Category Archives: Animals and Plants

A Big Welcome To…

Posted on by
11

…Gracie and her calf, Mercy! :D

Mercy about 6 to 8 hours after birth.

Our goats haven’t been giving us very good milk (quantity, not quality :) ) so we needed an alternative. Gracie, a Jersey cow, from a local farm provided the answer! :D On the 21st of November, the day we got her, she was supposed to give birth in a week or two. She gave birth to a healthy heifer on the 29th! :D

Gracie chasing Mercy on her first day.

We milked Gracie for the first time yesterday morning and she was awful. Really awful. It was pretty stressful for both groups. :lol: Or not completely both. Little Mercy was chillin’ in a corner, snoozing away.

Mercy on her second day.

Anyway, yesterday evening milking went a lot better. We got 10 cups of milk (it was quite yellow with colostrum) and our ducks laid eggs for the first time! Mikah found 2 eggs. Yay! They were both skinny and one was a double-yolker. Naomi found another egg this morning.

22 days till Christmas!

Areli, Our Puppy

Posted on by
2

We have a puppy! :D Her name is Areli (uh-REL-ee), which means “lion of God,” and she’s amazing.

She’s a Boerboel x Kangal cross. The Kangal breed comes from Turkey while the Boerboel comes from South Africa. She’ll be a big dog, and you can definitely tell from the size of her paws! Her father, the Kangal, was huuuuge. If he stood up and propped his paws up on Baba’s shoulders, he’d be at least a head and a half taller. Baba’s just under 6 feet. Areli’s mother, the Boerboel, is big, but shorter. She is more muscular while Areli’s father is leaner and big. ;)

We’ve been training her according to Jan Fennell’s method, based on the hierarchy of a wolf pack. It’s working! :D

She came with fleas, unfortunately, so we’ve given her a couple baths. The fleas seem to have disappeared!

The goats are still freaked out and Paisley will butt her to the ground, but Areli’s relationship with them seems to be getting better. Areli and the ducks have a long way to go. ;) Puppy likes to sneak up on them, leap into the air, and chase them all around. :roll: We’d like her to chase them off the front porch, but to then leave them alone. Discipline!

To view more of the bathing pictures, visit my Facebook album.

Paisley’s Birth

Posted on by
Reply


I’m sure you’re all wondering what happened to Paisley. After all, I haven’t posted in ages! Well, she gave birth on the 29th of July, the day before my birthday. But the baby buckling got stuck in the birth canal and despite our efforts, suffocated. :( Naomi and Mom had their hands in there and eventually got him out, but it was too late. :cry:

All the other babies are fine. :) We’re bottle-feeding Daisy’s babies because we don’t think they’re getting enough milk. They looooove it. :lol:

We’re milking Paisley, but only on one teat. Her other teat has a bump in it that prevents milk from squeezing out… She’s had that bump since last winter. It’s really weird…

Gingham is due on September 11. Pray for an easy and successful birth!

On Their Clock, Not Ours

Posted on by
2

Daisy’s due date was yesterday so of course on the days leading up to it, we were checking on her practically every five minutes. :D Yesterday, Mom and Mikah left with the truck to get it serviced, leaving Naomi and I home. I’m surprised we didn’t pop, we were so excited. What colors would her babies be? When would she birth? How many kids did she have in that gigantic stomach?

Well, after a whole day of checking on her several times each hour and going away with, “Just ten more minutes. Then she’ll start having contractions,” we were half-way through milking when…

…she started having contractions! For real!

Naomi and I were still home alone but, with my phone, we called up Mom and Baba. Both were super excited (not to mention Mikah, who’s gasp I heard even through the phone!) and anxious to get home. We finished milking in a hurry and tried to make Daisy comfortable. She didn’t lay down once.

Baba arrived home just before the first kid slipped out. He and Naomi (mostly Naomi) cradled the baby in their hands as it (sorry, no hints on its gender yet :P ) slid out. You should have heard Baba’s voice as he said, “It’s a…boy.” He really wants girls. :lol: We clustered around the boy, wiping goop off his mouth and making sure he was okay. All of a sudden, Naomi yelped,

“Another one’s coming!”

Naomi barely got to Daisy in time to catch the second kid. One mistake we’ll never make again.

This kid worried us because it wouldn’t breathe for the longest (not really, but in the rush of the moment, yes) time. And then it took a breath, and another, and another, and lived! Baba carried it over to the straw pile where the boy was and peeked at it.

“It’s a GIRL!”

Very jubilant, indeed. ;)

Both kids are doing great. The boy looks so much like Cosmo, except without the white band around his dad’s belly. The girl looks like a mix between her mother and her grandmother, Belle, who we had to put down.

Piper’s Buckling

Posted on by
2

Piper’s little buckling was having problems. He wasn’t able to go to the bathroom, so his belly was swollen, which meant he wouldn’t walk since his legs bumped his belly and that would hurt. :( We put him down on Saturday.

Piper’s doeling.

Piper’s little girl is doing really well. She’s frolicking around on the hills with Pegs’ boy, nursing Piper’s udder evenly, taking long naps in the sun, and trying to make friends with Cosmo, Gingham, and other big goats. We haven’t named her yet, but we’re thinking along the lines of Joy, Hope, or Spark. :) Joy because she gives us a ton of laughter. Hope because she is the first baby goat to survive this year and she’s given us hope that there will be others. Spark because she’s so bubbly and bouncy.

Binks

Posted on by
1

Pegs has a son. Binks, named after Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks. He has flopped over ears just like Jar Jar. :D He was born on Saturday at about 1:00 PM. Congratulations, Pegs!

Facts:

  • Grandma and Grandpa arrived here from their motel just as she was starting her contractions. Pegs chose a cool place in the woods to give birth. We all trekked up there with cameras slung over shoulders to view the kidding. :D
  • She started contractions at 12:10 PM. The whole birth took an hour. Way to go, Pegs!
  • Binks is doing great and has made great friends with Piper’s little girl (yet unnamed).
  • So far, Pegs has only birthed a single kid per year.
  • Pegs gave birth on the 17th, two days before her due date. :)

3 births down, 3 to go!

First Kids of the Season

Posted on by
12

Piper had kids — a doeling and a buckling! It all started last night, when Piper refused to eat at milking time. Mom stayed outside with her, and Piper went into labor. Unfortunately, Piper kept falling asleep. :roll: Around midnight, Mom decided to go inside and get some rest. When she came outside in the morning, there were two little babies in the birthing stall!

At first Piper didn’t want anything to do with the babies. When they tried to nurse, she bucked and ran away (typical Piper for you). So Mom stepped in. She grabbed Piper, tied her up, velcroed the hobble in place, and let the babies do their thing. They rushed in and started nursing. Piper’s maternal instincts kicked in and within a couple minutes, Mom could let Piper loose and Piper would let her babies nurse.

The little doeling has inherited Pegs’ weird ear! Apparently that trait skipped a generation. :D

Everything’s wonderful on the home front. After all this sadness with the animals, it sure is great to call Mom and have some good news! :D

Pegs is due in less than a week (the 19th) and Daisy is due a couple days after that (the 22nd). Buttercup gave 3 1/2 cups at both milkings a couple days ago. She’s at 3 cups per milking right now.

P.S. To see the pictures in the gallery better, just click on them. Some of the pictures are cut off to keep all the pictures square.

Buttercup

Posted on by
2

I got a phone call from Mom last night. Buttercup went into labor yesterday. She was 3 days early. The baby, a little girl with all dark colors and a white patch on her forehead, was stillborn. :( Everything was fast and easy and Buttercup was wonderful, but she was calling for her baby. :cry:

Mom milked Buttercup last night, several hours after she gave birth, and got a couple cups. It was bright yellow with cholostrum for the baby. Buttercup inherited her mom’s long hair, so Mom trimmed it at her back legs to make for easy milking. She got right on the milking stand and Mom milked her with the hobble and everything. This morning, however, Buttercup had to be wrestled on to the stand. I’m thinking she was so tired out last night that she just gave in. Oh, and it probably felt good to be relieved of that milk.

We’re all really sad. :( Please pray that the rest of the goats will give birth to healthy kids! Pegs is due July 19th and Daisy is due July 22nd. Pegs is lagging behind the herd and isn’t very interested in food so Mom is keeping an eye on her. She shouldn’t give birth for a good 1 and a half weeks, so we’re hoping everything’s all right.

Buttercup was butting heads with Daisy last night, so we think she’s recovered.

Thank you for your prayers!

Hello, California!

Posted on by
1

We’re in California! Despite the lateness of our arrival time (9:15 PM) we jumped into the pool immediately. :D The result: there are very tired people in the house this morning! We didn’t go to bed until 11:30. ;) But what are vacations for, other than to stay up late?

On the drive, Grandma surprised me with a book to read! Fable Weaver, a newly published book by Carlie Gernhart, one of the writers on OYAN. :D I read her II Draft when she submitted it in the 2008 OYAN contest, but her book has changed due to the arduous process of editing. :razz: So, anyway, that’s what I’m reading at the moment.

We stopped at our Fairy Godparents’ house on the way here. Sandy and Dave are Baba’s godparents, so I dubbed them as our Fairy Godparents when I was little. :D They are awesome! We ate a wonderful dinner at their house — including potato salad made from potatoes out of their own garden. :D Here are some pictures:

Saturday, the day before we left for California, we went up to Eugene to have breakfast with Aunt Billy (Grandma’s sister) and her husband, Uncle John. It was really fun! Aunt Billy is sooo funny! Here are some pictures:

[flickrslideshow acct_name="suchtreasures" id="72157624253010225" width="300" height="300"]

The ducks and goats are doing great. Or they were, anyway, when we left. Gingham was play-fighting with Cosmo and trying to avoid getting jumped on by Dusty at the same time. :roll: Dusty has SO got a crush on Gingham.

Here are some pictures of the animals:

[flickrslideshow acct_name="suchtreasures" id="72157624252917035" width="300" height="300"]

And then some pictures of the ducks in the water tub:

[flickrslideshow acct_name="suchtreasures" id="72157624252922939" width="300" height="300"]

NOTE: If you’re viewing this through my Feedburner feeds, you will need to go here to view the slideshow.

Pictures from the Last Week

Posted on by
4

So I guess I should give you an update on the ducklings first. Bug and Timmy are recovering from their injuries nicely. Bug started walking around last night so we returned him to the outdoors. Addy seems to be okay, but we’re guessing she’s lonely without Seedy. :( As for me, I’m emotionally drained.

I went out to morning milking today to find a dead Khaki Campbell duckling. :( We’re not sure what the cause was, but the duckling was right by the door of the inner coop — away from the heat lamps. 9 Khaki Campbell ducklings are very tipsy. When walking, they tip over and lay there without moving, legs limp. We’ve got them in Mom and Baba’s unused bathtub right now. And 1 of the ducklings is missing. They were unattended for a minute and when we counted them again, we were 1 short. :(

We’ve been prepping for dirt work over the last week. Baba cut down several trees. That’s him below (or above, in reality! I really had to crane my neck to see him!), posing for the camera! ;)

The guy we hired to move the dirt arrived yesterday. Yesterday he moved some stumps and trees out of the way and then today he moved dirt. He’s been working since 8:15 this morning. :) I’ll get you more pictures later, but here’s one:

That’s in front of the house. :)

We’ve been taking the Khaki Campbell/Indian Runner ducklings swimming every day. They really enjoy it, though at some point a bunch of them head off down the driveway to explore! :)

And here’s Naomi, with Bug the Muscovy duckling. How cute, right? :D

Time to eat dinner! Burritos and cake! Yum. :)

We’ll Miss You

Posted on by
3

I went out to milking this morning to see Clover laying on her belly with blood on her side. She died in my arms. Seedy is missing. Timmy is limping. Bug had a chunk taken out of her leg, and Addy has 2 ducklings left.

I feel like crying and never stopping. Please pray for me and Naomi and all the ducks.

We’ll miss you, Clover and Seedy. Bug, we’ll take really good care of you. Please survive. Addy, we’re so sorry.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

An Assortment of Udders

Posted on by
8

The kidding dates are approaching and the first fresheners’ udders are getting big. :) Maybe that’s only because Daisy, Buttercup, and Piper are getting older, but we’re hoping it means something better!

Gingham

Gingham’s udder is very lopsided (the picture shows it more lopsided than it is, though). That’s not a good sign in a milker. Her baby (we didn’t buy her baby when we bought her last year) was only nursing on one teat, so her other teat stopped producing as much milk. This time around, if she gives birth, we’re going to try to fix that teat. :) Gingham is due September 11.

Paisley

Paisley’s udder is hardly anything. We dried her up in the fall of last year because of an udder problem. There were a bunch of bumps all over. We’re going to try milking her again this year and see how it goes. :D If anything, we’ll have a couple of over-and-beyond-darling kids running around! Paisley is due August 1.

Pegs

Pegs dried herself up a couple weeks ago. Pretty much proof that she’s pregnant! She’s a little bit over 3 months along in her gestation. She gave 7 cups at one point in the winter, but then went into heat and dropped down to 5. She never made it back up to 7 again. Then she dropped down to 3…then 1…then 3/4 of a cup. She’s our best behaved milker. :) Pegs is due July 19.

Piper

We’re not even sure Piper is pregnant! We had no indication of her going into heat during the winter, so we’re not expecting her to kid. But her udder is getting bigger, so she makes this post. :) She’s got small teats, like her mom. Unfortunately, she’s very badly behaved when it comes to us touching her back legs/udder.

Buttercup

Buttercup’s udder grew a ton a couple weeks ago but then slowed down recently. She’s got some pretty long hair on her back legs, like her mom Belle (Belle was sick so we put her down last year :( ). We might have to cut all the long bits off to help with milking! Buttercup is due July 9.

Daisy

Daisy’s udder is making progress! Mikah got some milk out of it on Friday. ;) Daisy didn’t inherit all the hair from Belle, so that’s good. But she and Buttercup do have smaller teats, like their mom. Daisy is due July 22.

So none of the does are due on my birthday (July 30)! Oh well. There’s still a good chance that one of them will decide to hold off or go ahead a couple days early/late. :D