In the past week we have gotten over 30 inches of snow from 3 weather systems.
Goats do not love snow and so we need to make sure that they have access to their water, places to run and shelters.
By giving them paths and access outside, this helps to not have waste accumulate in their housing.
Jim used our very large Cub Cadet snowblower to create paths to our various pens and pastures for the ease of the humans. However, inside he created paths making life for the goats so much nicer!
The Guinea Hogs had made their own paths with a little help from a snowblower path part way into their enclosure. As you can see, it is very deep for them.
On our farm we raise both chickens for meat, and chickens for eggs. This means we often have to deal with roosters from the egg laying breeds and they are definitely not in the same class as the meat birds. As a result, I most often simply keep them whole and use them for chicken stew and such.
Today I decided to try smoking a couple with different rubs to see how they turned out – here are the results.
I filled the water pan on the smoker, loaded up apple wood chips and warmed it up to about 200. While it was warming up, I rinsed the birds and coated them liberally with dry rub. I then stuck them in the smoker at 200 for 6 hrs, which was probably a bit too long, but they are so moist and juicy it all worked out great. I think the water pan is what kept this viable and helped avoid dry meat (which no one likes.)
One of the challenges with these birds is that they are generally tough and do not have a great deal of meat. The smoker made a nice difference, cooking them low and slow and breaking the meat down to a much more tender consistency. I will likely brine next time to see how that affects them, and maybe try opening them up but that is for another day. For now, it is dinner time!
I bought an electric smoker, after using my charcoal and propane grills to indirect smoke for years. My idea with the electric smoker is to be able to gather data in a more controlled way, allowing for consistent reproduction of results and more accurate recipes to share here. I bought my model through Sams Club, and got a pretty good price but here is the same model on Amazon. Note that the smoker is considerably more buying from Amazon, but I am including the link for reference as to what it is.
I will be putting up a page for links to smoker recipes now, and related information as I experiment more, and once I get a good handle on this model, I think I will likely adapt it for cold smoking as well using an old wine fridge I have.
The first projects are just to understand the machine, but then the work begins in earnest. The challenge I am working on is managing boar taint smell in meat from an intact male pig. We butchered our large intact boar, and there is a strong odor when cooking as a result of hormones in the animal. There is no problem with eating the food, but the smell is off putting and hence I need to figure out a good way to prep and cook it. I will have more details on the successful ideas in a related post.
Today I had the smoker running and decided to make some apple wood smoked eggs. They turned out well and I do love the flavor of the apple wood in the background.
I got the smoker warmed up to around 200, then added the eggs. I had a pan of water in the smoker to keep the shells from drying out too much and set the temp for 225. I let the eggs cook for about 2 hours and then opened up the smoker to cool. I would have pulled the eggs at this point, but I had my grandson in my arm, so I did not want to mess with the smoker!
Worth noting here, there are a lot of ways to smoke eggs, and many people hard boil first, or even peel them. This gives you different outcomes and require a bit more work in some cases. I simply put the eggs in raw, and let the hot smoking cook them.
The finished flavor is like a regular boiled egg, with a smoky note that is not over powering. These pair well with a little Gentleman Jack if you are so inclined…
We first chose our three Nigerian Dwarf female goats, called does, from a local woman selling hers. Sushi, the mother goat, and her two doelings came to us all together. I knew we wanted milk so would need to breed the females in order to begin that process. The hunt for a male was similar to our earlier search in that we looked at online Facebook goat groups, livestock ads in the paper and Craigslist ads also. We found our Herdsire on a Craigslist ad from Narrow Way Farm which is about an hour away from us.
After doing research on how to disbud, or remove the horns, on a young goat, I knew that vet care to do that would get expensive quickly. We want to use the goats for show which means that they may not have horns. It is also safer for me when handling the goats for their care and milking to not have the horns to contend with. Thankfully the O’Keefe family had begun the process of creating a herd with the genetics that carry goats that are polled, naturally born without horns.
We visited one time when the baby goats were 4 weeks old and chose our male from the few that they had available. Jim quickly became the obvious favorite as the babies climbed all over him. The buckling that we chose was a polled, blue-eyed, almost entirely white ball of goat energy. He had characteristics that we wanted. The ability to have his offspring not have horns, blue eyes and he carries black and brown on his predominantly white self. The herd was tested clean for diseases common in goats, the goats were fully registerable and the family selling him had similar goals like us. It felt like a really great match.
Some of the information that I learned was gathered from books and websites, A few of my favorites are specific to Nigerian Dwarf goat colors and other are about Dairy goats, which Nigerian Dwarf are.
Now that Mattis is almost 2 years old, I can look back and say that he is really doing an excellent job being our Herdsire. He is a stinky buck but that’s his job. He knows how to put on the stink to impress his ladies. Is that a bit much? Mattis earned his name from a living legend, USMC General James Mattis. My husband Jim is a USMC veteran and proudly names all our males by either Marine or Army leaders. In our pasture we have 2 wethers, castrated males, named after Army Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur.
He was such a cute boy when we first brought him home. The girls beat up on him a bit, but we fed him separately and made sure that he was ok during that transition time. Mattis quickly outgrew that collar!
If we look at how are the genetics doing, then I think I would admit to needing to do a better job of keeping record of who is polled and who is not. Lessons for me to employ for 2017. Just looking at the chart I quickly did, I would say that it has been worth it to find a polled buck.
2 polled boys
2 polled girls
2 polled girls
3 female -1 polled, 1 horned, 1 still
I look forward to seeing the many colors and combinations that happen for each kidding season!
Below is Dalai, Mattis and his two sons, Dwight and Doug wondering why Tommy is keeping the gate closed.
I do love Jowl Bacon – when ordering a pig, I highly recommend you specify some Jowl Bacon for yourself. I think the pairing of the bacon and spinach is about perfect and for this recipe, I added a bit of garlic and onion for the saute and then a bit of chicken broth to give it a little bit of soup to make a nice finish.
What you need on hand:
Pan to cook in – I like a stir fry pan and lid but most any medium / large pan will do.
Bag of spinach – cooking spinach is the most economical, but you can use most any type.
Jowl bacon or your favorite type of bacon. Smoked gives it more depth if you are into that. 🙂
Salt – kosher, coarse if you have it.
A few cloves of garlic or crushed garlic, whatever you have on hand
An onion or so, depending on taste. A large sweet, or a regular cooking onion. Really it is about what you like.
Some soup stock (1/4 cup or so) you can substitute bullion, powdered soup base with water, etc…
Fire & Water + Patience and a sharp knife and cutting board.
Start with a stir fry pan if you have one, and if not, a large sauce pan that you can cover. Slice up a generous portion of the bacon into small pieces.
Throw the bacon into the preheated pan and fry it up on medium heat while you dice up some onion and fresh garlic to taste. Once the bacon has reduced and is almost done, drain the grease into a jar for use later. Throw in the garlic and onion and stir it a bit while the onions caramelize a bit – this is also a good time to toss in a few pinches (or to taste) of coarse salt. I like Kosher or sea salt.
Once the onions are caramelized and looking ready to eat, toss in as much spinach as you can fit into the pan. You can see from the photo I pile it high as it wilts down when you cook it. Cover and let it steam for a few on low heat. Toss in about 1/4 or so cup of water or chicken stock when you do this to help steam the spinach. Most of the liquid will cook off but it will also help flavor the spinach. I like to use a spoon or two of the dry chicken soup base here.
As the spinach starts to cook down, start tossing it a bit to keep it cooking evenly. Once it is reduced as you see in the photos, plate (or bowl) it and enjoy!
In 2014 when we purchased our first 3 Nigerian Dwarf goats, Sushi and her two daughters Raindrop and Sashimi, all we knew was that we wanted to buy registered goats. Having done our due diligence to research breeds, registries and how to check out new dairy goats, we felt equipped to begin the goat buying process.
Fast forward to January of 2016 where we now have the original 3, 1 full grown Buck named Mattis, 2 wethers named Dwight and Doug, 4 goats were sold last week and I brought 2 new ones home this weekend. The newest additions are Chloe and her daughter Cleo. They bring new bloodlines in as well some other great traits. Chloe is a dream on the milkstand, has blue eyes and is friendly. Her doeling Cleo is polled so horns are not an issue and she will carry that gene hopefully to her offspring. She does not have blue eyes and lets everyone in the barn know if she needs attention.
I registered in 2015 with AGS in 2015 since the 3 girls all came with paperwork that needed transferred to our farm. It was not until we wanted to begin showing and getting more involved with the goat world that we learned that we also needed to register for ADGA . AGS gave me one tattoo acronym to use for our farm. ADGA gave me a different one. I had to call and straighten it out but it took 4 conversations since I have to come up with alternate solutions for each location till we agreed that they will match.
On our small goats you put the farm name on the right ear and the identifier for that particular goat on the other ear. It wasn’t a possibility to have 2 different farm identifiers for the 2 registries. Just seems like it would be a lot easier if they communicated through a shared database instead of having customers doing the the hunt. I told Adrienne that I felt like Nancy Drew finding the hidden treasure or something.
In the end it feels so good to have accomplished sorting out the registries, getting the certificates for all the girls in both organizations and also being able to sell dual-registered goats from our herd. The first two does leaving were born in the fall of 2016 to Sushi and Sashimi. So hasta luego to Blue Barnyard Lilly and Blue Barnyard BlueBelle as their customers named them for their certificates.
As a member of 4-H, my daughter is heading into fair season with great excitement to show her poultry at the local 4-H Fairs. I am also excited for her but the reality as the parent is a little more daunting. There are several things that need accomplished in order for your child to show at the fair. We at least have the basics covered, she is a 4-H member and we own chickens. woo hoo. Ok, the next part is that you need to register for the fairs in advance, have bloodwork drawn on your birds and receive the results in enough time to take those results with you as you go to the fair with your birds. The 4-H member will be judged on Showmanship and then the birds are judged on how they stand up to the Standard of Perfection.
For Pennsylvania, along with many other states, 2015 was a year when poultry shows simply did not happen. Due to the Avian Influenza, the fairs did not have poultry at the fairs so that makes this year even more fun to see the birds all return. We registered for the Northampton County 4-H Round-Up Fair. The Poultry Club leader coordinated bloodwork for all of the families to make the process simpler but also to keep track of it all. For folks with a dozen chickens, the task wasn’t big, simply do a blood draw on each bird. However on our farm, we have over 100 birds, between Bourbon Red turkeys, chickens and our 2 lone ducks. So the day came, the poultry techs arrived, put on their white suits, protective foot coverings and got to work. There was a cost for them to come out of $20, then there was the lab fees which were about that also.
It was a hot, sweaty, sometimes bloody and often poopy job. I caught birds from various pens for a random sampling. Not all birds wanted to cooperate and Adrienne held them afterwards to soothe them, sometimes hold a paper towel to the draw area to wipe excess blood off. We didn’t want to send fresh blood into pens so some birds needed held longer than others. The Bourbon Reds definitely took longer to heal than the chickens and we did 12 of them.
Afterwards, my little 4-H member helped to clean up, sort through her birds and make final decisions about which birds would go to fair. The ones she chose were an Easter Egger (Ameraucauna crossed with a Wheaten Marans) and then her Buff Orpington hens that she received for her 9th birthday. The normal day to day routine continued up until 2 days prior to fair.
That’s when it gets hilarious. You gather your chickens in order to bathe them! Adrienne and I got chickens for fair up to the house and used the bathtub to wash them. Outside a pen was set up in the sun for the birds to dry off and preen.
We transported the birds to fair the following day using small dog crates in the back of our pick up truck. Signing in was easy but we needed a few things also:
Pine shavings for bedding
Containers for food and water for each pen
Vaseline to shine their combs and feet
Baby wipes to clean up messes
Kitty litter scoop to take care of droppings in each pen
Q-tips to clean out dirt from various places
Fresh water was suggested to us also
I was so impressed with how Adrienne held up under pressure. This photo to the right was taken immediately following the second time she has ever shown a goat! We learned from the poultry judge that Adrienne’s Buff Orpingtons were too small in stature. They simply did not compare to the other birds in their class. Class is where each breed originally derives from. So for the Buff Orpington, they are in the English class. Another 4-H member had beautiful, large Australorps in that class as well so it was pretty easy to see why her Buffs were considered too juvenile. Lesson learned, bulk up the hens! ha!
After the show ended and we could take our birds home, we quarantined them in a pen away from the rest of ours. I did a a DE dust bath to each bird, added probiotics to their water and lots of fresh water and feed. All that travel, public commotion and being in a confined area with other birds puts them at risk of getting sick. Just doing a little precaution is what was suggested to us and I am thankful for that.
In case you’re interested in knowing more about The American Poultry Association’s list for the Standards of Perfection for Poultry, here is a link.
Part of goat care includes trimming their hooves. It doesn’t sound like a big to do until you add in the fact that most goats see this as a type of torture to be avoided at all cost. I have attempted trimming hooves in a variety of manners. They include coaxing them gently to their shed and then tackling them in a corner while they scream for mercy while I chop away at their dirty little feet. Or you can also try to get them across your lap and use your legs to scissor them to avoid their wriggling so you can do the job without cutting you or them. No really.
The most effective way has been restraining them in the milking stand while I use my body to help steady them and pull one hoof up at a time with good lighting to see the little crevices and areas needing trimmed.
A few words of advice:
Trimming after they’ve been on a damp or wet pasture for a few days to soften things up is much easier than if they are in dry conditions all the time.
Study what you should be trimming or watch Youtube videos to help you get comfortable with the process.
Use a sharp trimmer to avoid needing to go back over the same places repeatedly.
Leave a flat surface when you’ve finished.
Good lighting is key. Dusk and dawn are bad times for this task unless you have electric in your barn.
Cursing neither improves nor impedes the process. Do what you have to do.
Give them a bit of grain or a treat to occupy them while you work away at their hooves. In my case I am trimming Nigerian Dwarf, so they have a daintier, but no less difficult hoof.
My girls do not enjoy the process but seem to tolerate it much better with a bit of grain, pressure from me against their nursery wall and the use of a sharp trimmer that accomplishes the task quickly.
Keep the hand holding the hoof steady pulled back far enough so that you do not nick your knuckles while trimming.
