Introducing Spring Mtn Farm

Nothing like procrastination to get me going. I hadn't worked on the logo for our herd name and here was the Caledonia County Fair, our debut. I had already delivered the goats to the fair, took a couple of pictures of them just before loading so I could put little signs above their pens. I realized that I would want to put up a sign that told about who we were too and 30 minutes later I had my logo. I figure it will need tweaking and will go through several renditions but it's a start. I work well under pressure and cornered like a rat!

Rocky

Mustang Sally and Rocky Top Romeo both got shown and placed well. There were a lot of goats in each class so Michelle Pike had her work cut out for her. My daughter, Elissa showed them both and they were very good for her. Sally took first place for the JR Doe class and Rocky took second in the JR Buck class. I can't wait to see what they look like next year!

Sally

I am so pleased with the blood lines I have from Sweet Spring Farms. Mustang Sally is nice and deep for a five month old doe and Rocky is growing up to be quite a handsome fellow.

Goat Fencing

A problem I've had in the past is how to keep my goats where they are supposed to be. They are great at finding holes in the fencing and fencing is expensive. With my woven wire, they would stick their heads through until the wires broke over time or stand on the fence and pull it down until it broke. You need five strands of electric to keep goats in. With cattle panels I would get broken legs because they would do a combination jump/climb and get a leg caught and then their body would flip over the panel. That happened twice to me.

I've been luck enough to get some net fencing recently and it is everything I hoped it would be. It's been recommended by several friends who have goats but it's cost and wondering whether or not it would work kept me from buying it. It is electrified with a tiny pet fencer that I bought at Ace Hardware for $27 and the combination is a great one.

When I first got the fence, I hooked it up to my regular charger and put the goats out so they could learn not to touch the fence. They kept forgetting and would touch the fence, get shocked so badly they would jump forward and end up tangled in the net. It happened over and over again. After a bit, I took the fencer off and hoped they would just stay away from the fence but the minute the fencer was removed they were right through the fence. I needed a new fencer fast so I would be able to have the goats where I wanted them without running long wires from the existing fence. I bought this fencer because it was cheap but I love it because it works without making the goats jump into the netting. It's enough of a charge that they don't like touching it but not enough to frighten them.

Nutri Vet for Goats

My baby goats at weaning were looking a little frail. My feed is a "Lamb and Kid" starter pellet, browse every day and hay in their keyhole feeder. I put a mineral block in the pen to provide added copper but after two weeks there was no sign they had actually taken even a lick of it (how un-goat like). So I found this supplement at Agway and thought I'd give it a try. It cost around $20 but the dosage is one tiny scoop per 1000 lbs of goats!!! Which means my four 45 - 55 lb goats get 1/10th of a scoop morning and night....so it goes a long way.

After days on the supplement I saw increased appetite, energy and just a lot more life in these goats. After two weeks I'm seeing glossy coats and goats looking a lot more like I'd like them to look...perky and ready for fun. So I highly recommend this product and hope you have the same great results!

Keyhole Feeder

It's always frustrating to try to feed hay to goats. If they can (and they are so agile) they will step on, drag out, lay in and otherwise ruin perfectly good hay. I know I was feeding a bale every other day to these small goats when they were still on milk but most of it I would have to drag out of the stall ruined at the next feeding time because they kept dragging it out and getting into the feeder and soiling the hay.

We found a wonderful cheap solution on You-tube (hay feeder here). A key-hole feeder made from an industrial food barrel. There are a lot of barrels here from the maple industry so it was no problem to find a source. The keyhole is supposed to be 7 inches round with a four inch slot but since my goats are young we used a six inch keyhole with a three inch slot knowing we could make it bigger later. I used a desert plate as a guide when drawing the hole. Then we used a jigsaw to cut the holes. You have to drill a hole big enough to allow the jigsaw blade to get started. But it's a very simple design to make.

We thought we could just set it into the stall but they promptly knocked it over and we also thought we wouldn't need a lid but Julius jumped inside it so it needs to be fastened to the wall (we used screws through a piece of wood so the barrel plastic wouldn't tear). The lid is just the barrel piece we cut off turned upside down. It fits perfectly.

The results? No more hay waste! I add about a slice a day to the top and mix it all around every day and they go through only what they can eat. There is virtually no hay on the ground! When they go to pull out they have to think about it a little and raise and turn their heads to not hit their ears so they don't just drag it out and let half of it fall to the ground. Truly an ingenious idea.

Scouring Kid

I've had a bit of a bumpy time with Julius. He has always been the biggest eater...gobbling up everything he's given, which right now includes milk replacer, lamb starter, hay and grain. He kept getting scours. Worrying green, foul smelling scours. He would seem to get better and be fine but a day or two later would have another bout. This last bout was the worst. He's on deconquinate for coccidia so I thought I'd better look for other reasons. One thing I found over and over was worms being behind some scours so the first thing I did was worm him and the others with Ivermectin. It was time to worm anyway at eight weeks old.

Next I went to seek advice from a feed store owner who has boer goats. She recommended Sulmet (Sulfamethazine sodiam 12.5% and I read that yogurt is good for helping keep a good balance of healthy bacteria so I added yogurt and the Sulmet to the milk in the afternoon (a small feeding). True to form, Julius hogged all the milk and got a good dose of Sulmet. By evening feeding he had cow patty droppings instead of scours and by the next day he was normal. I gave everyone Sulmet in their milk the next day in the morning and yogurt at night. Now I've been adding yogurt for two days without any more Sulmet and things are going great.

The kids are eating plenty of lamb finisher which I'm feeding free choice, greens and hay. They seem much more playful and happy.

Spring Mtn Nubians

We got our herd name registered with the ADGA today: "Spring Mtn Nubians" We live on a mountain side that has springs all over it (which has been a problem lately!) The ground is finally drying up but the springs will be running for a while. They don't normally cause a problem but with the little stream beds full the water has no place to go and the low lying pasture is full of standing water...just lovely for bugs! When we set posts inside the shed we would dig down six inches and hit water and I had to use four bales of wood shavings in the babies stall to keep them high and dry. I am told we are expecting rain. Great.

Oh well, I guess I will stay inside and work on a logo for our new herd name.

Settling in

The babies are settling in to their new home. This is Orange Julius (out front), Rocky's twin. He will be company for Rocky when the boys move into their own space.

Most of the goats are still pretty shy...it's only been three days. This is our herd sire "Rocky Top Romeo". He is very curious and sweet and not at all afraid to come over and get pets.

"Hey, what's in your pocket?"
The girls...Pims (black) and Mustang Sally. They are still a little shy.
Pims will be a lovely doe...don't you love the heart on her side?


Julius, up close and personal...he likes to cut hair. If he can get your hair in his mouth he will give it a trim. He's a little devil! But very sweet. One of the reasons I chose Rocky over Julius as herd sire is personality. This is the most forward little goat ever. I thought testosterone added to that personality would not be good!

Rocky eating his breakfast.
One thing that I love about having the goats is that the kids want to get up at 5:30 am so they don't miss feeding the babies.