Farm Visitors

We absolutely love to have folks stop by our farm to visit with us and hear us talk about our animals. We have had the opportunity to meet some amazing people and made some lifelong friendships because of farming.  A couple of weekends ago, we had 3 different families stop by in one day.  We decided to take pictures earlier that day to share.  

First thing that morning we had the Templet family come over from Louisiana.  Our kids had a blast catching frogs by the pond with their daughter.  Before it was all said and done, the three kiddos decided to take a little dip in the pond.  And yes........the cows ended chasing them out.  They said they didn't want any of that fresh poo on them.  I wished I had kept my camera on me to document that.  

 

Next we had a visit from our dear sweet friends, the Shows'.  They came to pick up two kid goats that were bottle babies to deliver to a friend.  We also gave them a tour of our remodeling progress.   Shane, Dillon, and Mallory also got in the photo.  We have known the Shows' for a few years now, and consider them to be like family to us.  They are precious folks.

 

Our last visitors were the Hanberry's.  By that time in the day, my mind left me and I forgot to get a picture of their family.  Ms. Hanberry was nice enough to email me a picture of their son holding a kid goat to share on the blog.  They are new to goats and extremely excited to get started in their "goating" endeavor. 

Anytime you'd like to come by for a visit, let us know, and we'd be happy to have you!

Small Ruminant Field Day in Baton Rouge, LA

We received this notice by email the other day and I thought I would post it for those that may be interested in attending. You can find more information at LSUagcenter's website here.

 

Give That Photo A Name!

Here we go again with one of those photos that just deserve to be given a caption. Go ahead and give it a try......Just leave it in the comment section below.

This photo below earned the caption:  "Snot good"  the last time thanks to AWS.  I thought that one was pretty clever!

"Snot good"

He's Back...

Gold Digger is now back at Deep South Kikos. He had been "working" for the past few months at a farm near the George/Greene county line. Of course the usual pecking order rituals took place after he arrived to the buck pasture. He only has one horn due to this same pecking order ritual that occurred a while back. You can read about that here.

Gold Digger

He had a small "scur" that had started growing in the place of the horn that had been broken off.  That scur  has also been knocked off due to the head butting that ensued when he arrived yesterday.  Of course, now everyone has found their order out of 7 fellas.  They are all getting along now.  Thank goodness!

FAMACHA Eye Scoring

The other day I noticed a link online to a video that Purdue University has done about using the FAMACHA eye scoring system for goats.  This is the same method that we use on our goat herd.  Each month we gather up the goats and check their eye scores and record it for our records.  We are able to look back at the records of those particular goats that have to be wormed to see if they have had to be wormed previously.  We select for goats that do not have issues with parasites.  Those that do have problems are culled.  Our climate here in the southeast is a breeding ground for internal parasites, so it is imperative for us to have animals that can survive and thrive under these  conditions with little to no intervention.  That is the best thing about kiko goats.  They are so much hardier than any of the other breed of goats we have owned in the past.  They are parasite resistant, super mothers, and their kids are very aggressive just minutes after being born.  They jump up, not long after hitting the ground, looking for a meal.  It's amazing, if you've never seen it.  Now I will be the first to tell you that as wonderful as the kiko breed is, there are some kikos that don't perform....shall I say..... up to par.   That is why we have chosen not to sell any of our goats until they have "performed" here on our farm.  We want to make sure that if you get a Deep South Kiko goat that it will live up to our standards and meet the expectations for you.  

OK.  So I've kinda gotten off track about the video.  I wanted to post it here on our blog for those that may have never heard of it and are interested.  Shane and I have talked to a lot of people around here, and many were not aware of  FAMACHA.  I'm not sure of any FAMACHA clinics being held locally at this time, but if you are aware of any, please leave a comment in section below of location, date, and time.  

Here is the video. 

      

Ahhh.....The Fun of Growing up in the Country!

I came across this photo I had taken earlier in the year. I planned on sharing it and telling how great our border collies are to our operation here. They round up the cattle and goats with just a command from Shane. He trained the oldest one several years ago. Now her daughter is mature enough that she gets to participate on the herding excursions. She is learning and catching on pretty quickly.

Can't you just see the devotion of those border collies towards Shane.  It's such a nice moment to capture, but my favorite part of this photo is beyond the dogs with their master.  If you'll notice the two little figures in the distance......that is my favorite part.  Can you guess what they're doing?  Look closely........Do you have any ideas yet?

Well my friends, they are kicking cow patties that have dried up a little.  Yep.  That's what our kids do out in the pasture for fun.  Crazy isn't it.  If you could have only heard the laughter coming from their direction, one would've thought they were playing a game like soccer, or maybe even tag.  Not our two though.  They prefer to kick over as many cow patties as possible.  Every now and again one of them accidentally gets a hold of a "fresher" one and I hear, "Oh, man!".  Don't you envy doing the laundry and such at my house?

Country Girl's Creamery

A few months ago, we noticed this milk in a cooler at our small little hardware store, which is close to our kid's school.  It was a little more expensive than the milk we purchase at the grocery store, but we didn't have to drive 20+ miles to go get it.  It was convenient for us, so we decided to try it since we were close to running out of milk at home.  Ever since that day, we haven't gone back to any other brand of milk.  This milk is pasteurized but not homogenized, so all of the cream will rise to the top.  All you have to do is give it a little shake, and you are ready to go!  It is the best tasting milk ever !  Here is a video that I found that talks about the dairy farm that produces this milk.  It isn't very far from where we live.  We really like supporting local businesses, and this milk is definitely worth it.  (They also have other dairy products available).

 

Thistle and Stinging Nettles

One wouldn't think that this beautiful flower belonged to a plant that most farmers hate to see sprout up in their pastures. While the flower is lovely to look at.........

the plant itself, is not.  

 

The picture below is of a well established plant in our back pasture.  It is a type of thistle, and is very common in our area.  Each plant produces many, many seeds that become airborne when the flower turns all white and fluffy.  Similar to the way a  dandelion does.  

Here is a closer view of all of the "leaves" that are on the stalk. They are covered in very large thorns. Take it from me, those thorns are fierce. They are not something you want to come into contact with.

One of the things I have noticed about the thistle is that it attracts lots and lots of stink bugs.  It's amazing to see how many stink bugs can occupy this one plant.

 

stink bugs

and more stink bugs

Most folks try to spray this weed with an herbicide to try to eradicate it.  We, on the other hand, just let the goats get after them. It's amazing to watch them nibble at that thorny bush and eat it like it's candy.    Unfortunately our back pasture isn't completely goat proofed yet, so they are unable to get these just yet, but in time hopefully we will get it.  

Another weed here at our farm, that we most definitely steer clear of, is this one in the picture below. The kids call it a stinging weed. If any skin comes into contact with it, it will cause some of the worst stinging ever! I've been told by several people that this is a type of stinging nettle. It is short lived here, it comes up and dies off in a couple of months. Those few months they are here, we are ever so careful not to come into contact with it. This is one of the plants I think neither the goats nor cattle have any desire to consume.

notice the fine little hair-like needles on the plant

If you look closely at the photos, you will notice all of the tiny little hairs on the plant.  They can actually "poke" through clothing and come into contact with your skin.  I found that out the hard way a while back.  I've learned to check before I take a seat in the grass around here.

 

It grows everywhere!

I hope everyone had a great Easter. We had several visitors Saturday here at the farm.  I got some photos that I will have to share next time.  I will be trying to work on the blog a good bit today.....

Colts, Calves, and Kids

I went out this morning to see if we'd had any new calves born and those crazy horses followed me everywhere I went. I realized that I haven't put a picture up of the colt lately....This one's for you Mr. AWS :) 

The calf on the left was born last week, and I had taken this picture right after he was born because his eyes were so bright and I'd never seen anything like it.  We've never had one with eyes this color.  They are so beautiful.  I wondered if they were this color due to being blind but it seems to me that he is able to see.  A week later they are still just as bright. Just had to share.....

 

This little guy was watching me curiously, so I decided to take his picture...When I got off of the mule, he looked like he was ready to break into a fast run to get away.  I managed to get his picture before he was able to.

 

Of course I had to share  some kid pictures.  They are literally everywhere I turn.  I think we ended up our first round of kidding with 65 kids being born. 

I just love their little curious faces

playing around

One last thing, baseball is in full swing around here. I will try very hard to continue to make posts on the blog and not forget ;)  It looks like we are going to have a great season this year.  Dillon's coach this year is AWESOME!  I think he will learn so much this year, and have fun while doing it!