The Sifford Sojournal

Our journal of what we pray is our sojourn of life along the narrow way, even the old paths, submitting to the Bible as a light unto both.

Category: goats (Page 8 of 9)

New Goat “Piney Tim” – Update – Name Changed to “Eastwood”

October 20, 2009 / / 2 Comments

Well, because of some character traits we picked up on, and because the previous name is too much associated with Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” which celebrates Christmas in a way, which is something that we reject, thus causing us a conscience problem, and because we were probably just going to be calling him Timmy anyway, we are changing his name to Eastwood, because he seems to often give us those squinty eyes saying, “Go ahead…make my day!”

You can see it in the difference between these two pictures. You’ll probably have to click on each picture (and maybe enlarge them from there) to be able to see it; but in the second one, he’s giving “the look”:


We probably spend a little more time than is necessary on our animals with this type of stuff (naming, etc.), but we also like to try to be cautious and consistent with what we do.

— David

New Goat “Piney Tim”

October 17, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Although apparently inbreeding goats is a defined method for increasing a herd, we decided to use outbreeding instead, as inbreeding can bring to surface undesirable traits (as well as desirable ones, which from what I’ve read is why people inbreed); so our plan is to trade our males born here with other folks who are raising dairy goats. Our neighbors the Sustaires are doing just that, and the Lord had granted them twin bucks around the same time as He did our triplet bucks, which are half Nubian and half what Winnie is, which is part LaMancha. We also had Donny available, who is a little older and full Nubian. Theirs are Alpine-Nubians, and so we agreed to swap goats. They chose to take Athos, the first born of the triplets, partially because of how well Winnie is producing milk vs. how well Betsy, Donny’s mother, is; and we chose the one of theirs that had horns (one of theirs was born without them) so that he could compete with our other males since we are not de-horning our goats.

Since he’s part Alpine, that makes him rather “Piney,” and so we decided to name him Piney Tim (we’ll probably call him Timmy for short). And so here he is:


We’re thankful to the Lord for allowing the perpetuation of the animals for all of the families here on the land, and for allowing us to have this opportunity with a local family to husband the animals in this outbreeding way.

— David

Goat Milk?

July 29, 2009 / / 17 Comments

The background music came from fiddle champion Tony Ludiker’s free mp3s page. The recordings have Terry Ludiker and Darin Meeks on guitar.

This was fun to do. Here’s a bit of raw footage, some of which hit the cutting room floor.

In this first one, I held out as long as I could, until the end:


I almost didn’t get the part after this take. Also, based on the last few seconds, it appears that for some reason eating cookies makes me think I’m playing Hannibal Lecter:


Here, finishing up after getting the last goat back into the pen didn’t work out quite as expected:


And just for the record, the milk I drank was from a previous day’s milking that had been kept very cold. Apparently, it’s better tasting and lasts longer when the goat milk is chilled well right away.

There is a lesson in the main video, in case it wasn’t evident: most people go to the store for their provisions; agrarians go straight to the source, which is provided by God directly in accordance with His will, without the need for the world and its government approval, degrading pasteurization, shipping companies, grocery stores, and all of the other in-between means the industrial system requires for sustenance to go from where it’s produced to where it is used or consumed.

Which way is the proper way for a Christian to live?

We are thankful to the Lord for the provisions of our goats and the milk He is allowing us to have.

— David

P.S. In case you weren’t aware of the TV commercials, etc., our video is a take off of the California Milk Processing Board (and then licensed by others) ad campaign, “got milk?”

 

Animal Update

July 18, 2009 / / 6 Comments

We thought it might be nice to post an animal update from around here at our homestead.

And so, here we go…..!

Brodey and Nessa

If you haven’t seen the introductory post on Brodey and Nessa, it might be nice to take a look at it before watching the following video so you can get some perspective on their growth:

Cattle

This was taken before the birth of the latest calves:

Chickens

Gary and Gigi

Goats

Pigs

We are grateful to the Lord for the provisions of these animals, and may we use them for His glory.

— David

 

Shack Caddy

July 12, 2009 / / 6 Comments

The initial plan for our goat sheds was to make them portable. On one I put some wheels; but on the subsequent ones, I decided it wasn’t worth the time nor expense. I am able to lift one side and shuffle them along, which is fine for moving them around inside an individual pen; but moving them from pen to pen would take some effort. I thought it might be nice to inexpensively throw together something on which to haul them around.

Here’s what I came up with: essentially it’s a shed tote made of landscape timbers, bolted together in a square, with the back cross timber on top of the skid timbers, and the front cross timber below, which would angle the skids up allowing for it to be more easily dragged along.

And here it is:

The next pictures show the process of a move:





And the goats check out the “new” place!

Thanks to the Lord for this idea and for the resources to be able to put it together.

— David

Providence’s Perpetuation Provisions: New Kid “Tapioca”

May 30, 2009 / / 0 Comments

We recently obtained a doe Pammy that had been brought down to the land from Mrs. Judy’s herd. We had placed her with Shatner our buck, and Thursday she gave birth to her first kid. Please meet Tapioca, because she’s the same color as tapioca pudding — we’ll probably call her Tappi mostly 🙂 :


She seems to be very healthy and is getting around and suckling, and Pammy seems to be doing the proper mothering things:


We once again thank the Lord for Him granting the provision of Pammy and her new doe, and we pray for help and guidance to take care of His gifts properly and biblically.

— David

Providence’s Perpetuation Provisions: New Kids “Athos”, “Porthos”, and “Aramis”

March 29, 2009 / / 6 Comments

The Lord has granted that our doe Winnie give birth to triplets, all males. Please meet Athos, Porthos and Aramis. This is Winnie’s second litter, and our pure-bred Nubian buck Shatner is the sire:

Here’s an introduction to them:


And the next evening them getting around (I’m a little out of breath at the beginning after running to get the camera):


We are once again grateful to God for His provisions of these goats, and the health He has graciously granted them and Winnie thus far.

— David

 

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