What did you do today?

[Deborah Haney]

Wow, If my goats looked as good as yours shaved I would do it year round.

[Kat]

I'll double the WOW.  Now I'm really embarrassed about my (first) shaving job!  Did you shampoo them before shaving?  Were they clipped with a 1/2" comb?

[goatzrule]

My shaving job is really rough too!

[Nanno]

I did not shampoo before shaving. I used a 1/2" clipper guard on my adjustable blade, which was fully extended, so it probably works out closer to 5/8". Most of them didn't need much on the neck and shoulders because they'd already shedded out in the front. It was also easy because I brushed most of them throughout the spring so they didn't have any undercoat left. Clipping through that fine, linty undercoat is a nightmare. The last 2-3 times I clipped Cuzco I had problems with that because he stopped shedding properly in his old age. He'd go bald in some places but he refused to shed his undercoat in others. I'm guessing his thyroid was starting to give out by then and it was playing havoc with his shedding cycle.

My purebred Nubians don't grow an undercoat at all. Rambo has very long, thick guard hairs and seems to be fine, but Rocky sometimes gets cold in winter and has to snuggle up to his buddy, Rambo. Sputnik doesn't grow much undercoat either, which is a blessing because he HATES to be brushed. He's learned how to tolerate it and stand still if he's tied, but if he's loose and he so much as sees or hears me brushing another goat he high tails it to the other side of the house and hides until I put the brush away. Greedy as he is, no amount of treats and bribery will convince him to voluntarily come in for a brush. He deeply enjoys being bathed, though, which is really funny to me. He doesn't particularly care for the clippers but tolerated them well this time until I got to his belly. He didn't like having his belly done at all!

[Nanno]

Last night was a full moon, so Phil and I decided to take Finn and Sputnik for a moonlight walk. We drove down to an area between Rye and Colorado City where dirt bikers created a really neat maze of trails through a section of hilly scrub oak and meadow. Clouds floated fitfully across the sky, threatening to obscure the large, orange moon as it came up. Phil and I smelled smoke in the air as we left home before dusk and it was hard to tell where the clouds ended and smoke began. The moon changed various hues from neon red to burnt orange throughout the evening as the smoke gave it an eerie glow.

The evening was warm and I'm quite sure I heard something slither away under the bushes as we passed, so I began to worry a little about rattle snakes as I walked along in my sandals. I had no problem letting the goats walk ahead after that. Better they should discover the rattlesnakes than me! But we never encountered one.

As the evening deepened and the sky turned black, Phil noticed a red glow on the southwestern horizon. He thought it was a late reflection from the long-gone sunset, but I thought it must be from the wildfire that was causing the smoke. As we continued our walk, the glow never faded, so we concluded that it must indeed be a new wildfire. We learned later that it started just a few hours earlier and had already grown to 1200 acres by the time we saw the glow. It's burning in the hills between La Veta and Fort Garland, which is only about 50 miles south of us as the crow flies. The fire is 4000 acres today, and hot winds are swirling thick smoke into our valley. The firefighters have their work cut out for them, and I only hope that nothing else catches fire right now.

[IdahoNancy]

That has got to be a nasty feeling. Praying the rains come or at least the winds blow away from your place.

[goatzrule]

Wildfires always make me nervous especially because we don'thave any kind of tralier for the goats.

[MadCatX]

We put up hanging mineral blocks for the geughts...lol we had them lick each one to see which one they preferred..they loved them until I brought out the puffed cheese corn..lol

[goatzrule]

Puffed cheese corn?! And I thought mine are spoiled.

[MadCatX]

LOL - naw I spoil the heck out of my two. Wont even lie about it. I love my two geughts. They are so much fun.