Wow!! The Pfeiffer family hit a home run with the mature doe sale. They sold those cougars for way good money. I would imagine this will become an annual production sale. They have the numbers and the quality to make it work.

Lots of money changing hands in the goat industry. Helms will have a good sale this weekend and there will be a pair of good sales in OK the next weekend. Tyke has put together the Best of the West sale in Shattuck the end of August. Tyke has a way good set of Joe Dirt’s on the ground. Poe tells me that Lamle has a really good set out of his Six Pack buck, which is a triple bred 66. I will have a set of Freak on a Leash kids.

I probably won’t be able to post for several days as I am going to attend Helm’s sale and I plan on foundering on potato burritos and tamales.

I’ve got a rainbow in my breeding pen. This rainbow stretches all across the butt’s of the does. ROY G BIV. All different colors. With this heat melting marker crayons, I have been changing crayons more regular than someone taking metamucil. But at least, the does are cycling. Just more expense and work than I had planned on.

How about this debt ceiling crap? Is there one person left in Washington D.C. that has any common sense? When it comes election time, no incumbent should be re-elected. We need a fresh start and we need to send a message that we are sick of this stuff. With the drought as big and extended as it is, ag products are going to get high. No corn, no beans, fewer cattle equals higher prices. But you watch how these morons handle this next farm bill. It will be a train wreck. They are out of touch with the real world. They don’t care about real problems. They only listen to what is being said as a check is being written to them.

It seems that the only people making money this summer are sale barn owners, air conditioning repairmen and quick stops selling beer and ice. Oh, and vet supply companies selling marking crayons.

I am getting several calls dealing with kidney stones.

1–make sure that there is ammonia chloride in your feed.

2–keep salt in the pen.

3–keep a spoonful of apple cider vinegar in their water.

4–try to catch them early enough that they can be saved.

5–if you have hard water or water that is high in nitrates, then you are probably going to have problems..

Been a little slow putting great info on here for the past two weeks. For those of you waitng for me to post, I apoligize as there is more to life. However, I realize that the older I get, the more opinionated I get. Good or bad. I actually don’t care what others think. I am fine with being right all of the time. Ha. Some of this stuff might be worth reading. It is better than watching some news channels that are filtered, etc.

Just got done with the Woodward version of the Simply the Best show clinics. Hats off to Chance and Kela. These kids make me proud to have a small part in these clinics. They work wonders with kids and make them want to do better. OUTSTANDING!!

I started the camp with a question. “What is the most important thing about showing livestock?” One hand went up in the air, immediately. I felt like the proverbial teacher in all of the Little Johnny jokes. I really didn’t want to call on that kid. I was afraid that I knew the answer that he would give. Anybody, please some other kid. Nothing from any of the others. Finally, I asked the young person, “What is the most important thing about showing livestock?” The boy looked me dead in the eye and said, ” Making new friends.”

Only a parent can imagine the emotions that ran through me. Duke was the kid and I, as his father, was worried what he would say. I expected the answer to be MONEY, WINNING, ETC. or worse ( I know his genetics). It was not planned that Duke answer the question. But he gave the answer that I was looking for. YES!! I wanted to hug him, but that wouldn’t work. So, I just stood there for a few seconds, swallowed hard, and then agreed. I continued my lesson with the kids. Awesome group of kids. Almost makes me want to be an ag teacher.

I do TRULY believe that meeting people is the best part of showing livestock. I am not against athletics or music or any other competitive event. But stock show people build networks….for life. I DO believe that is the best part. Livestock kids have a work ethic, appreciation for competition and an understanding of luck, nature, politics, medicine, finances, life & death, etc. that cannot be replaced without involvement in a livestock project.

You give a livestock kid, not an adult, six months with the morons that take up oxygen in Washington D.C. and we wouldn’t have many problems in the U.S. All we would need is the good LORD to provide a rain. I better stop for now. If you ever want to know what I think, ask me. Thanks to the kids for being kids. Pray for rain.

Today started off a little different. Stepped into the barn and was face to face with a pair of coons. One of them was real big. By the time I grabbed a gun, the big was gone, but the little friend won’t be back. Now I know what has been leaving the lid off of the feed barrel.

The Costa Rica trip was awesome. Didn’t see any goats, but it was a heck of a trip. I can tell you for a fact that sailfish really do jump out of the water just like they do on the fishing shows. A 150# fish will wear you out. Kela can also tell you that monkey have a bit of an odor to them. Duke can tell you that an iguana will chase you.

Always something new in the goat world. I have all of those does turned out with Joe Dirt to make some December babies. I put a marker on Dirt. Two days later the crayon was gone. The dang thing had melted off that quick. Yes, I know that they make crayons for hot weather, but I don’t think they make them for the kind of hot and dry that we have going on right now. I’m going to slap a new one on him today before we leave, so that the help can tell if Dirt is getting some action or not.

The Kelln’s are going to do something that we haven’t done before. Tammy asked Kela what she wanted for her 21st birthday. Kela replied, “A family vaction that doesn’t involve an ag teachers conference or a stock show.” Therefore, we are headed to Costa Rica for the week. I don’t like being gone from home or work for extended periods. This will be interesting. There will be fishing. We might have to use Duke for bait.

The timing is actually pretty good. Some neighbors are building a new house and they have been shacked up in a trailer while their house is being built. They are going to feed, water and check the stock for us while we are gone. The A/C in their trailer went out and if you haven’t noticed, it isn’t a good year to be without A/C. They are going to stay at our house, while we are gone. This gives me peace of my mind, that our little piece of paradise will be safe and the stock will be well watched. It gives them a cool place to stay, while they get theirs fixed.

Pray for rain out west. It is brutally dry.

I turned Joe Dirt out with about 20 proven does & a couple of new ones to try to make some December babies. Hopefuly, it isn’t too hot for him to work. He acts like he is ready to work, just nothing ready to cooperate with him. I kind of know the feeling.

Hearing lots of talk about Pfeiffer’s mature doe sale. I think it will go well. They’ve done a pile of Angus sales over the years, they know what they are doing.

I toyed with the idea of selling some bred does last year, but then you get into the whole guarantee crap, live birth, the doe dies at birth, the kids only lived a few days, or they have quads and the buyer would really be pissed, etc. There is no control over management once they leave my place. I don’t want to have to refund money because somebody was lazy, stupid or a crook. Bred does will sell high, but it would be a pain in the ass. Open does and then breed them would be the way to go.

For several years now, I have only watched the news to catch the weather and some OSU sports info. Currently, there is absolutely no need to turn the news on. I can give you the forecast. It will be hot and dry. There is no college sports going on right now. So, it is a whole bunch of republican/democrat bickering, getting nothing done, blaming each other and that obama dude talking crap.

I spend a lot of time in a pickup; therefore, I listen to a lot of radio. XM radio is the way to go. I don’t have to listen to any news. I can listen to whatever kind of music I want. I listen to a lot of Blue Collar comedy channel. I don’t learn anything but at least I am in a better mood. They play a lot of Jerry Clower and Mel Tillis on there. Pretty good stuff.

Duke has been starting to break his team of wethers. We spend several days, just catching each wether and handling them, which consists of putting a halter on them, holding them still and touching them. After they start to calm down, then he will start pulling on the lead to make them walk. After several more days of this, he will put a chain on them. Every goat responds differently. Some will be broke to lead in a day or two, some a week or two, and some take a lot of patience.