I can get attached to a piece of clothing. I have several pairs of camo shorts that Tammy would like to throw away. It’s hard to get rid of a good fitting pair of shoes or a hat that just feels right. But I’m not on TV.

Duke and I enjoy watching Swamp People. Troy Landry is probably everyone’s favorite gator hunter. But how bad is that shirt that he has worn gator fishing on every episode. I know it is his lucky shirt, but it can’t be lucky every day. I did a search on it and there is even a facebook page for his shirt. This is not a shirt worn to a climate controlled office, but instead in the swamp and wrestling gators and maybe worse, handling the bait that he uses. I guess whatever works for him.

We have one bottle baby on feed. “Fred” is the Dragon Lady’s. If you ever have to feed bottle babies, make sure you use Doe’s Match milk replacer. It is the best stuff out there for bottle babies.

Starting to hear from a lot of people that are all of a sudden needing help getting their goats ready. Even though they have had them all winter, they haven’t done much with them other than dump feed in front of them twice a day. Now they realize that they have a month until they are done and they realize that it might be too late to get things done right. They all have an excuse and it normally has something to do with basketball.

I do think that there are way too many basketball games, but this is only an excuse if you let it be one. I know some families are running goats at lunch hour. Others before school. They practice setting up at night in the barn or in the garage. You for sure have to maximize weekends to work goats properly. It just takes hard work and creativity. And yes, even the parents have to help sometimes. These kids will be successful as they learn hard work, time management and priorities.

And sometimes they don’t use basketball as an excuse. Sometimes, it is just laziness. Either way, its okay if you aren’t working your show animals, because somebody is at home working theirs. And that is who wins.

We didn’t do anything too exciting for the super bowl. Duke and I got in from the barn in time to watch the half time show. I’m not a big Madonna fan, but I actually thought that it was a pretty good show. Watched the second half. Kind of a wild game. Didn’t really care who won.

While in Phoenix, we went to Cabela’s. Duke picked out an orange target shooting ball. We have been having a blast with this thing. It is made of some kind of self healing plastic. You don’t know which way it is going to spin when you shoot it. He and I alternate shots at it. We will push it about 100 yards with 25 shots each from a .22. It will spin, roll, gyro and occasionally bounce. I’ve shot it with .223 and 9 mm, but definitely cheaper with .22. Big fun.

We sent all of our entries in for OYE and Enid this week. Those deadlines are rapidly approaching.

Have already heard reports of people wanting to buy babies that are 3-4 weeks old. Others have told me to come look as they have one I need to see. “How old?” I ask. Two weeks. That isn’t old enough for me to get excited about a baby. They change too much from week 3 to week 6. I don’t start analyzing the ones at my house until they are about 5 weeks old. I pay more attention starting at 6 weeks of age.

Thank GOD!!! Although the rain didn’t extend very far west into the TX panhandle, NW Oklahoma did get a much needed rain. The gauge at my brother’s house SE of Shattuck had over 5.5″ in it yesterday. Had a customer 8 miles west of Woodward had 6.25″. Go just west of Shattuck on the state line and they got about 3″, go another 10 miles west of there and they didn’t get any. We had about 3″ here.

This rain filled ponds and creeks are running water again. Maybe Canton Lake will fill back up. With the tornado that crossed the lake last May and left debris in the lake combined with the low water levels caused the tourism to be down considerably at the lake. It needs to fill back up.

We kept does and babies shut up yesterday to keep them as dry as possible. One thing about it, goats don’t like to be wet. No other animal looks as bad wet as a goat.

Finally a good widespread drenching rain across NW Oklahoma. I may actually have some customers at the store today that will be in a good mood. I’ve listened to people around Alva, Enid and OKC talk about how dry they have been. They haven’t seen dry until you go to Woodward and west into the OK and TX panhandles. That is cow country and a bunch of cow herds have been sold off the past 9 months. Jed Castle said that Woodward got 3.9 inches of rain last night. We had 1.1 here in the middle of nowhere. Friday is cattle sale day in Woodward, which brings a lot of traffic to town and to the store from all over NW OK, SW Kansas and TX panhandle. I will have full rainfull total reports as the day progresses and I am sure their rain gauges will be more accurate than any TV stations or NWS. No matter the amounts, this was a much needed drenching.

Got a couple of text messages last night looking for a feed company to sponsor a drench. Judging from the typing and the pictures and the fact that the texts originated in the 73077 zip code, I don’t think that the drench is for goats. Although the aluminum packaging would be handy.

Judging from the posts on message boards and the questions I routinely get, I don’t think very many people understand the purpose of a drench. Most people think that you mix up some magic potion, put it in your goat and BOOM!! your goat will automatically pop muscle. It doesn’t work that way. A drench is designed to keep moisture in the muscle. It is the rehydration of muscle cells. The stress of hauling, shearing and being in a new place takes water out of the cells. A drench is rehydrating those cells with water and sometimes, electrolytes to help retain water in those cells. By monitoring the amount and type of drench, you can manipulate fill of the animal and you can affect the freshness of the handle of the animal. It isn’t rocket science. Most of it is common sense. Yes, I know that a lot are lacking in the common sense department–goats and people. Just as a glass of juice feels good at times, some need coffee of a morning, while a pop or beer works better for others and a cool, glass of water almost always hits the spot, different drenches have different uses. It isn’t a secret, just a learning curve. And nobody is just going to hand you a “here’s how you do it card” when you first get a goat. Why? 1–You would screw it up anyway. 2–Everybody needs to earn the right to learn what others have gained from experience.

Have a wet and happy day!

The goat game is becoming more and more popular all across the country. Been getting a lot of calls from northern and eastern states looking for show goats. They seem to show a lot of doe kids in those states in the market shows. Those states all need November to January babies. There aren’t very many of those around. Pfeiffer has done a good job of recognizing the need for January babies and selling to those states. Those are hard ages to raise in large numbers unless a breeder has very good facilities. However, this year hasn’t been very tough weather wise. Another day like yesterday and I will have to break out some of my camo shorts.

I do like the fact that it really doesn’t matter when a goat is born, there is a market for it. Weight and age are not terribly important. Quality is. Some people get a mindset that they have to have a certain age or weight when they would be better off buying the best quality for their dollar. If a see a goat that I like and it fits my budget, I buy it. They have different weight divisions and shows somewhere year round. I will have a home for it.

Didn’t have anything on the schedule Saturday, so we ventured into Fairview. Tammy went to help Jim Rhodes with the concession stand. Kela went to help some kids with showmanship. Duke was just taking up oxygen. And I went to the laundromat to wash blankets. It took a pile of quarters. But the blankets were clean. I then stumbled into the fairgrounds to watch the show.

The doe show was very good. Lots of quality in every class. Doug Tolson judged it. Without handling the goats, I followed his type and kind. Nobody can say he plays favorites as he put Duke dead ass last in a doe class. No it wasn’t Duke’s doe. Rhodes had Duke show it for a kid that had two in the same class. And she did need to be in last. If nothing else, it is good for Duke to see the view from that end of the placing line. Tanner Miller is dragging a really good pair of does.

There weren’t very many numbers in the wether show, but the class winners looked and handled good. It was a pretty excited kid that won the wether show.

Had a crew to the house on Sunday afternoon to work on showmanship and start dialing wethers in for districts and OYE. Having to start thinking about what weight classes and divisions to target wethers.

I went through all of my clipper bags/boxes to dig out blades that need resharpened. I go through a pile of blades every year. One, because I probably shear/clip more goats than most people. Two, because I despise using a blade that is getting dull. I look at lots of goats at lots of shows and sales. I truly appreciate a well groomed animal, no matter what species it is. I see a lot of wethers that are sheared with blades that aren’t the right thickness or with blades that are getting dull. I can’t stand to see skips on a shear job. It also drives me nuts to see legs left unclipped and not blended in. And if you look at the pictures of the winners at just about any show, they will have been sheared/clipped properly. They look like a winner.

1–Make sure you have a sharp set of blades. Get your blades sharpened right now, before everybody dumps them on the sharpening services at the last minute.

2–Make sure you have the proper thickness of blades. Most need covercotes. It depends on hide, hair and show which blades that I use on any particular goat. I never use surgicals and I very rarely use fine blades. On babies, I always use covercotes.

3–Don’t leave soap or purple shimmer lights in the hair. Rinse it out. The best soap is Weaver’s coconut shampoo. Killer good soap for leaving hair clean and ready to pop.

4–Skin and hair MUST be clean and MUST be dry. Does or wethers. If a kid asks me if the goat is dry, I don’t even bother to feel it, I just yell, “Keep blowing!” The drier it is the more the hair “pops” and the smoother it will shear or clip.

5–When shearing, make mutliple passes. Don’t leave skips. Use the bevel on the edge of the blade.

6–Blend legs. Don’t leave the legs looking like some poodle in a dog show.

7–If you’re not sure, ask for help. Lots of people will tell you if something looks like a crap. Ask Schoovy, I don’t mind telling him that he screwed up.

8–Have good lighting. The show ring will be well lit and skips will show up.

9–Don’t get in a hurry. Do it right the first time. Before you take the animal off the stand, look it over for skips, uh-ohs and what the hell did I do there kind of things.

Why work with an animal all year and then not prepare it properly to give a kid their best chance at doing well.

So I made a new discovery on Monday. The guys at the parts counter were eating little oranges. I tried one and it was the best orange that I had ever eaten. They told me that they had bought them at wal-mart. On Tuesday, I needed razor blades which I go through a lot of since my hair is thick & coarse similar to a Berkshire hog. I see boxes of these little oranges called Cuties. So I buy a box to keep in my pickup and one to take home to show the Dragon Lady and Duke my new discovery.

Tammy allowed how she had already been buying them for Duke for several months. I looked in a basket in the kitchen and sure enough, there they were. I thought they were some kind of ornamental orange that would give off pleasant odors to mask the smells that come from having an 11 year old boy in the house. Plus they were in a basket with a gourd or two. My discovery wasn’t too new. I drink a Eskimo Joe’s glass of orange juice EVERY morning. So you could say that I like oranges. However, the box of cuties that I brought home is gone in only two evenings. Duke pounded those Cuties like they were a bag of Reese’s on Halloween night. They are easy to peel, tasty and healthy. If you like oranges then you better get some cuties. Now, if I can figure out how to get a goat to eat them. I wonder if that would pop a top on a wether.

Should a wether be discounted if it is parrot mouthed? This is a common question. The answer is NO. Why not? 1–Because it is a wether, it has been removed from the gene pool. A wether isn’t going to make any more parrot mouth goats. 2–It is a myth that it effects their growth or that they can’t nurse properly. The heavy class winner at Tulsa was a goat raised by me and he was way parrot mouthed. But he was in the heavy class and was fresh. It didn’t bother his growth. Duke had the heavy division champ at OYE last year. He was parrot mouthed. It does not bother growth. 3–it doesn’t affect carcass merit.

I don’t have a problem with a judge commenting on a parrot mouth but it should not affect a placing in a wether show.

The real question is should a doe kid be discounted if it is parrot mouthed or if her bite is off? This becomes more difficult to answer. My opinion is that if it is a purebred show then it must be. If it is a market show, then no. If it is a jr. doe kid show such as OYE, then it becomes more of an issue and depends on the judge. I enjoyed watching the Enid and Woodward doe shows last year. The does were judged didn’t bother with the mouth and teats process. It didn’t affect placing as the good ones still one. If it doesn’ affect growth or carcass then why is it a problem? It is genetic, therfore it has to be considered.

The world record selling doe last year is parrot mouthed. That shows the concern, or lack thereof, of those buyers and bidders. Most of the successful bucks in the industry are throwing parrot mouths or have it in their genetics. It is an issue, but it shouldn’t be a big issue.

It is hard to make a really good animal. I try to find and raise animals that are structurally correct with good rib shape, balance, eye appeal and all the muscle that will correctly fit on that package. I am not concerned with mouths and teats as it does not affect productivity. I do think that there will come a day, when we will all be trying to clean these genetic problems up. That is why purebreds should be held to a higher standard. Somebody will make a buck that is genetically clean while still being a phenotypically good goat that fits the wether industry. That buck will be worth a lot.