The term “flush” is very common in the livestock world.  It is a standard procedure in the cattle side of things and is becoming more & more common in the goat world.  If you’ve got a good female, then you better “flush” her.  Likewise, crappy ones need “flushed” and sent to the sale barn.  Good vs. Bad–Flushed or Flushed.  Makes sense to me.          I’m not an expert on

      Kind of!  Wednesday was a pretty busy day.  Duke and I had extremely good help here getting goats washed, sheared and photoed.  Then others showed up to look at goats.  Then it was time to get chores done.  Tammy and I were on the gator when the neighborhood security system showed up.  AKA–Johnny File.  Johnny said, “You know it’s getting ready to blow 40 mph and hail watermelon size hail.  Are you

     I’ve got me a new herd manager.  He’s in charge of keeping water tanks full, doctoring goats, sorting goats and helping me.  Basically, Duke now has a paid position. Tammy says that I’m a tight ass, but Duke and I negotiated this deal together.  And for the past couple of weeks, Duke has been a helluva employee.  Whatever title he wants, he can have.  Manager, foreman, herd director, whatever.        However,

     Had a big weekend trip to Texas.  We left early Friday morning with several does on the trailer.  Our first stop was at Earl Peacock’s.  Dropped the does off at his place for future flushes.  Looked at several good doe kids at his place.  We were all amazed with the dry land corn in that part of the world.  We then headed towards Goldthwaite to look at some of Saturday’s sale goats.  We

      Shut the gate is a term that needs to ALWAYS be practiced in life.  No matter what you do.  Always remember to shut the gate.  If you open a gate, shut it behind you.  Unless told otherwise.  It’s just good practice to shut the gate.        If you are dealing with livestock, then you will quickly learn to shut the gate.  If not, then you will find yourselves sorting does

     Covered some miles today and saw some nice goats.  The one constant that I am running into….it seems like most breeders are heavy on doe kid percentages….and have really good quality on the doe kid side of things.  Sasquatch (Shovanec and Sweet’s Helms bred buck) passed away recently.  Too bad as he left some really nice kids in his first crop.  Crush (Big Ern’s buck) really made a consistent kid crop.  I only

     Hold your skirt down, the wind is back.  And it came back with a vengeance.  I hadn’t missed it and I hope it goes away soon.  Dry, dirty and windy….as Jodi Seelke stated earlier, “You can grow a garden in your ears.”         We are waiting in anticipation as Sasha the corgi is due anyday.  She looks miserable.  We knew the due date because somebody was present to document the

What is the old saying?  There is a first time for everything.  Friday found us dealing with several firsts.         First of all, it was wet near Quitaque, TX.  I had never seen mud out there before.  We normally have sweat running down our cracks when we are out there.  This time was no different in that regard, but it wasn’t from 110 degree heat.  It was from the humidity.    

I hope that the rest of my weeks of being self-employed are as busy, productive and fulfilling as the first week.  Physically–I’m sore.  Mentally–refreshed.  And to answer the next question….No, it has not been profitable. Yet.  But I hope it will be.   I hope that tomorrow (Friday) is as fulfilling as I think it will be. I hope that the Rumour babies that are due in June look as good as the March/April set.

     I apologize to all of you that are needing a fix of info from this little blog.  I’ve been a tick busy.  It has been hard to keep up with a blog or checking the chive for the past week.  This self-employment deal requires some time.  It also requires some record keeping.   I’ve recently heard stories of some ag teacher complaining/emailing about reports due.  Well, he better stick to careertech reports, because