Blood, Bone & Bleuberry

Shayla & Bleuberry

As some may have noticed, I’ve been kind of absent from the whole blogging bit….. If you did not notice, do my ego a favor & pretend you noticed my lack of posting!

Been sick, busy and did I mention sick?? Started off with this nasty, deep to the bones ache & complete lack of energy…went away for a week…then came back with what I’m guessing is some upper respiratory junk…coughing, congestion, some fever, aches & snot.


Three weeks later and I’m still coughing like a life long smoker…. I’m way behind on almost everything & I think I’ve scared folks with my haggard, hacking self when I’ve been forced to venture out.

Despite all of that, here I sit, alternating typing and coughing…feeling quite pleased with my multitasking this evening. Going to do my best to catch up my blog….

ANYWHO, I’m obviously side tracking myself, so I’ll get on to the subject of the title..

In the midst of the worse part of my sick I was in rough shape…. Just making it out to the pens to feed was a struggle so I altered my milking schedule so I wouldn’t be due at the barn until 10am or so…

One lovely morning I finally manage to wobble out to the barn, milk Sabrina, fed the milk to the chickens (too tired & gross to be my typical uber sterile self) & was about to go toss myself in bed when half way to the house it dawned on me that Bleuberry, one of my Alpine does who never, EVER misses so much as a scrap of hay, did not greet me (read mob me) at the gate.

I stood there on the porch in the remains of my Nyquil induced fog & considered chalking it up to the ever constant antics concocted by goats to drive you insane, but thought better of it and went back out… I swear the walk to the barn felt like 2 miles…..

I cussed Bleuberry the whole entire walk, just knowing that as soon as I got out there, she’d be bounding around, smug with satisfaction of making me put out extra effort on her behalf.

Well, I do admit, profanity was the first bit out of my mouth when I saw her….. She stood in the back corner of the barn, leaning on the wall, head hanging and her entire body shaking violently. …Pools of blood were visible on the floor and she had a nasty leg cut…




Cut after 1st cleaning. It extends down & around another few inches under the bloody area shown



Cut was on her rear leg, about 7 inches long, straight down the front…cut so bad the bone itself was visible and even had a gouge on the bone!! Looked like someone took a potato peeler to her leg in an attempt to leave nothing behind but bone! The cut was shaped like a shallow backwards “C” with flesh from the top & sides puddled in the center instead of firmly attached in their proper places….I couldn’t get the lower half of the cut to show in the pictures, so you’ll just have to use your imagination on that…..

Ran in to get supplies, washed with Triodine 7 & tried to put the flesh back in place, but it just kept sliding down the leg making this grotesque lil puddle…

Stitches were definitely needed, and I would have happily stitched her up, but the wound must have occurred late in the night or very early in the morning as the flesh had already shrunken… Despite my best efforts I couldn’t cover the entire area with the missing flesh as it had shrunk so much…

In the midst of this I realize I’ve made unnecessary trouble for myself….. Something as simple as a CD/T Toxoid Vaccine would have saved me a mad dash into town…Typically I’m very good about giving the vaccine, and the booster 21 days later every year (booster is essential to seal immunity)…This year, I didn’t get around to it…So not only did I have the drama of this nasty wound, I had tetanus to worry about too!

Ran into town (40 minutes away) and got the much needed Tetanus Antitoxin….something every goat owner should have on hand for emergencies as it provides instant, short term protection against tetanus… So my goat friends who read this, go NOW, make sure you have the antitoxin on hand, and better yet, make sure your CD/T’s are current!!

Before leaving I cleaned it as best as possible, locked her up alone and gave her a nice shot of Banamine to help ease the pain…..Banamine is another essential for your goat medicine cabinet. It eases pain, reduces inflammation/fever and in really sick goats, it can ease their suffering enough to allow them to eat, thus keeping that ever important rumen functioning properly.

Came home, got the Tetanus Antitoxin in her and then sat with a new dilemma… I’m sick and wobbly…Bleuberry is a big girl…taped at 165lbs and she’s in pain. I have no help…

I drag my big metal milk stand through two gates and into the lil pen I have her in, then lift her, one half at a time to get her on the stand…then get crushed against the wall in her attempt to get away while I was trying to hold her head in the head gate and lock it.

I confess….in the middle of this struggle, I contemplated goat BBQ…only for a split second, but I seriously didn’t feel up to this.

Washed her as she alternated between panicked shaking and frenzied fighting. I had to pull the piled flesh back and flush it as it was a real nasty mess….This chore earned me a kick to the shoulder and one square in the chest which knocked the wind right out of me…. As I laid flat on my back in the dirt, goat manure and other unknowns gasping for air I once again thought of goat BBQ….. But I had to remind myself that Bleu is such a sweetie (generally) and my best quality Alpine so she could not become BBQ, no matter how bad, at that very moment, I wished I wasn’t dealing with this mess…..




A very stressed out Bleu resting after our doctoring ordeal


I got it done though….. Once flushed well, I sprayed down with Vetericyn VF (GREAT stuff BTW) and then packed EMT Gel under the flesh, pulled the flesh back in place as best I could then coated the rest in EMT Gel…. Applied a non stick gauze coated in EMT Gel….. Took 4 gauzes before I finally got one on her that she didn’t kick off…Then taped it down and wrapped in pretty pink Vet wrap…. Let me tell ya, trying to get the wrap on properly, without disturbing the gauze underneath, with one hand was quite the adventure, but when all was said and done I was THRILLED…




Bleuberry rockin' her new bandage


Yes, I am woman, hear me roar! I triumphed over goat, blood, ick and sick.

Banamine was such a huge help…. Once it kicked in she finally started nibbling her hay, where as before she wouldn’t even touch grain. We topped this off by stabbing her with a shot of Biomycin (antibiotic) & Bo-Se (to help boost her immune system).

We went through the cleaning, redressing, shot of Biomycin & Banamine in the evenings and eventually when she saw me coming with my “Bag O’ Tortures” she tried to stay as far away as possible… Poor gal. Future dressings were much less dramatic, thanks to my helpful hubby…He’s a great assistant.

Bleuberry warily watching as I approach with my "Bog O' Tortures"

Now, she’s barely got a limp and I’m beyond pleased with the looks of the wound. I swear by EMT Gel… I’ve used it on dogs, horses, sore, raw hocks on bunnies and now Blueberry…kind of pricey, but worth every single penny!!! Here is a picture of the wound now….No signs of infection, no swelling, and the white you see is where it’s healing over the exposed bone where I didn’t have enough flesh left to pull over it. That white bit looks like it’s a slimey coating or something, but it’s actually got the texture of firm skin….The flesh puddle (like my sophisticated medical terminology?) is firmly attached, and the open areas on the outside of the wound are getting noticeably smaller with each redressing (which we redo every 4-6 days now)..




Bleu's healing leg 13 days after injury

Front view of Bleu's healing leg



Just keeping it wrapped now to protect it from the awful plague of flies we’ve been dealing with here lately and once there is no longer an open area, I’ll leave it unwrapped...below is the most recent shot of her leg & I'm so thrilled with the progress... Once it's time to change this bandage I think I'm going to leave it unwrapped.




Looking good!

 I don’t even think it’s going to scar as bad as I originally thought.

Green Eggs of Noodleville.....Try them! Try them, if you will....

Do you like green eggs & ham?

I do! I do! I do like Green Eggs & Ham! Well, perhaps not green ham, but green eggs, yes ma'am I do.

That Sam I Am may have drove the poor grouchy looking fella nuts in one of my favorite books, but I must say, That Sam I Am was really on to something!

Green eggs that is.

Our rainbow of eggs

My Ameraunacana’s have started laying and we’ve been getting these pale greenish blue eggs and eggs in a rich, sea green color. Pictures don’t do them justice, but they are really pretty.




My two favorite colors, dark brown & the pretty sea green egg....wish the colors showed up better.


Granted, only the shells of my eggs are green…the yolks being a rich yellow/orange shade… If I had a critter of an unknown species hounding me to try eggs with green yolks the odds are good I would have become hostile, so I can’t say I blame ol’ grouchy for being annoyed!

Not to mention the green meat to boot!! I'm positive I would have passed on green meat of any variety..

But.....I can also sympathize with That poor Sam I Am…..

Had you be given the task of marketing green yolked eggs, you too would have had come up with catchy scenarios & rhymes to try and have your product sampled..


Now, if only That Sam I Am had what I have…green eggs truly worth marketing.

My 6 year old daughter was home from school with a respiratory infection and wanted one of her favorite foods for breakfast…. “Slimey eggs cooked the easy way” Which translates into fried eggs, over easy.

She wanted 3 eggs, one dark brown, one white and one green…so I went out to visit the chickens and see what they had to offer. Luck was with me, we had a beautiful green egg.

Cracked it open and much to my surprise, look what I found:

Yep, not only is my green egg far superior to those conjured up by the great Dr. Suess, it’s also double yolked! How cool is that?!?

BTW- My daughter claims that green shelled, double yolked egg perfection was the very best “Slimey egg cooked the easy way” ever!

Eat your heart out Dr. Suess!

Noodleville in the Awards Ceremony

Okay, Okay….there isn’t exactly an “awards ceremony” but I’m suffering from a bit of writers block here and that’s what popped up.

BUT, if you can believe it… My ramblings, and my tales (both tragic & humorous) did actually get an award!

Thanks to my dear friend nick named “Hoosier Girl” over at Blessed Little Homestead Life I am now the proud owner of the Liebster Blog Award!

Don’t think it’s true?? I can sense your skepticism….. But ya know what honey, the proof is all right here!

See?!?! Isn’t it pretty? My very first blog award ever and I think it’s positively peachy! And now that I’ve provided you with PROOF your no longer allowed to be skeptics.

Now…what is this phenomenal “Liebster Blog Award”?

Liebster is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

The Liebster is awarded to spotlight up & coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers.

Now that you know the meaning of it you can truly see why “Hoosier Girl” won this award and why she so graciously passed it on to me…Thanks so much hon!!!

Yes, she may think of herself as only a glorified lavatory attendant at times, but now she gets some well deserved, public recognition for being so much more.

I also know your wondering why *I* got it….well that’s because they can’t give you an award for being scatter brained, OCD, clumsy, hot tempered, irrational, silly, child like, overly dramatic & easily distracted until you have at least 200 followers! At that point you reach an all new level of fame and your character flaws are no longer dubbed with the stigma of “insanity”, rather the prestige of eccentricity.

Like all good things, there is work to be done in return, so here are the rules for the Liebster Blog Award:

1. Thank the giver, and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks & let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy & paste the award onto your blog
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all, have fun!!

Since I’d love to share the love & spotlight with a few of my favorite up & coming bloggers, these are my choices….Bummer I couldn’t choose more as I have several I truly enjoy but rules are rules ya know and one must follow them or risk the wrath of blog world fairies…

1. Range to Range- First of all this is one hard workin’ gal who can tell a simple story in such a way that it brings the reader right along with her in her life adventures on a 250,000 acre cattle ranch… She shares the best pictures and always has great info on things such as yogurt, soap & butter making… If it wouldn’t scare her half to death, I’d happily stalk her just so I could camp out at her beautiful mountain side home.

2. One of my favorite Texans over at Sand Holler Farm deserves this lil gem of an award as well. Gardening advice? Awesome pictures? Book recommendations? Adventures at Farmer’s Market? Goats, chickens and a slew of other critters? You betcha, they have it all and I really love the layout of their blog.

3. Third time is a charm as is my choice at #3... Rummage through Sarah’s blog at Teufel Hunden Farm and your in for a treat. Sarah is quirky, upbeat and shares all sorts of goodies like recipes, projects, pictures and humorous stories. Her art work is positively adorable and her felted soaps look divine! If I had to pick anyone who could be my long lost sister, she’d be it as I can totally see me reacting exactly the same way in some situations (Her post about the snake comes to mind here…lol)

4. Next up is a quirky gal I can totally relate to over at Midlife Farm Wife. She is one of those who, IMO, has passed any stigma of insanity and wears the prestigious badge of the slightly eccentric. She has so much going on and is so creative I’m left in awe with every posting. I mean seriously…how many of you could run a certified organic farm and still have enough creative juices & energy for an awesome blog?? If I’m having a bad day I know I’m guaranteed a good laugh with just one visit to her blog. Pictures & how to’s on hog castration? You got it! Everyday observations of an often on the edge farm wife? Without a doubt! Lots of beautiful soaps and photography….. And my favorite “Angry Soap” that looked like bacon and made me LOL at 2am!

5. Last, but certainly not least is Kay over at BedeSisters. Great pictures, awesome items in her Etsy store and more creativity in her pinky finger than I have in my entire body! Yes, I’ll admit, I’m a smidge envious off all of her adorable (and useful) crafty items….So envious in fact I think you shouldn’t hesitate, not even one single second to hop on over and take a peak around her blog and store.

So, I’ve followed rules 1-4. I am now able to fully say I own that Liebster Blog Award. As for rule #5.… In the land of Noodleville, fun & adventures are to be had in every day at the most unexpected times so I’ve got that one covered.

The Newest Earless Wonders of Noodleville

Not too long ago I posted a blog about being trapped in my barn and as an after thought tossed in info and pictures about my sweet Lamancha boy, "Tonka".

Yes, I know his earlessness is repulsive to some. My husband swears he's the ugliest thing on 4 legs.

I happen to disagree. I think he's simply adorable. He has the sweetest, goofiest disposition and is such a clown.

I had plans to add a doe for him...as mentioned in my recent "Hay Fairy" blog post, it would be such a shame for Tonka to be the only earless goat, and a virgin to boot! Can you just imagine how much hell he'd catch from the other boys?

That intention of adding a doe turned into adding TWO does (got a 2 for 1 deal that I simply could not pass up).

So, please meet my newest girls, Casper & Comanche. They are half sisters, same sire, different dams...Casper is a March 2011 baby, Comanche an April 2011 baby.

                                                  Aren't they just adorable?!?!

Both girl's have been dam raised and are a little bit timid, but I'm confident that a lil time and treats will have them won over.

Comanche, the youngest, is the bravest and was the first to approach us. She is an American Lamancha and though the pictures don't show it well, she's very dainty looking and has the prettiest dished face and big eyes. I have a feeling she's going to become the kids favorite thanks to her brave disposition.

Comanche



Casper


Casper is the older of the two and isn't as easily swayed as her sister.

Last night she wanted nothing more than to stay far away, but this morning she did come stand beside me and nose me a bit so she'll come around in time.....They haven't been with me for even an entire day yet, so the shyness and bewilderment of their new surroundings will pass as they settle in.

Casper is a PB Lamncha and is very well grown for her age (taller than my Alpine kid who is the same age).


Casper & Comanche




Casper chowing down on alfalfa pellets


I'm really excited to have these girls and am looking forward to amazingly adorable Lamancha babies late Spring.

Not to mention, that will, give me two more girls to milk..

Lamanchas, on average have nice level lactations and produce very rich, creamy milk.. They are only slightly behind the butterfat production of the average Nubian, and in general they produce more butterfat than my Alpines.

Not to mention I've noticed my Lamancha tolerates this horrible West Texas heat far better than my Alpines do, so I think Lamanchas are a perfect match for us.

Comanche enjoying her alfalfa pellets


I'm very happy with the condition these girls arrived in and the care the breeder gave was top notch. She stayed on top of coccidia prevention (hence the nice growth these girls have had), and used proper dewormers on the correct schedule..

All in all I think the breeder was great, very helpful, very professional, allowed me to test them for CAE prior to purchase.






I started this goat adventure with the Miniature Alpines....then added standard Alpines, and now Lamanchas.

Through all of this I've learned quite a bit. I started my herd with tested, CAE negative stock but in the begining I didn't know exactly what else to look for. Thanks to some dear friends and mentors I've got a better handle on what a quality dairy goat should look like, what to look for and what traits are undesireable.

Nothing I have is perfect, but I'm happy to say that with each purchase I've "bought smarter" and have gradually added better quality. I've found what I like, and don't like and I think I've figured out what direction I want to go in this endevor.

I have no intentions to show, but I want to produce quality, disease free goats that milk well. Shayla really wants to show, she's been going on and on about for a few weeks now and she is quite heartbroken that she's not old enough yet (she's 6 & she has to be 8 to join 4H) but I hope to produce goats that she will be able to proudly show and at least do well with in our local shows. 

I no longer have Miniature Alpines.... I find I prefer longer legged, taller gals on the milk stand, easier for me to milk. So Tootsie, Keys & Ella have gone to my mom's and Houston will go soon as well.

Lilly, Sabrina's girl is being sold to a dear friend of mine to be a future home milker. It was a hard decision, but I simply can't afford to keep everything, and I'm very happy with her future home.....she'll be a spoiled mess I'm sure.

With Lilly gone that will leave me the Alpine trio & the Lamancha trio. I plan on retaining a Lamancha doe this kidding season, but have no plans to retain any Alpines as I only have room to expand so far and I've chosen to expand my Lamanchas.

At the moment I have Casper & Comanche in a 40ft x 10ft corral. This keeps them separate from the others so they can settle in without getting caught up in dominance games and this also makes them easier for us to catch & handle. We'll probably keep them separate for the first month at least, then we'll test the waters and see how they do with the others.

Lilly has just been bursting with curiousity, and I find it quite funny that she, like Sam when Tonka came home, is facinated (or perhaps confused) by the girl's ears (or lack of) Any time she's able to sniff them, she's bumping their tiny ears as if she's trying to figure out the new oddity...

Lilly meets Casper...Casper isn't impressed..

Finally Famous!!!

So…just how many of you can say you’re the most famous person in your town?

I just so happen to be one of “those” people. No, I never dreamed of fame and fortune (oddly I'm still missing the "fortune" part of that..)

Truth be told, I'm not even into modern day pop culture and celebrity worship.... So it's shocking to be one of "those" people now...

Okay, granted, I’m not in Hollywood… Heck, I’m not even in a town with 100 people, but I’m still famous enough that I was recognized by a complete stranger. Shouldn't being recognized by a complete stranger count as some obscure level of fame???


It was not an old acquaintance.

Not some blast from the past.

Not a friend of a friend.

Not some random co-worker of a long lost relative.

A complete stranger.

Here’s the tale..

Had a carpet to shampoo…..Really in hindsight I’m thinking it was a wasted effort and I’d love to rip it up and start over, but I digress..

Headed into town, hit a grocery store to rent a Rug Doctor.

Had to fill out all those forms so they could hold my credit card ransom in exchange for the promise of a safe return of the lil red box of a carpet shampooer.

The fella checking over the forms checks my driver’s license to verify the address I included on the forms matched my ID and then chuckles & says “Noodle” under his breath......I’m used to this reaction…….lots of folks don’t believe such a town exist so I assure him: “Oh, I promise it’s a real town, regardless of how ridiculous it sounds”..

He replies “Oh I know, I read a blog from this hilarious chick that lives out there, she has this post about being caught by the UPS man in her underwear, and one about being hit with a Taser that is so funny!”

OMG! OMG OMG!

That’s MY BLOG!!!!

Yep, that’s me!

So I reply: “Oh, well, I’m happy you enjoy it...”

Took him a second to catch onto what I said…he looks at me, looks at my DL again and says “OMG That’s YOU!!….Did You really chase a spider with a lawnmower??”

“Yes hon, I sure did…and it wasn’t JUST a spider…it was a freakish, 8 legged beast intent on killing me…”

For a split second I thought about offering him my autograph, but since I’ve yet to write the screen play for “Noodleville” or star in a film, I thought that might have been pushing it…But hey, grocery store fella who wasn't wearing a name tag, if ya ever want that autograph, I’ll hook you up.