Miniature Cow??

Saturdays Caledonian record features a picture of this animal, above, with the caption calling her a cow.  I've had people ask if they were dogs before but I've never had anyone mistake my goats for cows!  And in print...in the Newspaper.

Stars and Stripes

We took Sally and Pim's daughter Belle to the park for the Star's and Stripes annual political milking contest where politicians are given 30 seconds to see who can get the most milk.  I was so proud of how Sally behaved!  She stood still and let around 14 complete strangers attempt to milk her.  The Ham's also brought their goat "Lily" to the competition and she was lovely to everyone as well.  They both represented goats to the public in a way we would all be happy to see.

Of course, Dick Lawrence, remained the reigning champion in the contest.  The goats had plenty of milk though.  It was something I was worried about. 

Stars and Stripes

Mustang Sally will be hob-nobbing with politicians on July 21st in Lyndonville.  Every year politicians are invited out to Bandstand Park to milk a cow to see who has the most "pull" in the Kingdom. This year they are going the way of the goat and Mustang Sally will be in the park (hopefully behaving herself) while two politicians see who can get the most milk into the pail in 30 seconds.  I'm a little worried about this...I can practically milk her out in that amount of time.

So get out to goat and come by Bandstand Park at 11:30 to say hi and meet miss Sally.  I may even have some cheese for you to try!

Presenting : Queso Blanco

The babies are weaned and now comes the fun part....what to do with just under 12 lbs a day worth of goat's milk.  Of course it's time to make cheese!  I will be marketing the cheese through the St. J Coop (I will add other places you can get it as they are added to my list). 

Right now you can get a sampler pack...three cheeses in two ounce tubs.  They are:

Queso Blanco with Basil and Garlic : this is a lovely cheese with even buttery undertones that carry the pesto taste uniformly throughout the cheese.  Great on crackers or I love to throw it into my eggs (Yum!).

Queso Blanco : This is a very mild versatile cheese which can be grated and used any place that calls for a mild cheese such as on pizza or salads. 

Yogurt Spread : This is a tangy cheese like Cream cheese...great on bagels or crackers.  It also is great as a dip for veggies (it's a little thick for chips)

Yogurt Spread with Dill and Garlic : One of my favorite combinations...goes great on crackers or bagels.  I like it on sandwiches as an alternative to mayo.

All cheeses are made by hand one at a time and without rennet!

 

Blessed are the Cheesemakers!

As everyone knows who keeps goats, spring is the busiest time with milking, feeding babies and making goat's milk products!  Here is our newest herd member and the first to bear our name : Spring Mtn Farm Belle.  We are also keeping an unregistered doe named Julianna out of Stone Pillars x Cossayuna bloodlines but sadly the dam is unregistered.

Julianna is going to be a big girl and her mother was giving 12 lbs at peak so we are thrilled to see what she will do.

Off to new homes are Darwin (Rocky X Sally) and Licorice (Cossayuna x Stone Pillars again).

They make a nice little pair!  I'm just about ready to wean everyone. We are coming up on 12 weeks and then, all the milk is going into my Queso Blanco with basil and garlic and my yogurt cheese with garlic and dill.  Look for it at the St. J Coop and the Freighthouse in Lyndonville, or contact me here to try some.

Vetericyn

After a lifetime of working with animals and keeping livestock I have tried many, many different products for all the various ailments that crop up. Most work pretty poorly. It is rare that I will find something to rave about--something that lives up to it's claims. My normal course of action when I find an injury and fear infection is to start an aggressive triple antibiotic application and strive to make and keep the injury free of dirt. It is really the only thing that I have had work for me and what my vet normally recommends anyway.

My horse, Scooby, is prone to these kinds of scrapes and scratches. The other day I went out and found him with a long slash on his rear. It was long and deep enough that I thought about calling the vet for stitches but it was in a place that I knew was likely to rip out and clean enough that I thought it would mend without stitches. I treated it with triple antibiotic ointment for several days and it looked great. On day four he rolled and inflamed the area, filling it with dirt. I washed the wound and dressed it but I was very worried by how swollen the entire area was and the nasty red tissue that was showing in the now widening slit. Proud flesh is a huge problem with horses. Granular tissue grows around an inflamed area and won't go away.

I went on line and found a post about a new product called vetericyn. It sounded too good to be true...it treats wounds, burns, eye infections, fungal infections and it's safe to use all over the animal without fear of irritation. I was willing to try anything at this point. It is expensive, $30 for a 20 oz bottle. I was really hoping that I wasn't being an idiot by buying it. The company claims that the spray works by penetrating and oxidizing the wound, helping the animal's own natural defenses activate which, frankly, sounded like a lot of hoopla to me.

The instructions say to saturate the wound 3 or 4 times a day...which isn't possible for me. I could do it twice a day. When you apply vetericyn it goes on like water and runs off. I gave the wound a thorough dousing...about ten shots with the sprayer it comes in. I was very dubious. It looked like it was all just running down the horses flanks like water. I wondered if any penetrated the wound at all and even thought about trying to scrub the wound open (bad idea). The next day the swelling was gone. After two days the wound had shrunk to half it's size and in three days I cut the second spraying. I am no longer using so much--just a few squirts and I am completely and utterly in awe of how quickly and completely this stuff works. I'm in love...where have you been all my life, vetericyn?

The Goat Stork Cometh!

After weeks of false starts, Pims finally came through with twins...a buck and a doe. That's the buck, above. I went out to do chores yesterday before 5 and he was laying in the shavings at his mother's feet. He hadn't stood yet but she had cleaned him off and did just fine without help.

She had the doe kid twenty minutes later. It is so much fun having kids again and nice to be milking too. Pims is producing just about what you would expect for colostrum as a first freshening yearling...about 40 oz in 24 hours. I brought the kids inside right off and they are getting their legs under themselves today.

I used nutri-drench on the kids and their mom as soon as they were born followed by a bucket of water with molasses in it. They loved that! Sally had to join Pims to have a sweet drink but they are so sweet to each other that she never had to be moved into a separate stall. Sally stayed well away from Pims while she was birthing. And how considerate of Pims to kid on a sunny day just before chores...she didn't even miss a meal!

I am always filled with awe (and aaaaaaaaawh) when baby goats are born, healthy and vigorous and ready to jump right up and play hours after they are born. It's one of those common place miracles that make life so wonderful.