A Few Summer Snapshots

Well I haven't been  present in the blogger world very much this summer. I thought I'd share a few snapshots from our summer, that I've happened to capture with my phone.

Shane being the "grill master" for family get-togethers

The kids decided to have a sweet tea stand (we didn't have any lemonade).

I have to mention that we live in an very rural area.  Hardly any traffic comes through our area.  On this particular day, there was quite a bit of traffic.  The kids made a whole $33 at their sweet tea stand.  They also ended up selling Kool Aid too.  At first I thought it would last for a few minutes until they realized there would be no customers.  Boy was I surprised!  They picked the right day to have their stand set up.  I had to end up going inside to make many more pitchers of  sweet tea.  We even ran out of ice.  It was a very busy day. 

Hard workin fellas

We went to my mom's house to pick snap beans several times

One hard-workin girl

I was able to can 21 quarts of snap beans.  This was my first time to do this.

Fence-work on the back 40 is still going on.  It's almost complete

The kids earned KikoBuck$ at the AKGA convention. 

Since earning the KikoBuck$, Dillon has become the proud new owner of his very own registered kiko.  He came home from the AKGA convention ready to start his own herd.  He's been working around the farm helping Shane to save up money to buy his own goats.  He said his goats are gonna "smoke" our goats ( as in perform better than ours in the pasture).  I told him to bring it on!

A little fishing has been done too!

I've also canned tomatoes, and my plants are still producing! 

Ordering school supplies to get ready for our new adventure!

We've even done some traveling.  I plan on adding photos from our recent trip to Ohio.

There's even been some horse riding going on. 

I hope your summer has been as fun filled as ours. I really do hope to get back to getting more frequent blog posts. I apologize to those of you who are faithful readers of this blog.  Mr. AWS and Mr. Mike, I promise to get a few more posts rolling along :) 

Weaning Kiko Kids

Let me make a fair warning in advance, I have uploaded lots and lots of pictures. These are just a few of many that I managed to take, so I just had to share some of them. 

Last week it was time to wean our 2013 kid crop.  We wanted to wean the kids at 90 days.  Of course, they are not all born on the exact day, so there are some that are over 90 days and some that are under 90 days. This spring, when we'd look out in the pasture, we'd really like what we were seeing.  Some years that may not always be the case. I couldn't wait to see what the scales, pencil, and paper would say.

They were rounded up out of the pasture with the Border Collies, Davie and Alex.  I tried my best to get a good photo of the herd, but I tell you, when you've got so many scattered out running towards the gate, it's hard to capture one with all of them in it. 

They get to walk across the road to our working pen that has been converted to a goat working pen.  We have 2 catch pens with alleys and head gates.  They were originally for the cattle, but Shane converted one side to work goats.  It is still a work in progress, but it sure beats the way we first started working goats.  Our 4  running feet, lasso (no lie; you should've been there) and a shepherd's crook.  Now it's Border Collies, pen with alley, and squeeze chute with head gate.  You can see photos of our working pen by clicking here at this link. 

I tried to get a unique photo of the goats in a group here, but it didn't work out as planned. A few stopped to look at me, but those Border Collies kept them moving.  

Shane and Mal walk along behind the goats and help the border collies with any stragglers.

I tell you, that girl is one big help.  Dillon happened to be at his grandma's house on this day.  He had to miss out on all the fun :)

Earlier in the day, before we moved them out of the pasture, I walked around with my camera to try to get some pictures.  Here are a few of them.

This doe always produces well.  We have several daughters, granddaughters, & great granddaughters out of her

doeling

doeling named McFlurry by the kids

buckling

doeling with a lot of spunk

This doe in the photo below is AWESOME!  She is 7.5 years old and still produces some of the biggest and best kids.  She weaned a total of 119 pounds with these 2 bucklings.  One was 61 pounds the other was 58 pounds.  She does this consistently every year with no input.  

We were very pleased with our weaning weights and overall health of our herd.  We did cull 3 mature does out of the main herd, as well as 16 bucklings.   They all averaged about 83.00 a head. 

Also our Anatolian Shepherd puppies are growing! They have just started learning to eat out of the dog feeder.  

We are excited to see how the rest of our kid crop grows out as we whittle them down to the best of 2013. 

2013 AKGA National Convention in Kellyville, OK

Last weekend, we attended the 2013 AKGA National Convention. It's been a while since we've been able to attend any goat gatherings. Last time we made one was in Indiana in '09 and Batesville, MS in '10. It's always nice to get to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. This year's convention was located in Kellyville, OK.

There were a lot of great seminars and speakers.  I wasn't able to get photos of everything, but here are just a few that I managed to get. 

Producer Panel (L-R)  Darlene Cullen, Richard Gamby, Shane Hesterman, Wes Pinneo, Mike Guffey, & Nic Girgenti

Dr. Richard Browning, Jr.

Mr. Sherman Grubb, III

Dr. Steve Hart

Hands on learning; hoof trimming, shots, ear tagging, and microchipping

They also had the first ever AKGA Maiden Doe Futurity.  Does were judged based on phenotype only, with the AKGA conformation guidelines that were on the web site as a basis. The judge was provided with score cards in the 6 specific areas outlined in the conformation guidelines to score goats on: Head, Neck & Forequarters, Body, Hindquarter, Reproductive Organs, and Skin & Coat and an additional area General Overall Appearance and Movement.  Dr. Richard Browning, Jr made the selections. 

AKGA Maiden Doe Futurity Judging and Selection

The top 3 does that were chosen out of those that entered were in the photo below.  They are from ( L-R)  Wes Pinneo; B Bar W Kikos, Jean Gullion; MJ Ironwater Acres, Craig Adams; Adams Family Kikos, also Dr. Richard Browning, Jr from Tennessee State University.

Top 3 in the Doe Futurity

The youth that attended were also given a packet with activities to complete to earn Kiko Kids Buck$.  As you can see, our two kids got busy on the activities to earn some buck$.  Our oldest started talking about his own herd he was going to start since he was able to earn buck$ that could be used towards registration.  

Hard at work

Listening to the speakers so they can fill out the questionnaire

The last day of the convention was concluded with the AKGA Breeders Showcase Sale.  We didn't purchase any goats this year, but there were some nice goats consigned. 

Getting ready for the sale

We are looking forward to the next "goat gathering".

Fixin' Fence

I've mentioned before that our pastures have fencing that is quite old.  It has many places that have been patched.  In December, Shane decided he wanted to include a 4-5 acre area that joins our back pasture with some fencing.  I wrote the post "Back Forty Renovation" back in January about that job.   He realized quickly why his grandpa didn't include it in fencing in the old pasture.  It's very wet and has a creek running through it.  It's been a challenge to get posts set, but Shane has been persistent in getting all of our land fenced in.  This past Saturday, it came time to work on the other corner of the 40.

  

This farm boy really got lesson on fence working 101.  I love to see the pride he has when he gets to help out Shane with the work.  Of course, there's always an occasional grumble and gripe, but generally he tends to want to help.......

even more so when his sister wants to help.  He sure doesn't want her to show him up.  She kept saying, "Daddy let me do something.  I want to help."  This only made the farm boy work harder so his little sister couldn't get a chance. 

We have two really great farm helpers I'm telling you!  We are blessed with 2 great kiddos!

He can really work that drill!

getting ready to pull the fence tight

The kids were discussing how something should be done.  I couldn't tell exactly what they were talking about, but they sure were serious in the discussion!

We've been fortunate enough to finally be able to purchase 21 acres that joins directly to our back 40 pasture.  As we speak, it is being worked and hopefully soon we will be fencing this in too. It is to the right of this dirt road in the picture below.  We sure do have a lot of work ahead of us, but I'm so thankful for the direction our farm is heading.  

Homemade Mineral Feeder

Well I've tried to put together a quick post on how Shane (my husband) made our mineral feeders that we use.  He actually had the instructions saved from an email back in September, so I copied and pasted it and tried to construct some sort of post out of it along with some pictures that I had taken last year. Hope this helps those who have inquired on how they are made.  These will hold 80-100 lbs of loose minerals in each one.  We also use them with our cattle, goats, and horses.  

Take a plastic 55 gallon drum with bungs (I call them plugs) tightened so you can make two feeders.Measure 10" from each end of drum and cut the drum in two separate pieces.  Drill a 7/8" hole in center of each drum. Take a 2" schedule 10 stainless steel pipe and cut two pieces 10" long.

Use four 1" heavy washers and weld a 7/8" nut on them so that a 7/8" bolt can be used.  Take the washers with nut welded on them and place the nut side down inside the pipe, and weld the washer to the pipe on each end. 

This will allow you to attach the pipe to the inside of the two drums that you drilled a whole in.  Use a 7/8" X 2" long bolt with heavy washer to attach pipe to the drum, and do the same step on the other end of pipe with a rubber mat on top of drum.

The rubber mat is 1/2" thick and 3' X 3' square with a 7/8" hole drilled in center.  You can find this mat at saw or pulp mills.

2 completed mineral feeders

Shane had mentioned that not everyone can weld or don't have that option, so he mentioned another idea.  Instead of using the pipe with the welding, he was going to try a treated 4X4 post with the same measurements of 10" long.  You can go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy 3/4" X 3" long lag galvanized bolts with heavy washers and lock washers and do the same as with the bolts with the other feeder.

He also told me I should mention that it has an empty signal too.  If we are out in the pastures and notice one of them in this position, that means they need to be refilled. 

Refill please