Nubian Kids - the Fun & the Challenges

We have been generously blessed with 10 healthy Nubian goat kids so far this kidding season. We still have three does due to kid in the coming weeks.

During the cold, rainy days we had late last week, Glory and Surprise each kidded with a single kid.

Glory kidded first with a beautiful, heavily spotted buck kid. Baxter was born just as the storms were starting and the cold winds were blowing hard. Even with our efforts to keep him warm and protected from the driving rain, he had trouble regulating his body temperature effectively. Ultimately, we brought Baxter into the house and got his temperature to normalize. Over the next few days, we combined bottle feeding with regular visits with his mom to nurse. On Saturday, once the weather improved he was reunited with his mom full-time. He is now happy and thriving with the rest of the kids in the pasture.

On Friday, in the midst of another round of cold blowing rain, Surprise kidded with a beautiful little doe kid. We moved Surprise and baby Shasta to a protected area with a warm heat lamp. Once again, we faced problems with a baby not being able to stay warm enough. For about 24 hours, Shasta joined Baxter in the house with regular visits to her mom for nursing. She, too, was reunited with her mom on Saturday.

After kidding with triplets on March 7, Ophillia developed mastitis on one side of her udder. We proceeded to treat with a combination of massage and anti-biotic shots of OxyTetracycline. (More information can be found at Fias Co Farm). After 5 days of anti-biotics, the infection seemed to be better, but we still had some problems with milk flow on the affected side. Following the much appreciated advice provided by Irene Ramsay's website, we follow-up the anti-biotic treatment with several days of "own milk". We are relieved and ecstatic to report that Ophillia is now doing markedly better!

We have already completed the dreaded deed of disbudding all the boys (except Baxter); we will do the girls and the remaining boy this coming weekend. This is, truly, our least favorite job on the ranch.

In the end, there is nothing like watching all the happy, healthy kids bouncing merrily around in the pasture enjoying the sunshine. Were we totally exhausted from several sleepless nights? Definitely! Is it worth all the work to make sure they are and will stay healthy? Absolutely!

Rain & Drought

Our dry pastures were blessed with about 3" of rain last week!

Over the course of about 3 days, we saw boughts of heavy rainfall combined with brutal, cold winds. Thankfully, the parched ground was able to effectively absorb a good portion of the rainfall to help spur some much needed forage regeneration.

Sadly, the effects of the rainfall are sure to be short-lived. We are already seeing cracks resuming in the dry ground and our wet weather creek has already returned to it's empty state. Area lakes showed only small increases in the lake levels since much of the rain was absorbed. According to the drought monitor system, we remain in "exceptional drought" status.

A new article released 03/13/09 details how the drought, even after the rain, is affecting Texas agriculture:
http://www.agnetwork.com/content.asp?ContentId=298616

Eight Nubian kids ... so far

This past weekend was very busy with the arrival of a total of eight Nubian kids.

Ophillia started off the pack with her triplets.
Then Stoney Creek followed suit later that day with her cute twins.
Sunday morning, Tassie decided it was time to bring her buck kid into the world.
Then early Monday morning, Mikki delivered her adorable twin girls.

*whew!*

Pictures of all the babies have been posted on the Our Babies page of our website.

Glory, Ashlee and Surprise should be kidding in the very near future. Given the way Raggedy Anne is shaping up, it looks like her time maybe fast approaching as well.

In the meantime, we are working with Ophillia to fight a case of post-partum mastitis. Two of Ophillia's triplets are still nursing fine, and we are working with the third to graft him onto another doe to reduce the strain while she works thru this episode. Our deepest thanks to our friends at both Keno! Farm and Four Mile Farm for all the helpful advice and experienced insight in helping to manage this situation!

Nubian Kids - TWO sets in one day!

It has been a busy day on the ranch!


Just a few hours after Ophillia delivered her beautiful set of triplets (two boys and a girl), Stoney Creek delivered a gorgeous set of twins (one boy, one girl).

See more baby pictures on the Our Babies page of our website.

Unfortunately, pictures of Stoney's kids will have to wait until tomorrow - it got dark too quick to get good photos.

Both momma's and all the kids are doing fine!

Drought

The drought in Texas has made news nationwide over the past few months. The severity of the drought continues to increase throughout the state. Here at our ranch, we have only seen about 15" of rain over the past 15 months, putting us into the "exceptional drought" status. (Thanks to Rachel for the drought map link).

Never experienced a drought?
Let us share some of our experiences, aside from the obvious dry air and ground.

Natural forage in the pastures has failed to grow and has died across large areas in the pastures. Now exposed dirt blows freely away in the increasing winds brought by this weather pattern. (We estimate an average of 5"+ of top soil loss so far in our pastures - remember the "dust bowl" years?). All that dirt blowing away exposes a plethora of rocks. (We may not grow grass in the drought, but we sure have a nice crop of rocks!) Area stock tanks and our own creek line has dried up causing wildlife to seek man-made water areas; this wildlife is not always compatible with livestock and people. Predators become bolder and often more aggressive in their hunting (we are very thankful for our Great Pyrenees LGDs). Neighboring water wells providing for livestock and homesteads have dried up, forcing the purchase of water holding tanks and trucked in water (an expensive proposition). Growing vegetables, crops, or even flowers becomes a time-intensive challenge. The danger of fire is extreme; this results in a nagging fear of leaving the ranch unattended for even a few hours and possibly returning to charred remains. Hay prices continue to rise and supply simply cannot support the statewide demand for hay. Feed prices also continue to remain high, and more farmers and ranchers are depending on these feeds to keep their herds going. (Our predominant feed supply manufacturer, Evergreen Mills, decided to shutdown their Texas facilities in February, so now we face the challenge of finding other quality, affordable, and accessible feed suppliers). Oak wilt has hit our area hard since this disease is exacerbated by dry conditions stressing the trees, the last of our stand of old oaks have now "gone to sleep". Without serious rains this Spring, we no longer hold out hope of any of the trees recovering. (Anyone need firewood?) We have also learned that livestock have the natural ability to control fertility and production when the environment does not support their survival. Even with careful management, mineral provision, and supplemental feeding, we have seen a reduction in the number of offspring produced from our herds. In case you are keeping track of the financial side of this, we have seen higher feed & hay costs, with lower production resulting in reduced income. Overall, it's been a rough ride. We continue to pray for rain!

So what will happen when it eventually does rain?

All those dry patches in our pasture leave the exposed top soil open to simply washing away when the first hard, heavy rain that hits. (Oh goodie, more rocks are sure to emerge). Heavy rains on sun-hardened ground will generally result in heavy runoff; localized flooding is not unusual. Just like roaches, the most durable plants to survive the drought will be weeds - some of them sure to be toxic (like nightshade). Toxic weeds and livestock are not a great combination. Until the rain starts and the pastures start to grow again, there is no way to know how much of the pastures will recover, and how much will need to be restarted with seeds or sprigs. Our hay providers will spend the coming years restoring the health and production of their hay fields; this is likely to mean lower than needed production and increased costs of hay. For awhile, the need to supplemental feed will remain. Producers, state-wide, will spend years rebuilding their herds back to the production levels needed. Sadly, some producers will simply shut-down.

What do we do?

First, we pray that the Lord will continue to watch over us and provide for our neighbors and all those struggling. Beyond that, we simply continue to use our available resources wisely and provide the best care we can for our land and our animals. We are thankful that we are a small ranch and can, for the foreseeable future, will be able to manage.

Want to know more about how the drought is affecting Texas farmers and ranchers?
Please take the time to read this article:
Farmers worry as parts of Texas are driest in US

Nubian Dairy Goat Kids - Coming Soon!

Today is Ophillia's due date!
Poor girl - she is obviously tired of being so pregnant.

Her udder is very full!
We are anxiously awaiting her kids to make their grand debut.

We have a total of eight Nubian does due in the coming weeks.

Stoney Creek and Glory are not far behind Ophillia!

Stay tuned for Nubian kids, coming soon!