One of.........not necessarily the most, aggravating goat here at Bending Tree Ranch is one we call "BF", short for (tongue in check) "Best Friend." BF used to follow Ms Charlie around all day while we were doing chores. She helped her feed and put out hay. She could squeeze in and out of pens, jumped up in the buggy or the wagon at most stops, etc. Fortunately for ME, it was Ms Charlie that she preferred to shadow. Thus, the name "Best Friend" because she just seemed to love Ms Charlie.

BF is also very LOUD. I have thought seriously about selling her but last year she got herself bred. She was not quite a year old and I was not going to breed her but BF had other plans for herself. She had the most gorgeous kid born that year. Sadly, we lost her baby this past summer in all the extreme heat we were having. Just made us all sick. So, this past Fall I put her back with the same buck and asked her to PLEASE give us another doe kid like her last one. And, bless her heart she did just that plus, one more. 

 For a yearling doe, BF does run a tight ship. She keeps her girls close by at all times. She won't let them curl up in a doghouse with the other kids. If they do go in the doghouse she stands and screams until they come back out. I have to give her credit for her mothering skills. And, thank goodness her babies are very quiet. ~Pat

First bottle kids of 2013

When I first got into goats I thought bottle kids were such fun. Now, not so much. I still fall in love with them but I dread the responsibility. But this is part of the job when raising animals whatever the breed or species. My first two are not siblings, not orphans but victims of happenstance. One little guy started out with a great mom but he is just a dummy. He knew to go to his dam and butt around but couldn't figure out what the teat was for. I thought surely he would figure it out. I milked mom and tube fed him hoping with some colostrum in him along with some additional Thiamine maybe his brain would kick in. I tried a couple of times to help him nurse through-out the day but he would take 4 or 5 sips and back off and start crying again. Poor mom kept looking at me as though asking me to fix him. I brought him in. He loved the bottle and for the first time he was warm and full. He fell asleep standing in front of the gas heater. He finally woke up enough and sat down on an old radio we got out when we had bad storms come through earlier in the week. Later he decided it was okay to lay down.

The second kid was just born to a dummy mom. First time to kid. She had no idea what was going on and spit one out, focused on it and never looked back at the second one. Put her in a small bonding jug and she would bite, butt and try to grind him into the dirt. I held her several times a day to let him nurse. Fortunately, for him he is a fighter and he took every opportunity to snatch milk from her. He stayed full but after finding him wandering loose in the hay barn I decided enough. She had to have butted him up the panel at least 18 inches off the ground and shoved him through a hole for him to have gotten out of the pen. He loves being inside and gulping down a bottle without having to chase after it. 

It's triplets for Bridgette!!

Bridgette, is what I call the "perfect" commercial goat. Her great grandmother was my LaMancha doe, Blondie. Blondie was bred to a Boer buck. The doe kid from this breeding was bred to a heavily muscled Myotonic buck. That breeding produced Bridgette's dam. Her dam was then bred to a heavily muscled Myotonic buck and Bridgette was born. This year Bridgette  was bred to a TexMaster™ buck and she gave us triplets.........a buck and doe with gopher ears like their mother and an eared doeling. I  have the hardest time keeping any doelings from these breedings...........from Blondie's kids and all of her daughters. When buyers see these meaty, fast growing kids they snatch up whatever doelings I will let go of. I turned down so many buyers wanting Bridgette and still do. Everyone wants her when they see her. And they always want her gopher eared daughters. This time I plan to keep the newest "Blondie" for myself. Sorry.........folks!~Pat

Our lovely roosters and some of our hens. We enjoy our chickens so much. The fresh eggs are so much better than those bland, anemic yolked things you buy in the grocery store. 

Our chickens free range. They have almost completely wiped out our tick population and it was horrible. They break up into 3 different groups at night when they roost. One group goes to the chicken house, another group roosts behind the barn and the third group roosts on the big bird cage on the porch. ~Pat

It was a warm, sunny January day and Nuisance and Nunsy, TexMaster™ yearling sisters were having a blast running, bucking and playing "king of the hill." They would run to the top of the woodpile, jump down and gallop over to the top of the bathtub and circle back to the woodpile. At one point Alice in Wonderland, a Myotonic doe strolled by. Nunsy made it clear that Alice was not invited to play with them.~Pat

Susie is one of our Anatolian Shepherds who guards our goats. She is the daughter of our very first Anatolian, Samsun. He was a fabulous guardian, who is greatly missed. Susie is very serious about her job. She mourns whenever there is a loss and is excited when the new babies come along. And on rare occasions she will put up with us doing silly things to her.~Pat

The past couple of days have been heavenly. Lots of sunshine, temperatures in the upper 50's. The babies are loving snoozing in the sunlight. Sunny days makes both the animals and the humans very happy~Pat