Meet Our Goat Kids and Find Out Who the Giveaway Winner Is!

We just bought our farm this past summer.  But we can both recall the first time we came to look at it, walking around the ten acres and admiring the various structures that came with the property. 

What goat wouldn't want to live here!

One structure of note was a little wobbly shed in a fenced in area that we immediately referred to as the goat pen. 

We're not even sure why it came to us that way, neither of us had ever mentioned wanting goats – guess it just seemed obvious. 

Once we had physically relocated to the farm, the goat shed became a frequent topic of discussion.  We discussed various types of goats, but we didn’t want to be tied down by twice daily milking and had no interest in goats for meat.  However, we became very interested in a type of goat known for its fiber, the Pygora goat.  The pgyora is a cross between an angora goat and a pygmy goat.  So they are of smaller stature meaning a little easier to manage for shearing and hoof trimming.  Additionally, their fleece is a little bit finer than a full angora, which makes it more useful for spinning.  We like our farm critters to help earn their keep if you will.

Looks rough here but spins beautifully!

While browsing the web, we ran across Hawks Mountain Ranch in Oregon.  They focus on raising Pygora goats and are well respected for the quality and upkeep of their herd.  Once a year, they literally drive across the country delivering goats that have been ordered, everywhere from California to New Jersey.  Unfortunately, the one time of year they do this happens to be in August.  We had only been on the farm for 2 months.  Alas, we didn’t want to wait another year for the next cross country trip so we took a leap of faith and ordered five goats for delivery within a week.

The five goats we picked were.....

Luna

Hermione

Minerva

Dumbledore, our buckling

And Hagrid, our wether

Did we mention the original goat shed was wobbly?

Reinforcing the wobbly, soon to be, boy shed!

  Boy did we have some work cut out for us.

And putting the finishing touches on the new girls shed!

We meet George, the driver, and our goats, about an hour away from the farm.  Five goats were loaded into dog crates in the back of the Excursion and we were homeward bound.



Sassy...the herd dog! Doing what she does best!

Our five little goats bedded down in the barn for about a month while we finished putting up new fencing and building an additional shed for the girls, the boys would be housed in the newly reinforced and less wobbly original shed.

I don't think we're in Oregon anymore!!

They really liked eating off the chow wagon!!

We did their first shearing in October, when they were about six months old.  They were not too excited about the process, and we were a little apprehensive ourselves.

"Just a little off the top please!"....says Hagrid

We did have one little mishap when we nicked little Luna’s back leg with the shears. 



It's awfully warm for a sweater!



 It did require some stitching up (we always have supplies handy) but she is none the worse for the wear.

See.....all better!

Hagrid and Dumbledore....sporting their new doo's!

In November, Dumbledore went into rut, as bucklings will do! His fleece is growing back in as you can tell.

Dirty face....but king of the stump!

They have proven to be far craftier than we initially gave them credit for in terms of trying to get to each other for mating season.  This has kept us on our toes quite a bit for the last few months. Minerva has proven true to her colors, she is most definitely the "black sheep" of our flock!!!

We have really come to love these little guys.  Letting them out and checking on them is one of the first thing we do in the morning.  Giving them their chow and tucking them in with hay and fresh water is the finish to our day.  Nothing better than a good night kiss from your goat! LOL

Luna says "We are not amused! Where's the chow!"

They are very comfortable with us now, and come up to us for petting and attention. 

They are very funny to watch as they hop around and play on their stumps and tree trunks.  Wow....what a great life we have here on Just BE Farm. 

And now....what everyone is waiting for....The winner of the giveaway!!

First we want to thank everyone in the blogging world for such a warm welcome.  And an extra-special thank you (and hug) to our dear friend Vicki at 2 Bags Full.  We would be nothing without her support and guidance.

Drum Roll Please.....And the winner is......Tanya of Bead and Needle!!!! Congratulations!

Tanya, please send us your mailing address and we will ship this gift out to you as soon as we get your information,

Thanks for stopping by again!!! Stay tuned for the next adventure at Just BE Farm!!!

Next time, we will introduce you to our featherd critters!! 

Meet the Rest of Our Canine Companions

Sassy

We promised Sassy she would be the star of the next post so here she is!! 

Sassy is a 13-year-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi and was originally Bobby’s mother’s dog.  Sassy has been with us since his mother passed away in 2008.  Sassy was quite spoiled and well fed when she came to live with us.  Since her arrival we can report she has lost the 20 pounds of unnecessary weight, she acquired from eating a Pillsbury biscuit every morning while his mother was alive. (Carbs are the devil!!)

Although the extra weight has taken a little bit of a toll on her joints, she still frolics and tries to be the boss!!!  She is a herd dog after all!

Sassy loves the farm.  Being a natural herd dog, she loves to run with and bark at the other dogs as she tries to herd them up.  

She frolics and splashes through various puddles after a rainstorm. 

She also drives us crazy by coming to a dead stop in front of us while walking out to the barn or goat shed.  It seems to happen for no clear reason and we frequently find ourselves nearly tripping over her.   Being the most fur laden canine we have…she occasionally manages to sneak into the house covered with mud and likes to lie on the hardwood floor.  When it’s rainy or wet outside, it looks like someone took a sponge and dabbed fairly large mud spots on the floor no matter how much we dry her off before letting her back in the house.

Selene

We introduced you to Selene, the wiemaraner puppy we rescued in our initial post. 

We can report that nearly two years later, she is happy as can be.  We installed underground dog fence around the entire ten acres of the farm so that the dogs could run and frolic to their hearts content, as dogs love to do. 

She is quite sleek and long legged.  We call her our “Speed Demon” because she loves to run the length of the property full steam.  Not one of the other dogs is able to keep up with her.  As a result of her early life of abuse, she is very needy.  It is impossible, even after two years, to give a little attention to one of our other canine companions without Selene trying to get her head rubbed as well.  For this reason we also call her the "fun sucker" as she always tries to steal their lovins! 

Despite her speed demon antics while outside, she is a completely different dog inside.  She frequently curls up on one of the dog beds or sneaks onto our bed, where she is calm and angelic.  

Don't let this angelic photo fool you....but we love them dearly.

Shamus

Shamus is the newest addition to our little pack of canine companions. 

He is an eight-month-old Rottweiler puppy.  When Eric graduated from high school, he saved up all his graduation money, which he used to order a Rottweiler puppy from Germany.  He named her Damē (pronounced Dama, which is German for ‘lady’) and she ended up being “the dog” of Eric’s life.  After she passed away, he felt he would never have another Rotty, it just wouldn’t be the same.

Back in August, Bobby,Eric, and Eric's sister Becky began searching for a Rottweiler pup as a birthday present that Eric’s mother had been hinting for, she has very fond memories of Damē as well!   We managed to find a beautiful eight-week-old female puppy about an hours drive from us. 

The female puppy soon to be known as Becca

Fortunately, the breeder was coming to town in a week to do an obedience class and could bring the puppy with her for us to see.  Over the course of the week, various emails went back and forth.  The night before the planned meeting, the lady emailed us that she had a male puppy that someone had put a deposit down on but had since decided not to get the puppy.  “Did we know anyone that would be interested in him?”   

Shamus and Becca with their mother

While Eric is reading this to Bobby, his eyebrows climb upward and his lips curl up into an impressive grin.  What was Bobby to do?  Eric clearly wanted this little male puppy as he is showing me the picture.  “Isn’t he a handsome boy?”  Again, fate was telling us something and we both felt compelled to listen.  He sent the breeder an email and asked her to bring both puppies the next day.

We all three met the breeder in the local park and both puppies were exactly what we were looking for and hence, came home to the farm with us.  

A week later the female puppy was given to Eric’s mother for her birthday and now goes by Becca.  The male stayed with us and goes by Shamus.  Shamus is now eight months old and already weighs over 85 pounds.  He has the most laid back disposition for a Rotty, which we feel is the epitome of ‘Just BE’.  We got lucky and recognize it for what it’s worth!  Becca comes to the farm often to spend the week-end when Eric's mother and step-father travel. 

So now you've met all of our canine companions.  They are certain to make more appearances in future posts.  


Our next post will be an introduction to our other four legged farm friends.....the pygora goats.  Additionally, we will be announcing the winner of our giveaway.  So thanks for stopping by and and come back often.

Our Bulldog Adventure

It’s a little past midnight on January 12^th, 2011. It’s cold, very cold, and snowing.  Neenee (pronounced Nay Nay) our 4-year-old English Bulldog is laboring with her third litter of pups

 



Do I still have back legs?

 



OMG.....I can't breath!!



She had been able to naturally whelp her other two litters, which is unusual of English Bulldogs who typically require a C-section. 

However, something is not right! It’s not progressing like it should.  Bobby is checking her progress over and over, while Eric tries to reassure and comfort her.  The first puppy is breech and must be pulled out by its tiny feet.  Neenee seems better after the first puppy is out; however, something still seems wrong!

We decided it was time to load her in the truck and make the 45-minute trip to the emergency vet clinic.  Bobby is in the back of the truck with her and Eric is driving like a mad man in the snow.  She starts having some significant bleeding about half way there, but he doesn’t tell Eric.

Upon our arrival, the vet recognizes the seriousness of the situation and wants to proceed with an emergent c-section. She asks if it comes down to saving momma dog or the puppies, what would we want her to do?  “Save the mother” we both say simultaneously and without hesitation.

 

How could you not love this face??


Bobby happens to also be on call for the NICU and gets a call while talking to the vet.  She realizes what his day job is and insists that we both come back to help resuscitate the puppies, IF they make it. 

We are each handed a lifeless puppy to dry, stimulate, and cord clamp.  It’s not looking good at first but then one begins to breathe and move. Then the other starts as well!! Puppy after puppy are handed to us, all of which we are able to get breathing and moving on their own.  All told five puppies make it!

Neenee must recover from her anesthesia, so we are setting in the waiting room with five bulldog puppies lying on a heating pad in a box.  Five hours later, as the sun begins to show it’s self, we load Neenee and her new puppies in to the truck and head home.  It’s been a long night and we both still have to be at work in a few short hours.



Just an hour old!

Needless to say the next few weeks are fairly sleep deprived….at least for the humans in this story.  Neenee is trying to recover but not wanting to eat.  Fortunately, Bobby has a way of getting her to eat for him by talking in a funny voice and saying things like, “come on baby nee, you got eat for your babies”, etc. 

Unfortunately, Bobby is at work at feeding time.  Eric calls and says he can’t get her to eat.  Bobby relents and agrees to try to talk to her on the speakerphone.  So in the NNP office of the NICU, there stands Bobby talking baby talk into the phone with a half dozen people watching on.  At first, Neenee doesn’t buy it but after a few tries, Eric reports, much to his chagrin, that she is eating.  A sigh of relief overcomes the office; after all we ARE in the baby business.

Neenee picks a favorite puppy in the very beginning…bringing her up against her face and putting her front legs around her. Eric is quite smitten with her too! He dubbed her the beauty queen!





That's Sophie snuggled up between her front legs!



Bobby falls in love with the littlest puppy.

 

It should be against the law to be this cute!!!

About six weeks into it, while having some puppy time in the floor and discussing which one to keep; we both look at each other and say “are we crazy?”.  Realizing that we are probably going to keep both puppies, Neenee’s (Eric's) favorite and Bobby's, too!!!!!  The other three puppies are placed in very nice homes and we do occasionally get updates on their status. 



Sophie being frisky!





The puppies at play time!



Bulldogs apparently love noses!


Neenee and Eric’s favorite is now known as Sophie. Sophie is a big girl like her mother and has the stubborn attitude to match.



Like mother.....like daughter!



She has very selective hearing….only responding at meal time, usually.  She loves to chase the deer in the field and frequently goes to the edge of the property to bark at the neighbor’s horses.  They ignore her of course. 

Bobby's favorite now goes by Sadie, she is of a slighter build like her father.  She has quite a quirky personality. 

She is at times very skittish and jumps at the least little sound.  However, she is far more adventurous than her sister. 

She tends to go off by herself and explore.  She loves the wooded area next to the creek and is definitely the apple of Bobby’s eye.

As for Neenee, she has made a complete recovery of course.  She loves the recliner that she barely fits in. 

When we moved to the farm this past July, she grieved for 2 months because her favorite recliner wouldn’t fit in the family room.  To this day, if she doesn’t come when called, we know to look in the den, because sure enough there she is in her recliner, fast asleep and happy as can be.  We should also mention Neenee is the only dog that sleeps in the bed with us.  OK, perhaps we spoil her just a bit.

Thanks for stopping by..... more about our canine friends coming soon.

~Bobby & Eric~