Farmtalk

Bucklings lining up for combing
Tree

I combed goats at the farm today. I started off with two of the doelings. The first was not shedding much, so I moved onto a second, very wild doeling. Boss was doing hooves in the same stall, so she helped me collar the goat and got some special grain for her as a treat to help gentle her.

I moved very slowly and combed softly and got some very nice cashmere fiber off of her.

The bucklings were the priority, and I was just killing time until P and R were ready to go on the hill. P promised to lock all the bucklings in after graining, and Boss directed me to the one in the forefront of the buckling pic I posted a few days ago. The one I was combing is second in the photo-follow the chain, lol.

The little guy I was working on is adorable-he kept looking at me with that quizzical expression and tasting any part he could reach. Another buckling, little silver grey Homer, found my body to be the perfect place to scratch his face, and worked on my shoulders and elbows while I was squatting, and my legs and butt while I was standing.

He was obviously the next one in the combing line! (paybacks...hehe) The friendly ones, they change their tune a bit when you collar and chain them. HOmer's response was to keep the chain pulled taut , but he was not jumpy at all.

I worked him over with the slicker. He had a ton of hay chaff that had worked down through his hair and must have been a great source of discomfort for him! I was more focused on getting him brushed clean then I was for the cashmere.

His cashmere is very short, as is the case with most of the white goats, and he was losing the longer guard hair as well. I nearly filled his small bag by the time I was finished with him. He looked so much better all brushed!

As I was signing out with Boss for the week, she mentioned that the Prescott fence needed attention as one of the smaller bucks was getting out. I had disconnected one of the lower wires earlier in the season so the fence wouldn't short out in the snow, and I figured enough snow had melted the goat was getting out at the lower wires.

I didn't have any tools with me, so I was going to fix it tomorrow, but as I started to leave I decided I would just worry about it, and asked the boss to borrow some of her husband's tools to fix now. I drove over to Prescott and went into the ell to unplug the charger to reconnect the fencewires, and discovered that someone had stolen the extension cord!!!!

I just cannot believe people!!! To unplug the cord to the charger and steal it...grrr...In retrospect, I am suprised they didn't steal the charger as well, since that is more valuable
than the cord.

At any rate, I called Boss on the cell and told her what was up, and drove back over to the farm for another, her last, extension cord. I ran the cord and secured the doors to the place.

I was thinking on the way home that we should get a small padlock for the cord. That way if anyone wanted to steal it they would have to cut the plug to take it!