Had a fellow goat breeder/retard journey to our part of paradise.  He just wanted to see goats.  Does, wethers, buck prospects…it didn’t matter.  He wanted to see goats, so that’s what we did.  We looked at goats here, there, south of here, west of here, east of here, we looked at goats.  We had planned on making more miles than we did, but the day just flew by.  And, we took precautions to stay well-behaved.  Which we actually did.  Unfortunately, for me, this well-behaved bit is becoming a normal routine.  

      Here’s what I got out of today’s road trip.  EVERY breeder should do this kind of road trip.  Go see what other people are doing.  Ask questions.  Cover topics such as facilities, nutrition, management, genetics and tell jokes and stories.  It is genius to do this as you build a foundation for your own herd.  You can scout future buck or doe purchases.  Or if your kid is showing, look for possible prospects.  Or better yet, you learn something.  As the host, I guarantee you that I learned from this road trip.  If nothing else, a breeder can learn just exactly how to talk goats with another breeder.  You learn how they handle rib, rack or loin shape.  What do they consider good feet and legs?  Or simply, how do they read livestock.  This helps when discussing their goats.  

      This isn’t an uncommon deal.  College football coaches routinely go visit NFL coaches.  Likewise, some NFL coaches visit progessive college programs.  I don’t care who you are, how your resume reads or what your goals are, there is somebody out there that can teach you a trick or two.  It just takes time, effort and a question.  “Can I come look at goats?”  When they say “Yes”, well, load up and make a road trip.  It will always be worthwhile.  

        Today, as in Thursday, was a day for honors and awards.  The NW District show was at Enid.  Troy B’s niece was reserve grand wether.  I called and asked him what feed it was on.  Yep, the Special K dealer actually feeds Special K.  That’s good for business.  Schoovy won a class with a Rumour Has It wether and was 5th overall.  Good day.  

       The doe show at Enid was won by one of my all-time favorite doe showers–Miss Tori Sessions.  She’s been close before, but she finally won it.  Congrats to Tori and her family on a big win.  From all reports, this was a really good doe show.  Since, I couldn’t be there, I did make Tori take pics of banners and trophies to confirm the win.  Of course, she could have borrowed them and took the pics.  But, Schoovy confirms the win. I mean, if Schoovy says it’s true, then it has to be true.  Right?

       On a different, yet same note, I do miss the days when I was at Fairview and Bryan Kennedy was teaching at Hennessey.  For a couple of years, the Enid goat show consisted of our 2 krews kicking the crap out of each other.  That was fun.  I like good competition.  

     The Woodward Show gave out an outstanding service award to Mike Robison for all of his help over the years.  Mike retired from the State Ag-Ed office this past summer.  I was glad to see Mike get honored.  This dude was one of the absolute best ag teachers of ALL TIME.  It didn’t matter what part of AgEd or FFA it was, his kids were competitive.  Numerous state officers, speech winners, good steers, etc., this guy got it done.  Personally, I would rank him as one of the top 3 ag teachers that have ever taught.  He’s the kind that you wanted your kid to have as an ag teacher.  And even though he is now retired, he’s helping kids with speeches and training 4-H livestock judging teams.  This guy could get it done with the best of them.  The scary part is that he was only the 2nd best teacher in his own house.  His wife is one of the all time great Home Ec teachers.  Plus, she knew more than most ag teachers.  Absolute great pair of educators and even better people.  Cheers to Mike for this award.

     My favorite part of the night, was attending the WW premium sale dinner and awards.  Every year, the Woodward show gives a black jacket to an outstanding supporter.  Think green master’s jacket for the winner.  Cool honor.  This year’s recipient was David Litzenberger.  King David is a true great American.  I could write a book with all of my David stories.  This dude is a great one.  And his family is even better.  David didn’t know about the award.  He was there to support Duke and other kids.  David ALWAYS wears his jeans on top of his boots, not tucked in, just sitting on top–hap-hazard.  Guess what?  When he went to the middle of the sale ring to accept his honor and put on his jacket, the jeans were still on top of the boots.  So, when Duke went into the premium sale ring, yep, he had his boots and jeans, David style.  Duke and David have always been buddies.  They are their own people and don’t give a rat’s behind what others think.  Yet, they take care of business, have fun and help others.  Not a bad a thing.  

      A lot of you Okie goat showers remember Danielle Litzenberger.  She did a pile of winning.  Dani and Kela were the two clowns that got me started in this goat game.  Dani thinks that I owe her a commission. We decided to agree that when she has kids, I will hook her up with a good goat.  I’m pretty sure that she cut the same deal with Poe Cat.  To me, it’s just good business.  Heck yeah, I’ll give Dani a good goat.  She’ll win with it.  

      As a teacher, you aren’t supposed to have favorites.  But I will promise you that anybody that has dealt with the Litzenberger family has them at the top of their favorites list.  The family just knows how to work and to help others.  I love those boys, Dani has a special place in Kelln family lore and David and Susan are and will always be friends.  Great people and I was happy to see David get this honor.  

      One of my all-time favorite stock show stories involved Duke’s first OYE wether show.  This also happened to be Dani’s final OYE show.  They both had wethers in the same class.  I told Duke that if he showed Slick real well, he might be able to stand 2nd behind Dani.  The class was sifted.  Then the judge started to place the goats.  Dani was sitting at the front end of the class while Duke was towards the end.  As each wether was placed, Duke had to pull forward and re-set.  He was focused.  He was showing the heck out of Slick.  The judge kept placing and Duke kept pulling forward.  Right up until the final three goats were left.  Dani on one end and Duke on the other.  The judge pulled the middle goat into 3rd.  Duke pulled forward, reset Slick and looked to see how many was left.  He realized that it was just he and Dani.  He looked at her, looked ringside at me and grinned great big and then went back to showing.  Dani ended up 1st, Duke 2nd.  He was ecstatic to be 2nd next to Dani.  She hugged him on the way out of the ring.  Tammy and I were happy, sad and proud all at the same time.  But we all knew that it was moments like this that make us want to show livestock.  It wasn’t about the animals, it was all about the kids.  

      Here’s to the Litzenberger family!  Cheers.  

     Got in late.  Did chores….late.  Ate supper…late.  Put a couple of does into the kidding barn…not late…as they aren’t due for a couple of days, but I would rather lock them up early than be late and wish that I would have.   I’m now sitting down to this keyboard to dispense high quality RANDOM info.  Wait……wait…..decided that I might want a glass of my namesake crushed grapes in a bottle.  It is a merlot called Fat Bastard.  It is high in anti-oxidants, good for the cardiovascular system and well, just pleasing to the palate.  Speaking of good for the heart….Toni Basil singing “Mickey”.  Classic video.  Classic one hit wonder.  But that song has staying power.  Thirty some years old and cheer leaders still use this song.  

     Had a cool text from Mike Booth this evening.  His daughter Morgan showed the reserve grand wether at the Muskogee Regional Show today.  This is a well-known tough district show.  The Booth family has had success with this wether this year.  They purchased him in one of our June online sales.  I would have to look for sure, but I think that he only cost like $675.  Who says that you can’t buy a good goat for the money?  Obviously they are doing a good job feeding, fitting and showing.  Congrats to the Booth Family and good luck at OYE!  

      I’ve never been enamored with trying to make all of the money in the world.  I like money, I use money, I would like some more money, but my world doesn’t revolve around just money.  However, I have spent the past few days trying to figure out a way to make a nickle or a dime off each and every bag of wood chips and bedding pellets that are used at stock shows.  JEEMINY there is a pile of cash pissed away on bedding for stock shows.  It’s scary when you just stop and think about the amount of $s spent on these wood by-products.  And then it just gets dumped in a landfill and turns into some low grade compost.  

      I am amazed at the people that text, call or stop me at shows and say, “Love the blog”.   I honestly don’t know whether to feel happy that they read this deal or if I should apologize that part of their lives were wasted while reading the stuff that spews from this keyboard.  Judging from the responses of the Low Rent deal a week or so ago, obviously lots of people agreed with it and liked it.  One thing about it, if you don’t like what you are reading here, just use your cursor to click to some other site.  And if you don’t like what you read on here, than ask me in person.  You really won’t like that.  

      The iTunes are playing and Jimmy Buffet is singing “Margaritaville”.  This makes me think about a bunch of really good parrot-mouthed does that I have scattered around.  One of these days, somebody is going to have to explain to me why a parrot-mouth is bad in the show goat world.  I understand why it is unacceptable in the pure-bred world.  But dang, it sure seems like the best goats are a little (okay, maybe a lot ) off in the mouth. Plus, I don’t seem to have a problem getting a parrot-mouth to eat and grow.  Maybe in a grazing situation, this mouth complex is a problem, but when you are in the business of raising welfare dependents, it just doesn’t matter.  

     Recieved a text from Hawaii regarding Penguins.  No, they weren’t on the menu.  But, they do have penguins in Hawaii.  Even got a text pic of how penguins are made.  Some things just aren’t right.  

      Speaking of Hawaii, how about that James and Randi Sweet couple.  They “earned” some kind of trip from some dang feed company that is sending them to Hawaii for some kind of meeting.  I need to figure out some kind of Special K feed trip to send ME to a meeting in Hawaii.  Maybe, I need to research pineapple as a feed ingredient.  At least a flavor enhancer or something.  

       Buy a goat from any breeder that you want, but don’t expect help from a different breeder.  Buy a Helms goat….great.  Heck, I do.  Buy a Pfeiffer goat….Sure, I’ve done it and will again.  Buy a Schneberger goat or a goat from Tyke, Poe, Gallagher, whoever/wherever.  It is a free country.  But don’t buy it and then expect me to coach you.  I don’t get it.  Call the breeder and ask for help.  You wouldn’t expect Bob Stoops to have to use Mike Gundy’s playbook.  Why should I have to feed other people’s purchases?  I’ll help with questions regarding a goat from the Kelln Kompound.  And I’ll help with orders that I bought.  But…..I guess that this is why most people charge for their services.  I’m just retarded.  

       Weather looks to be crappy tomorrow but will change to lovely later in the week.  Got bad news about a buddy’s family.  GOD be with them in their time of sorrow.  

     It’s late.  I’ve got to fire early (always).  My donkey is dragging.  Have a good evening or morning and have a better tomorrow.  Here’s to nothing but horseshoes and shamrocks and whatever lucky charms you might need.  

    Rumour Has It that there was a goat show in Woodward, OK on this fine Sunday.  The Woodward District Goat Show is now in the books.  And it was one for the books.  The Woodward District Stock show first held a goat show in 2005.  Kela had the grand wether that year.  It was a nice show, but the quality, like all Okie shows in 2005 wasn’t very deep.  Now, in 2015, this is a wicked good show.  The quailty of the goats, quality of the presentation and the quality of the showman is second to none.  The classes were deep and killer good–wethers and does.  We had a judge change due to the weather.  Bryan Kennedy was asked to pinch hit and do the honors.  Anybody that has ever seen Bryan judge livestock knows that he is going to pick what he likes and does not give a rat’s behind as to what anybody else thinks.  And that is exactly how he judged today.  And I liked it.  

      Where to begin?  The doe show.  It started off good with a Joe Dirt doe kid out of Blood Pressure’s momma winning class one.  Class two saw a Rumour Has It doe kid win that class.  This doe was also Res. Div. 1.   Rainman sired the res. div. 2 doe kid.  Rumour Has It sired the Ch. Div. 3.  This was the high selling doe in the Kelln/Seelke Dirty Rumour online sale.  Rumour Has It also sired the ch. div. 4 doe kid.  Then in the grand drive, the Div. 4 doe was grand and the Div. 3 champ was reserve grand.  Yep, a Kelln bred Rumour Has It was Grand doe and a Seelke bred Rumour Has It was res. grand doe.  Joe Dirt had at least 3 class winnners.  Huge congrats to Carli Word with the grand doe and Kelli Sweet with the res. grand doe. 

       Let me tell you about the grand doe.  Schneberger helped me with a flush in 2013.  I flushed the K9 doe to Rumour Has It.  We got 7 embryos and then got 7 live births.  5 bucks & 2 does.  One recip had 3 eggs in her.  She had all 3, but one side of her udder quit.  So, I pulled the doe kid and told Tammy to call her crazy buddy in Arnett.  Amy and her family took this doe kid and raised her as a bottle baby.  Her name is “Goatness”.  She likes to sit in the lazy boy recliner and eat Almond Joys with the family.  Seriously.  And for the rest of the story, this bottle baby is a flush mate to Skippy Red Leg and a couple of other bucks.  One of which will be for sale in the very near future.  So, yes, the grand doe was a bottle baby and likes to eat Almond Joy candy bars.  But she has a monster top, ribcage and chest floor.  The best part–Carli even smiled a bit while winning classes then divisions and then grand.  Now, we just have to figure out which buck needs to meet Goatness.

      Then, the wether show.  This deal was wicked good.  Poe had his crew dialed in.  The goats were fresh, firm and showed right.  Then there was our little crew.  When the dust cleared–Darcy Whitley had the champ div. 4 wether which would be named Grand Champion.  He is a Rumour Has It x K11 (Harley).  He was the high seller at the Circle of Champions sale in Norman last June.  Darcy and her family have shown this goat twice.  He was Grand at Dewey County, now Grand at Woodward District.  Wait, did I read this right?  Rumour Has It sired the grand WETHER AND DOE as well as the reserve grand doe?  Yes, yes you are reading it right.  Oh yeah!  He also sired the res. div. 4 wether that was a player for Darcy Peach.  And Chancery Bruce had a 2nd place premium sale Rumour wether and Ava Bogdahn had a 2nd place premium sale Rumour Has It wether.  Everybody has wanted to know where the Rumour wethers were.  There aren’t many, but there’s you some wether results.

      Duke had the Res. Div. 2 wether (XFactor Helms).  Darcy Peach had the res. div. 1 wether (Helms), a class winning Rainman (Kelln) and the res. div. 4 wether Rumour Has It (Kelln).  Dirt sired numerous premium sale wethers.  Our small operation had a pretty good day.   

     It was Friday, all day, today.  It didn’t seem like a Friday, but it was.  I spent a lovely wintery day in Woodward at the new Fairgrounds.  It isn’t done, but this is going to be one of the nicest fairgrounds in the state of OK when it is completed.  

      Our hogs are stalled on the same alley with Waynoka.  Which means that I got to see one of Tammy’s girls that goes to High school at Waynoka.  This verifies my age as I taught her mom, dad, uncles, aunts.  Oh well.  

      It is butt-ass cold outside and it did snow.  Not much, maybe 2-3 inches, but it is cold.  But at least the wind isn’t howling.  The hog show will finish tomorrow and then the goats move in.  It will be a late night shearing, but the barn is heated, the wash racks heated and the water is heated.  

     Been getting a lot of county reports from various parts of the world.  I do enjoy hearing of happy customer success.  I really liked the Dewey County results.  Grand & Reserve Grand wethers sired by Rumour Has It.  Reserve Grand doe also sired by Rumour Has it.  And the Grand Champion doe was sired by none other than Blood Pressure.  Congrats and good luck on down the road.

     Took a crew of girls to do a radio interview for National FFA Week on this fine morning.  Outstanding crew of girls that actually sounded intelligent on the radio.  this is somewhat amazing, especially since 3 of the 4 have Kelln genetics and the 4th has similar problems as her parents both have ag teaching backgrounds.  Then, we went and got a couple of dozen donuts at Daylight Donuts in Woodward.  I do miss getting fresh daylight donuts on a regular basis.  

     We survived the county show.  I stayed WAY CALMER than I should have.  I would like to say that I am like a fine wine and have mellowed with age.  But I know that is not the truth.  Now, I just know that some battles aren’t worth the effort.  I have recieved lots of calls, texts and emails regarding the local/county show post from the other evening.  I’m obviously not the only person that doesn’t like dealing with low rent crap.  I’m also aware that there are a few dissenting voices that didn’t like it.  And this is for those of you that may have been offended….there is an old saying and it goes like this….If the shoe fits, wear it.  And if you don’t like it, fix it.  

      Although there are low rent deals at every local and county, there are also always some really neat deals.  It was fun to listen to the add-ons at the county premium sale and the fact that there are numerous people and businesses that put money on EVERY kid in the sale.  The supper was also way good as the J&L Oilfield crew cooked ribs, sausage & more with all of the fixins including Tiffany Schultz’s famous bread pudding.  And the J&L crew did all of the serving.  I’m talking this is the kind of meal that you gladly pay $30 bucks a plate or more and never think twice about it.  And they provide it for FREE to anybody that comes and eats.  At all of these local & county deals, there are always county agents and staff, ag teachers and others that work to take care of the behind the scenes crap.  There are those parents and supporters that work to gather money, do the bidding and spend a lot of unpaid time to make it all work.  

      Tell somebody “Thank You”.  Better yet, help somebody so that they tell you, “Thank You”.  

      I’m going to warn those of you that may come in contact with me the next few days.  I plan on being in a really good mood.  I’m not talking St. Patrick’s day kind of happy or Tulsa State Fair with no wife, no kid, no animal and a bucket for a showbox kind of elated happiness as the weather is going to be crappy and I will be at a stock show for the next week.  But, I am going to be in a good mood. 

     Speaking of getting in a good mood, I’ve just made it in from doing chores, it’s 10 pm, the Dragon Lady has cooked a killer good KC strip steak, tater and beans.  I like it!  And I just remembered that I hadn’t turned the heater on in the kidding barn.  I think that I’ll stumble out there and make some goats happy.  Have a good day and a better tomorrow.  

Things that I really like.

I like getting the mail and there are checks for me, in the mail.  Check for the recips at the Perry sale barn.  YES!!  Patronage checks.  Like free money.  Checks for goat semen.  Makes me want to sell some more.  With all of the modern emails, wire transfers, texts, etc.  It is hard to replace that feeling of getting something in the mail, like a check, that you can put your hands on it and say, “It’s mine!”

I like the completion of a county show.  Now, it is time to get serious.  Low rent?  Not now, it’s all business.  

I like seeing kids do well and improving.  Work it right up to the show that counts and try to peak there.  When it works, I like it a lot.  

I like snow days.  It doesn’t matter how old you are, there is just something cool about “No School”.  

      I have had numerous calls for the past month about doctoring kids with the runs.  I have had some cases here in paradise.  Every stool sample comes back as coccidi, but for some reason or another, normal medications haven’t responded as well.  Lately, I have doctored babies with the usual spectam.  If that doesn’t dry them up, I come back with a SMZ tablet with Albon liguid.  And if that doesn’t work, I have noticed that my go-to cure-all has become Baytril.  1 cc of Baytril IM on the kids and for best results give the momma 4 ccs of Baytril.  I’ve had several recurring chronics that dried up as soon as I gave momma a dose as well.  

      It is butt-ass cold in this part of the world, but it could be worse.  We could be in Canada or the Dakotas.  Make sure all your animals have access to fresh water while it is a frozen tundra.  Keep ’em warm, keep ’em fed and have a good one.  

      Why is it hard to find good ag teachers?  I can answer this.  It’s because nobody wants to deal with the low rent showers during local & county stock shows.  The serious showers take care of business and don’t sweat the locals and counties.  But the low rents get all worked up and have to get serious in a hurry.  I mean, hell, they haven’t washed or walked pigs all year, but it is now imperative that we be able to wash & CLIP!  RUSM!  Sheep haven’t had blankets, haven’t been exercised or managed properly, but holy cow, the county is Monday, we need to move them into a heated barn tonight.  Like it will make a difference.  

    Or, we’ve got this heifer, that we got out of the pasture and we have her broke to lead and we were wondering when you were going to clip her.  It’s Saturday, the show is on Monday and you are just now asking me?  Not my problem.  Of course, all of the other cattle in town are at a jackpot show, fitted and ready to roll.  

      It’s a welfare syndrome.  Every low rent shower gets a check at the local and/or county, so let’s play like we are showmen and know what we are doing.  This wouldn’t bother me, except for the fact that almost all of the money raised to fund these local/county shows is raised by a few which are almost always serious show families.  Not the low rent, welfare check grabbers.  

      I’ve taught in different schools, in different counties.  I’ve dealt with shows all across our part of paradise.  It is a widespread problem.  Every town, every county has the same problems.  

      Stock shows should NOT be in the hands of the ag teacher.  Stock shows should be in the hands of the parents.  Buying, entering, all of it should be in the hands of the parents.  

      On another note, I have realized that clipping hogs is not an enjoyable task.  I asked Tyke what he was doing today.  He allowed that Mandy was gone and he had both twins by himself.  I said, “I’ll get a baby sitter for the twins and you can help me clip hogs.”  With a sternness to his voice, he answered, “NO!”  

      Then Schneberger calls to tell me about his next great one that was born that just happens to be sired by Nasty Habit.  He asked, “What are you doing today?”  I said, “Clipping hogs.”  He did the Schenberger laugh and said, “Man, I would rather be kicked in the nuts than have to clip hogs.  Sucks to be you.”

      Babysit twins, kicked in the nuts or clip hogs.  I remember, a short time ago that I only dealt with serious show families.  Yeah, that kick in the nuts doesn’t sound too bad.   At least it was good families and nice hogs that got clipped today.  

      It has been a Thursday, all day long.  Not all bad though.  I don’t know if my internet connection is working really good, or if some videos just BOUNCE better than others.  Bouncy, squishy, happy.  Either way, it makes for a good evening.  

     I had to order more stuff for the greenhouse.  I really don’t have a clue what I am doing with this project, but I have good help and we are learning.  I called the plant pimp and told them what I was looking for…no, I didn’t have a part #, catalog page or even a proper description, so I played the dumb ag teacher card and described it, kind of like I was giving reasons and she said, “Oh, you need the blank 4 inch writable strips for ID purposes.  Is white okay?”  I said, “Yes”.  She asked, “How many?”  I said, “A bunch.  I don’t know, how many comes in a box?”  She replied, “Well, there are quite a few in a box.”  I then said, “Alright, are we talking a butt-load or a crap-load?”  She laughed and replied, “I would say a crap load.”  To which I asked, “Which is bigger–a butt load or a crap load?”  She professionally answered, “Sir, I would have to say a crap load is bigger.”  And then I asked, “Technically, shouldn’t a butt load hold a crap load?”  After telling her to ship me a box of white and a box of red, I would have to say that I got an effing butt load of these things.  And yes, I agree that a crap load sounds like more than a butt load.  But, a butt load will hold a crap load.  

      So, I was talking to a fellow goat breeder this morning.  The Jared Schneberger of Schneberger Show Goats in Carnegie, OK.  He had texted me that he had raised the grand wether at the SW district show last night.  I had replied congrats, but I later missed his call with the show report.  So, we talked this morning.  He went to talking about how he didn’t know if his bucks sired consistently.  I thought about then asked, “Don’t you only have about 30 does? And didn’t “1315” sire the grand wether at the SW district, a res. div at Tulsa and the reserve grand at Kansas City for you?”  He laughed, like only Jared can laugh.  I said, “We all need an inconsistent sire like that.” Congrats to all that won there.

      Have I ever mentioned that I really like the song “Yellow Rose of Texas” by Johnny Lee?  That’s a great song.

I’m looking at another pair of not-cheap jeans that I wear to do chores.  I either need to get longer legs or shorter panels as the crotch is somewhow ripped out of these.  Right at the seam.  Kind of like welding.  Did the weld break or the metal next to the weld? This isn’t the first time it has happened and nobody will sew them.  I would not like to be a sewing machine salesman as I don’t think anybody knows how to sew anymore.  Well, except for those kids overseas in the sweatshops that work for Nike and whoever else makes shoes and clothes.  Then again, judging by the ripped crotch in these jeans, maybe they don’t know how to sew very well either.  

It’s crunch time for OYE.  If you hadn’t got the work done by now, then you probably ain’t going to get it done right.  Good luck to all as we head for Friday and the weekend.  Horseshoes and shamrocks.