It is going to be a Monday all day long. However, this one has a new deal with it. This evening will be Duke’s first entry into a public speaking contest. The AFR district speech is tonight. Of course, I like to win, but this will be a different experience. We just want him to do it and to do his best. Anything else is icing on the cake. I truly believe that public speaking is the best activity that young people can be involved in. It doesn’t matter what career path they choose in life, public speaking will be a benefit.

The Pokes run came to an end last night. I’m disappointed, but life will go on. A win Dec. 3 will make up for a loss to Iowa State. To be honest, that was such a crappy game to watch, I fell asleep in the fourth quarter. I’m gettting old. But thanks to ESPN, I got to watch the replay of it at 2 am this morning and then watched Law & Order.

Dang, it is windy again. It is an assault on a being just to be outside. Even worse is driving in this stuff. Our barns aren’t exactly setup right for a wind straight out of this south like this deal has been. The wethers and keeper does are ready for it to change.

Little bit colder this morning than it has been. Does due in December are starting to bag, does for April are getting marked and the others are waiting their turn. Had to break some ice. Duke had to water wethers this morning. Very important to make sure animals get several good drinks per day. Water is more important than feed on really cold days. They have to have the water in order to keep their metabolism going properly.

I was eating some awesome tamales last night. I traded a doe for a pile of these tamales. Good trade. I was putting tobasco sauce on my pile of food. I began to wonder, why don’t pizza places and McDonalds make tobasco available with the rest of the condiments. It will make it better.

standing in the barn, talking on the phone last night, when a critter came walking along next to the wall. It was literally two feet from me. I thought it was one of Duke’s cats, but I looked down at it and saw the bald tail. It was WHITE. I first thought that it was an albino opossum. So I cornered it under the power washer and got a better look at it. Black eyes and black ears, but solid white. Not an albino. I scurried to shut all the barn doors. I hung up the phone, hollered at Duke to come look. We took pictures of it and let it go. I’m pretty sure we will see this possum at the dog food buffet again. At least he is polite and doesn’t make a mess like the coons.

This is one part of showing wethers that I think most people struggle with. Some just want to feed the freshness into their goats, but then they get them too fat. Some think that you drench with electrolytes every two hours, no matter what.

Out goats are normally very fresh handling and appearing.

1–This starts now. Managing temperature with blankets. Keep them comfortable. This includes at the show. Sometimes it gets colder or warmer at shows. Watch the animals and see how they are acting and act accordingly

2–Know how a goat is supposed to handle. Find out the difference between a fresh goat, a stale goat and a fat one. You have to use your hands first to evaluate freshness, then your eyes. If you don’t know how, get help. Some people never get it figured out, but they follow orders well.

3–Feeding. A consistent exercise program and a closely monitoried feeding program is an important part in developing freshness and muscle. This takes experience, know how and common sense. If you are missing one or all of these, then get help. Yes, you might have to pay for it and drive your animals to somebody but it will pay off.

4–Hair care. Yes, hair care on wethers. For several weeks, before a show we work hair. We comb, blow and work leg hair. We also blow the rest of the animal out. Don’t wash, just blow the dirt, dust and dead hair out of the animal a couple of times a week. A cleaner animal will shear smoother. On shear day, (2 days, 1 day or show day depending on the goat) we wash with Weaver’s coconut shampoo. We then rinse that out, then use purple lights shampoo to get a bright white. Rinse that out. Then blow completely dry. Do NOT shear wet. If you think you are done, keep blowing. Use sharp blades to shear. Shear smooth. Stretch the hide as you shear. Go over it repeatedly to make sure you get the misses.

5–Drenching at shows. I very rarely drench at home. We will teach wethers to drink electrolytes at home before a show but that is just to make it easier at the show. Every animal is different. I will look at and more importantly handle the wethers every couple of hours, but I don’t always drench them. Sometimes they get 3 guns (50 ccs) of Crusade. Sometimes, just a 1/2 gun. One might just get a drink of straight water. Another might get a gun of Crusade/4Sure mix. Once again, this takes eperience, know how and common sense. Get help. Pay for it if you have to, but very few people do this right. Drench with too much of some of this crap and you will give your goat the shits, which I guarantee you will not make them look or handle fresh.

Bottom line is it takes hard work, consistent work and know how to do this.

Got home from our little trip to the Lone Star Elite Jackpot in San Angelo. Not a show that was just down the road for us, but well worth the trip. We went to see what it was like and after attending I have a question. Why in the heck have I not been to this show before? My fault, nobody elses.

Extremely well run show. Lots of breeders there supporting kids. Lots of good goats. There wasn’t a goat there that made you go “why would somebody bring that?” Quality from top to bottom. Lots of buckles, jackets, etc. If you have bought a goat from one of the Lone Star breeders, then you MUST go show there. Well worth your trip. Actually, you shoul buy a goat from one of these breeders just so you can go show there. This deal was fun to watch. The mid 70s to mid 80s classes were way tough. Lots of future champions in these weight ranges.

Now, how did we do? It was OK. We took 6 Helms goats. Bree Taylor from SHATTUCK, OK. was grand. Yes, they do things other than win football games in Shattuck. Braden Schovanec was res middle division behind Bree and was the Sr. Champion showman. Halie Schovanec had a 2nd and a 4th and was the Jr. champion showman. Duke had a 2nd and a 10th. Kenneth gave all of his showmen snazzy Helms show goats jackets. Carson Schovanec and Britt Taylor also got jackets. Kenneth is planning on those two being future customers. And after talking to the parents, I’m pretty sure that won’t be a problem. One thing about our crew….we have a large time. This deal isn’t worth doing unless we are all having fun. Yes, we like winning. But more importantly, it is about the kids and the families having fun.

This was a team trip and we did have fun. Found us a new steak house. Met new people. That is the best 10th place that the Kelln’s have ever showed and he should have been 10th. The reserve grand was a little son of a gun, but a good one, maybe a great one. The judge was top shelf. Several times that I didn’t agree with him, but he was very consistent and his reasons are great. I don’t have to agree if I understand why the judge did what he did. That makes it fun.

Excellent weekend. If you can’t tell, I highly recommend it.

Veteran’s Day. It is a great country that we live in, that was made great by the protection of our armed forces. Thanks to all the men and women that have served or are serving in the armed forces.

I’ve got a guy at work that goes by Doc. He is retired but needed a job to keep from being bored. He is a really good hand that takes great pride in his work and is very upbeat. He served in Vietnam and has some pretty wicked stories about his experiences. The other day, he was telling me about the Vietnam show on the history channel. He then threw in a story about getting paid ten bucks to be an extra in a John Wayne/ Henry Fonda movie that was filmed in Hawaii while Doc was stationed there. “In Harm’s Way” was the movie. Doc said they came to the base and “hired” a bunch of servicemen to be extras. He said “I wish I would have gotten John Wayne and Henry Fonda to sign that $10 bill and kept it. But we were in too big a hurry to get into Honolulu and dance the night away.”

Thank you to all of the veterans for your part in making the United States of America the greatest country.

I had planned on sowing some wheat, rye or triticale for some winter grazing for the doe herd, but I never found time to do that. Now it is wet and getting a little late, so I think that I will wait and drill some oats in late Jan. The doe herd is eating alfalfa that I still had from last year. Think what that stuff would have been worth if offered for sale this year. There have been several questions concerning my purchase on monday night–One–No, I was not drinking. Two–Yes, the Dragon Lady was aware of what I was doing. She actually encouraged me to buy her, so that she doesn’t have to listen to me if I didn’t get her bought. 3–No, Duke is not going to show does this year. Four–No, I don’t know what I am going to breed her to. Those of you that know me, know that I don’t plan that far in advance. I am more of an impulse shopper. If I like something or need something and I can afford, buy it. I think it will be a good investment. It wasn’t like I went out and bought a bunch of cheap gilts so that I could raise pigs. If it doesn’t work, oh well. I will wish it would have.

I should have watched some of my movies last night instead of that damn online doe sale. How bout that? It is after nominations are due, so it isn’t like those doe kids can be shown at a major show this spring and they still averaged $1,500. I had planned on buying two of those does but I finally had to punt on one to get the one that I really wanted. Its a good thing Kela is at college and her room is empty, as that is probably where this doe kid is going to live.

We got over an inch of rain here yesterday. Didn’t get any tornadoes or earthquakes, but we will gladly take the rain. This rain might help attitudes in the ag equipment sector towards the end of the year.

Made it to a couple of pig sales in Beaver county on Sunday. There is a lot of dollars changing hands on baby pigs right now, also. One thing about going to a goat sale, the pickup doesn’t stink on the way home. It’s hard to deal with a pig and not get some stink on you.

To my loyal readers that obviously know me better than I know myself: I am sorry that I forgot to list the other top 10 movies of all time.

10–Airplane! –also the original Naked Gun

9–Old School

8–Mrs. Doubtfire

7–Gladiator

6–Vision Quest–look it up. It is a great movie. Some day I will tell some wrestling stories.

5–Armageddon

4–Dumb and Dumber

3–Waterboy

2–Bull Durham

1–Man from Snowy River–all time classic, Dragon Lady favorite–great story, great cinematic adventure. I actually saw it in a movie theatre.

Whoops–I almost forgot again–the movie that has a horrible plot, is just wrong on a whole lot of levels, but I laugh like a teenage boy at a fart joke every time I watch it. I must have been “all jacked up on Mountain Dew” when I wrote the first lists. Big I is going to come at me like a spider monkey for not having this as the all time #1 movie on the first list, but I love it. TALLADEGA NIGHTS.