So I went out to clean up the goat pen and hang out with the boys for a while... its beautiful out today, warmer. As usual, I bring in the muck bucket, the muck fork, the garden fork and the rake. We started using the 2nd gate in the pen as with all the rain we've had it was getting churned up a bit by the first.
As soon as I open the gate, the boys are right there and because this gate is on the other side, the way it slopes it automatically opens out, instead of automatically closing. I lose the gate, my hands are full and suddenly, off goes Bert, out into the yard.
I manage to get the gate closed before Ernie gets out, but barely... I actually caught his head in it and that's how I didn't lose him. So Bert is standing out in the yard... Ernie and I are inside... Bert panics and wants back in NOW.
I open the gate and in he jumps... he got a couple raisins for that... Ernie got some too, just because. Whew. Damn quick goats.
This morning, noticed they both have a slight cough, so I thought I would take their temps and see if they were actually sick or not. Well, turns out a rectal thermometer isn't something a goat really likes... or tolerates well.
After a good wrestling match, I got Ernie's temp taken. 102.5 F. It sounds high, so I worry a bit. Then I wrestle Bert and although he's generally the good goat, he's having NO part in this rectal thermometer thing!! More wrestling ensues, I get him up against the goat hut with a piece of baling twine around his neck... my knee in front of his shoulder and one hand to lift his incredibly strong tail and the other to hold the digital thermometer. Again, 102.5 F.
So either they are both sick.. .or both ok. Do I remember to check online to see what normal goat temp is BEFORE I go out? Of course not. So I finish what I'm doing and finally get inside to check and it turns out that's normal! Guess I shouldn't have worried!
I'll keep an eye on them and maybe later when Shawn's home we'll check it again... I know pneumonia and stuff like that can take goats and sheep down fast, but so far so good.
(Lots of reading to catch up on today... I posted twice today and once at the end of yesterday, so scroll down to stay caught up!) :)
Monday, October 29, 2007
Just Call Me a TYPE A MANIAC, apparently
The new pics are up... I've started an album on FHH for Halloween 2007. So far the decorations look pretty good... we'll see what else we get done.
I also started an album for Fencing In Progress. I didn't take very many yet, but I did get a couple of the short length we did on Saturday when it was almost finished. The other part is just some tbars put in the ground and still some laying on the ground, not really exciting... yet.
There was big excitement just on the other side of the village this morning... about 15 - 20 emergency vehicles went up that way... not long after, I went up to the post office to mail a package to my girl in TO and mentioned it to the postal clerk and she told me there was a fire up at the highschool. One of her driver's daughter called to tell her about it. I found a blurb online for anyone interested, here's the text from the Ottawa Sun:
A fire has forced officials to close West Carleton Secondary School this afternoon.
I went back to the doctor this morning... basically I'm fine and the residual "stuff" seems to be asthma related, according to him. I now have 3 different inhalers to use (I got the one filled that I didn't 2 weeks ago).
I normally don't like to bother with inhalers and I'm always a bit suspicious of them but I did take all the prescribed puffs since I got home and I feel quite a bit better... breathing isn't quite the chore it was.
I also received a Hagey lecture from my doc that would've made my dad proud. According to him, that if I'm going to wait until I'm so sick to see a doctor, then I can't expect to get better overnight... and he was a bit annoyed that I waited another 2 weeks to come back after I wasn't feeling that much better when the antibiotics ran out.
I explained that I know they are busy and I really like to try to fight it off myself before resorting to going to the doctor and that I think people who go to the doctor everytime they "pass gas" sideways are really abusing our medical system and I don't want to be one of those.
So he went on to tell me that patients are generally a pain in the butt, but there are 2 types that annoy him. The ones that come in for every little tiny thing, most of which would resolve on their own. The 2nd group are the ones that wait until they are almost dead to come in, but then expect him to perform miracles overnight. He says the 2nd group makes him crazier than the first, as he'd rather just tell patients they will be ok, but sometimes catch something more serious earlier than deal with half dead zombies coming in for instant miracles. He says he calls the 2nd group "Type A Maniacs". Apparently he wishes for a happy medium... haha good luck with that.
Anyhow, my response to him was "Yay, I'm part of the winner group" and he kinda looked at me like I hadn't understood... and I said "You know, because the group I belong to drives you CRAZIEST?!" He just looked at me and said "Just like a type A to make everything into a contest" and shook his head and laughed.
So anyhow, he figures by the end of the week I should be feeling much better and if not, I'm to COME BACK... yeah, we'll see... maybe if I get really bad ;)
He wondered if my husband was doing better and I told him that he was, but he still had a bit of a residual cough and the doc wondered why he didn't come with me... I told the doc I had asked my husband if he wanted to but was told "I'm not THAT sick" and the doc just shook his head again and muttered something about us being a perfect type A marriage... dunno what that is supposed to mean ;)
So for those of you that worry I don't get enough lectures out here in Eastern Ontario, I got a good one this morning... just like being back home! :)
Oh and it was really quick to see the doc... I was there before the clinic opened and was 2nd in line... it opened at 9am and I was out the door before 9:30am... THAT's the way I like it. Maybe if all my experiences were that way, I wouldn't wait so long to see a doc, but man, when you have to wait more than 2 hours and often closer to 4, you gotta be sick sick sick to bother.
I bought a boneless turkey thigh at Farm Boy, brought it home and cut it up and am making a pot of soup for supper. Should be yummy.
I also started an album for Fencing In Progress. I didn't take very many yet, but I did get a couple of the short length we did on Saturday when it was almost finished. The other part is just some tbars put in the ground and still some laying on the ground, not really exciting... yet.
There was big excitement just on the other side of the village this morning... about 15 - 20 emergency vehicles went up that way... not long after, I went up to the post office to mail a package to my girl in TO and mentioned it to the postal clerk and she told me there was a fire up at the highschool. One of her driver's daughter called to tell her about it. I found a blurb online for anyone interested, here's the text from the Ottawa Sun:
A fire has forced officials to close West Carleton Secondary School this afternoon.
City firefighters were called to a working fire at the Dunrobin Rd. school at about 11 a.m. Ottawa paramedics were also on standby at the scene. Reports indicate a vehicle caught fire in one of the school's auto shops, and that smoke from the blaze spread to other areas of the building.
There is no word on the extent of damage, but no injuries have been reported. Students are being sent home for the rest of the day. There is no indication of when the school might be able to reopen.I went back to the doctor this morning... basically I'm fine and the residual "stuff" seems to be asthma related, according to him. I now have 3 different inhalers to use (I got the one filled that I didn't 2 weeks ago).
I normally don't like to bother with inhalers and I'm always a bit suspicious of them but I did take all the prescribed puffs since I got home and I feel quite a bit better... breathing isn't quite the chore it was.
I also received a Hagey lecture from my doc that would've made my dad proud. According to him, that if I'm going to wait until I'm so sick to see a doctor, then I can't expect to get better overnight... and he was a bit annoyed that I waited another 2 weeks to come back after I wasn't feeling that much better when the antibiotics ran out.
I explained that I know they are busy and I really like to try to fight it off myself before resorting to going to the doctor and that I think people who go to the doctor everytime they "pass gas" sideways are really abusing our medical system and I don't want to be one of those.
So he went on to tell me that patients are generally a pain in the butt, but there are 2 types that annoy him. The ones that come in for every little tiny thing, most of which would resolve on their own. The 2nd group are the ones that wait until they are almost dead to come in, but then expect him to perform miracles overnight. He says the 2nd group makes him crazier than the first, as he'd rather just tell patients they will be ok, but sometimes catch something more serious earlier than deal with half dead zombies coming in for instant miracles. He says he calls the 2nd group "Type A Maniacs". Apparently he wishes for a happy medium... haha good luck with that.
Anyhow, my response to him was "Yay, I'm part of the winner group" and he kinda looked at me like I hadn't understood... and I said "You know, because the group I belong to drives you CRAZIEST?!" He just looked at me and said "Just like a type A to make everything into a contest" and shook his head and laughed.
So anyhow, he figures by the end of the week I should be feeling much better and if not, I'm to COME BACK... yeah, we'll see... maybe if I get really bad ;)
He wondered if my husband was doing better and I told him that he was, but he still had a bit of a residual cough and the doc wondered why he didn't come with me... I told the doc I had asked my husband if he wanted to but was told "I'm not THAT sick" and the doc just shook his head again and muttered something about us being a perfect type A marriage... dunno what that is supposed to mean ;)
So for those of you that worry I don't get enough lectures out here in Eastern Ontario, I got a good one this morning... just like being back home! :)
Oh and it was really quick to see the doc... I was there before the clinic opened and was 2nd in line... it opened at 9am and I was out the door before 9:30am... THAT's the way I like it. Maybe if all my experiences were that way, I wouldn't wait so long to see a doc, but man, when you have to wait more than 2 hours and often closer to 4, you gotta be sick sick sick to bother.
I bought a boneless turkey thigh at Farm Boy, brought it home and cut it up and am making a pot of soup for supper. Should be yummy.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
More Pieces of the Puzzle
We started out today by getting the dogs and goats fed and their hooves trimmed (more on that in a minute)... it was darn cold today, clear and windy! When we were done feeding and trimming the goats and were standing at the hose at the house washing off rubber boots, a pickup truck slowed down in front of the house and stopped just on the other side of the driveway.
We didn't recognize the truck, but watched as an older man with a cane got out and walked up to where we were standing. He introduced himself as our next door neighbour (not on the vacant lot side, the other side... the people whose lot didn't have road frontage and were sold a tiny corner of our property in order to get frontage many years ago.)
He's got a British accent and is an interesting person... he's a machinist for Lee Valley tools and he does sold machinist work out of his house as well. Him and his wife have been in that house for about 25 years and knew the previous owners of our house... but not well, he said they did keep to themselves a bit. He also does model train stuff.
He had all sorts of info and trivia about our house and his as well... who knows if its all true or not, but it was interesting. He seemed to think that our house was originally a log house, then refaced with brick and most recently with vinyl siding. We're not sure if that's true... but we think maybe when we gut the kitchen we will find out more about that.
Originally, our 6 little acres were part of a 100 acre place....which we figured was likely true. The neighbour was most familiar with the dad of the guy we bought the house from and had a few funny stories to relate about him.
He also confirmed that the previous owner's wife did die of cancer 5 or so years ago, which we had heard from various other sources too.
I asked him who owned the vacant land beside us and he was pretty sure it belonged to the Pakistani people that also ran a store ... I can't remember the store's name now! Maybe it'll come back to me.
He pointed in the general direction of where our house used to be located (closer to the middle of the property) and thought it was moved in 1948... similar time frame to what we'd been told. He also told us of a beautiful custom made gate that hung over by our stone dust pile with an "H" on it.. the first letter of their last name.
He was quite a character and Shawn is absolutely taken by him and is fascinated and would like to adopt him, I think :)
After a while, he had to go, he was meeting a friend that is part of his model train club and was running late.
If I remember the order of events today, I think we came in and had brunch... fried double yolk eggs and bacon and walnut toast (its got walnuts in a "birdseed" type bread... very tasty... from Farm Boy!)
Then it was time to get some work done and we went out and started laying out fence posts again. Shawn put in about 10 of them today... we didn't get to putting up the wire part yet as the next section is kind of a long run and more posts need to be installed before we start that part.
Shawn was tired and I was cold so we came in for a break... I made popcorn in the microwave in the special bowl that Shawn's mom had bought for us and added melted butter to it.. yummy! (According to some study, microwave popcorn that you buy from the store causes some bad thing that I'm also drawing a blank on and kills you... hence we now can have NO DEATH microwave popcorn... and its yummier and doesn't have that gross stink to it!)
We sat around for a while and then I was looking out the window and what did I see?? SNOW! Snow flakes in the air!! No wonder I was so friggen cold.. it was cold enough to SNOW!! It didn't last long and of course didn't stick... but it was creepy.
We then decided that maybe we were tired enough to take a nap... so we did. Just after we woke up, but before we got up, Jess called and I chatted with her for a while. It sounds like she and Kyle had a nice weekend!
Then we got out of bed and decided we'd put up some Halloween stuff. So Antoinette is hanging in the front yard... the grave marker crosses are out... and some of the new head stones we bought this year we put out too. I had got some curtains from Ikea that are like mosquito netting with the idea of using them for Halloween so we hung them from the tree so they kind of billow behind Antoinette when the wind blows. I have some pics, but I probably won't get them posted until at least tomorrow.
We fed the goats and tucked them into their goat house a bit early tonight, given it was so cold... they don't seem to mind and they were very happy to get their grain tonight, as always.
This morning we trimmed their little goat hooves... it wasn't hard and went remarkably well. We did Ernie (the bad goat) first... I haltered him and put twine around his neck (I like to have a backup in case they get out of one of the restraints!) and led him into the little white building that I'm using as a feed room. We left Bert locked up in the shelter, so he wouldn't hurt himself... poor little baby cried the whole time being alone for one of the first times of his life.
I bought a pair of sheep hoof rot shears at TSC a few weeks ago for this purpose... they worked ok, but not great, they require a fair bit of force to operate and my wrist was awful tired by the time I was done... I'm going to try getting tree pruners and see if they work better... I read online about someone using them.
Shawn held his head and offered him his grain pan and we had one side of him up against the stack of hay. I put down those interlocking rubber mat things to kneel on and trimmed up his feet. It went really well and he was pretty well behaved, not that he had much choice with both of us right there.
Goat feet grow weird... not like horse feet, obviously, plus they are cloven hoofed... but its the side walls that grow over the surface of the foot. If you don't trim them often enough, they can get foot rot... in fact, one of Bert's smelled an awful lot like thrush in horse feet, but I trimmed it away, so it should be ok now, until next time.
We took Ernie back and put him in the hut and brought Bert over... it was a decent place to work, out of the wind, but the sun was shining in the window. We're going to install some sort of light in that building for times like this... or like when I have to feed them after dark!! Bert was also very good and inhaled the grain so fast we had to top it up to finish the last foot.
I was really pleased with how it worked out, I wasn't sure if it would be a horrible battle or not, but apparently a pan of grain and some twine around your neck while being sandwiched against hay bales means you can just stand patiently ;)
Their leading is coming along... Ernie must have forgotten to have a temper tantrum today and didn't throw himself to the ground. They still don't walk really willingly or where you want them to... but I did notice less resistance... maybe I can train goats yet?
Tonight, I'm feeling less healthy... my throat is rather sore... I looked at it and its red and raw again... and my left ear is a touch tender. I'm not really coughing much, but I may still consider going back to the doc... I noticed my throat hurt quite a bit while eating bbq'd steak and mashed potatoes for supper tonight.
Sorry about the long winded rambly update... its just who I am :)
We didn't recognize the truck, but watched as an older man with a cane got out and walked up to where we were standing. He introduced himself as our next door neighbour (not on the vacant lot side, the other side... the people whose lot didn't have road frontage and were sold a tiny corner of our property in order to get frontage many years ago.)
He's got a British accent and is an interesting person... he's a machinist for Lee Valley tools and he does sold machinist work out of his house as well. Him and his wife have been in that house for about 25 years and knew the previous owners of our house... but not well, he said they did keep to themselves a bit. He also does model train stuff.
He had all sorts of info and trivia about our house and his as well... who knows if its all true or not, but it was interesting. He seemed to think that our house was originally a log house, then refaced with brick and most recently with vinyl siding. We're not sure if that's true... but we think maybe when we gut the kitchen we will find out more about that.
Originally, our 6 little acres were part of a 100 acre place....which we figured was likely true. The neighbour was most familiar with the dad of the guy we bought the house from and had a few funny stories to relate about him.
He also confirmed that the previous owner's wife did die of cancer 5 or so years ago, which we had heard from various other sources too.
I asked him who owned the vacant land beside us and he was pretty sure it belonged to the Pakistani people that also ran a store ... I can't remember the store's name now! Maybe it'll come back to me.
He pointed in the general direction of where our house used to be located (closer to the middle of the property) and thought it was moved in 1948... similar time frame to what we'd been told. He also told us of a beautiful custom made gate that hung over by our stone dust pile with an "H" on it.. the first letter of their last name.
He was quite a character and Shawn is absolutely taken by him and is fascinated and would like to adopt him, I think :)
After a while, he had to go, he was meeting a friend that is part of his model train club and was running late.
If I remember the order of events today, I think we came in and had brunch... fried double yolk eggs and bacon and walnut toast (its got walnuts in a "birdseed" type bread... very tasty... from Farm Boy!)
Then it was time to get some work done and we went out and started laying out fence posts again. Shawn put in about 10 of them today... we didn't get to putting up the wire part yet as the next section is kind of a long run and more posts need to be installed before we start that part.
Shawn was tired and I was cold so we came in for a break... I made popcorn in the microwave in the special bowl that Shawn's mom had bought for us and added melted butter to it.. yummy! (According to some study, microwave popcorn that you buy from the store causes some bad thing that I'm also drawing a blank on and kills you... hence we now can have NO DEATH microwave popcorn... and its yummier and doesn't have that gross stink to it!)
We sat around for a while and then I was looking out the window and what did I see?? SNOW! Snow flakes in the air!! No wonder I was so friggen cold.. it was cold enough to SNOW!! It didn't last long and of course didn't stick... but it was creepy.
We then decided that maybe we were tired enough to take a nap... so we did. Just after we woke up, but before we got up, Jess called and I chatted with her for a while. It sounds like she and Kyle had a nice weekend!
Then we got out of bed and decided we'd put up some Halloween stuff. So Antoinette is hanging in the front yard... the grave marker crosses are out... and some of the new head stones we bought this year we put out too. I had got some curtains from Ikea that are like mosquito netting with the idea of using them for Halloween so we hung them from the tree so they kind of billow behind Antoinette when the wind blows. I have some pics, but I probably won't get them posted until at least tomorrow.
We fed the goats and tucked them into their goat house a bit early tonight, given it was so cold... they don't seem to mind and they were very happy to get their grain tonight, as always.
This morning we trimmed their little goat hooves... it wasn't hard and went remarkably well. We did Ernie (the bad goat) first... I haltered him and put twine around his neck (I like to have a backup in case they get out of one of the restraints!) and led him into the little white building that I'm using as a feed room. We left Bert locked up in the shelter, so he wouldn't hurt himself... poor little baby cried the whole time being alone for one of the first times of his life.
I bought a pair of sheep hoof rot shears at TSC a few weeks ago for this purpose... they worked ok, but not great, they require a fair bit of force to operate and my wrist was awful tired by the time I was done... I'm going to try getting tree pruners and see if they work better... I read online about someone using them.
Shawn held his head and offered him his grain pan and we had one side of him up against the stack of hay. I put down those interlocking rubber mat things to kneel on and trimmed up his feet. It went really well and he was pretty well behaved, not that he had much choice with both of us right there.
Goat feet grow weird... not like horse feet, obviously, plus they are cloven hoofed... but its the side walls that grow over the surface of the foot. If you don't trim them often enough, they can get foot rot... in fact, one of Bert's smelled an awful lot like thrush in horse feet, but I trimmed it away, so it should be ok now, until next time.
We took Ernie back and put him in the hut and brought Bert over... it was a decent place to work, out of the wind, but the sun was shining in the window. We're going to install some sort of light in that building for times like this... or like when I have to feed them after dark!! Bert was also very good and inhaled the grain so fast we had to top it up to finish the last foot.
I was really pleased with how it worked out, I wasn't sure if it would be a horrible battle or not, but apparently a pan of grain and some twine around your neck while being sandwiched against hay bales means you can just stand patiently ;)
Their leading is coming along... Ernie must have forgotten to have a temper tantrum today and didn't throw himself to the ground. They still don't walk really willingly or where you want them to... but I did notice less resistance... maybe I can train goats yet?
Tonight, I'm feeling less healthy... my throat is rather sore... I looked at it and its red and raw again... and my left ear is a touch tender. I'm not really coughing much, but I may still consider going back to the doc... I noticed my throat hurt quite a bit while eating bbq'd steak and mashed potatoes for supper tonight.
Sorry about the long winded rambly update... its just who I am :)
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Finally! The Fencing Has Begun!
In spite of the crappy weather today... (on and off rain and just general dreariness, but not freezing cold, luckily!) we started putting up fences.
We got the short length done on the north - ish side of the house between the house and the existing fence line. Its about 60 feet long. It's only to contain the dogs and keep them off the road... we're starting with that so we can get the hang of putting up the fence. Its not perfect and we're not using a fence stretcher since we're only using t bars, but so far it looks good. That length is done.
We also started putting in t bars along the back, behind the septic up to the existing fence next to the vacant lot... that's also only for dogs and we got all the t bars in for that, other than the corner one, which we still have to finalize how we're going to make it work. (We have ideas, we just don't know if they'll work well until we start actually doing it!)
We also got the goat hut cleaned out and dumped back in the manure pile / compost area so they are good to go again for another week. (I clean out what I can daily and fluff the straw so all the poops I can't get (raisin poops) fall to the bottom and then it gets cleaned out right to the ground and raked once a week.
I'm using about a bale of straw a week... and I could use less... but I don't want them to get damp from underneath or anything so its pretty deep. I finally finished the first bale of hay, it lasted a week and a half... that should change as they grow.
We also gave them their dose of oral dewormer that will kill tapeworms today... they get that once a month for 4 months. Poor Bert wore some of his dewormer because he flicked the end of the syringe with his tongue and sent some flying. I think he got most of it though. Surprisingly, Ernie wasn't too bad to do... I'm sure he'll have some plan in place by next month!
We're tired for the day.. mostly Shawn... he did all the post pounding... I tried once... but apparently that motion hurts my shoulder / collarbone, so I stopped. I'm not feeling any sicker than yesterday, but still not 100%... maybe I'll recover on my own yet? Hard to say.
I'm hoping to get better right away though... on November 1st there's a flu shot clinic in Carp that I would like to take advantage of. So I'm hoping we'll both be healthy enough to get that done.
Most of the leaves are now gone, after today's rain and wind. Its definitely starting to look like winter trees around here... kinda freaks me out!!
Anyhow, enough for now, its 5pm and I'm gonna go bbq some meat for dinner... I have both steak and lamb chops... haven't decided which yet!
We got the short length done on the north - ish side of the house between the house and the existing fence line. Its about 60 feet long. It's only to contain the dogs and keep them off the road... we're starting with that so we can get the hang of putting up the fence. Its not perfect and we're not using a fence stretcher since we're only using t bars, but so far it looks good. That length is done.
We also started putting in t bars along the back, behind the septic up to the existing fence next to the vacant lot... that's also only for dogs and we got all the t bars in for that, other than the corner one, which we still have to finalize how we're going to make it work. (We have ideas, we just don't know if they'll work well until we start actually doing it!)
We also got the goat hut cleaned out and dumped back in the manure pile / compost area so they are good to go again for another week. (I clean out what I can daily and fluff the straw so all the poops I can't get (raisin poops) fall to the bottom and then it gets cleaned out right to the ground and raked once a week.
I'm using about a bale of straw a week... and I could use less... but I don't want them to get damp from underneath or anything so its pretty deep. I finally finished the first bale of hay, it lasted a week and a half... that should change as they grow.
We also gave them their dose of oral dewormer that will kill tapeworms today... they get that once a month for 4 months. Poor Bert wore some of his dewormer because he flicked the end of the syringe with his tongue and sent some flying. I think he got most of it though. Surprisingly, Ernie wasn't too bad to do... I'm sure he'll have some plan in place by next month!
We're tired for the day.. mostly Shawn... he did all the post pounding... I tried once... but apparently that motion hurts my shoulder / collarbone, so I stopped. I'm not feeling any sicker than yesterday, but still not 100%... maybe I'll recover on my own yet? Hard to say.
I'm hoping to get better right away though... on November 1st there's a flu shot clinic in Carp that I would like to take advantage of. So I'm hoping we'll both be healthy enough to get that done.
Most of the leaves are now gone, after today's rain and wind. Its definitely starting to look like winter trees around here... kinda freaks me out!!
Anyhow, enough for now, its 5pm and I'm gonna go bbq some meat for dinner... I have both steak and lamb chops... haven't decided which yet!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Busy Week!
T'was a busy week around here...
The goat vet came Wednesday afternoon... gave the boys a rabies shot, an 8 way shot that includes tetanus and a shot of ivomec dewormer. I had noticed they had tape worms, so I mentioned it to her and she hadn't brought a dewormer that would kill tapes, so we arranged that I would go to the clinic in Pakenham and pick it up. (I did that yesterday afternoon).
Because of mass parasite die off issues, we wouldn't have given them both dewormers that day anyhow, so this weekend I'll give them their first dose and then once a month for 4 months and they should be clear after that.
Really liked the vet... she was friendly, competent and efficient and was a wealth of goat information. Talked to her about dehorning the boys and after we thought about it we decided that if it wasn't too expensive, we'd go ahead and do it... they really should've been disbudded when they were like a week old, but the person we got them from doesn't believe in that... she believes they need their horns for defense purposes.
Dehorning them now is a bigger deal... the process is pretty much the same as when we used to dehorn calves years ago... (I bet there's one or two of you reading this that can now smell THAT smell, right??) and is more dangerous to the animal as time goes on. So while I was at the clinic yesterday, I asked about cost... it'll cost approximately $50 each... which seems really cheap to me... so I set up an appointment for November 5th.
The vet prefers to do them at the clinic, in case they run into problems (uncontrollable bleeding, etc) so we'll take them up there in the morning, drop them off and pick 'em up at the end of the day. She also sedates them a bit and gives them painkillers as it IS quite painful... (those of you that were smelling THAT smell are also likely hearing the calf screams in your ears now???)
I'm happy with this idea... I'd rather not have to be responsible for holding the little buggers down and still... they are little, but they are strong enough and definitely quick enough that it could go very badly... being so small is almost worse than 400 lb calves because if you use too much body weight to subdue them, you'll crush 'em!
Dehorning them means they'll be safer to be around... no more worrying about getting a horn in the eye... they wont be able to be destructive to buildings or fencing as they grow and it wont hurt if they learn to butt... they also wont be able to cause any damage to any other livestock we might acquire over time. Mostly, I can't think of any good reason to keep them. And by doing it now and at the clinic, we'll be able to minimize the risk to them as well.
I imagine they could easily cost you more than $100 over their life time in damages to stuff, people and other stock... seems like a good investment really :) Plus putting them back in Pixie's crate and driving them 30 - 40 minutes away in the mini van first thing in the morning, just sounds like a blast to me... haha!
For their 3 shots, I just picked them up and held them tight and reminded the vet that *I* did not need a rabies shot... or deworming ;) She was quick and the boys struggled, but nothing I couldn't handle... though I bet next time they need shots I won't be picking them up to do it!!
The goats are doing well... Ernie is a wild man... he jumps and bites (which technically shouldn't hurt as they don't have top teeth at the front) but he is very quick about getting your fingers to the back of his mouth and chomping down... even the vet was... surprised! We refer to Ernie as the "bad goat"... he's also the one that while trying to halter break him will have a temper tantrum and throw himself onto the ground in protest. Our little ADD /ADHD goat!
Often all you hear when I'm trying to work with the goats or clean up is "ERNIE...NO!! BAD GOAT!!" In spite of all this, he's still cute and I'm really hoping he'll outgrow some of this stuff. The joke HAS been made in his presence about tasty he looks ;)
Bert is a lot more even tempered... he jumps up, but not like a wild man.... he mouths you, but it doesn't hurt.... he doesn't like the halter on him, but he reluctantly follows. He doesn't mob you when you're giving out little treats of sunmaid raisins (they LOVE them!).
It's funny how different they are from each other... they definitely have their own unique personalities!! (the little buggers!)
Anyhow, my big job today is having a nap and catching up on lost sleep. I'm not feeling as well as I was last weekend... I'm a bit sick again... I think it wasn't enough days of antibiotics to get rid of the bronchitis... only 5 days of zithromax. Shawn's not 100% either, but I think he'll be able to fight off the last bit on his own, with his super human immune system. I'm hoping I will too, especially if I catch up on sleep... but I'm suspicious I may need another doc visit to get 'er done!
That's it for now!!
The goat vet came Wednesday afternoon... gave the boys a rabies shot, an 8 way shot that includes tetanus and a shot of ivomec dewormer. I had noticed they had tape worms, so I mentioned it to her and she hadn't brought a dewormer that would kill tapes, so we arranged that I would go to the clinic in Pakenham and pick it up. (I did that yesterday afternoon).
Because of mass parasite die off issues, we wouldn't have given them both dewormers that day anyhow, so this weekend I'll give them their first dose and then once a month for 4 months and they should be clear after that.
Really liked the vet... she was friendly, competent and efficient and was a wealth of goat information. Talked to her about dehorning the boys and after we thought about it we decided that if it wasn't too expensive, we'd go ahead and do it... they really should've been disbudded when they were like a week old, but the person we got them from doesn't believe in that... she believes they need their horns for defense purposes.
Dehorning them now is a bigger deal... the process is pretty much the same as when we used to dehorn calves years ago... (I bet there's one or two of you reading this that can now smell THAT smell, right??) and is more dangerous to the animal as time goes on. So while I was at the clinic yesterday, I asked about cost... it'll cost approximately $50 each... which seems really cheap to me... so I set up an appointment for November 5th.
The vet prefers to do them at the clinic, in case they run into problems (uncontrollable bleeding, etc) so we'll take them up there in the morning, drop them off and pick 'em up at the end of the day. She also sedates them a bit and gives them painkillers as it IS quite painful... (those of you that were smelling THAT smell are also likely hearing the calf screams in your ears now???)
I'm happy with this idea... I'd rather not have to be responsible for holding the little buggers down and still... they are little, but they are strong enough and definitely quick enough that it could go very badly... being so small is almost worse than 400 lb calves because if you use too much body weight to subdue them, you'll crush 'em!
Dehorning them means they'll be safer to be around... no more worrying about getting a horn in the eye... they wont be able to be destructive to buildings or fencing as they grow and it wont hurt if they learn to butt... they also wont be able to cause any damage to any other livestock we might acquire over time. Mostly, I can't think of any good reason to keep them. And by doing it now and at the clinic, we'll be able to minimize the risk to them as well.
I imagine they could easily cost you more than $100 over their life time in damages to stuff, people and other stock... seems like a good investment really :) Plus putting them back in Pixie's crate and driving them 30 - 40 minutes away in the mini van first thing in the morning, just sounds like a blast to me... haha!
For their 3 shots, I just picked them up and held them tight and reminded the vet that *I* did not need a rabies shot... or deworming ;) She was quick and the boys struggled, but nothing I couldn't handle... though I bet next time they need shots I won't be picking them up to do it!!
The goats are doing well... Ernie is a wild man... he jumps and bites (which technically shouldn't hurt as they don't have top teeth at the front) but he is very quick about getting your fingers to the back of his mouth and chomping down... even the vet was... surprised! We refer to Ernie as the "bad goat"... he's also the one that while trying to halter break him will have a temper tantrum and throw himself onto the ground in protest. Our little ADD /ADHD goat!
Often all you hear when I'm trying to work with the goats or clean up is "ERNIE...NO!! BAD GOAT!!" In spite of all this, he's still cute and I'm really hoping he'll outgrow some of this stuff. The joke HAS been made in his presence about tasty he looks ;)
Bert is a lot more even tempered... he jumps up, but not like a wild man.... he mouths you, but it doesn't hurt.... he doesn't like the halter on him, but he reluctantly follows. He doesn't mob you when you're giving out little treats of sunmaid raisins (they LOVE them!).
It's funny how different they are from each other... they definitely have their own unique personalities!! (the little buggers!)
Anyhow, my big job today is having a nap and catching up on lost sleep. I'm not feeling as well as I was last weekend... I'm a bit sick again... I think it wasn't enough days of antibiotics to get rid of the bronchitis... only 5 days of zithromax. Shawn's not 100% either, but I think he'll be able to fight off the last bit on his own, with his super human immune system. I'm hoping I will too, especially if I catch up on sleep... but I'm suspicious I may need another doc visit to get 'er done!
That's it for now!!
Monday, October 22, 2007
In This Week's Police Report...
I received my weekly police report today, always good reading :)
There was a shocking thing though... there's a section that reports deer/vehicle collisions and in that section this week, it added a BEAR/vehicle accident! At 11pm one night in the last week a BEAR was struck by a car not more than 10 minutes from our house. In order for this report to have been marked "confirmed", the bear must have either been killed or severely injured and unable to leave the scene.
I've heard people say there are bears in the area, but who knew they were living like just up the road!!
It kinda creeps me out... we're OFTEN outside around 11pm with the dogs. Seems unlikely that a bear would bother with goats, but I can imagine us popping outside with 2 alert and noisy dogs might cause an issue!! Guess I'll be looking around carefully when I go outside at night now!
***************
Moving on... we didn't get any fencing started this weekend, AGAIN... there were just too many other things that had to get done... then we were out of time and especially ENERGY!! By the time we went to bed last night, we were exhausted.
Its warm here again today... almost a bit unpleasant... not really used to this kind of warmth... but I'm not complaining...it just sounds that way :) Starting tonight its supposed to cloud up and the rain will start and then for the rest of the week will be cooler... more seasonal.
That's about it for now.
There was a shocking thing though... there's a section that reports deer/vehicle collisions and in that section this week, it added a BEAR/vehicle accident! At 11pm one night in the last week a BEAR was struck by a car not more than 10 minutes from our house. In order for this report to have been marked "confirmed", the bear must have either been killed or severely injured and unable to leave the scene.
I've heard people say there are bears in the area, but who knew they were living like just up the road!!
It kinda creeps me out... we're OFTEN outside around 11pm with the dogs. Seems unlikely that a bear would bother with goats, but I can imagine us popping outside with 2 alert and noisy dogs might cause an issue!! Guess I'll be looking around carefully when I go outside at night now!
***************
Moving on... we didn't get any fencing started this weekend, AGAIN... there were just too many other things that had to get done... then we were out of time and especially ENERGY!! By the time we went to bed last night, we were exhausted.
Its warm here again today... almost a bit unpleasant... not really used to this kind of warmth... but I'm not complaining...it just sounds that way :) Starting tonight its supposed to cloud up and the rain will start and then for the rest of the week will be cooler... more seasonal.
That's about it for now.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Quick Update... We're NOT Dying :)
Or at least not from bronchitis ... cause really you never know what's in store for you from minute to minute.
We actually had enough strength to get a few things done yesterday... cleaned the goat hut... put up markers where the fencing will go... that sort of thing.
Today, we have some more stuff to do... a trip to home depot (of course!) and a few other things I hope to get done.
We'd like to start on the fencing, but I don't think there will be enough time or energy to do that today... we'll see.
The weather here is gorgeous today... so we're off to go try to enjoy it as much as possible... goodness only knows how long it'll last!!
We actually had enough strength to get a few things done yesterday... cleaned the goat hut... put up markers where the fencing will go... that sort of thing.
Today, we have some more stuff to do... a trip to home depot (of course!) and a few other things I hope to get done.
We'd like to start on the fencing, but I don't think there will be enough time or energy to do that today... we'll see.
The weather here is gorgeous today... so we're off to go try to enjoy it as much as possible... goodness only knows how long it'll last!!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Still Alive
Sorry there haven't been any updates this week.... we've been sick and I've been just getting done the bare minimum things, like getting everyone fed and cleaned up. Tuesday, Shawn took off work... we were both really sick and had had a bad night Monday night... we were both coughing like maniacs all night and ended up eating cup a soup on the couch around 3am in an effort to calm down the coughing.
So Tuesday, when he was off, we made the trip into the walk in clinic in Kanata. Its a very different experience from the urgent care clinics in Kitchener... much less busy... much quieter... they play a movie in the waiting room that you can actually hear... and you don't acquire many more gray hairs while waiting to see the doc.
We arrived at the clinic at 9:30am and then we were all done filling our prescriptions and ready to head home at 11:30am (plus we had to drive to the drug store in there, as they don't have one onsite at the clinic)... so not too bad at all. The doc said we both had bronchitis, gave us zithromax and a puffer for me (which i didn't fill, I left in on file at hte drugstore in case I decide I need it, which I don't think I do.)
We spent most of Tuesday afternoon sleeping and felt some better that evening. Shawn went back to work on Wednesday and is there today. Neither of us feel great yet... but better than Tuesday... still, I would've thought I'd feel quite a bit better by now... my throat still hurts... and my ears too.
The goat babies are doing fine and are settling in... the crazed "scream like you're being murdered" has subsided and mostly only happens at feeding time now.... or for a few minutes after I leave them to go in the house. They are eating well... pooping well... all the main things. They are very friendly and interested in everything you do.. so much so that I'm attempting to train them to not jump on me constantly and not to mouth me the whole time I'm in the goat nursery!
They would be far more entertaining if I didn't feel like death this week... walking out there a couple times a day to check on them, feed them and hang out with them is about all I can manage... its too bad we had to be so sick for their first week here... oh well.
As soon as Shawn and I can walk more than 50 feet without being exhausted, we'll start trying to teach them to lead. I bought dog collars and leashes for them... I had lead ropes, but they all have huge heavy clips on them that I thought were just a bit overkill. The collars need more holes punched and burned into the nylon before they will fit... again, once we have enough energy, we'll do that.
They did entertain me from the bedroom window for a while yesterday... they were running and chasing each other around and around the nursery pen, jumping obstacles, etc. Quite amusing to watch.
It's kinda weird to have such small livestock... I'm used to horses, drafts at that... and more distantly, cattle. The goats eat and drink almost nothing in comparison. A handful of hay (like a 1/3 of a flake) that would be a quick snack for a draft horse, feeds the both of them for about 1/2 a day. I'm not even feeding ONE full flake of hay per day!! And there's waste... they don't even clean that all up!!
I have an 8 quart bucket... smaller than those plastic flat back buckets that I have for horses and they drink *maybe* a 1/3 of a bucket a day... between TWO of them! For a draft horse, they would drink between 3 and 4 larger buckets of water a day!
They do eat a fair bit of grain, probably more than they should, but I'm not positive yet... I have 2 rubber grain pans, that hold about 2 quarts each... total per day they are getting about 4 quarts of grain, shared between the two of them... so about 2 quarts each per day, spread out in two feedings. (I'm sure I made that more complicated than need be!)
I would like to see them eat more hay and less grain, but that'll have to happen gradually and I'm working towards that. They also nibble the grass in their pen, but they are not grazers like cattle... they are browsers, more like deer. In fact, they are very much like deer. They would rather eat bark and your bushes in your garden than the grass. They love the dead leaves they find on the ground.
A couple people have asked if I'm enjoying them... and the answer to that is complicated by the fact that I've been so sick this week. I think I'd be enjoying them better if I wasn't sick and having a hard time mustering the energy to walk out there, never mind feed, water and clean up after them.
Hopefully, I'll be better by next week and will be able to give a more positive answer! :)
Anyhow, that's about it for now... time to go rest again.
So Tuesday, when he was off, we made the trip into the walk in clinic in Kanata. Its a very different experience from the urgent care clinics in Kitchener... much less busy... much quieter... they play a movie in the waiting room that you can actually hear... and you don't acquire many more gray hairs while waiting to see the doc.
We arrived at the clinic at 9:30am and then we were all done filling our prescriptions and ready to head home at 11:30am (plus we had to drive to the drug store in there, as they don't have one onsite at the clinic)... so not too bad at all. The doc said we both had bronchitis, gave us zithromax and a puffer for me (which i didn't fill, I left in on file at hte drugstore in case I decide I need it, which I don't think I do.)
We spent most of Tuesday afternoon sleeping and felt some better that evening. Shawn went back to work on Wednesday and is there today. Neither of us feel great yet... but better than Tuesday... still, I would've thought I'd feel quite a bit better by now... my throat still hurts... and my ears too.
The goat babies are doing fine and are settling in... the crazed "scream like you're being murdered" has subsided and mostly only happens at feeding time now.... or for a few minutes after I leave them to go in the house. They are eating well... pooping well... all the main things. They are very friendly and interested in everything you do.. so much so that I'm attempting to train them to not jump on me constantly and not to mouth me the whole time I'm in the goat nursery!
They would be far more entertaining if I didn't feel like death this week... walking out there a couple times a day to check on them, feed them and hang out with them is about all I can manage... its too bad we had to be so sick for their first week here... oh well.
As soon as Shawn and I can walk more than 50 feet without being exhausted, we'll start trying to teach them to lead. I bought dog collars and leashes for them... I had lead ropes, but they all have huge heavy clips on them that I thought were just a bit overkill. The collars need more holes punched and burned into the nylon before they will fit... again, once we have enough energy, we'll do that.
They did entertain me from the bedroom window for a while yesterday... they were running and chasing each other around and around the nursery pen, jumping obstacles, etc. Quite amusing to watch.
It's kinda weird to have such small livestock... I'm used to horses, drafts at that... and more distantly, cattle. The goats eat and drink almost nothing in comparison. A handful of hay (like a 1/3 of a flake) that would be a quick snack for a draft horse, feeds the both of them for about 1/2 a day. I'm not even feeding ONE full flake of hay per day!! And there's waste... they don't even clean that all up!!
I have an 8 quart bucket... smaller than those plastic flat back buckets that I have for horses and they drink *maybe* a 1/3 of a bucket a day... between TWO of them! For a draft horse, they would drink between 3 and 4 larger buckets of water a day!
They do eat a fair bit of grain, probably more than they should, but I'm not positive yet... I have 2 rubber grain pans, that hold about 2 quarts each... total per day they are getting about 4 quarts of grain, shared between the two of them... so about 2 quarts each per day, spread out in two feedings. (I'm sure I made that more complicated than need be!)
I would like to see them eat more hay and less grain, but that'll have to happen gradually and I'm working towards that. They also nibble the grass in their pen, but they are not grazers like cattle... they are browsers, more like deer. In fact, they are very much like deer. They would rather eat bark and your bushes in your garden than the grass. They love the dead leaves they find on the ground.
A couple people have asked if I'm enjoying them... and the answer to that is complicated by the fact that I've been so sick this week. I think I'd be enjoying them better if I wasn't sick and having a hard time mustering the energy to walk out there, never mind feed, water and clean up after them.
Hopefully, I'll be better by next week and will be able to give a more positive answer! :)
Anyhow, that's about it for now... time to go rest again.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
They Are Home!
We picked up the goat babies this morning... all went well... we brought them home in the back of the van inside Pixie's dog crate. They both fit in there just fine. I put a thick layer of straw down and they were quiet and laid down almost the whole time we were in the car! They were so good in the car that we actually stopped and went through the McDonalds drive thru to get lunch on the way by! Bet not many goats can say they've done that! :)
They liked the dog crate so well it was actually a challenge to get them out... we ended up having to carry the dog box through the gate and took the top off... and then still had to kinda force them out. We washed out the dog box (it had goat poop and pee in it!) and now its back up where it belongs and Pixie is relieved.
We hung out with the goats for a while when we got home. First I sat in the shelter with hay in my lap while they gobbled it up. Then after my legs fell asleep, I finally got up and we sat in chairs for a while. At first, they didn't want to have much to do with us... but then their curiosity got the best of them and they came over to be scratched and petted.
Bert (the brown and white one, who is the bigger and bolder of the two) actually leapt up onto Shawn's lap to explore him... apparently according to a "goat lady" on the internet, that's quite a goat compliment.
We worked out how to temporarily fasten a gate to their shelter so they can be locked up at night... I figure its maybe safer for them to be in their shelter than wandering around the dog kennel / goat nursery at night... at least in the beginning.
While we were working on fastening the gate, they were being very "helpful" and interested in what we were doing. They jump up and put their front feet on you to get a better look.
Every time we left the goat nursery, they would stand at the fence and call for us to come back.... mostly it was Ernie... he's the mostly brown one and he's very talkative... he even grunts while eating. He got quite demanding and pitiful... almost screaming at us and demanding our return... but we've been in the house now for about an hour and that's died down finally.
We took the dogs out once and over in that direction and nothing horrible happened, but the goats are terrified of the dogs and the dogs are WAY too interested in the goats. I imagine that will improve slightly, but we'll never be able to trust them together... instinct is hard to fight.. for both of them.
I keep looking out the window like every 2 minutes to see if they are ok... and they seem to be. My guy hay brought hay and straw yesterday, 20 hay and 10 straw and there's plenty of room to store it in the little white building. (We cleaned it all out first!) I could probably store 50 - 60 bales total in there, if I needed to. The hay he brought is gorgeous... horse hay really.... lovely green, sweet smelling 2nd cut... and they goats think its awesome! Really too good for goats! *shrug*
We built their shelter yesterday, from start to mostly finish (minus painting). We ended up building it in two pieces... each are 4 feet wide, 4 feet long and 4 feet tall. They then push together to make a 4 ft x 8 ft hut with a door cut into one of the long sides. I have pics that I will post later. It turned out well... and we're very glad we made it in 2 pieces, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to move it when we were done.
Yesterday was cold and rainy all day (off and on) and windy and we built the shelter under the tarped building, which worked out well. Once the 2 pieces were built, we then just rolled them to where we wanted them... didn't even have to carry them which was nice. We were both feeling sick yesterday and hanging out building in the cold, the wind and rain didn't leave us a lot of strength to carry heavy stuff by the end... we were really dragging.
We also got the dog kennel / goat nursery moved last night, but not reassembled. It was getting dark and we were DONE... so we did the assembly this morning... only took about 20 minutes.
We also went to look at a donkey yesterday... and it was a nice enough donkey... but for lack of a better way to describe it, it wasn't OUR donkey. So we'll keep looking... no big rush. I'll know our donkey when I see it.
I've got some pics to upload and they should be up in the Four Horse Haven album by later this evening... tomorrow morning at the latest.
They liked the dog crate so well it was actually a challenge to get them out... we ended up having to carry the dog box through the gate and took the top off... and then still had to kinda force them out. We washed out the dog box (it had goat poop and pee in it!) and now its back up where it belongs and Pixie is relieved.
We hung out with the goats for a while when we got home. First I sat in the shelter with hay in my lap while they gobbled it up. Then after my legs fell asleep, I finally got up and we sat in chairs for a while. At first, they didn't want to have much to do with us... but then their curiosity got the best of them and they came over to be scratched and petted.
Bert (the brown and white one, who is the bigger and bolder of the two) actually leapt up onto Shawn's lap to explore him... apparently according to a "goat lady" on the internet, that's quite a goat compliment.
We worked out how to temporarily fasten a gate to their shelter so they can be locked up at night... I figure its maybe safer for them to be in their shelter than wandering around the dog kennel / goat nursery at night... at least in the beginning.
While we were working on fastening the gate, they were being very "helpful" and interested in what we were doing. They jump up and put their front feet on you to get a better look.
Every time we left the goat nursery, they would stand at the fence and call for us to come back.... mostly it was Ernie... he's the mostly brown one and he's very talkative... he even grunts while eating. He got quite demanding and pitiful... almost screaming at us and demanding our return... but we've been in the house now for about an hour and that's died down finally.
We took the dogs out once and over in that direction and nothing horrible happened, but the goats are terrified of the dogs and the dogs are WAY too interested in the goats. I imagine that will improve slightly, but we'll never be able to trust them together... instinct is hard to fight.. for both of them.
I keep looking out the window like every 2 minutes to see if they are ok... and they seem to be. My guy hay brought hay and straw yesterday, 20 hay and 10 straw and there's plenty of room to store it in the little white building. (We cleaned it all out first!) I could probably store 50 - 60 bales total in there, if I needed to. The hay he brought is gorgeous... horse hay really.... lovely green, sweet smelling 2nd cut... and they goats think its awesome! Really too good for goats! *shrug*
We built their shelter yesterday, from start to mostly finish (minus painting). We ended up building it in two pieces... each are 4 feet wide, 4 feet long and 4 feet tall. They then push together to make a 4 ft x 8 ft hut with a door cut into one of the long sides. I have pics that I will post later. It turned out well... and we're very glad we made it in 2 pieces, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to move it when we were done.
Yesterday was cold and rainy all day (off and on) and windy and we built the shelter under the tarped building, which worked out well. Once the 2 pieces were built, we then just rolled them to where we wanted them... didn't even have to carry them which was nice. We were both feeling sick yesterday and hanging out building in the cold, the wind and rain didn't leave us a lot of strength to carry heavy stuff by the end... we were really dragging.
We also got the dog kennel / goat nursery moved last night, but not reassembled. It was getting dark and we were DONE... so we did the assembly this morning... only took about 20 minutes.
We also went to look at a donkey yesterday... and it was a nice enough donkey... but for lack of a better way to describe it, it wasn't OUR donkey. So we'll keep looking... no big rush. I'll know our donkey when I see it.
I've got some pics to upload and they should be up in the Four Horse Haven album by later this evening... tomorrow morning at the latest.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Still Sick, But Got Lots Done
Just wanted to start this post with a big Happy Birthday to Kyle! Hope its been a great day!
Shawn and I are still sick... I feel slightly better than I did yesterday, but still crummy.
In spite of that, I still got lots done today... I read the TSC flyer first thing this morning and this week they have steel t bar posts on sale! So off to Arnprior to pick up 30 t bars. (Clearly, that won't be enough, but its a start and they were plenty heavy given the way I felt. Guess what is on MY Christmas list this year!!)
While at TSC, I also bought two little goat sized black rubber feed pans and a small black rubber water bucket. I have larger of both those things, but they are really draft horse sized.... a goat could sleep in the rubber feed pan I have. My bigger water buckets will become more useful as they grow, but for now, they can have something reasonably sized that they should be able to reach.
Then I went to the feed store in Kinburn and inquired about hay and straw.... they don't sell it, but one of their employees does.... so I made arrangements for him to bring me 20 bales of hay and 10 bales of straw tomorrow evening. He happened to have 4 bales of hay with him on his truck, so I got to see it... its beautiful 2nd cut.... really more appropriate for horses than goats, but it was handy and easy to arrange. I may look elsewhere for more in the future as this is a bit pricey also... though, really, how much hay are the little buggers gonna be eating for a while anyhow? I'll be surprised if I use more than a bale a week in the beginning.
Last night we picked up all the wood we need to make a shelter... we will work on that tomorrow... we would've started tonight, but we both felt crappy and we only have about an hour before dark now, which SUCKS! Plus, we had to clean out the white building where the lawn mower used to live, as that will temporarily be my hay and straw storage area. It's cleaned up now and will do temporarily... I hope it'll hold 30 bales. Nothing like not really being prepared to bring the animals home, eh? (We really didn't expect to pick them up so soon... we figured near the end of the month... but the seller seems to be getting antsy to have them gone.)
So tomorrow, we have to move the chainlink dog fence, as the goats are going to stay in that temporarily, til the rest of the fencing goes up and they have someone to look out for them. Chainlink will be harder for predators to get through... at least that's my hope. Then we'll slap the shelter together and put it inside the chainlink area. I'm going to add a gate to the opening of the shelter and then the goats can be locked up in there at night also. That's the plan, anyhow, who knows how it'll actually work??
They just seem so little to be fending for themselves and they are used to having mom's protection as well as llamas and sheep in the same area. I keep thinking that I should bring 'em in the house and put them in dog crates overnight ;) Maybe when it gets really cold. haha
Anyhow, that's it for now... time to rest so tomorrow we can finish up our goat prep. Oh and we're going to see about a donkey tomorrow afternoon... I almost forgot!!
Oh and we put on the furnace tonight... it was 61 F in the house and there might be frost tonight... it was getting awful chilly. It seems to work, but I wouldn't say its a real workhorse... similar to the air conditioning (not surprisingly) the heat trickles out... but its better than NO heat... we've lived THAT before!!!
Shawn and I are still sick... I feel slightly better than I did yesterday, but still crummy.
In spite of that, I still got lots done today... I read the TSC flyer first thing this morning and this week they have steel t bar posts on sale! So off to Arnprior to pick up 30 t bars. (Clearly, that won't be enough, but its a start and they were plenty heavy given the way I felt. Guess what is on MY Christmas list this year!!)
While at TSC, I also bought two little goat sized black rubber feed pans and a small black rubber water bucket. I have larger of both those things, but they are really draft horse sized.... a goat could sleep in the rubber feed pan I have. My bigger water buckets will become more useful as they grow, but for now, they can have something reasonably sized that they should be able to reach.
Then I went to the feed store in Kinburn and inquired about hay and straw.... they don't sell it, but one of their employees does.... so I made arrangements for him to bring me 20 bales of hay and 10 bales of straw tomorrow evening. He happened to have 4 bales of hay with him on his truck, so I got to see it... its beautiful 2nd cut.... really more appropriate for horses than goats, but it was handy and easy to arrange. I may look elsewhere for more in the future as this is a bit pricey also... though, really, how much hay are the little buggers gonna be eating for a while anyhow? I'll be surprised if I use more than a bale a week in the beginning.
Last night we picked up all the wood we need to make a shelter... we will work on that tomorrow... we would've started tonight, but we both felt crappy and we only have about an hour before dark now, which SUCKS! Plus, we had to clean out the white building where the lawn mower used to live, as that will temporarily be my hay and straw storage area. It's cleaned up now and will do temporarily... I hope it'll hold 30 bales. Nothing like not really being prepared to bring the animals home, eh? (We really didn't expect to pick them up so soon... we figured near the end of the month... but the seller seems to be getting antsy to have them gone.)
So tomorrow, we have to move the chainlink dog fence, as the goats are going to stay in that temporarily, til the rest of the fencing goes up and they have someone to look out for them. Chainlink will be harder for predators to get through... at least that's my hope. Then we'll slap the shelter together and put it inside the chainlink area. I'm going to add a gate to the opening of the shelter and then the goats can be locked up in there at night also. That's the plan, anyhow, who knows how it'll actually work??
They just seem so little to be fending for themselves and they are used to having mom's protection as well as llamas and sheep in the same area. I keep thinking that I should bring 'em in the house and put them in dog crates overnight ;) Maybe when it gets really cold. haha
Anyhow, that's it for now... time to rest so tomorrow we can finish up our goat prep. Oh and we're going to see about a donkey tomorrow afternoon... I almost forgot!!
Oh and we put on the furnace tonight... it was 61 F in the house and there might be frost tonight... it was getting awful chilly. It seems to work, but I wouldn't say its a real workhorse... similar to the air conditioning (not surprisingly) the heat trickles out... but its better than NO heat... we've lived THAT before!!!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Surprised, Shocked & A Bit Horrified
I forgot to mention the Ontario election results.... I am personally rather surprised, shocked and a bit horrified to find out that the majority of the people living in Ontario that chose to vote, think Dalton McGuinty is doing a good enough job to have another majority government.
I am pleased to see the referendum results though, that people voted against the new MMP system... or maybe they actually voted for the current system... either way, I'm glad the new MMP system won't be happening. On the surface, it seemed to have many pros... but after reading and thinking about it more, there were a bunch of things that seemed kinda creepy to me. Or at least had big potential to be creepy.
Obviously, we voted last night... was a bit of an adventure, being as we weren't on the voter's list in this district. I had attempted to fix that by calling Elections Ontario weeks ago, but they told me it was easier to do it on voting day... yeah easier for that person on the phone right then!!
Not surprising in our riding, the conservative candidate was re elected.... after reading the interviews with each candidate in the local paper, he seemed to be the lesser of the evils... who knows though? I know the liberal candidate in this riding really creeped me out... young, female lawyer with ideas that mostly seemed to benefit the urban dwellers in the riding.... don't people know that Canadian politicians HAVE to be old guys that look like they are about to die??? Its a Canadian tradition ;)
Oh well... it never seems to matter who you vote for... in the end, they are all creepy and do bad things... lie, cheat, steal... another Canadian political tradition!
I am pleased to see the referendum results though, that people voted against the new MMP system... or maybe they actually voted for the current system... either way, I'm glad the new MMP system won't be happening. On the surface, it seemed to have many pros... but after reading and thinking about it more, there were a bunch of things that seemed kinda creepy to me. Or at least had big potential to be creepy.
Obviously, we voted last night... was a bit of an adventure, being as we weren't on the voter's list in this district. I had attempted to fix that by calling Elections Ontario weeks ago, but they told me it was easier to do it on voting day... yeah easier for that person on the phone right then!!
Not surprising in our riding, the conservative candidate was re elected.... after reading the interviews with each candidate in the local paper, he seemed to be the lesser of the evils... who knows though? I know the liberal candidate in this riding really creeped me out... young, female lawyer with ideas that mostly seemed to benefit the urban dwellers in the riding.... don't people know that Canadian politicians HAVE to be old guys that look like they are about to die??? Its a Canadian tradition ;)
Oh well... it never seems to matter who you vote for... in the end, they are all creepy and do bad things... lie, cheat, steal... another Canadian political tradition!
Cold, Damp & Miserable
That pretty much sums it up around here right now. Shawn and I are both sick... not horribly, but enough to make everything a huge effort... like eating... showering... that sort of thing. Super fun.
Its cold and rainy around here and its starting to get to be time to turn on the furnace, I think. We've had our little electric heater that looks like a fireplace on the last few evenings while we've watched tv and that does a nice job of heating up the living room... the heat does go upstairs some, but I've not been leaving it on long enough for it to really make a big difference upstairs yet.
Our goats are supposed to come home Sunday morning... we still have quite a bit of prep to do... after work tonight we'll stop and pick up the wood we need to slap a little shelter together for them... nothing fancy... and small enough that the two little guys will have a chance of keeping themselves warm in it... too big and they'll never warm it up. Wont take long to slap it together, we have a plan... and its very simple.
I still have to get some hay, straw and shavings... I only need small amounts right now, so I'll just find somewhere to pick it up myself in the van... that'll be fine for now.
All sorts of things that need doing, but before I can actually get to them, I need to lay down for a few minutes and stop the friggen coughing that keeps causing my shoulder / collarbone to pop out. The common sound around here is *cough, cough, SWEAR, cough*... pretty classy, I am ;)
Its cold and rainy around here and its starting to get to be time to turn on the furnace, I think. We've had our little electric heater that looks like a fireplace on the last few evenings while we've watched tv and that does a nice job of heating up the living room... the heat does go upstairs some, but I've not been leaving it on long enough for it to really make a big difference upstairs yet.
Our goats are supposed to come home Sunday morning... we still have quite a bit of prep to do... after work tonight we'll stop and pick up the wood we need to slap a little shelter together for them... nothing fancy... and small enough that the two little guys will have a chance of keeping themselves warm in it... too big and they'll never warm it up. Wont take long to slap it together, we have a plan... and its very simple.
I still have to get some hay, straw and shavings... I only need small amounts right now, so I'll just find somewhere to pick it up myself in the van... that'll be fine for now.
All sorts of things that need doing, but before I can actually get to them, I need to lay down for a few minutes and stop the friggen coughing that keeps causing my shoulder / collarbone to pop out. The common sound around here is *cough, cough, SWEAR, cough*... pretty classy, I am ;)
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving... (a little late)
We had a lovely weekend around here, even if the weather didn't cooperate and stay as nice as it had been all last week.
It was so nice to see Jess, Kyle and my parents again! It seemed like a very short visit, but it always does... we managed to eat well enough that we didn't starve to death ;) Mom and Dad bought us the Super Scrabble game (more letters, more spaces, more scoring) and we fit a couple games in this weekend... the real contest was between Daddy and Shawn, the rest of us were just along for the ride, I think! :)
We celebrated my parents anniversary, Kyle's birthday and mine too. Thanks to all for the lovely gifts... they were all thoughtful and very appreciated.
Thanks to Mom and Dad for #1, making the big drive and #2, making the big drive with Jess and Kyle... having them chauffeured by someone other than me was really appreciated!! You guys are awesome :)
Shawn and I both love when everyone comes and our house fills with love and laughter, it feels so empty when y'all go home. Thanks for coming to visit.. it was so nice to see everyone again!!
*Livestock update*... I think our baby goats will be coming home this weekend... they are eating really well and seem to be ready to go... I think we'll pick them up Sunday. On Saturday, we're going to another place not far from where our baby goats are to see about a donkey... we'll see how that works out!
It was so nice to see Jess, Kyle and my parents again! It seemed like a very short visit, but it always does... we managed to eat well enough that we didn't starve to death ;) Mom and Dad bought us the Super Scrabble game (more letters, more spaces, more scoring) and we fit a couple games in this weekend... the real contest was between Daddy and Shawn, the rest of us were just along for the ride, I think! :)
We celebrated my parents anniversary, Kyle's birthday and mine too. Thanks to all for the lovely gifts... they were all thoughtful and very appreciated.
Thanks to Mom and Dad for #1, making the big drive and #2, making the big drive with Jess and Kyle... having them chauffeured by someone other than me was really appreciated!! You guys are awesome :)
Shawn and I both love when everyone comes and our house fills with love and laughter, it feels so empty when y'all go home. Thanks for coming to visit.. it was so nice to see everyone again!!
*Livestock update*... I think our baby goats will be coming home this weekend... they are eating really well and seem to be ready to go... I think we'll pick them up Sunday. On Saturday, we're going to another place not far from where our baby goats are to see about a donkey... we'll see how that works out!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Short Update
Monday night we got the machine shed doors installed... they look ok... they'll look way better when the rest of the building gets painted, of course.
Last night, we cleaned up all the tools from that job and moved some of the machinery into its new shed... it fits really nice... such an improvement!! I have pics, but I haven't offloaded them yet, I'll post when I get that done.
We also decided that the footing in the tarped building needs to be deeper. Partly, we didn't make it as deep as we first planned... then it settled quite a bit with watering... now I noticed there's a few weeds growing through the landscape fabric and through the footing... so we'll have to move some more stonedust... not a huge deal and I'm glad the first stuff had a chance to really settle... it'll make it pack tighter... I still may need a compactor for that footing, especially if we make it deeper, but that's not a big deal, you just rent 'em.
Other than that, I'm starting to make preparations for the weekend... my parents, Jess and Kyle are coming for a few days... I'm so happy they are all willing to make the trip here... it'll be so nice to see them all again!! Yay :)
Not much else going on... I need to pick up some fence posts and get started on that, but I think it might have to wait til next week.... we'll see what time I get!
Shawn's head seems to be healing... nothing points to it being infected yet, so that's good! The puddle of glue seems to be shrinking and now instead of being flat, its got some jagged points and stuff... seems like that might mean the whole would is tightening up underneath... I hope so. You can't see the actual wound anymore, the glue is now white and not see through. But I keep checking it a couple times a day, just in case!
That's it for now!
Last night, we cleaned up all the tools from that job and moved some of the machinery into its new shed... it fits really nice... such an improvement!! I have pics, but I haven't offloaded them yet, I'll post when I get that done.
We also decided that the footing in the tarped building needs to be deeper. Partly, we didn't make it as deep as we first planned... then it settled quite a bit with watering... now I noticed there's a few weeds growing through the landscape fabric and through the footing... so we'll have to move some more stonedust... not a huge deal and I'm glad the first stuff had a chance to really settle... it'll make it pack tighter... I still may need a compactor for that footing, especially if we make it deeper, but that's not a big deal, you just rent 'em.
Other than that, I'm starting to make preparations for the weekend... my parents, Jess and Kyle are coming for a few days... I'm so happy they are all willing to make the trip here... it'll be so nice to see them all again!! Yay :)
Not much else going on... I need to pick up some fence posts and get started on that, but I think it might have to wait til next week.... we'll see what time I get!
Shawn's head seems to be healing... nothing points to it being infected yet, so that's good! The puddle of glue seems to be shrinking and now instead of being flat, its got some jagged points and stuff... seems like that might mean the whole would is tightening up underneath... I hope so. You can't see the actual wound anymore, the glue is now white and not see through. But I keep checking it a couple times a day, just in case!
That's it for now!
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Goats
Yesterday we went and met our new goat babies... they are adorable! The pics are up! We put down a deposit on them and should be picking them up sometime in October, once they are weaned and eating grain well. I don't imagine it will take too long.
We have officially named them Ernie and Bert... funny story... Shawn and I have been kickign around names and I came up with Ernie and Bert... it was kinda our top choice.... I phoned back to my parents house last evening and talked to Mom, Jess, my sister Tricia and Dad... and Dad wondered if we had picked names yet... I told him no, because we hadn't really decided yet and he said he had an idea for names... Ernie and Bert!!
At first I thought there must be some sort of conspiracy going on behind my back involving Shawn and Dad, but it turns out that both Dad and I thought of the same names independently of each other!! How weird, eh?
So Ernie and Bert it is! I figure with a big coincidence like that, its meant to be!
Along the same lines, I think a cute name for a donkey would be Grover ;)
That's the goat update for now... I'll certainly post when I know they are coming home! Should be an adventure!! Wheeeeee :)
We have officially named them Ernie and Bert... funny story... Shawn and I have been kickign around names and I came up with Ernie and Bert... it was kinda our top choice.... I phoned back to my parents house last evening and talked to Mom, Jess, my sister Tricia and Dad... and Dad wondered if we had picked names yet... I told him no, because we hadn't really decided yet and he said he had an idea for names... Ernie and Bert!!
At first I thought there must be some sort of conspiracy going on behind my back involving Shawn and Dad, but it turns out that both Dad and I thought of the same names independently of each other!! How weird, eh?
So Ernie and Bert it is! I figure with a big coincidence like that, its meant to be!
Along the same lines, I think a cute name for a donkey would be Grover ;)
That's the goat update for now... I'll certainly post when I know they are coming home! Should be an adventure!! Wheeeeee :)
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