I have been on strike the past month.  I got done with the Champion’s Choice jackpot on Dec. 1 and I hadn’t looked at, handled, clipped or trimmed hooves on anybody’s show goats since then.  I did try to help Duke get Red Tuxedo’s mind right, but all I accomplished was hurting myself.  Sometimes, a person just has to get away from all of it in order to stay focused.  So I went on strike.  When people called, I simply said, “Nope, can’t do it right now.”

     By not seeing any of these goats for a while, I can see which ones are cranking, which ones are in a growth spurt, some will be stalling out and maturity will be starting to kick in on some of these.  What happens if somebody screws one up during that past month? If they did, they will learn not to do it again.  Because if they are still running them, setting them up, feeding as last instructed and keeping them warm, then they most likely don’t have a screw up.  If they changed something on their own, they probably screwed up.  But, we can most likely fix it.

     One of Duke’s wethers needs some corrective hoof trimming, but I have touched his hooves since the first of November.  I need some growth in order to have something to work with.  Two months should do it and it also gives me almost three months before OYE.  

     I officially came off strike on New Years Day.  Duke brought all three of his wethers into the barn (heater) and weighed them and set them up.  I handled them and he put them up.  On a warmer day, I will trim hooves and Kelly clip them.  Probably along with 40 other wethers on the same day. When a strike is over, you have to go back to work.