbirth which is weird as she is a big as a house. There has to be another one in there and after about 15 minutes she delivers a doeling. Strange, I don't think I have ever seen this before, maybe this time they each had there own placenta??? Anyways, one buckling, one doeling, no chewed up kids. Pens are put back together for the night and will be reinforced tomorrow. The other doe is in a pen too, just in case.
What a night. Sigueme is on patrol tonight and she can bark all she wants. Love that dog.
No pictures of the kids but here are the two girls outside of the kidding pen. They are wishful thinking.
@Mini Horses I did not pull these kids to bottle feed, these three does were an oops, the rest aren't due until March and later. I am at least 3 months out on the dairy and that would be a miracle...I could sure use one of those right now.
I have had a few snags and I am beyond frustrated. I installed a suspended type ceiling in the milk room and I hated it. It is called Ceiling Max and it can be installed right up against the ceiling joist to get the extra ceiling height. It looked horrible. Gaps everywhere and I spent hours working on ways to force the panels tight against the grid and after two days I gave up, took it down, and I am waiting for another tongue and groove system to be available next week.
I had installed the same grid in the milking parlor and stopped before putting the panels in, glad I did. I took it down too. So in the parlor I switched to corrugated panels for the ceiling which I really like, I still need to finish the trim around the walls and some screws in the field but it came out nice. I would have used it in the milk room too but the milk room needs to have all the seams caulked and I felt that there was going to be a lot of caulking and it just wouldn't look as clean and tidy.
Here is the ceiling, minus the trim, which will help hold it up, so it is currently a little floppy on the edges. The hole is for a fan.
This has been an expensive mistake.
Next frustration point is the floor. It needs another coat of epoxy paint. I was afraid of that when I did it to begin with but I was hoping I could live with it, but I can't. It has cracked on one seam, and I also added too much anti-slip grit. I was going to live with the grit but since the crack showed up I will just give it a quick sanding and another coat. Fortunately I have extra product...now if I only had extra time.
Tomorrow I will be painting the floor in the equipment room and painting the trim for the ceiling. I might get the trim up, not sure. I have a bunch of errands to run before the next big storm shows up on Wed. I have two hand wash sinks to install so I might start on those this week too.
DH is working on the electrical but unfortunately he has a 'day job' and will be gone all week. Milking stands will be getting made this month, I am delivering the head gates to them next week and then they will start on the stands. So things are progressing, it is just taking F O R E V E R and I am learning that I am not as young as I used to be.
I also have a tack room to build on the barn so I can reclaim a kidding pen that I am currently using. I will need that pen and more come March.
Mia and Alondra look great. Sure glad the outcome wasn't bad from the escape artists.
" in the kidding shed turned out well! If the does won't read "the book" about behavior & kidding, I sure wish they'd at least share the one they wrote! Luckily we have been able to anticipate some things over the years -- then, we find a new chapter was added!!! 
When we are alone it makes for a lot of juggling -- a few extra hands are needed. Good job.
and just think... you ASKED for this!
I am always a little terrified this time of year.
