Management Tips I Learned From My 3 Year Old

1.       “Because I said so!” is never an adequate answer – Every time I use “Because I said so!” I get bombarded with “Why?” over and over until I give up. My kid does not believe that just because I feel that whatever I am telling her is important, that it is actually important. I have learned that every command must be accompanied by a rock-solid list of reasons as for why my kid needs to do what I say. 

2.       Power trips get you nowhere – It may feel satisfying to force my authority on my child, but it rarely gives me the result I am looking for. My need to feel powerful is always undermined by my child’s ability to resist my authority. 

3.       Temper tantrums make everyone look foolish – Being 3 years old means that my kid is in prime temper tantrum territory. She screams and cries, I go nuts trying to get her to stop, we both look crazy. Temper tantrums are best avoided, especially if the reason for them is something not dangerous or fragile. If she wants to wear green socks, pink pants and a blue sweater, I am not going to stop her.

4.       “Time-outs” only work in certain circumstances – You can’t be a one-trick pony and only have one discipline technique in your book. Time-outs are great but they don’t always work. Get creative and have a back up plan.

5.       Compliments are like desserts = ALWAYS NECESSARY! – My kid can’t go to bed without dessert. Sometimes dessert is a triple-decker hot fudge sundae, sometimes it is peas, corn and green beans with butter (I haven’t broken the news to her  that vegetables aren’t technically dessert). Dessert just makes everything better and puts a good note on the end of the day. A big compliment, or even a small one, can make a big difference to how you feel at the end of the day. 

6.       Don’t treat people like they are idiots – My kid knows when I am being patronizing and treating her like a baby. She hates that. Even when she acts like a baby, I have to be careful and treat her like a big girl. 

7.       Don’t choose favorites – I only have one kid but she knows when mommy isn’t happy with her. I have to be careful not to treat her better or worse than her behavior deserves.

Roosters

My rooster froze to death last week. He was not a good choice for a hardy winter bird. He was a Cream-Crested Legbar: a fancy-breed chicken with large combs and wattles. I got him because when paired with a Cream-Crested Legbar hen, their chicks would hatch with visible sex-linked traits so I could tell who is a rooster and who is a hen right away. This is a great advantage to have because you can then cull extra roosters within 1 to 2 days of hatching and not have to put feed and work into a bird you aren’t going to keep. I had bought both a hen and this rooster. Unfortunately my hen flew away and was eaten by varmints within 24 hours of being at my farm. The rooster stayed and was so handsome and well-mannered that I actually culled my old rooster in favor of this young guy. 

I knew that my rooster would have trouble in winter with his extra-large comb and wattles. I have had other roosters in the past with big combs and wattles and they always got significant frostbite. This guy was no different. His end came when he fell asleep roosted on the water dish and must have fallen in the water during the night. In the morning I found him frozen in the water bowl. Poor guy.

Now I am rooster-less. My husband asked me why we need a rooster at all. We don’t hatch chicks very often (every 2-3 years at most) and we have had bad luck with some really mean roosters in the past. He doesn’t feel it is necessary to have a rooster. I couldn’t answer him at the time as to why we needed a rooster. 

This morning I can answer the rooster question. When I was feeding the hens, it just wasn’t the same without a rooster. I threw some bread to the hens and they quickly ate it without letting the other hens know there was a treat. A rooster would have clucked and called to all the hens to let them know there was a treat. He would have waited to eat it until all his girls were gathered around and had a chance to have some. A rooster would have crowed as I did chores to announce the morning and say hello to me. A rooster brings order to the hens and lets them know exactly where they stand in the flock. A rooster also adds a fantastic variety of color and texture to the sometimes dull and somber hens. It just isn’t the same to have a rooster-less flock.

Granted, some roosters are bastards. They are mean to the hens and mean to people. They peck and chase anything that comes near. Sometimes they can even kill other chickens. Luckily roosters are a dime-a-dozen and if you get a nasty rooster, he can easily be replaced. 

So, I am looking for a new rooster. I already have a neighbor who said I can come and have pick of her boys. She has several winter hardy mixed breed roos for me to choose.

Reasons Why So Many Goats Have CAE

Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis (CAE) is caused by a pathogenic virus. The virus can be tested for with a simple $4 blood test. The virus can be prevented from spreading by separating newborn kids from infected moms, feeding the kids heat-treated or cow colostrum, and then bottle feeding them pasteurized milk until weaning. It’s cheap and it’s simple to test and prevent CAE so why do many goat owners allow their goats to live untested and allow them to continue to spread the virus? 

The first reason is most people do not know what CAE is. They are new to goats or haven’t heard about the virus. Many meat goat growers do not know about CAE because due to its subclinical nature, it does not cause economic losses in the meat goat industry and thus can be ignored. The dairy goat industry pays more attention to CAE because dairy goats typically live longer than meat goats and the chances of showing clinical symptoms of CAE are increased with age. Most pet goat owners or hobby farmers do not know about CAE because they haven’t been educated about it.

The second reason people ignore CAE is because there are a lot of myths about what it truly is. Any time you post a question about CAE on an internet goat forum you will get a barrage of BS by people who insist that CAE isn’t a big deal or that it doesn’t need to be prevented or that it doesn’t exist. 

A third reason is CAE is a very subclinical disease. One statistic I have read is that 70-80% of the goats in the world carry the virus; 10% of those goats will die from it. A 10% fatality rate is pretty low when compared to other more deadly diseases. CAE is an immune deficiency virus. It operates much like HIV. Many people carry HIV but do not have AIDS. The same is true for goats. Many goats carry the CAE virus but do not die from it. Does the low fatality rate of CAE make it okay for goats to live untested and able to spread the virus? Does the fact that not all cases of HIV turn into AIDS make it okay for more people to become infected? Sounds pretty ridiculous when you consider it that way.

The fourth reason is that people simply say “My goats look healthy, so they must BE healthy”. Again, because CAE is highly subclinical, people do not associate goats that “look” healthy with goats actually carrying a pathogenic virus and spreading it. I was of this camp for a long time. I assumed that since my dairy goats looked healthy, had kids and gave milk normally, and didn’t have any symptoms commonly associated with CAE, that the MUST be healthy. Well, I was terribly wrong. When I finally tested my herd for CAE, every single goat was positive! I have seen this happen time and time again to people who test their herds for the first time. They assume their goats will be uninfected, only to find out that most, if not all, of the goats are actually infected. 

A final reason people ignore CAE is that the classic, documented CAE symptoms are similar to symptoms caused by other goat diseases. CAE can cause arthritis in the front knees, but not all arthritis is because of CAE. I have seen goats with cracking knees and other arthritic symptoms that tested negative for the virus. CAE can cause sudden encephalitis and death in kids. Well, so can most other fatal kid diseases. CAE can cause hard udders at freshening. This can also be caused by mastitis and udder edema. Of course, I wonder if the actual number of CAE positive goats who succumb to the virus is actually a lot higher than 10% because of symptom/causal confusion. Many goat owners do not have post mortem examinations or necropsies performed on their goats so there is rarely confirmation of cause of death beyond the owner looking at the symptoms and drawing a straight line to the most logical cause. Also arthritis and hard udders aren’t typically fatal. They can both be mitigated and the goat can live just fine. Thus people don’t always take the next step from symptom treatment to looking for the cause, which is often the CAE virus. 

Bottom line – CAE is a disease that can cause illness in goats. Your goat may not die from CAE but your goat’s health may be impacted dramatically. Why would anyone spend time, energy and money caring for their goats, only to have them be potentially sick from an easy to test for and easy to prevent viral pathogen??? It is not acceptable to pretend that CAE is not a big deal and that CAE infection status does not need to be documented in every goat. 

Please test your goats for CAE and please take the necessary precautions to stop its spread.

Christmas for the Goats!

Even the goats get a Christmas tree at my house!

The Buck Stops Here

Did you know that in order to get milk from a goat it has to be bred and deliver kids? This means that not only do you have to have a female goat on your farm in order to make milk, you have to have a male goat (or access to one). This presents a problem for many small goat herders because male goats can be a real pain to care for. 

The male goat is an interesting creature with some very unique habits. Fully grown male goats are typically larger than females and typically more aggressive. I know many people who have purchased or raised bucks from kids and have called me frantically when the buck is a year old because he is trying to kill their other goats or their children. No matter how sweet some bucks are when they are little, they can grow up to be real bastards. 

Another unique feature of male goats is they produce a musky smell that is described as falling somewhere between rotting garbage and dead skunk on the stink scale. There have been a few times when I have rounded the back of my barn headed to the buck pen where I am almost knocked sideways by the power of the stink. I do not normally have a fickle stomach but I have wretched a few times out behind the barn due to overwhelming buck stink. This stink is oil-based and can get on EVERYTHING! The only effective way I have found to get it off of my hands is to wash my hands with toothpaste (no lie!). Bucks think this smell is awesome and they love to spread it around by rubbing their scent glands, located on the top of their heads and at the base of their tails, on things and other animals. Bucks enhance their particular “eue d’parfum” by sticking their faces between their front legs and spraying pee on their heads. By the end of breeding season, a fully mature buck is usually crusted with several layers of musk, piss, and dirt. Yay…

Besides the aggression and the stink, bucks present other challenges to keeping on a farm. It is highly recommended that you do NOT house your buck with your does unless for breeding purposes only. This means that you need a separate place to house your bucks. Bucks can get very determined to be with your does when the girls go into heat, so not only should their area be separate, it should be well fortified against attacks by amorous male goats who want to get loose to get some action. Does can also be determined to get bred so your buck pen should not only keep your bucks from getting out, it has to keep your does from getting in. It is highly recommended that you do not keep bucks by themselves and provide them with a suitable companion, either a neutered male goat or another buck. Thus, if you have one buck you plan to use for breeding, you will need to maintain two goats at all times. 

Most small farms don’t have a ton of space for housing bucks separately. And most don’t have enough hay/pasture/feed to carry the maintenance of two or more male goats all year round. Is there sufficient reason to feed them 365 days a year for only 5 minutes worth of work during breeding time? 

There are a couple of ways to deal with the problem of breeding your goats and needing a buck:

1.       Borrow a buck – Bucks are a dime a dozen during the fall breeding season so it can be very easy to borrow a buck for a few days or weeks to get your does bred. It helps if you know when your girls are coming into heat so you can accurately time the arrival of the loaner buck with when your does will be bred. Depending on the buck’s owner, some are fine with loaning him out for a few weeks until you are sure your goats are pregnant.

2.       Stud fee – Some breeders will allow you to use a high quality and/or registered buck in return for some money. This is a great way to use a registered buck without paying a lot for him or feeding him. Most people offering stud fees prefer that you bring your doe to their farm and either leave her there for breeding or do a “driveway date” where the buck breeds the doe when you show up and then you take her immediately back home with you. This requires that you know exactly when your girl is in a standing heat so that she will be ready for him as soon as you get out of the car. 

3.       Pump and dump – Like I said, bucks are a dime a dozen most of the time. If you surf Craigslist in the spring or fall, chances are you will find ads for very cheap or free male goats. You can pick up a cheap buck kid in the spring and raise him until fall to use for breeding. Most bucks are fertile and ready to mate at 4 months old, so a spring kid can be ideal. You can also usually score a mature buck in the fall and use him for a few months. Once your girls are bred you can turn around and dump him back on Craigslist or better yet, dump him in your freezer! Buck goats can carry a decent amount of meat on them. Even the smelliest bucks can be turned into pretty yummy sausage without too much hassle. Eating your leftover buck is a great step towards eliminating animal abuse because you are being responsible by euthanizing him for food. You can never tell what a person will do with an unneeded buck when you sell him or give him away. I have heard and seen too many horror stories of buck goats being abused after breeding season was over because the current owners were too cheap or stupid to care for them properly. 

4.       Linebreeding – Chances are, every year that you breed goats you will have bucks born on your farm. The best of these can be chosen to be rebred to their relatives in the fall. I typically save a buck kid from the spring’s kids to use each fall. I try to choose the best looking kid and the one that is least related to the does I plan to breed him to. I typically do this for 2 generations and then bring in new genetics by using a completely unrelated buck. This process can work quite well but you do have to be aware that linebreeding can concentrate bad genetics, just as easily as it can capitalize on good genetics. There’s a common adage in the goat world regarding this, “It’s called linebreeding if it works and produces good kids, and inbreeding if it don’t”. 

5.       Artificial insemination – Don’t be scared to try this if you can find someone in your area who can perform the procedure. This is a super easy and sometimes less expensive alternative to having a live buck to breed your girls. AI does require some special equipment and preparation to ensure the success at breeding. You might have to give your does some hormone shots or implants to get them ready for the procedure. You will also need to purchase semen and have a nitrogen tank available to store it in. Luckily most large breeders of cows, sheep, and goats are skilled in AI so you can get lucky and find a local farmer to help you do the procedure. AI is a fantastic way to breed superior genetics to your girls without paying superior prices for the use of the buck.

Biggest Loser Contest!

My workplace had a "Biggest Loser" contest this summer. It ran from May 31 to August 30. We all put $20 in the pot and whoever lost the most percentage of body weight got all the money. I didn't win but I did well and lost about 22 lbs. I am hoping to keep up the good work and continue to eat my vegetables and exercise. I lost the weight by giving up most sugars, all pastas and breads, all potatoes, and other starches/carbohydrates. I ate a lot of vegetables and fruit, with plenty of cheese and meat. Yay me!

Before at 220 lbs.

After at 198.2 lbs

Yarn from Goats!

 When you take this: 

And then subtract that:

 You get these!

I sent three shearings worth of fleece from Figaro (my Angora goat) to Battenkill Fiber Mill last fall. This summer they sent me a big huge box filled with 40 skeins of lovely yarn. At the mill, they washed the fleece, carded it, mixed it with 80% merino sheep wool, and spun it into yarn. I had 9 skeins dyed purple, 9 done green, and 9 done red/pink. The lady at the mill urged me to save a few skeins undyed because the natural fiber color was so wonderful (that's the white skein on the left). She said people were trying to purchase the yarn from her before she could get it in the box to ship to me! That's how nice it turned out!

I can't don't knit and can't really crochet. Luckily I have a mother-in-law who can knit very well so she will be getting this lovely yarn to work with. Even though I am not a yarn user, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have my very own goat's fleece made into yarn. How many people can point in their pasture to the animal who made their hat?!