Shalali Infante and Pint-Size Farm, located in New Mexico, breeds miniature jerseys, Nigerian dwarf goats, and American Guinea Hogs shipping animals all over the U.S.

Production:
Janie: 21.5 pounds
Annie: 14.4 pounds
Sally: 20.4 Pounds
Eggs: 30

Yeah! I worked out this morning. It felt good to jump on the trampoline again. I took it easy and didn’t get much air. I did wrap my ribs, just in case, but they felt fine, no signs of tenderness. Yippee! I think I can definitely go back to a full workout Monday. So I only got 4 days of working out this week, that was certainly better than the 1 day last week.

It rained last night again with thunder and lightening. I had Andre let Bear in, because he is afraid of the thunder. I let him out about 3:30 this morning. It seemed bitter cold outside, so that is when I decided to definitely jump on the trampoline instead of going out to walk. I didn’t want to be cold.

It was very cold this morning; not cold enough for coats, but almost. The wind was just bitter. When we got out to the barnyard for chores, Janie was leaking puddles of milk onto the ground. She had been bellering for Yum-Yum. Poor girl, but I was guessing she was going to let down just fine.

The barnyard was pretty wet, but I managed to rake the water out of all the puddles and get all the muck raked up. I rake and Dante scoops. It is still taking us quite a while to get things done, as the goaties require so much attention. They need to be photographed; they need to be held; they need to be kissed; they need to be squeezed; they need to be observed and then molested. My goodness, they are just pure trouble!

Eclair wouldn’t quit pestering me to let her help with the chores, so I had to succumb.

The babies have a little eye infection, so we had to bring them all into the milking parlor and wash their eyes with the water we use for washing the udder (hot water with glug of distilled white vinegar). Poor Eclair was so excited to check out the chickies, but Mama Hen was having nothing doing, and Eclair got a good peck on her face. Poor girl.

After washing the goaties eyes, we finally brought Janie into the barn. She let down without any problem, filling the bucket. Finally! Annie was next up and she also was very interested in the chickies. We think these are the first chickies she has ever seen. Well, Mama Hen wasn’t too happy to have Annie’s big ol’ head checking out her teeny, tiny babies, so she gave Annie what for on her nose. I just about died laughing to see Annie back away from that chicken. Afterwards, she was a lot more cautious in her checking out the babies.

This was after her being freaked out yesterday because she tried to eat a dust mask that was hanging on the stanchion. It popped her in the face, and she backed away from it like she had seen a ghost. Oh that girl cracks me up. She’s too curious for her own good. Annie did well in the morning too, since Yum-Yum didn’t nurse on her either.

Sally was her normal perfect beautiful self.

Dante went out to separate Yum-Yum at his regular time, 11:30 and found that he had not let him out, so…he was let out for an hour. We are starting to wean him, by leaving him locked up, except between morning milking and when we separate at 11:30. Janie is just holding up too much for him to be with her so much. He’s already weaning age, so I’m not too worried.

After milking and clean up, I started Marinara sauce for spaghetti for dinner After that, I ran to the feed store to get shavings for the brooder and a new waterer. I found what I hope to be a great addition to our chicken tractors in terms of waterers. I’ll get a picture tomorrow of what they look like, but they are 5-gallon siphoning waterers that can hang too. I bought 3 of them. I asked the store manager if he would give a volume discount; he gave me 11% off. Yeah!

I showed the little house to a potential renter as soon as I got back. Then it was time to rush off to Pansy’s for Dante’s math. When we got back home, my cousin, Cydelia, asked if she could bring her kiddos over to see the newest members of our farm. They had a great time playing with the goaties and seeing all the animals. They even helped milk the cows.



As you can see, we had a lot of helpers with the milking this afternoon.

Janie again didn’t let down very well in the afternoon. Ooooooh, that girl is being so bad these days. She’s got Bad Cow Disease. I cannot wait to remove Yum-Yum to Beef Camp. Part of her poor let down could have been because Yum-Yum was with her later. It could also have been partly due to having crowd in the milking parlor. It most likely was due to the fact that she is such a brat!

We cooked the pasta and I burned the garlic toast (but salvaged it after some scraping). Yummy.

Now, I’m done for the day and ready for bed.
G’night!

This entry was posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 10:06 pm and is filed under Farm Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.