Goodbye Fergus

My poor couldn't overcome and at noon today was given medication to put him gently down. I love you Fergus, you will always be remembered here. 

Missed A Day

Ok, I missed yesterday. It's going to happen sometimes. Between an 88 year old man, loving in RVs, building a house, taking care of animals, and creating projects for Gator and Justin, we get busy. You didn't miss much yesterday so don't worry. 

As a weekly wrap up though, I'll share some of the critical information. The vet is coming out tomorrow to take a blood test from Fergus and most likely putting him down. If by some miracle he can stay alive, I'll be having him castrated to not pass down anything to future generations. 

On Saturday, regardless of Fergus, we will be picking up a little over a month old bottle bull calf. He comes from a silver sire which increases our odds of silver calves in the future, while not getting an exact replica of Fergus which would break my heart right now. This bottle baby will need a lot of my attention which will be a good thing for me. 

Lastly, our barndo has been rocking and rolling all week. Gravel would be dumped and rolled every day. I think all of that is done and tomorrow the wood foundation framing occurs. We love the progress!

Farm Full of Goobers

It doesn't matter of you're asking about my chickens, goats, donkeys or cows. Actually, you can even be asking about us. We're just a farm full of Goobers doing silly stuff. 

Tonight, I was swarmed, for lack of a better word, by six out of nine of my goats. All jumping on me at the same time three deep. I may have introduced peppermint treats today which were a big hit. Obviously. 

The cows all require their own individual bedtime routines from which gate they enter the barn to how I "tuck them" in. Fergus was peppier today which was good to see. 

The donkeys. Oh boy, they were a handful with the peppermint treats tonight. They were practically horsey! I'm only going to do the peppermint every once in awhile. I can't handle all the goobers!

My Wee Cow

While we are waiting for the vet to see us and help put Fergus out of his misery, my wee cow Fiona (she likes to be called that) showed me how much she's living. Saturday night, she ran with the donkeys in the pasture. Tonight, she ran by herself in the pasture and even bucked like a bronco some. I don't think Fiona understands she is a large, heavyset heifer! It just tickles me to watch her enjoy herself. 

She is trying to distance herself from Fergus though. She knows he's slipping away and she doesn't want to be anywhere near that. I never thought I would share an emotion with a cow, but Fiona and I are in sync with this. It's so hard for me to watch him fading away. He keeps trying to stand up, but he keeps getting weaker. Tomorrow, I'm going to get some high calorie supplements for him as I think he's hungrier than what we're feeding him. We keep bringing him hay and grain, but it doesn't seem to be enough. 

Oh well, the circle of life continues. Fiona will frolic in the pasture, Flora will literally be in the middle wanting to be near Fergus, but to also watch the fun. The goats and the donkeys are playing their own ways, but they do tend to give wide berth with Fiona gets her zoomies!

She found she enjoys the leaves of this tree/bush. She didn't really eat any, just enjoyed pulling the leaves off

Fergus & The Farrier

Well, our farrier came out Saturday to see if Fergus' difficulty standing had something to do with his hooves. Unfortunately, it wasn't. He's lost a lot of weight as well, that was hidden underneath his wonderfully shaggy coat. But no, Fergus has completely lost the use of his back two legs. He barely has use of his front two now. 

Tomorrow, we'll be calling the vet to make arrangements to have his blood taken and for him to be humanely put down. The blood test is for our piece of mind that he isn't contagious to the others. We're going to miss our guy so much, but I'm not going to let him suffer. He'll always have a special place in my heart. 

I have given him loads of loving and pets. Rob has hand fed and watered him every couple of hours throughout the last few days. And while I hate to say it, it does need to be addressed. We will not be butchering Fergus as we don't know why this has happened to him. For those who actually know me though, you'll know Fergus was never intended as a meat source for us. He was going to sure a herd. Now, we'll discuss our next steps pertaining to the Highland aspect of our farm. 

Limited Hope

Ok, the vet came late last night and he and his assistant gave grim faces. They pushed on his back, got his temperature, and then gave him two shots. They said it's either a pinched nerve or cerebrocortical necrosis. The first he'll heal from, the other he won't. No blood was drawn or x-rays taken. No questions about feed or changes in environment. That was it. He's literally the only vet who can make house calls for us at this time unless we can get him to a vet in Belton. He said in 24 hours, he should walk again. It's been almost 22 and nothing yet. However, it was an incredibly hot day today and none of our cows moved around much. 

So, we're extending the 24 hours to test some other theories I've researched. As he only has weakness in his limbs and absolutely no other issues, we're getting our farrier out to trim his overgrown hooves and to help support him to try to stand. Our farrier used to ride bulls, he's strong and hearty and wants to help us save Fergus. We'll keep hand feeding him until this weekend and hope his overgrown hooves are too painful and that's why he's not walking around. It's worth a shot. 

The good news though, we closed on the barndo loan today and get to start building in the morning! The land will be cleared and plotted tomorrow and next week behind the foundation work. It's finally happening!

Whirlwind Wednesday

We've been going all day and still haven't stopped. We had to drive to the Austin area to get a cashier's check for our closing tomorrow, I had a dentist appointment, and currently we're waiting on a late night visit from a large vet for Fergus. 

We're not sure what's going on with him and I'm fearing the worst. A bovine that can't walk, isn't a good thing. But, I'm keeping faith that he'll be ok if just given the right amount of medicine, or water, or hay or something! We'll do what it takes for our boy. 

Tomorrow we close and our foundation prepped is literally ready to begin the moment the ink is dry. Seriously, I'm supposed to call immediately and they'll be at our place already to be begin. This is how I like it! Progress!

Little of Everything

Today was a whirlwind of a day. Rob was in back to back meetings, so I took the helm at the farm. We started with a septic holding tank ground deployment for Senior's rig. Then, the county people dug up the driveway to put the new culvert in, but managed to cut through a telephone line, so now we have to go off roading until it's fixed. It wasn't our phone line, but the neighbors might not like us much. 

Then our builder came by and I helped him cordon off the land! We're finally starting to get things going. After that, we had to go run errands before picking up Bobby Sue. She's a beauty of a Ford 2000 tractor that's been rebuilt and repainted. While the tractor was delivered, I managed to make a deal to trade our junked out mule (the one bought at auction that died) for a shredder attachment for our tractor. Not bad for a day's work. 

As for Fergus, he moves a little at a time and has gotten himself back in the barn. He's considered an "alert downer" which means he's not bloated and that he's eating and drinking well. We bought him some better feed today with lots of vitamins, so we'll see if it works. We'll still be taking him to the vet, but I'm hoping by his own four feet and not us somehow lifting him there. 

Down Cow

After a long day of taking Senior to Austin for a doctor's visit, we were putting the animals to bed and noticed Fergus wasn't doing well. He would start to stand up, was wobbly on his legs, he'd poop a little, and then he'd lay back down. He was breathing a little heavy, but not too labored. 

So, time to reach out to friends and emergency vets. Considering the only thing that has changed this week is his going out into the pasture, Rob and I think strongly that he ate something he shouldn't have. He would eat the hay we hand fed him and he drank a little bit of water. He wasn't bloated, no redness/heat/discharge anywhere, just wobbly. We couldn't find an emergency vet for him, so we're going to keep watch on him overnight and pray that he's ok. 

This has taught me that I need to supply ourselves with various meds for all the animals. If we don't have emergency vet services, it's up to us to hopefully figure it out. I love my Fergus and Rob assures me he's going to be okay. I sure hope so!

Rob splashed him with some cool water as well in case he was too hot

Bucket System

Originally, we started out keeping the food in bins in their stalls. That worked for awhile, but then the goats became a handful anytime we opened any bin up. Plus, it seemed like we were refilling the bin for the cows every other day which was a lot of carrying. So once we got the pasture perimeter finished, we started the bucket system. There's a reason why everyone does this!

All of our animal feed is locked away in a storage container. Each night, we drive the mule to the container and fill the buckets. Them, we drive into the inner perimeter and start unloading the buckets. The goats are first, donkeys second, cows third, and chickens last. All the animals have learned the mule is the "feed truck" and come to it like we're the ice cream truck to kids. It brings just as much fun and delight as an ice cream truck does, too!

And although I've shared on Facebook, I'm sharing here as well. Yesterday, I was able to halter Fergus and lead him into the barn! I'm getting the hang of being a country girl. 

Things I've Learned: Overall

As I ended this week or, I'll share the latest I've learned overall. We're set to close on the construction loan for our barndo this coming Wednesday! 

The outer perimeter has been completed, and the donkeys and goats absolutely love all the room to play. The cows still think the barn is better, but when it gets cooler, I think they'll enjoy the pasture more. 

We also worked with the country commissioner and he cleared all the front line trees today. Tomorrow, he and his crew will finish up making our right of way neat and trim. It all works, because they had to rip down the old fence and in three weeks, Gator will be building us a new one. That just means the dogs are under house arrest for three weeks to a month, poor babies!

Things I've Learned: Cows

Remember at the beginning of this week when I said I go by temperament, use and appearance? Ok, I truly didn't care about the first two when choosing my highland cattle, I was all about the appearance!

Because I needed to convince Rob, I researched the daylights out of them. Luckily, their temperament is gentle and smart. They are considered a meat breed. In fact, they have some of the lowest cholesterol and fat of meat cows. However, our use is for breeding. There is a great demand for Highlands, but remarkably few Texas breeders. They can be registered, they can be shown, and they can be sold for a bunch of money. Where most cow breeds are sold by weight, Highlands are sold for their genetics. We took advantage of the drought when other farms were struggling, and got ourselves two females and the ultimate silver male. I'm trying to convince Rob to let me get one or two more females, but we'll see how it goes. 

In addition to breeding, Fergus will also be, um, let's say milked when he comes of age at various times for straws to sell. Those are for breeders who prefer doing things by artificial insemination. If you see a cow adult film being played in the barn, just mind your business. Haha. 

Things I've Learned: Donkeys

Ok, in truth, I know little to nothing about donkeys from research. I knew to get two, but all the other information conflicted with each other. So, I'll share what I've personally learned with my own two donkeys (I could just have two unique donkeys). 

My two girls, Patches and Fancy, absolutely love each other! They play together every day, are inseparable, and even cuddle each other at night. Out of all my farm animals, they are the most well behaved. Patches will follow on my right side, Fancy on my left, and they stop and go when I stop and go. They roll around in the dirt like Reggie does when they're really happy (yes, sometimes when they're itching from flies, but that's rare). They do hate getting their hooves trimmed, but that's my farriers thing to deal with. 

They get plenty of exercise, they love all the other animals, and they do love food. Throat scratches are their favorite rubbing spot, but they'll take anywhere. They will wear a halter if they must, however since they follow me everywhere I go, I don't worry about it much. Oh, and they're the most polite poopers. They pick one area as a toilet and use it consistently. Not like all my animals that go whenever and wherever they are!

Things I've Learned: Goats

If you want the playfulness of puppies, but with hooves instead of paws, goats are for you. I did a ton of research before going with Nigerian dwarf goats. Like with most livestock, you had to decide which use you wanted. There are meat goats, dairy goats and show goats. Show goats are the best of certain breeds, but can be meat or dairy. I wanted dairy. 

Now, I'm not much of a milk drinker, but I do love cheese. Any cheese. If you ever invite me to a party and wonder where all the cheese disappeared to, look for me. You might find a crumble of cheese left on my shirt. Anyway, there are the heavy miller's like Nubians, but Nigerian dwarfs produce a heavier butterfat. Plus, they are so dang cute!

I could write novels about what I've learned about goats, but I'll stick to a few that aren't always widely known. Polled goats mean they are both without horns (I've got two of those). Disbudded means the horns were removed after birth (which I don't go for). I actually had a breeder try to tell me disbudded is better for a goat, this is not true. Their horns actually temper the heat, and Texas heat is hot! Another misconception is that they'll eat anything. Nope, mine are actually quite picky. They do love molasses though. 

Things I've Learned: Chickens

As I do with everything, I research thoroughly every breed of animal/bird I get. I don't care about them being the ultimate best, but I go for what will be best with me. I look at temperament, appearance, and use primarily. When I research, I read books, search online, and even join Facebook groups on the subject. I'm not an expert, but I'm always willing to share what I've learned. Especially because I see others might not know. Today, it's chickens. 

When you're looking for chickens, you first need to decide their use for you. Are you wanting them for eggs? For meat? Or both. We wanted to start with egg layers. 

That brought us to temperament. As we were beginners, we wanted a breed that were easy to work with. The top three are Plymouth rocks, Rhode island reds, and leghorns. The first two had a slightly better temperament than leghorns, so we went with them. Plus, leghorns are boring white, so appearance factored in as well. 

Now, here's what I've learned (or already knew). Unless you want to reproduce the chickens, you do not need a rooster. So many people don't know this, so I had to share. Second, they can be loud, dirty, disgusting, mean and I sometimes think spiteful, but, they are also trainable, great at eating insects, and produce truly great tasting eggs. Next spring, we do plan to try our hand at a couple of other breeds, some for meat and some for different colored eggs (mine produce brown). For now, we're happy with our hens. 

Let's Hair About It

One of the things Rob and I do now that we're living a simpler life, is give each other haircuts. Earlier this week, Rob gave me a trim, and today, I took care of his. I couldn't convince Senior to let me do his though, so off to the barber we took him. 

He said the barber and his wife show horses and rabbits. The rabbits, as they reproduce quickly, she tends to sell here and there. Now that we have the Gator Crossin', it might be time to start thinking about rabbits. I'm not sure, I might wait until spring. It's not like I don't have my own hands full already. 

As we're gearing up for the weekend, I want to share how sweet all my girls are. They all let me love on them and give them pets, scratches and hugs. They make everything better on the farm. 

All Nuttied Out

It took a few days, but Nutty has finally tired himself out. His eyes were clearer today, he was calmer, other than him being insanely hungry, he was back to being regular Nutty. Good, we needed a little break from his nonsense. 

No rain or rainbow today, but there is a new egg on our farm. A Big Green Egg to be precise. We're going to enjoy meals at the Gator Crossin' for awhile. That's what I've decided to name our pavilion. Gator approved the name. 

If y'all have grilling tips or recipes for me for the Big Green Egg, send them my way. I'm ready to see how this contraption works. 

Another Day, Another Rainbow

As is customary with Texas weather, we had a massive downpour that was completely unpredicted. We saw it rolling in and decided to put the animals in the barn early for the evening. We were an hour early for stall time, and the cows were absolutely not happy about that. It's ok, they'll get out an hour early in the morning. 

Senior is starting to get bored with all the animals places we go each week. He decided against going to the hay store with us, but he tagged along for tractor supply. You've never met a man who loves to shop more than Senior. He just wishes we picked other stores to shop at. Not our style right now. But living in an RV, you just really don't shop for anything that isn't eaten. 

Now, the rains have blown through and Rob and I are ready to relax for the evening. Maybe tomorrow we'll have another rainbow. 

Bull's Nest

My poor Fergus is the shaggiest of all our animals. He's also the messiest and clumsiest. What this boils down to is a very tangled and dirty boy. We're not so concerned about the dirt right now, as eventually we'll be getting a squeeze chute and bathing all of them, but the tangles aren't good ever. 

Of course, the two worst spots for him are his tail and his manhood. While I'm leaving the manscaping duties to Rob, I took care of his tail tonight. I'm not going to lie, this boy somehow managed to add miscellaneous pieces of trash and created an impressive and elaborate dreadlock of a rat's nest for his tail. I got three quarters of it done before even he was giving me hints he wanted no more tonight. At least all the detritus is removed, only small tangles remain. We'll see if we can finish him up tomorrow. 

All the cows should be happy tonight though, as they are now getting extra feed as we're going into fall. Fiona and Fergus may decide to mate soon, so we want them to have good love handles to hold onto. Haha. 

Love Is In The Air

Nutty is fully doing his job on the farm. He's irritating anyone who isn't a goat, and perhaps some of the girl goats, too. He's got himself a harem and is learning, with our help, that his girls are ours as well. He's a sex crazed, bleating mess of a dude right now, reminds me of a high school boy. 

Rob and I are doing well keeping him in line with us, the donkeys have no trouble nipping at him to behave. The biggest surprise is seeing Fergus step up to protect his women. Yep, the two boys head butted and Nutty learned to leave the bovine completely alone during his hormonal craze. I was surprised because usually Fiona is the protector for them, and even she was seeing Fergus in a new light. Don't get her wrong, she'll still keep him in check. She goes into the stall first, she gets the first treat, and she eats first. He accepts this. Flora is just happy to stay out of the fray and we all can't wait until the perimeter fence is done to give them all more space. 

The fence should be done this week if weather cooperates. I've included pics of the awesomeness that is Texas weather. 

Weekly Round Up

By Thursday, I'm tired. So I've decided to start writing weekly wrap ups on Thursdays until things calm down some around here. 

The animals are great, as y'all know. The chickens are consistently laying eggs now. The barndo is still in the finance stage. Our pavilion is fully electric and water capable now. The RVs are still working. And luckily we've had rain and slightly cooler weather. 

We've added the nuisance of mosquitos because of the rains. Our three newest female goats are still shy towards humans, but I'll keep working on them. And we are still waiting for the septic holding tank for Senior's rig which makes us wary on how much his RV can hold. But those are all just minor inconveniences. 

Rob and I have been so much more relaxed, happy and at peace here at the farm. We've met some great people and even we're beginning to figure out who isn't local around these parts.