Give Me Some Lovin’, Baby

Check out our super cat nanny.

She is up all night tending babies and pregnant Mom’s—even giving up her bed to some of the little ones and going without sleep herself—so now and then she needs a little rest, relaxation, and singular attention. After all, she is 15 years old, and deserves to have a spot on Dad’s lap every now and then without anyone else interfering.

Here, you can see she’s taking up the entirety of the available real estate, making sure she is the only one in it and won’t have to share with one of the baby goats!

The sun was out and finally, after getting her exercise all over Gerald’s head, she went sound asleep. The baby goats could sleep on the ground for awhile, she figured.

Animals are very smart, you know. They understand when it’s necessary to carve some time out for themselves!

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Valentine’s Day at the Ranch: Love, Love Everywhere!

It’s Valentine’s Day, and we have been blessed with 17 beautiful babies so far. What better vision of love than a mom taking care of her newborn babies? This is Macy, here, with her brand new bucks out of Fritz. She’s living with Sergio Garcia and family not far from us, so we had to go check out the babies when they arrived.

Aren’t they gorgeous? This was taken shortly after Macy gave birth. You can see the new little ones haven’t even gotten ahold of their legs yet. But we were so pleased to see her taking such good care of them. She’s turned out to be a great little mom.

Back at the Swan View Ranch, our barn is teeming with new kids. Here’s one of our little does out of Tara. Gerald named her “Misu.” For those of you who don’t know, Gerald is Italian, and “tiramasu” is one of his favorite desserts. He figured with a mom named “Tara” (it’s close, right?), why not name the baby “Misu?” Okay, no one said we were rocket scientists around here! Anyway, Misu is a lot of fun to watch. She’s always bouncing around and she loves to have you hold her on your lap, but only for a short time as she is super active and has to get going again. She has mastered the wooden stumps, as you can see here, and is already eyeing the concrete riser. We’re sure she’ll be queen of that before long.

Misu’s brother’s name? Another super creative one. Remember the old song “Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay?” If you don’t, that’s all right. It was first introduced in Boston in 1891! So the mom is “Tara,” and son is…..ready for this? “Boom!” If she’d given birth to one more we would have had a “De-ay,” but no such luck.  (If you can’t get the song out of your head now, don’t blame us.)

Back to the story. Misu and Boom were our first babies out of our new buck Semi Load. We have six of his babies so far this year and are very pleased with what he has done. These little ones are broad-chested, stout, and sweet as can be. Talk about disposition! We’re really looking forward to having more next year. Semi is now a year old and is a big beautiful boy, so we’ll be putting him with a few more does next time around.

Pete has put out some beauties so far, too, and you can always tell which ones are his. Look at this sweetheart. She’s named after her father—Pistol Packin’ Peggy! But she’s the spitting image of daddy. Just look at the beefiness in her chest and legs. Plus we love that dark color Pete puts on his offspring. We can always count on him to make it easy on our first-time moms, as well. For some reason his babies are always just the right size to cause them no trouble, so they get to thinking that hey, this having babies stuff is not so hard!

Clark has also been busy as usual, and putting out some gorgeous kids. This fiesty boy we named “Blazer,” as he is out of Mercedes and we have to stay with the cars, here! But we picture him as the rock star of the group, as he seems to march to the tune of his own drummer. We’re actually surprised that he hasn’t pierced his ear yet, though we’re sure his parents wouldn’t approve.

What about our super cat nanny? Well as always, she’s on the job. She’s been watching over all the mamas as they prepared to give birth, and now, she’s put herself in charge once again of making sure everyone is towing the line! Don’t worry, though. She may talk tough, but she is an old softy. We caught her actually sharing her bed with one of the babies! Can you imagine a cat sharing her bed?

She’s also kind enough to share a lap as well, or a wooden stump, or whatever. (See more pictures of her on our Baby page.) Seems wherever she is there is one or more babies with her! She just loves them all, and is so happy this time of the year, like a regular mother hen. It’s her job to watch over the kids while their mamas have some time off to go eat and relax, and she takes it very seriously. She also watches over the mamas that haven’t had their babies yet. She wants to make sure everything goes well with them!

Many of our neighbors have been down to admire the babies and we do so appreciate them coming and watching over our little ones even if we aren’t here. This last weekend we had some neighbors with little grandchildren come, so Gerald took Stana out (named after the actress on ABC’s “Castle”—she’s just as pretty!) to let the the kids pet her. She is out of Bella and Semi and is a very loveable little girl. (She’s the one on the stump here in the picture.) She has the nicest hair, too. I wish I had a coat like hers when it’s damp and windy! She fell asleep in Gerald’s arms while the little ones were petting her. Disposition is a must on Swan View Ranch and our babies are all very loveable.

During the daytime we try to find at least a little while to sit up at the barn and just watch them all play. They bounce up and down like they’re legs are made of springs, toss and shake their heads, and run from one side of the pen to the other as if they’re all high on Red Bull. Yet these little ones need no caffeine to find the joy in life, and they inspire us to go back down to the house with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts.

Nighttime finds all 17 babies in their baby goat pen with the heat lamps on and everyone sound asleep. Note the super cat nanny in their midst. She’s singing a lullabye and wishing them all sweet dreams until the sun comes up again.


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Anticipation…

We’re eagerly waiting for new little hooves to make their mark in our freshly laid straw. Which doe will surprise us first with new babies? Will there be one, two, three, or four born at the same time?

Our girls are even more eager than we are. After five long months, many are convinced they have to have at least six in there, and boy are they sick of carrying them around! Some are complaining of arthritis and asking us please for some Aleve or Motrin or something. They are very heavy and uncomfortable, as you can see. (Pumpkin)

In the goat yard we have new toys for tots, solid and sturdy but empty and lonely! We’re quite sure they can’t wait to have baby goats playing on them.

Meanwhile Miss Fluff Puff  is pacing like the expectant super cat nanny she is, checking out all the birthing pens with their clean straw and heat lamps ready to go at a moment’s notice.

The annual flocking of the neighbors up and down the ditchbank has already begun in anticipation of the little newcomers. Everyone smiles when they watch the kids play. Like Dumbo’s descendants the babies jump from high places and flap their long ears, though so far we haven’t caught one actually flying. (The crows tell us not to hold our breath.) Phone calls have started to come in as well, with eager customers wanting goats for their herds and 4-H projects.

Maria, our oldest and finest mama, here enjoys an apple treat from Dad (Gerald). She knows if she just bats those beautiful eyes of hers, he can’t resist giving her just one more. Her daughter, Christina, has picked up this profitable skill and thus is also regularly pampered. And they say animals are stupid!

The boys—Clark, Pete, and Semi—keep peeking through the fence with their chests puffed out, anticipating the arrival of their new offspring. Obviously each believes theirs will be the finest looking. Then of course there are bets circling as to which buck will have the most kids. Pete looks a little nervous when Clark isn’t watching. Young Semi is just hoping he has at least one, or he won’t be able to show his face in the buck pen this spring.

We’ll keep everyone posted as the maternity ward starts to fill up. Of course we welcome new baby gifts of the goat variety—hay, straw, grain, and lots of love.

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Goat Fashion: Before and After Shots!

When the weather got hot over the summer, we had to dive into one of the more difficult chores involved with raising goats—shaving. All that winter hair doesn’t come off by itself, and the goats get too hot wearing it, say nothing of how scraggly they look!

The nice thing about this chore is that it’s so rewarding. Just look at the difference it makes! Here’s a before and after shot of Sophia, our doe who thinks she’s a super model. She says she even looks younger with her new haircut!

Some people have asked me how we go about shaving our goats, so here’s a quick rundown of the process. First, we put the goat up on the stanchion to keep him or her still. Sometimes this can be a hassle with the young goats, as it’s all new to them, but for the more mature does, it’s no big deal. They’ve been there, done that many times, and they know there’s GRAIN waiting for them in the feeder once they are on the stanchion!

Next, I get on one side with my clippers and Gerald gets on the other side with his clippers and we go to town! Two stylists finish the job faster than one.

When we’re done clipping (smooth movements in the direction of the hair), we start trimming hooves. It’s like a regular trip to the spa. Gerald does the back feet and I do the front, cutting the extra hoof off with a pair of hoof clippers, much like trimming nails.  We each do the opposite side as the other so the goat can balance and doesn’t fall down!

When the hooves are done, I brush the goat off, put on the lice powder from the head down the back to the tail, then pick up the hair and put it in a sack so it doesn’t blow all over the barn. We set the goat free and he or she steps down, looking much more beautiful or handsome than when first getting onto the stanchion—and feeling much cooler as well.

Clark, one of our bucks, was so very good to do this year. Check out his before and afters. Of course, we can’t remember a buck that wasn’t. Being male, they seem most interested in their stomachs, so as long as we keep the grain coming, they don’t care what we do with them!

Here’s Pumpkin’s before and after shots as well. She was super easy to do, being a mature doe who knows what it’s all about. Doesn’t she look smooth and wrinkle-free?

Some of the younger goats were more difficult until they got used to the whole routine. These three below, for example—Tara, Alice, and Caroline—I swear wanted MORE spa treatment once they were all done. We can’t blame them. After all, we don’t know of anyone who would do all that for us for free!

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A New Muscular Addition: Semi Load!

Semi and his mother, Love Affair.

We traveled to Austin, Colorado in January, 2011 to see this very young buck out of sire Quality Load and dam Love Affair. He was amazing—muscular and beautiful at only six weeks old. So we purchased him and named him Semi Load, but had to leave him behind a little longer as he still needed his mother.

We returned in March to pick him up and again were amazed at his muscular physique. For a buck only three months old, he was gorgeous. He rode home in the back of our pickup, protected by the camper shell, and he cracked us up because he kept watching us through the back window! I think he wanted to be a backseat driver, but we couldn’t hear his instructions!

After taking a little time to adjust to the new place, Semi seems quite content and is still growing. We are so eager to try him on a few does this fall to see what he will produce. We are hoping his babies will look just like their daddy — strong, muscular and beautiful!

See our Buck Page for more on this strapping young fellow.

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Sometimes Friendships Need Time to Grow

No ranch is complete without a couple of horses, and this one is no exception. Since we lost our two favorites in 2004 and 2005—my daughter’s Quarter Horse and my Morgan that we had raised from birth—we were a horseless ranch. That was just unacceptable! So in 2005 while visiting our daughter in Idaho, we saw a picture of a registered Tobiano Paint/Quarter Horse on the bulletin board at the local farm and ranch store. Her name was Cheyenne. She was beautiful, only 11 years old, and well trained. A perfect fit!

We went and tried her out and of course, my daughter, being a Quarter Horse gal, fell in love with her. So she had to come to Colorado. Since I was a Morgan person, I was still looking. I soon heard about a Morgan horse farm in Preston, Idaho. Idaho has a lot of beautiful animals! Back we went to Moonridge Farms. At first I was looking at a young gelding, but he was just too spirited for me. Fortunately, they had a black mare named Mountain Shadows Mystic Powers (Misty). I guess they figured she was too old and I wouldn’t be interested, but once I got the chance to see her I got goose bumps! She looked so much like my other Morgan I felt I was seeing a ghost. At the age of 13 and mostly trained, she was another must have.

Now our old horses were fast friends—so much so that one died within three months of the other, though they were a year apart in age. I had hoped the same for these new mares. They made the trip together from Idaho to Colorado, but I’m not sure they were entirely happy about it—certainly not with each other. Cheyenne is tall, strong, and confident, and just didn’t appreciate Misty’s more polite and deferring demeanor. It was so irritating to her that she took great pleasure in chasing Misty out of the food trough as often as possible, baring her teeth in a most threatening way. Misty, however, always seemed to shake it off, believing completely that in her heart of hearts, Cheyenne really loved her. So every time Cheyenne threatened her, she would run a short way, then turn around and come back. Cheyenne tried repeatedly to scare her off, but it just never worked.

Now, six years later, Cheyenne still likes to threaten Misty, particularly when we’re riding. If Misty gets closer than a few feet, Cheyenne punishes her with a blazing look. Maybe just to convince herself that she’s still in charge? Misty backs off, then continues on. She just loves Cheyenne, and for the last several years, this strong, confident Quarter Horse has watched over my little Morgan when no one else is around, as if she somehow knows that she’s too tender hearted for the tough times in life.

It was difficult for me to catch this moment with my camera, as Cheyenne doesn’t really like to admit that she’s come to love Misty as much as Misty loves her. Besides, she’s usually the one playing watchdog. Imagine if this got out—the fragile Morgan watching over her! But I know her secret. Sometimes it just takes awhile for us to accept the flaws we see in one another. Over time, we learn to care less and less about them. After all, what really matters in life is not the ins and outs of our personalities, but having someone you can count on to watch over you while you sleep.

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