What did you do today?

[Charlie Horse]

So I thought I was all Mongolian with my Ger and my Yak and the bit of Russian I know.

I tell you what-- I'd love to live there for a year or two, myself. There's so much to learn and see.

However, I'm a little confused. Are you really planning to live there long term? And in a small village too? (Every town except Ulan-Bataar is a small town). I'm really curious about how this is going to work. For sure a Westerner could show up and settle down in that area for peanuts-- Money isnt a big issue since we're all zillionaires compared to the locals. And for sure if you learned the language you'd have a valuable skill as a translator for all the multi-national companies going in there and mining the crap out of the place. (I'm mainly against gold mines there that use mercury and arsenic and poison ancient rivers permanently just to make a buck for some foreigner today. I'm a gold prospector myself but I never use chemicals or damage the landscape). It seems to me like it could get pretty boring there in the winter, since like anyone that lives in Siberia you'd be hiding indoors most of the time. Be sure to fill up your Kindle with lots of books before you go! But riding a horse (ahem...pony) everywhere and the open range would be amazing. One of the coolest things about Mongolia is they really do stick to their traditions in a lot of ways-- Still live in gers, still have the long sleeved coats, and all that, despite the Russian occupation and the influence of the West. And yet every ger has a solar panel sticking off to the side hehe.

Hopefully you'll have internet somewhere in town to keep us up to date!

[Saltlick]

I'll help out and and try to establish some things in tourism here dunking the summers, and in winter I'll volunteer to help kids of the town
Learn English. The is just for starts. Yes I do plan to stay jeremlp

Stay long term

[Nanno]

We've been thinking about adding at least one more Alpine doe to our herd, especially since we lost Nibbles last winter. These came up on Craigslist recently and tomorrow we're going out and have a look...

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/grd/4592329756.html

Doesn't sound like the owner knows too much about them except that they are registered Alpine does and they are sisters. He's had them for a year and a half and never bred them, so they are now two years old and never freshened. Sounds like they've just been pets all this time. The fellow had hopes of getting into milk goats but never had time to get started and now he's leaving for college and his dad doesn't want to take care of them. When I asked how big they are, I was told they are three feet tall at the back and weigh 50-60 lbs., so he's obviously got his numbers screwed up pretty bad or he's not good at estimating. I asked for more photos and this was all I got:
   

I thought about asking more questions, but we've already got way too many emails back and forth and neither of us is quick at responding, so I decided it's time to take action and just go up there and see them. It's $160 for the pair and I know the breeder (same lady we bought Lilly from), so I'm guessing they're clean. If we bring them home I've got an extra length of electric fence so I can keep them quarantined from my guys for a couple of weeks while I run fecals and send in blood samples. I figure at this price they're worth the risk.

Wish us luck!

[Nanno]

Oh, and they have WATTLES!!!

[sydneyjd]

Cute!! My goat named 'Nibbles' is not growing as much as the others ,but she was a triplet.

[Taffy]

My day started off scary. We were sitting on the front porch having our morning coffee. My husband swatted and killed a meat eater bee. Our dog ate it like he always does. Only this time within 5 minutes he was in distress and having trouble breathing! I ran inside, grabbed the epinephrine and gave him a dose. Called the vet and took him in. She gave him an injection of benadryl on top of the epinephrine I gave him. They kept him for a few hours and he's now home. Back to his tail wagging self. I knew there was a reason I kept epinephrine around! I've always had it on hand for the horses and goats but had no idea I'd use it on my dog.

Banjo had a "male attitude adjustment" this afternoon. The greatest goat vet in the world used the burdizzo. If I were a man I'd be crossing my legs and running the other way! Banjo was anesthetized. I'm sure he appreciated that over being awake! Matt also got rid of some scurs, I trimmed hooves and shaved off his baby hair on his thighs and along his topline. He's still groggy but is up and eating. He'll get banamine for a couple days to help keep him comfortable.

I sure morning coffee is more calm tomorrow!

[Nanno]

Whew! I'm so glad your dog is ok. What a scary thing!

I hope Banjo has a nice change of attitude after his "operation." I'd love to see you cross your legs and run at the same time!

I bought some more electric fence and I spent most of today mowing, chainsawing, and clearing a path through the thickets for my new goat set-up. I love being able to move pens around to where the brush needs thinning, and I know the goats love it too! I got one half set up, and tomorrow I'm removing the pen I have now and adding it to the new one. There will be a boys' half and a girls' half. Lilly came in heat last week and I think Finn was trying to breed her. (Hopefully he didn't succeed!) Don't want any "oopses"! Hopefully no one is dumb enough (Sputnik, I'm looking at you!) to try to leap through the fence and get back to mama. Sputnik is my mama's boy.

I think Petunia will be glad of the break, and I need to start letting her udder fill up. Those greedy little kids haven't let it get full since she first freshened and I don't want her to be sore for State Fair in two weeks. I'm also curious to see what her udder looks like when it's full. It's mostly even now, and I'm pretty sure the difference will be almost unnoticeable when it's allowed to fill up.

Our new girls, Jezebel and Delilah, are starting to warm up to us a little. They're timid little things, but they baa-aa at us every time we peek our heads out the door. I've been cutting fresh oak branches for them and they're devouring them like candy.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Sausage! Good to hear he is ok

[Saltlick]

  Django.JPG (Size: 171.91 KB / Downloads: 43) Hey folks! I'm back from Mongolia and out of touch with everything and everyone, just wanted to say howdy and let you know that all three of my goats look great, they had great care while I was gone (although no walks), and Django's knee looks fine now, no more swelling AND he grew at least an inch and a half!! (how do they do that??!!) and is the same height as the one who's over a year older than him! He looks fantastic!!! I'm sad on the other hand because if I do move to Mongolia next year I will have to give them all up, and I've already cried about the thought of it - never realized how attached to these guys I am...

[Nanno]

Oh wow... I didn't know if you were going to come back at all from the way you sounded earlier. I'm glad you are able to come see your guys even if it's just for this one last time. You must have had an amazing time in Mongolia if you're planning to go back for keeps. I'm glad your goats are doing well and I hope you're able to find good homes for them.