First visit to the dairy

The newest goat farmer in town. Well, it only took him 12 days to come to the farm :-) This is our newest grandson, Cruz. He slept through most of his visit to our house today. We are so excited to have a new milker coming up and Mary and Erik are so proud of this little guy (as are we)! Just had to share the latest pic of our new grandKID!

Kids of a different kind

I am going to post about some of the new "kids" that have been born to friends and family this year. The first one being Haley Jewel. This picture says it all. You can really see true love in the eyes of Haley and Grandma Gaye. We spent most of last summer in Montrose, CO caring for a dear friend that was losing his long battle with cancer. Through him we have become very close with some of the most wonderful people. Doug & Gaye, Tim & Amber, Tyler, Marilyn, Verna, Walter ... just to name a few. When Jack was close to the end, Tim and Amber found out that they were expecting. It was such a bittersweet time in their lives. Losing their Uncle Jack and finding out they were to be blessed with a new life. This baby would have been the apple of her Uncle Jack's eye! Oh, how I wish he could have seen this future Cover Girl. I miss Montrose!

Little Mike

Well, Natalie's little premie, Z36, is now a regular kid! We have been calling him Mike. He is bouncing around like all of the other kids now. Here is his picture. He is 2 weeks old and the size of most newborns. He is going to a 4H home today. I have really become attached to this guy. He was disbudded last night and did great. Bye Mike!

Sneaky Sharon

Sharon is one of those goats that likes her own kind better than the human kind. She was raised just like the others were but is her own goat! I check the ligaments by a doe's tailbone two or three times daily when the time gets near. It has been a great indicator and I have caught most of the girls within 12 hours of kidding. Sharon, stinker that she is, didn't make it easy to do the checks. I usually would have to get Wendell to help me and he is so busy. So ... we found Z39 in the doe pen. She had hidden her birth even from Luna! He was still gooey and wet when Wendell went to fix a fence near her hiding place. Sharon is an excellent mom! She was cleaning him like nobody's business. She loves her baby buckling. He is black and white with a white snip on his nose just like his mom. He weighed 7 lb 10 oz and is very heatlthy. Sharon is not as crazy in the barn as I had expected. She's only had one milking so far that was a little bit of a rodeo.

Barbara Helps the Doe Ratio

I pulled Barbara from the doe pen last night. She looked like her udder would explode and she was showing other signs the time was near. About 4 this morning I was convinced we would be having morning babies. Then she was still the same after milking. She was arching her back and straining while standing. Sometimes they will do this when a kid isn't lined up right. So, after a few more pushes that were going nowhere, I discovered only one leg and one head in the birth canal. After a little rearranging -- a 6.1# black and white roan doeling came out with a bit of help. Shortly after followed another 6.3# black and white doeling. Both were trying to stand within minutes. I fed them colostrum, Vitamin E, B12 and weighed them. The two are doing great. The roan girl looks so gray already. We are going to call her Gertie. The other one is Teri. I now have 21 to milk twice daily with 8 does left to kid.

Anniversary #28

Here is a picture of us going to our Jr/Sr Prom. Wow! Sweet 16 for sure. I would put a picture of our wedding, but I have it on my other computer :-) It has been a great 28 years and we are celebrating with friends and family. We are going to have a bonfire after milking tonight.

Cruz Control!

Okay! Okay! I have been so busy that I have not even blogged about Z37! HA HA! Not really, this kid's our new grandson. I will finally sit down and take the time to blog about Mary having her baby. Talk about a dream pregnancy/delivery/healthy baby experience. She even looked gorgeous after delivery. Cruz Ryan Hernandez is now part of the Crow Clan. He weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces, 19-1/4" born at 7:44 am on June 9th, 2009. His APGAR was 9/9. What a healthy little baby -- and all this at three weeks premature! We are so blessed. Mary's water broke a bit after 11pm the night before and we all headed to Good Sam. After a few hours, Wendell had to get back to milk. Mary wanted me with her during delivery so I got out of the milking chore! Wendell was still milking when Mary delivered Cruz (four contractions) and I called Wendell as he was making his way into this world. Wendell could hear everything and since we didn't know the sex of the baby it made it even more exciting! He heard Mary say "It's a boy!" and then heard his first cries. It was perfect. We are so happy for Mary and Erik.

Finally Standing

Natalie's little guy stood up on his own today! I am moving his odds up to 90/10 now to make it. When he was first born it was touch and go. I thought he had a 40/60 chance to live. So small and weak. I have been getting up at midnight to feed him and checking to make sure he is breathing before I go to the trouble of warming some milk. Usually, I have the milk on to warm before I realize I am awake. All of the moms out there know what I mean ;-) And, with healthy kids you don't need to do the toileting thing. I am so glad he can stand now because I won't have to be changing his paper towel diapers that I would make for him. Woo hoo!

NICU

The Nubian Intensive Care Unit has a new patient. Z36 was born a week premature and is doing fairly well considering that. Natalie kidded with little effort when she had the 4-1/2 lb singleton buckling. He has markings just like dad and is so cute. I am feeding him once every three or four hours and since he can't stand yet (getting close though), I have to also do all of the toileting for him -- not my favorite part of the job. I have him in the back room of the dairy house where the scorpions are. Yes, the scorpions. Wendell and David are collecting the ones we find in a terrarium. These are not Bark Scorpions (because I would have killed those by now) but the less venomous Giant Desert Hairy. They are ten times bigger, twice as creepy, but not nearly as dangerous. The guys all chase down bugs to feed them since I am not, I repeat, am not going to be responsible for them. Ewww! My next animal will be Guinea Fowl! They love to eat scorps!

More Juice!

Though some of you may think this is Wendell, it isn't. It is Johnny working on the electricity -- AGAIN. We can't thank him enough! We now have power in the Cheese Studio and the Tank Room. Becky and I run parts and make sure that the crew has food and drink. The guys will be working on the boiler installation this weekend. Things are really starting to take shape. Wendell has finished the paint on the barn since this picture was taken. He is painting the house today. We are very excited to be nearing the end of construction!

Monica goes home!!!

We received a phone call in response to the Lost and Found ad that we had placed in the newspaper. The lady said that they had been missing their 8 year-old daughter's poodle for over three months. She had wandered away when she was in season. The description she gave matched the little white poodle that Wendell had rescued. This dog was supposed to be very friendly. This was not our experience with her. So, they told me her name was Monica. It was dark when I went out to the kennel where we were keeping her. I called out her name and it was the FIRST time that she ever came to me. It had to be her because we had been trying and trying to get her to come. They came and picked her up the next day. We were all very happy to see her find her owners. A real Lady and the Tramp story. If we could only find "Watson's" owners now. He is still hanging around here. Gets along great with the kitties so we will keep looking for his family. Wendell jokes that he will still be here 12 years from now!

No More Tangles!

Wendell called me on the cell the other day and said that he had tracked down two stray dogs and was on the way home with them. He told me they looked like they had been lost for a very long time. When I saw them I knew he was right. The poor Poodle/Maltese/? mixes were a matted mess! It took Wendell, Becky and I three hours of scissoring to remove their matts. Now granted, we are not dog groomers, but I am sure that this was one of the BEST groomings they have ever had. We have put an ad in the paper's lost and found section and posters around the area. I hope that we can find their owner. It looks like each of them has had a broken leg that healed wrong. Probably from being hit by a car during their ordeal. So sad!

On a happier note ... The 50 baby chicks that I ordered arrived at the post office this morning. We have cheep cheeps again :-) We also have two new kittens. Lexia named them Teeter and Totter. They are brothers and aren't exactly lap kitties yet. One bit me! They were found feral when they were small. So, with a little goat milk and patience, I am sure they will be great rodent chasers. Watch out ground squirrels, T and T will be on the prowl soon.

Thanks to Johnny, I can milk after sundown!

Wow, have we been busy! My lack of posts tell the story. My nephew, Johnny, got lights to work in the holding pen. Yes! He worked so hard up there on the ladder. I really appreciate all that he did. I can finally get rid of my extension cord and lamp to see at night. This helps so much when I go out to check everyone in the evening. We have so much family support and feel so blessed. Thanks also to Alan and Teri for lunch at Raul and Theresa's. It was a much needed break and we enjoyed it very much. Wendell is painting the final coat on the inside of the barn today. Will try and get some pics up soon of the improvement. It looks soooo good. Still a few days until the next kid is due. Wendell is headed to Snowflake to visit David and Kathryn this weekend. Taking some stuff up. Maybe he will bring me a new doe home :-)