CROOKED CREEK FARM

Dottie is now in a birthing stall waiting for her new kids. She will be the last to birth out until April thankfully as the barn is full for now.  The next priority is to select and get some ready for the May sale and show at the Windsor Fair Grounds.  We have a couple of very nice young bucklings who will be 6 months old and going to the sale. ALso we are planning on taking six does to sell there and a few that will be in the show the day after the sale. Got to settle down now and get some paper work done.

Last year we cut our breeding herd in half and because we no longer have as much spring in our step.  we are planning to cut  at least by 50 % again this year so we will be selling some young kids at their mothers side which will help cut our doe herd back to where we can handle it more easily.  We are very grateful to  all of our friends who have been at our side through this season.. It has been a very successful breeding season. Nice healthy moms and kids are already running the pastures during the day. The weather has been great. Lots of sun for them to play in.

Hi All,

A cold winter here in Maine as usual. Back to frozen water buckets thawing in the middle of the kitchen floor, the  tv monitor, and baby monitors are on listening for new arrivils in the barn alll day, alll night. LOL  We have 12 new kids that have been born since the end of December. They are all doing great ( at least they were at feed up time.) It is amazing watching them gain and grow in these unpredictable temps that we experience here. Tough little critters for sure.  Out of the twelve we are bottle feeding two triplet does to help take the load off of the moms. We are fortunate enough to have a dairy goat owner as a neighbor who has been helping us by supplying nice rich goat milk for them. They are both spoiled of course but that is not a bad exchange for the nice healthy  siblings that the moms are able to well care for.

At birthing we noticed that the two moms with the triplets were not producing enough colostrum  / milk to start the kids. We tried time and again to get the little kids nursing to no avail.  Out came the tube. They were all started by tubing them with dehydrated colostrum day one, and one little doe was tubed well into the second day before she finaly got on to her mothers udder. We worried big time that any of them might lose the sucking instinct which has been known to happen. Any way it all worked out and everyone is doing well.

We now have colostrum in the freezer from one of the does who had an abundance of it and will be prepared  if we should run into this problem again.  Boer goats only provide milk enough for their kids they are not like the milking breeds. We watch the kids carefully and if they seem hungry we often take one (in the event of Triplets)off the doe  and put it on the bottle. Three can be a crowd in this breed. 

Our new kids always get 1/2 cc of BoSe (selenium) because we are in a selenium deficient area, They have their navels dipped with iodine and the Moms are wormed  the next day after giving birth and again 10 days later with ivermectin injectable given orally.

A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL..LOL   Ready for the next group.

 The fencing has been sold. It was piled up against the chicken coop so we sure don't miss it.

We still have a few does for sale and our doe Java is expecting kids around November 3rd. Waiting for new kids is always an exciting time for us. Java was bred to Crooked Creek Farms Ci beau a son of Oliver. These will be his first. Hopeing for some real special little ones.

Our garden was a total failure this year. Our land is low and has a lot of clay in it.  Thankfully our friends and neighbors shared the fresh veggies that they were able to grow with us.

We are still trying to build up our garden plot for next year with the help of manure from the goats and llama which they are so generous with.

If anyone would like to try it bring a small container and we will collect llama poo to make llama tea with. 1 cup of llama poo will make up to 5 gallons which can be used directly on garden or house plants.  

Fall brings a lot of changes for the occupants of  our barn.  The hens go into their pen earlier in the evening, The goats return to the barn early as well. As for Bert the goose its another story. We have had to pluck him out of his pool and carry him into the barn so we can close the barn doors for the night. He does a lot of talking about that procedure but soon settles in with the others. 

Have a Happy Fall..

WoW !!

July and my barn smells BAAAAD... We usualy breed once a year and plan on having our young arrive in February or closer to spring.  Doing so is easier on us and on the electric bill along with more opportunity for the goats to get outside.  Been doing that for years. This year ???  The bucks are rutting,  (phew) and the does are driving them crazy.  The smell of all of this is enough to chase anyone from the barn at a time of year that we like to spend time with and enjoy our goats..  In the past we have had an occaisional doe go into estrus but nothing like this so we have started early breeding.  I have talked to some other farmers and they say they are not having this problem,  That leaves out the theory of the  wet and over cast weather being the cause. The only change we have made this year is to feed a higher % of protein than we have ever used before. That, according to the chat lists is a no no. The does are in excellent condition  for just coming off weaning their spring kids which was one reason we tried the higher %.  I guess that could be why they are ready to re-breed ???

ANY ANSWERS  ??

Kidding has ended here at Crooked Creek Farm until April. We now have 30 kids flying around the barn and are happy that we can get a little rest before the next batch. Thanks to our friends it was relatively easy this year. Brian Read, his mother Dottie and Alvin Peabody all pitched in to help us. We are sad to say that we lost a very nice doe who delivered quads,(all bucks,) two of which we are bottle feeding along with a couple of triplets. FUN, FUN !!  

Lola, a little doe out of Bridget has become a favorite already. Personality +, to darn smart and a pain in the butt..  Lets face it. WE are having FUN!!

 It was -9 below zero this morning at 6am. I still am amazed at how tough these Boer kids are. When we went out to feed it was business as usual. Even our young chicks did real well. One more bad night coming up tonight, after which the weatherman said we would be returning to seasonal temperatures. I am wishing for some warm weather so that I can start hatching eggs from our Braggs Mountain Buff hens. We managed to hatch 10 this winter and they are in the barn already. The new pullets should start laying in August.

Please feel free to post an entry. I really enjoy reading comments. The only thing that is bad is that if I want to e-mail back to you your address needs to be included in the message.

Thanks for your visit

January 28th today. Woke up to the fact that it's my 71st birthday & 53rd wedding anniversary for Jim & I. Gotta say that it is a bit scarey. I am thinking that the rocking chair looks more inviting than the cold barn this morning. Oh well, another day in paradise !!

 Winter this year is tough. It has been -24 to +24 for the past month. I am glad that we cut back on goats last summer. As it is now we will still have a busy kidding season and a lot of little kids to dry off and keep warm.

The Mama's seem to be doing well. Our hay this year was a lot less then desirable and may have contributed to  a selenium deficiency so have injected the does with BO' SE and used a lot of nutri-drench on them.

In mid January I spent 3 days working the Ag show with other BGBM members at the Augusta Civic Center. We all enjoyed the fellowship and getting to meet folks who had or are interested in getting goats. Our booth was busy. I feel it was a successful venture.

Now we are looking ahead at the spring and summer shows,

Here in my computer room we have, YES, we have a new hatch of Braggs Mountain Buff chicks and more eggs in the incubator. Hope to sell some soon. They will be early layers. I cannot tell males from females so they will have to go straight run.  We really like our hens and they have been laying all winter. There is nothing like dropping a farm fresh egg in the frying pan..;) 

WELL. LET The Kidding Begin. I think we are all ready. I am sure that I will be talking to some of you during that time.

Our next meeting of BGBM is Saturday the 30th in Skowhegan from 12 noon - 2pm.

We welcome new members so if you need directions call and I can help.

Later,

Judy 

Frozen water buckets and ice on the creek sent a bitter message this morning. Winter is making its way to the North East . Brrrr.  Now the real fun begins such as tripping over the goats thawing buckets on the kitchen floor, Cats that  think that they should live in the bedroom,  A pair of Homer squeekers that will be caged until spring in my kitchen and all of those winter clothes to dress in every day.

I am sure that most of you have not met Rachel yet. She belongs to a dear friend and will be here indefinatly. Rachael has been bred to a fellow named Clinton whose owner is another friend. If all goes well the little one will be ours and will be here in October,09. Here she is in her bridal ensemble.

   Rachael is great with our goats and with us, not sure that she would be aggressive with an intruder or not. Really have to hope that we never find out.

Rudi the rooster (pic in archives) is busy protecting his pullets, They are laying now and producing nice large eggs as we was promised. 

We had a great summer. We showed a buck at the spring show and attended the two summer shows at Windsor without our goats. It was relaxing just being on the sidelines watching the judging. Only a few of the original members of BGBM were there. I missed seeing them tho I am becoming aquainted  with some of the newer folks. The next meeting will be in Skowhegan on dec.6th. Hope to see everyone there.

Until next entry,

Judy

 Here he is.. This is RUDI.

Rudi is a "Braggs Mountain Buff " rooster. His hens are not quite ready to lay their eggs yet. Hopefully by fall the nests will be filled with large & jumbo sized eggs. 

The fellow we bought them from raises them in Texas. We was told that Rudi would crow with a Texas accent.  Haven't heard it yet !!! Oh well, we like him anyway and will be looking for our first golden egg. 

Yes, Another day. July 9, 2008.

I looked at the thermonitor at 6 am and it read 80 degrees. I expect that it will be well over 90 degrees here as it was yesterday. We cooked a steak out on the grill last night  and felt lucky that the mosquitos didn't get to enjoy it before we did.

The goats haven't exhibited much ambition. Because of the heat they spend most of their time laying in the barn.

At the last show we went to, New England Livestock Exhibition, We are pleased to announce that Crooked Creek Farm' Oliver  won a blue ribbon and also ABGA Divisional Championship.  I was really thrilled as he had never been shown before and I presented him as the working buck that he is. NOT OVER CONDITIONED and NOT SHAVED.  A comment made by a spectator was "I didn't know that Boer goats grew coats."  He later bought some from a friend because he realized that they could survive the Maine winters.

Our Braggs Mountain Buff chickens arrived from Texas in May. We had to buy straight run so we had a few to many roosters. I sold some of them as I can't imagine 12 roosters crowing with a Texas accent at daybreak every morning.  We like our hens. They are beautiful.

Kidding season was a busy time this year. Our count was 38 little trouble makers. They did well and were mostly does this year.

We still have 8 fullblood and Purebred doelings here from our spring crop. Only 4  fb & pb bucklings. It seems that we always meet some great folks when the kids are around.

I will try to keep this blog up-dated. The truth is that I get tired out doing goat things and trying to raise a little garden. Sure have been enjoying the beet greens and chard.

Later.....

Judy

Here it is,February 2, 2008. The holidays have passed and Jim has recovered  after a ten day visit at the hospital  with pneumonia. I have more time on my hands until the most of our does start kidding out later this month.

We had our first new arrivals on Jan 30th. Sweet little twin doelings. Their picture is on our for sale page. I got a little shook up when  they  was born because their mom had blood mixed with her milk in the left side of her udder. Upon advice from an on line friend I started to milk her out and found that the liquid gold (colostrum) started coming nice and clear. What a relief.

I do not like to remove kids from their mothers. They need her badly for many reasons. Anyway, all is well for the happy little family.  

We are enjoying some great weather here this morning. Temperatures are over 40 degrees. That makes me dream of spring. Can't wait !!