The Kids have started popping out! The dairy goats are going first. Dottie had twin boys on Thursday morning around 5:30. Then Speckles had hers yesterday morning around 7. I totally missed that birth! I was out there at 6:30 checking on her, she didn't look like anything was going to happen anytime soon, so I went back to bed. Went out at 8 and here were two kids up and cleaned off and nursing already. Speckles must have had them shortly after I came back in. The only time I've seen her have her kids is when she was having a hard time getting them out, so she had them when I was there to help. Goats really do know when they are going to need some help, and when they can handle things themselves.
So now there are four kids, 3 boys and only one girl. i suppose I should use correct terminology and say 3 bucklings and one doeling. Now I'm waiting for Belle and Brownie to have theirs. So far they are just laying around looking ready to pop, but not doing anything. Belle I'm not too worried about, she's an old pro at kidding, but this will be Brownie's first time, so I want to be there to make sure she takes care of the kid(s) and doesn't have any problems having it.
I'm over half-way done with the combing of the cashmere goats now. There are 18 left to do. I was going to comb all afternoon today, but it started raining/snowing, so the ones that I was going to comb got wet. Since they still have all their fleece, they stand out in the precip while the ones that have been combed head for shelter. I might get in one or two combings if the rain stops pretty soon. Colin and Heidi have been helping to comb. They are getting pretty good at it. It goes much faster when there is a person on each side of the goat combing at the same time. The goat doesn't move around as much either, they aren't sure which way to go. ☺ I'm getting a good yield off everyone this year. Lots of cashmere to play with! I'll have more shares to sell than I was figuring on earlier. I think I'll offer some half-shares, too.
I've decided to go back to dehairing batches of cashmere for people instead of just individual fleeces. I'd rather do the individual ones, but so many have asked me to do batches, that I'll go back to that, too. Only 3 pounds at a time, though. The dehairing process is so slow that if a huge amount arrives at once, it just overwhelms me and I get disheartened. 3 pounds I can handle, it takes almost a week to get that done. I want to do the best job possible and return the fiber as guard hair free as I can, so that takes a lot of time. I do love doing it. I have the best job, being up to my elbows in pure luxury every day. I haven't run into any "bad" cashmere yet. It's all been of a good quality. Some has been better prepared than others, but after it's through the machine, it's all looking pretty nice. I've seen a good cross section of North American Cashmere now, and overall I think we have cashmere that is as good as and better than most foreign cashmere. Yea team!!
I think the only way it's going to really pay though is for regional groups of cashmere producers to get together and buy their own dehairing machines. Lots of mills can spin it, but very few can dehair it and do a good job. The dehairing is the slowest part of the process and makes the least amount of money for a mill. But if cashmere producers pooled their resources and went together and got dehairing machines, then that would speed up the whole deal. The machines don't take up a huge amount of space, I have mine in a 9 x 16 foot room and there is enough room to move around it and run it properly. They aren't hard to operate, you just have to be able to figure out what speed to run it for each fleece. No two fleeces go through at the same speed! The fineness and length of each fleece determine what the speed will be. It's actually an interesting process to do.
Well, now that I've written a book, practically, I guess I'll go out and check on the goats again and see if anything is happening. I'll post pictures of the kids after they are all born....
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Happenings
All sorts of things have been happening this month! I had a great time on our "fibery" week-end get-away. It was so much fun to be with like-minded people. The weather wasn't the greatest, but it was okay. Got a lot of spinning done, ate quite well, and did lots of talking, well, mostly listening, on my part. I usually don't say a lot in a group setting.
I got a newer computer now. It's so fast compared to the old one! I didn't realize how slow and outdated my old one was till I started using this one. I am sometimes slow to accept change. Then other times I'm all for it.
It has been snowing a bit here and there. It's also got above freezing during the day, so the road is rather interesting again. Not too bad yet, but the potential is there.
The goats are doing well, except for Ariel. She aborted her babies 38 days early, then went blind right afterwards! Miss April really nailed her one day last week, and I was afraid this was going to happen. I was watching her carefully over the next few days, and sure enough, she lost the babies. Two little doelings. She pinched a nerve in her neck during the birthing, which has made her temporarily blind. I wasn't out there when she had the second one, I had gone inside for a minute, so I didn't see how she pinched it. She's starting to get some sight back. She can definitely tell light and dark, and she's seeing some shapes again. Poor goat. I have her in the grooming area so no one can bother her. She's got a pretty comfortable spot in there. I've been massaging her neck and giving her herbs to help her get her eyesight back. Ming had this happen a couple of years ago, too. She went blind for two weeks, then got her sight back. I do not know why this happens, but at least they come out of it. Ariel throws really nice fiber in her kids so I am very sad these girls didn't make it. One was going to be a tan color, and the other was a dark brown with a white stocking on one front leg and a white ankle bracelet on the other. Everything happens for a reason, so we'll see what that reason is at some point.
I have ended up with a very bad cold this week. I haven't been sick in years! This is not fun. I had forgotten what it felt like to be sick, I am ready to be well again. I've been downing tons of Vitamin C, Cayenne, Echinacea, and eating good foods, so I'm almost well.
I am now busy getting my cashmere processed and making things. Got one order for a customer done, now it's time to start on the next. The kids are due to start coming out in two weeks, so I want to be ahead of the game a little so I can spend time with the newborns. I'm starting to line up dehairing customers now, too. It's going to be a busy, fun year! I do love my job. :-)
Spring is almost here. Although up here it won't show up till sometime in April. We've had a pretty mild winter so far. There is 12 inches of snow on the ground here. There isn't hardly any at all down in the valley. All the fields are bare, the roads are clear, then I come home and it's all white. The avalanche danger is really high now for elevations above 4500 feet. We are at 4700 feet, but I don't think there is enough snow on the hill behind the house to cause an avalanche. The dogs run up there after deer and don't trigger any, so I think I am safe. Of course the deer have been going back and forth across there all winter and haven't caused anything.
I was watching Nellie today barking at a deer. The deer are not afraid of her at all. She gets within 5 feet of them barking her head off, and they just look at her and go about their business. Grandma deer taught her offspring well. She chased Nellie and Dani so they are afraid of all deer, for the most part. They bark at them, but if the deer turn towards them, they back off rapidly.
H&C's dog Ryder, on the other hand, goes after them and they run. He's not afraid at all. I think I'll employ him to guard the gardens this summer.
Well, that's it for now. Think Spring....
I got a newer computer now. It's so fast compared to the old one! I didn't realize how slow and outdated my old one was till I started using this one. I am sometimes slow to accept change. Then other times I'm all for it.
It has been snowing a bit here and there. It's also got above freezing during the day, so the road is rather interesting again. Not too bad yet, but the potential is there.
The goats are doing well, except for Ariel. She aborted her babies 38 days early, then went blind right afterwards! Miss April really nailed her one day last week, and I was afraid this was going to happen. I was watching her carefully over the next few days, and sure enough, she lost the babies. Two little doelings. She pinched a nerve in her neck during the birthing, which has made her temporarily blind. I wasn't out there when she had the second one, I had gone inside for a minute, so I didn't see how she pinched it. She's starting to get some sight back. She can definitely tell light and dark, and she's seeing some shapes again. Poor goat. I have her in the grooming area so no one can bother her. She's got a pretty comfortable spot in there. I've been massaging her neck and giving her herbs to help her get her eyesight back. Ming had this happen a couple of years ago, too. She went blind for two weeks, then got her sight back. I do not know why this happens, but at least they come out of it. Ariel throws really nice fiber in her kids so I am very sad these girls didn't make it. One was going to be a tan color, and the other was a dark brown with a white stocking on one front leg and a white ankle bracelet on the other. Everything happens for a reason, so we'll see what that reason is at some point.
I have ended up with a very bad cold this week. I haven't been sick in years! This is not fun. I had forgotten what it felt like to be sick, I am ready to be well again. I've been downing tons of Vitamin C, Cayenne, Echinacea, and eating good foods, so I'm almost well.
I am now busy getting my cashmere processed and making things. Got one order for a customer done, now it's time to start on the next. The kids are due to start coming out in two weeks, so I want to be ahead of the game a little so I can spend time with the newborns. I'm starting to line up dehairing customers now, too. It's going to be a busy, fun year! I do love my job. :-)
Spring is almost here. Although up here it won't show up till sometime in April. We've had a pretty mild winter so far. There is 12 inches of snow on the ground here. There isn't hardly any at all down in the valley. All the fields are bare, the roads are clear, then I come home and it's all white. The avalanche danger is really high now for elevations above 4500 feet. We are at 4700 feet, but I don't think there is enough snow on the hill behind the house to cause an avalanche. The dogs run up there after deer and don't trigger any, so I think I am safe. Of course the deer have been going back and forth across there all winter and haven't caused anything.
I was watching Nellie today barking at a deer. The deer are not afraid of her at all. She gets within 5 feet of them barking her head off, and they just look at her and go about their business. Grandma deer taught her offspring well. She chased Nellie and Dani so they are afraid of all deer, for the most part. They bark at them, but if the deer turn towards them, they back off rapidly.
H&C's dog Ryder, on the other hand, goes after them and they run. He's not afraid at all. I think I'll employ him to guard the gardens this summer.
Well, that's it for now. Think Spring....
Saturday, February 11, 2012
February already
It's already February! We got another 5 inches of snow last night. Now the goats have a fresh "dinner plate" to eat off of. There are a couple of feeders out there, but I also put little piles of hay out and around for the lower ranked goats to eat.
I have a question for you all that raise goats. How do you keep your bucks together without them fighting and killing each other? I had to put Hercules down because him and Midnight were fighting and Midnight won. He did some serious internal damage that I didn't realize until Herk was too far gone to repair. So now I'm down to just two bucks! Both black. Herk and Midnight were the same age, grew up together, and were kept in the same pen, except for breeding, when I took Herk clear to the other side of the place to do his job. After everyone was done, I put them back together and Midnight tried to kill Herk. I separated them as soon as I saw what was happening, but it was one blow too late.
So from now on, there will be permanently separate pens for each buck! Preferably on opposite sides of the goat areas, too.
Only 4 weeks to go till kids start popping out! I am getting excited to see what comes this year. What colors they are, and hopefully more female than male this year! There should be around 30 kids born, so I will probably be selling a few this fall, or next spring. I might wait till next spring so I can see how their fiber looks when I comb them.
I get to go on a "fibery" week-end get-away tomorrow. Six of us are renting a fs cabin down the Swan and taking our spinning wheels, etc., and playing outside in the snow skiing and snowshoeing, then spending the rest of the time spinning and visiting, eating and just having a nice relaxing time with our various fibers. H&C are going to take good care of this place so I don't have to worry about anything, just go and have some R&R. I'm looking forward to it very much!
The combing of the goats is going well. Glad they don't all shed at the same time! It's looking like a very good harvest this year. I'm getting to them on time this year, so the yield is much better. I got some free plywood that is in great shape, so we built a solid wall on three sides of the combing area, so now it's much better. The wind can't blow any cashmere away anymore. ☺ Or, I should say, I can now comb even if the wind is blowing a bit. The weather isn't playing quite as big a factor in the combing schedule this year. As long as the goats are dry, I'm combing.
Well, Happy Valentine's day to everyone...
I have a question for you all that raise goats. How do you keep your bucks together without them fighting and killing each other? I had to put Hercules down because him and Midnight were fighting and Midnight won. He did some serious internal damage that I didn't realize until Herk was too far gone to repair. So now I'm down to just two bucks! Both black. Herk and Midnight were the same age, grew up together, and were kept in the same pen, except for breeding, when I took Herk clear to the other side of the place to do his job. After everyone was done, I put them back together and Midnight tried to kill Herk. I separated them as soon as I saw what was happening, but it was one blow too late.
So from now on, there will be permanently separate pens for each buck! Preferably on opposite sides of the goat areas, too.
Only 4 weeks to go till kids start popping out! I am getting excited to see what comes this year. What colors they are, and hopefully more female than male this year! There should be around 30 kids born, so I will probably be selling a few this fall, or next spring. I might wait till next spring so I can see how their fiber looks when I comb them.
I get to go on a "fibery" week-end get-away tomorrow. Six of us are renting a fs cabin down the Swan and taking our spinning wheels, etc., and playing outside in the snow skiing and snowshoeing, then spending the rest of the time spinning and visiting, eating and just having a nice relaxing time with our various fibers. H&C are going to take good care of this place so I don't have to worry about anything, just go and have some R&R. I'm looking forward to it very much!
The combing of the goats is going well. Glad they don't all shed at the same time! It's looking like a very good harvest this year. I'm getting to them on time this year, so the yield is much better. I got some free plywood that is in great shape, so we built a solid wall on three sides of the combing area, so now it's much better. The wind can't blow any cashmere away anymore. ☺ Or, I should say, I can now comb even if the wind is blowing a bit. The weather isn't playing quite as big a factor in the combing schedule this year. As long as the goats are dry, I'm combing.
Well, Happy Valentine's day to everyone...
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Interesting Winter, so far
After two months with virtually no new snow, we got dumped on again, with 12 1/2 inches! It was really cold, too. Down in the single digits. Now it's warmed back up to 42 degrees today! The snow really settled down again.
It's been a rather sad January the last couple of weeks. Colin's cousin back in Vermont died of hyperthermia a couple of weeks ago while out hiking. H&C went back there for the funeral this week. My sincere condolences go out to his family. 19 is too young to die! At least he died doing something he loved.
Then this week in the severe cold, I had to put my buck Rusty down. So now I'm down to three bucks. It seems things go wrong when I'm here by myself, instead of when there are others around. The bus is having some issues, too. The propane isn't working right, so I turned off the tanks and am running back and forth, keeping the fire going in the woodstove to keep it warm enough in there. Luckily it's fairly warm out now! What with all the snow, having to put the buck down, and then the bus issues, it hasn't been that good of a week! But, I've got things pretty much under control again now. I'm all dug out from the snow, the goat is gone, the bus is warm, and I'm back to doing the cashmere again. All is well, once more. Till the next time. ☺
At least I'm finding out I'm capable of handling things, for the most part. After my initial panick attack, I figure things out and deal with it all. One thing about it, there aren't too many dull moments around here!
That's the update for now. Time to get to spinning again. More as it happens...
It's been a rather sad January the last couple of weeks. Colin's cousin back in Vermont died of hyperthermia a couple of weeks ago while out hiking. H&C went back there for the funeral this week. My sincere condolences go out to his family. 19 is too young to die! At least he died doing something he loved.
Then this week in the severe cold, I had to put my buck Rusty down. So now I'm down to three bucks. It seems things go wrong when I'm here by myself, instead of when there are others around. The bus is having some issues, too. The propane isn't working right, so I turned off the tanks and am running back and forth, keeping the fire going in the woodstove to keep it warm enough in there. Luckily it's fairly warm out now! What with all the snow, having to put the buck down, and then the bus issues, it hasn't been that good of a week! But, I've got things pretty much under control again now. I'm all dug out from the snow, the goat is gone, the bus is warm, and I'm back to doing the cashmere again. All is well, once more. Till the next time. ☺
At least I'm finding out I'm capable of handling things, for the most part. After my initial panick attack, I figure things out and deal with it all. One thing about it, there aren't too many dull moments around here!
That's the update for now. Time to get to spinning again. More as it happens...
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Furry Snow
This yarn I spun for one of the CSA shares. It's hanging to dry in this picture. Now it's in it's new home waiting to be knitted up into something wonderfully soft.
We are having a fairly mild winter now. After that first blast of 16 inches, it's only snowed about 5 inches more since then. Yesterday it was 45 degrees and sunny! That melted a bunch more snow. We are down to about 5 inches in most places now. I am rather enjoying the lack of snow. A half inch here and there to freshen things up, and I'll be happy. :-)
The goats are all in full fleece now. I love going out and petting them this time of year. They are so soft. Little Oksana is still squeezing through the cattle panel squares and getting into everything. I think she's ready for another growth spurt, then she won't be able to get out. She can barely get out now, it's a pretty tight fit! Her brother Socks quit a long time ago. He got stuck one day, luckily I was here!, and decided that it wasn't worth it to try that any more.
I don't know how other goat raisers can keep their bucks together and not have catastrophies. I had Hercules and Midnight in together, they grew up together so you'd think they would be okay, but once breeding season started they were fighting all the time! Both of them ended up in pretty rough shape, so they are in seperate areas for the rest of their lives. Every time I've tried to keep any bucks together, they end up almost killing each other. So from now on, each buck gets to have his own space.
I pulled each one out and took them to a different pen out of sight of each other for breeding the does, but once they were back together again, the fighting started up again. Never again will any two bucks be together past the age of one year.
I'm going to have to get a new buck that is completely unrelated to anything I have here for next year. I need "new blood" around here. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it late next summer. Maybe a road trip is in the works! That would be fun.
Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful, spectacular, Holiday Season!! May 2012 be a year filled with Peace, Joy, Happiness, Abundance and LOVE for everyone!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Today was a beautiful, wonderful day! The sun was shining, there was a little inch of new snow to freshen everything up. It was great! I took my interns, Colin and Heidi, up to the Rocks so they could see the spectacular view from there. It's about a 45 minute hike up, and 35 back down. That is, if you follow the trail as it used to be. Sometime in the last year or so, a microburst went through there and knocked down a whole bunch of trees, so now detours are the norm. I'm going to have to re-flag the trail so we can find it easier again. We did some bushwhacking today. ☺ There sure is a lot of good firewood up there now, with no good way to get to it! Bummer!!
Surprisingly enough, the only tracks we saw were from rabbits, squirrels, and deer. No mountain lions, coyotes, or any other predator. There was an old track up near the top of either a lion or wolf. There was new snow in it, so it wasn't really clear anymore. I thought I saw toenail prints, so that would be a wolf. It was a big print, that's for sure! Bigger than any dog around here.
Here is the view to the west from the Rocks. Our place is tucked into the hillside below here so you can't see it from up here.
I do believe I am one of the luckiest people on the planet to be living here where I do. There are a few inconvieniences to living here, but on days like today, they are nothing, and it is well worth it to be able to be here! The goats love it, wandering through the woods eating all kinds of good food all summer long. I love it, following them around through the woods, watching them enjoying their goat lives. Winters get interesting around here sometimes, but it's beautiful. ( after we are all dug out and everyone is adjusted to the snow).
LIFE IS GOOD!
Surprisingly enough, the only tracks we saw were from rabbits, squirrels, and deer. No mountain lions, coyotes, or any other predator. There was an old track up near the top of either a lion or wolf. There was new snow in it, so it wasn't really clear anymore. I thought I saw toenail prints, so that would be a wolf. It was a big print, that's for sure! Bigger than any dog around here.
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| Here are Colin and Heidi up on the Rocks. |
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| Here is the Rocks from our place down below. A half-moon is rising. |
I do believe I am one of the luckiest people on the planet to be living here where I do. There are a few inconvieniences to living here, but on days like today, they are nothing, and it is well worth it to be able to be here! The goats love it, wandering through the woods eating all kinds of good food all summer long. I love it, following them around through the woods, watching them enjoying their goat lives. Winters get interesting around here sometimes, but it's beautiful. ( after we are all dug out and everyone is adjusted to the snow).
LIFE IS GOOD!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
December Already!
Well, the snow did melt quite a bit. We still have about 6 inches or so, but that's way down from the almost two feet we started out with! Now our road is pretty much solid ice. Glad I don't have to drive it every day. I will have to go get a big round bale of hay this week-end, so the chains will have to be put on the truck.
Today was a nice sunny day. I've started the trimming of the goat hooves for their winter pedicure. The wether pen is done, and today I did a couple of the does in the main pen. I'll have everybody done by Sunday. Lots of little feet out there! 188 hooves all together. I've almost wore out the orange hoof trimmers I got 10 1/2 years ago when I first got my goats. They've held up well through all the trimmings.
It's hard to believe this year is almost over with already. It's been an eventful year, that's for sure! Lots of interesting events here on the farm. Getting my interns has been the highlight, I think. It has been so extremely wonderful having help with all the projects needing done around here. The goat pens are the cleanest they've been in two years, and they all have enough shelter now, more than enough, actually. There's room for expansion! :-) With 19, soon to be 20, does pregnant, there will be plenty of new kids that will need housing next year. The last week in March, especially around the 25th, is going to be a busy one! Kids will be popping out left and right. Hope the weather is good that week.
I'm almost done with dehairing outside cashmere for this year. Then I can get to mine, which I should have all dehaired by Christmas! At long last. I have two years worth of my own cashmere to dehair now, then I'm shutting down the machine till Spring. Next year I'm doing mine first, then I'll do other people's. Somehow I let myself get talked into doing everyone else's cashmere before doing my own, when the whole reason I got this machine in the first place was to do mine. But, not anymore, mine comes first. ☺ I'll be happy to do others' after I'm done with mine. It's been a good learning experience. I've seen a good cross-section of the cashmere on this Continent, and mine is as good as anyone else's, and it dehairs easier than most, so I've got some good goats to work with! I'm a happy person.
Now that the Holidays are upon us, I hope everyone has a wonderful month!
Today was a nice sunny day. I've started the trimming of the goat hooves for their winter pedicure. The wether pen is done, and today I did a couple of the does in the main pen. I'll have everybody done by Sunday. Lots of little feet out there! 188 hooves all together. I've almost wore out the orange hoof trimmers I got 10 1/2 years ago when I first got my goats. They've held up well through all the trimmings.
It's hard to believe this year is almost over with already. It's been an eventful year, that's for sure! Lots of interesting events here on the farm. Getting my interns has been the highlight, I think. It has been so extremely wonderful having help with all the projects needing done around here. The goat pens are the cleanest they've been in two years, and they all have enough shelter now, more than enough, actually. There's room for expansion! :-) With 19, soon to be 20, does pregnant, there will be plenty of new kids that will need housing next year. The last week in March, especially around the 25th, is going to be a busy one! Kids will be popping out left and right. Hope the weather is good that week.
I'm almost done with dehairing outside cashmere for this year. Then I can get to mine, which I should have all dehaired by Christmas! At long last. I have two years worth of my own cashmere to dehair now, then I'm shutting down the machine till Spring. Next year I'm doing mine first, then I'll do other people's. Somehow I let myself get talked into doing everyone else's cashmere before doing my own, when the whole reason I got this machine in the first place was to do mine. But, not anymore, mine comes first. ☺ I'll be happy to do others' after I'm done with mine. It's been a good learning experience. I've seen a good cross-section of the cashmere on this Continent, and mine is as good as anyone else's, and it dehairs easier than most, so I've got some good goats to work with! I'm a happy person.
Now that the Holidays are upon us, I hope everyone has a wonderful month!
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