New Members To The Farm Family

We are welcoming new members to our farm family. Seems that I just couldn't wait until our own does started kidding. :) I LOVE baby goats!

A special "Thank You" to Russ & Marla of Maple Spring Farm.
These are absolutely drop dead gorgeous LaMancha kids!

In keeping with our original idea to name the LaMancha kids on the farm "fairy" names, well, that's just what we did. :)

First we introduce Alvin. According the web site that I was looking up fairy names on, Alvin means "Noble Friend" in fairy language. He sure is friendly now, especially if he thinks you might have a bottle for him so I have no reason to think that he will continue to be anything but friendly and he also already thinks that he is the biggest deal around so I figure he is going to be very noble as well.

Next we introduce Zanna. I have no idea what Zanna means in fairy language, but I like the name and it really seems to fit her.

Stay tuned. There just might be more LaMancha babies coming to the farm soon.

What To Do In Our "Down" Time

As many of you are aware, we are now in a bit of a "down" time. Milk production had dropped so much due to the does being at the end of their lactation as well as the cold weather so we finally made the decision to dry them off and wait for the next set of does to freshen. Friday morning was our last official milking day of 2011, however we did a partial milking on Sunday and a full milking this morning which is part of the drying off process.

So.....What ever will we do in our "down" time?

Sunday and Monday we worked on getting wood cut. We are almost to where we need to be in order to have our winter supply of wood. We heat totally with wood so it usually takes between eight and 10 ricks of wood to see us through the winter. It just depends on how bad the winter is.

Monday I (along with Daddy's help) gave all of the young girls their Christmas pedicures. They weren't really sure about all of that, but their hooves all look really nice now. :)

Tuesday we went out and delivered the last of the cheese and milk for the 2011 season. When we got home, I moved the bucks out back with Charlie Cow and then turned the young girls in with the mature does. I don't think that they really thought that they were goats and they sure didn't understand why I would make them leave their deluxe accommodations and make them live in the big barn with "those goats". I stayed out there with them for quite some time and then finally came to the house. About 10:00 last night Chrys and I went out to check on them and had to bring all of the young girls "back" into the barn and lock the gate so that they couldn't go over and stand beside their previous pasture. When I let them out this morning guess where they went? Right! They went straight back to stand by their previous pasture. :(

I moved eight does to the maternity ward (previous barn and pasture of the young girls) this morning. I gave them pedicures and also gave them their yearly vaccination that we give about 2-4 weeks prior to having babies. I don't have exact dates on this group of girls since we pasture bred them, but none of them are due before January 5th. I normally wouldn't have moved them to the maternity ward this soon, but since we have the young Livestock Guardian Dogs now and I don't trust them yet since they are still just pups, I thought it would be best to have these does in an area that the pups can't get in to.

There's not much else to tell at this point. I have a list as long as my arm of things to get done during this "down" time. We'll see if it all gets completed or not. :)

Below are a couple of pictures of the young girls today, standing beside their old pasture and begging to return "home". These girls are all 6-8 months old and there are 20 of them.

Here is a photo of some of the does munching on hay inside the big barn.

Poor Charlie Cow

Poor Girl Charlie Cow (yes that's her name). We moved the does that were in the back pasture up to the big barn this morning. Charlie Cow has cried and cried ever since. She has never ever been without goats. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure that she knows that she is of the bovine species. Poor thing. She thinks that she is goat too.

Most of the day she has stood at the fence and cried for her goat friends. A few times she would go off and graze or go get a little hay. When I would go out there she would come to the fence and just want to be petted. I finally felt sorry enough for her to give her a little "extra" grain at feeding time.

Next week, after we get some hoof trimming done on the teenagers we will move them back there with Charlie Cow and I am sure that she will be happy again......although they may not be. They are used to staying at the Ritz. LOL

Disaster Diverted

A disaster was diverted this morning thanks to our WONDERFUL and ever FAITHFUL Livestock Guardian Dogs. Both of the younger adult dogs, Shasta & Gypsy, came up with blood on their necks (not their blood) and one of Shasta's hind feet is sore. When Chrys left for work he said that there was a pack of dogs out on the road. All of the LG dogs, including the pups, have been on high alert ever since. Shasta won't leave the milkers (although she rarely does anyway) and Gypsy won't leave from the perimeter of the dry does pasture. Both of the pups are even on high alert and periodically sounding off at the perimeters this morning. Sadie, of course, is alert close to the house and barking directions to the others. :) (The Alpha female position must be a good spot to be in.)

I wish people would keep their dogs at home. Just because you live in the country does NOT mean that it is okay for your pet (cared for, neglected, or otherwise) to go onto someone else's property and wreck havoc. I have seen what a pack of "pet" dogs can do to a herd of goats. It is NOT something I ever want to see again!

Shasta this morning in the milking does pasture. You can see a faint red color around her neck. Gypsy's looked the same but she wouldn't let me get close enough this morning for a photo shoot. :)

This is Mya. She and Tess (the pups) have both been on high alert this morning and have stayed close to the milking does and Shasta.

The dry does coming up when I called them so that I could inspect and get a head count. (Everyone was accounted for and looking good.)

Dry does still coming up......

....and they are here and getting all of their little noses counted.
(Notice Gypsy behind the group that is around the tree.)

Cammie and Charlie Cow counting each other's noses.
Yep! They are both here! LOL

Airi, in the milking doe pasture. Not a real good picture of her, but it kind of goes along with her attitude. ;)

Cammie

Cammie is now almost a year old. If you remember, she was a birthday gift this year from my wonderful husband. It took her a long time before she really liked me. Seems that for the longest time she much preferred Chrys or Megan. Once I was home full time we became fast friends though......or maybe she just likes me now because it is usually just her and me......and the goats......all day long. :) At any rate, Cammie is always by my side now. We seem to do everything together. :)

Two things Cammie seems to hate are birds (which is ok, they don't stand a chance of getting in the gardens) and she seems to HATE having all of the dog bowls where they are suppose to be. We have six dogs. Five are Livestock Guardian Dogs (3 mature and 2 pups in training) and Cammie (who is a Sheltie and should be a herding dog, but doesn't seem to have a lick of herding instinct). Anyway, Cammie is always carrying off the dog bowls. Not just one or two, but ALL of them! I line five bowls up along the fence (about 10 feet apart in order to give each dog their own space) and I no more than turn my back and Cammie is carrying them off. The next day I have to go find them all again. It is like easter every day. The only bowl she doesn't carry off is the metal one that I left at the end of the shop.

Well, I'm a little slow I guess. After about three weeks of the daily dog bowl hide and seek game I finally got smart. I drilled a hole in each bowl then I ran baler twine through the hole and tied each one to the fence. Now Cammie can't carry them off and hide them. And when I go to mow along the fence all I have to do is throw them over the fence with the twine still attached and they will still be right where I need them to be. :)

I finally got all of this done on Saturday afternoon. Several of the twines have been taught where Cammie has attempted the dog bowl hiding game. :)

New Feeder

Our daughter's boyfriend made this "Really AWESOME" new goat feeder for us and just delivered it 2 days ago. The goats all seem to be really enjoying it (is there food in it???) and it is perfect in EVERY way!

It has a metal pipe frame that he welded together then painted and the trough is made from extra heavy duty conveyor belt. The trough is bolted/screwed onto the frame and is open on each end. Being open on each end not only means that it won't hold water, but it also means that it is easy to clean. In addition, with the ends being open, they are designed so that another feeder can be added in the future by butting it up to the current feeder and over lapping the ends creating one continuous feeder.

I am SOOOO proud of this feeder and SOOOO thankful for someone being thoughtful and caring and making it for us. Thank you Matt!!!!!

Note: I think he would make these feeders for others by special order. If you want one, let me know and I can put you in touch with him.

Random Photos Of Some Of The Goats

Here are just some random photos of some of the girls.

Some of the younger girls. These girls are between 3 and 6 months old and will one day be a part of the milking girls.

This is Norma. Norma is a very special girl to me. If you haven't read the story about Norman, then please do. Then you will know why she is so special. Norma is a full sister to Norman.

A group of yearlings getting their chance at the dinner table before we let the rest of the girls in.

The pictures above and below: Dinner time for most of the herd. This is what 54 does look like all eating at the same time. Of course the rest of the herd was served their dinner in their own pen/pasture.

Good Dogs Gone Bad????

The new livestock guardian dog pups are now about 3 months old. For the most part it seems that they are really good pups. Shasta has taken the reign on their training, as we had hoped, and "most" of the time she has them in the goat pastures with her or if it is milking time then she makes them come into the holding area with her and goats.

Shasta with Tess (what you can't see is that the goats are just to the left of the dogs eating their dinner)

Tess

Mya

Cammie (about 8 1/2 months old now)
Not a livestock guardian dog, however she is suppose to be a herding dog and she is definitely my little buddy now.

Cammie


Now.........Remember that I said that Shasta has the pups in the goat pasture most of the time........Well, she does seem to let them have a little R & R time in the evenings. I'm wondering if maybe she should re-think this policy.

Just who I thought was tearing up the cushions on our swing. :(

What we didn't know is that Cammie was also one of the culprits. I guess there is a reason that Shasta wouldn't let the pups play with her when they first arrived at the farm.

Reflections From A Question

We did a farm tour today with an extremely nice couple from way over yonder on the other side of town. Farm tours always make me a bit nervous before hand because I really don’t know what people are expecting once they arrive at the farm. I much prefer to do tours in the winter and early spring when there are lots of babies to ooh and awe over and freshly planted gardens that show promise and hope. Anyway, here it is the end of August following a horrible drought. The gardens are burned up, the babies are six months old and there is just not a lot of exciting activities happening on the farm……and we are giving a farm tour.

The reason I am writing this is that, of the all the questions they had, the husband asked a question and then made a comment on my response that has had me reflecting on my response since they left. Well, after much thought, I stand by my response. Don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t derogatory in his statement to me. He was just stating a fact and I completely understand where he was coming from on that. Now….below is the jest of the conversation and then following that are some of my additional thoughts.

NOTE: Conversation is not verbatim.

Question: What do you do with goats that are no longer producing.

My Answer: Some will be sold, but some will stay here forever. We will basically have a geriatric ward.

His Response: That kind of hurts the bottom line.

My Answer: Yes, it can but some we have had since the beginning. They take care of us and we take care of them.

Now….. Here are some of my additional thoughts on this subject.

· S Some of these girls have been with us from the very beginning. We raised them from babies, bottle feeding them and tending to their every need.

W We have had one or two get severely ill and have spent nearly 24 hours a day for days on end doctoring and nursing and finally seeing health return to our beloved friend(s). Likewise, we have had a couple attacked by “stray” dogs and nearly killed. We kept vigil beside them for literally weeks while they mended.

· W We have braved the cold as well as the heat to take care of girls (and boys) because we could see that they were struggling. Did they thank us? Yes. In their own way. :)

· O Our “original” girls have taught US how to be goat farmers. They have endured it all while we learned! When we first started, we didn’t have a nice little barn. In fact, we didn’t have a barn at all. We were using one end of my dad’s barn for housing. We finally did get a barn (it was originally a kennel and low and behold is now actually our milk barn), but had no electricity ran to it. We milked for a full year by flash light. We finally got power to Chrys’ shop and then we ran an extension cord to the “barn” so that we could hang a drop light to milk. I think we milked that way for at least a year, maybe more. We finally got power ran to the barn and followed that with hot and cold water. :) They have taught us when to medicate and when to “wait and see”. They have taught us that sometimes it IS serious and sometimes they are just faking. LOL Yes, they DO have that thought process.

· T They have taught us that they are not just a herd of goats. They are each individuals with their own personality and their own funny (and sometimes frustrating) quirks. We have the bullies, the whiners, the loners, the tattle tails (That’s right! I said tattle tails!), the busy bodies. The personalities run the full gauntlet and although some can be frustrating from time to time we LOVE them ALL!

· W We have an old girl now that came to us last year. She is beyond her production years, but she will stay here until she crosses the rainbow bridge. Why? Why not! She came to us with her “family”. If she were to have to move to a new herd at this point in her life I believe that she would very soon die. She’s old. She eats slow and she is moving slow. To have to endure a move and go through the brutal hierarchy rituals that goats go through, I fear, would be too much for her. So……..she stays. :)

· W We don’t buy and sell and buy and sell and buy and sell goats. The goats we have are members of our family. Yes, some don’t work out, for whatever reason, and need to move to another home. Most, though, are literally members of our family. We care for them. They provide milk for us. When the time comes we will continue to care for them until the end. That’s what families do.

There are so many more reasons that some of these girls will never leave Canyon Ridge Farms and when I think of the time when some will be gone it brings tears to my eyes.

In conclusion, YES, Canyon Ridge Farms WILL have a geriatric ward providing love and nurturing care until the very end. It is the least we can do for some of these girls who have done SO much for us.

……..I may add more to this later, but right now my brain is running in a hundred different directions and my body is tired and says it is time for bed.

MEGA Turtle

NOTE: This is another of my "Back To The Future" photos. I guess I still need to change the date on my camera. The date should read 08/11/2011.

After I finished up morning chores and cheese making I was getting the garbage together because today is trash day. Cammi (the Sheltie) was raising a ruckus outside so I went to investigate what of the many many dangers out there she was alerting me about this time. :)

This "BIG" guy (or girl) was making a march across the north end of the front garden heading to the pond that is right behind the house. He was absolutely HUGE!! His shell was at least a foot in diameter and his head was bigger than the palm of my hand (and I'm not one of those girls with pretty little dainty and petite hands).

He may be drop dead gorgeous to some other turtle, but I think he was kind of ugly and very pre-historic looking.

New To The Farm

Introductions are in order!

These two darling little girls have a future in the security system here at the farm. These girls are half Anatolian Shepherd and half Great Pyrenees, which is what our other three livestock guardian dogs are and we just love love LOVE this mix. :)

With Sadie being 7 and Shasta & Gypsy both being 5 now, we felt like it was a good time to get a couple of young recruits and let the older girls help train them. After all, experience trains well. :)

The little girl on the left with the black mask is Tess. The little blonde girl.....we are still debating on a name. Any suggetions?

( I guess I have the date messed up on my camera. The date should be 7/18/2011.)

My BFF

Introducing to you my BFF (Barn Frog Friend). He (or she) is waiting every morning in the same place which is on the board just above the latch to the holding area.

It seems that every year we have a "barn" frog and I guess this little one is this years frog.

He (or she) doesn't have a name yet and I am thinking of just calling him my BFF unless you all can come up with a better one. :)

Cammi

I haven't posted any pictures of Cammi lately. Meg took some good ones of her this weekend so I thought that this would be a good time to show you how much she has grown and how pretty she is. Cammi is now 8 months old and we have had her for 6 months....and YES....she still loves Chrys and Megan more than she does me although now that I am at the farm full time, she does follow me everywhere and always waits patiently nearby until I am done with whatever I am doing.

Now.....If I could just get her to round the goats up for me at milking time.....

Finally Finished!

In April we took a flying trip to Pennsylvania to pick up our pasteurizer. It was a fast, long and hard trip but we accomplished our mission and had the added bonus of getting to see a little bit of the country that neither one of us had ever seen before.

Once we got back home, we jumped in and worked day and night (that's what it felt like anyway) to get the dairy and creamery finished. The good news is that as of June 2, 2011, Canyon Ridge Farms, LLC is officially a Grade A Goat Dairy AND a Grade A Milk Processing Facility. As a side note Canyon Ridge Farms is the 1st privately owned farm in the state of Oklahoma to be a licensed "ON FARM" processor of dairy goat products.

Anyway, below are some pictures of the completed project. We hope you enjoy seeing it as much as we enjoy sharing it with you.

Two compartment sink in the milk room used to clean the milking equipment.

The door on the right with the window is the outside entry door into the milkroom. The solid door on the left leads into the creamery.

This is the milk parlor where the girls come in twice daily to be milked. You can see the milk lines up above that take the milk directly to the bulk tank.

Another view of the milk parlor. The door in the middle leads into the housing barn. The door on the left leads into the holding area. By the way, YES! This area is air conditioned for the comfort of the girls AND the comfort of the people conducting the milking session. :)

Here is the creamery. You can see the refrigeration units, shelving and prep tables. The piece of equipment on the front table is the pump that pumps our milk from the tank to the bottles and/or pans. Both of the doors in this room with windows lead directly outside.

Another view of the creamery. The door at the back of this room leads into the milk room.

In this view, you can see the three compartment sink used to clean all of the utensils.

Another view of the refrigeration units and prep tables.


This is the bulk tank/pasteurizer and the chart recorder. This is the equipment that we went to Pennsylvania to pick up.



We hope you enjoyed the tour!