The Joys of Twice a Day Milking

Life is weird. We just got back from spending a week and half in Chicago, seeing friends and family, pretending for a few days that we lived in the city again, having a great time, and I don't think I've ever been as happy to be home.

So much has changed in the past five to ten years, somehow it feels like you don't notice until your back with people who knew when you were living in a shitty apartment in Hyde Park, eons before you even thought about milking a goat.

But now I'm home and doing something I was thinking about and looking forward, even while having a great time in Chicago: Milking twice a day.

Mostly I was just looking forward to not separating mama's and babies every night. The mornings and nights filled with screaming and crying was really starting to wear on me. So Sunday night Keith and I moved Margo's and Cupid's babies to the pasture with all the hair sheep and the screaming has not stopped since.

Mama's screaming at the top of their lungs to get their babies back. Babies screaming and crying, calling their moms to come rescue them. It's Wednesday and it's finally starting to get a little better, but I have a feeling it's far from over.

Margo and Cupid have been taking out their hostility towards me as often as they can. Yesterday morning I thought Margo was terrible when she peed and pooped on the milk stand, then she proved she could be worse in the evening when she peed, pooped, then just laid down so I couldn't milk her.

Cupid took a different plan of attack this morning when she bolted away from me and out into the pasture. I didn't even run after her. I just got Margo on the stand, where she had the one on one time it seems she needed and Cupid eventually moseyed back, jumping up on the stand in her damn time.

I would have freaked out all of this a year or so ago, trying to get all the animals lined up like they're always supposed to, instead of just leaving the gate open and letting things just work out.




Margo's lambs and Cupid's kids are their own little pack now that they're out in the pasture with the rest of the sheep. In between crying for their mama, the kids are still hamming it up as usual. I'm not sure if the lambs miss their mama or the delicious goat chow they had become accustomed to snarfing down at night, either way, they're always eating!



Two and half gallons of milk is now what I'm getting daily, even if I kinda have to fight the girls to get it. And it really adds up fast! Today I'm making a 5 gallon batch of blue cheese, the biggest batch of cheese I've ever made.





I've already make one batch of blue cheese, a 3 gallon batch that time. Today I had to pierce it for the second time-you pierce the cheese to get all the good moldy blue veins. The guys at the Rouge Creamery said to pierce the hell out of the blues (and they should know, their blues are amazing!), so I did, first 2 weeks ago, then again today. They still won't be ready for a few months, but I think they'll be worth the wait!



Tomorrow I do it all over again, not knowing what to expect. After almost 2 months of good behavior, this craziness is annoying. Hopefully the girls will calm down soon, but who can blame them for being pissed!

Back in the saddle again!

Finally! Finally, finally! I am milking again.

Today is the second day of milking both girls and they are producing just how I expected. A gallon and half the past two mornings, but today went a lot smoother than yesterday did!

Yesterday was a wild whirlwind of lambs and kids screaming, two mamas screaming to get to their babies, but also REALLY wanting to be milked and the two new sheep trying to get past everyone else on to their new favorite place-the milk stand. Then Cupid is kicking off the milk machine...

It was a mess, just like always. Today was just as loud, but so much more smooth!

Cupid's giant milk bag is not a surprise, she's a milking beast. But Margo, damn girl! Her bag seems almost twice as big as last years. I don't really know how much each producing since they are milked into the same container, but I'm guessing it's Margo at 2 quarts and Cupid at 1 gallon.

Since their babies are still on them, I'm not coming close to milking them dry. I think I'm milking them about 2/3 empty, so these girls are really producing! But you've got to leave the babies some breakfast!





So far, I've made yogurt, cottage cheese and butter. It was the first butter I've made since last time Cupid was in milk, since I just didn't have the volume to make it last year and still make cheese, but this year I expect to be using Sputnik the cream separator all the time!



The babies are going getting bigger everyday! It took about a week but the lambs and kids are finally starting to play together. I think it took so long because the lambs are justifiably terrified of getting near Cupid. I feel the same way some times!



In other news, the new girls, Maisie and Daisy are still not sheared-ugh! It is so hard to find someone to shear just a few sheep.

But they are learning all about the milk stand. Maisie figured it out on her second try! Give this girl some alfalfa pellets and she'll follow you anywhere! But, Daisy, she just doesn't get it. She's the more skittish of the two and just wants to run away from me. Unfortunately for her, in such a small space she's pretty easy to catch and I have lots of experience lifting sheep on to the milk stand. Either she'll figure it out eventually or I'll just get really strong.



I hope tomorrow goes as well as today did!

Cupid's Kids!

And so lambing and kidding season comes to an end, finally! Cupid was the final animal we were waiting on and lord, did we wait!

According to the kidding calculator I use, Cupid was expected to have her kids on April 19th. Instead she had them a full 10 days later. Last time we breed her she had her kids just about as early as possible. Apparently Randy and Cupid took their time this time, but at last we have a couple cute kids to show for it.

And this time we didn't sleep through it!

Last night Keith woke me up at about 12:30am with news that Cupid was kidding. He got out to the barn before I did, there he saw one kid already born and another on the way out. Clearly Cupid doesn't really need us there. I got out there with all our kidding supplies and started cleaning off the first kid while Cupid was tending to the second one that had just been born.



If you had asked me to put money on what Cupid was going to have this year, I would have said one giant boy. We really wanted her to have a girl to add to the De Young Dairy, but Cupid is a mean, spiteful bitch (that I love) I just knew she wouldn't have a girl because I wanted one so badly. Thankfully, I was wrong (as I always seem to be!).

Cupid did have a giant boy, but she also had a little girl!



And I mean giant! Picking them up, he clearly weighs almost double what she weighs and is so much taller than her. But she is still the star of the show.



I'm thinking I will name her Gilda. Last night I was leaning towards Bonnie, since she's such a pretty little thing, but seeing her again in the morning, with the little bit of gold around her eyes and hamming it up for the camera at less than 12 hours old, Gilda seems right.



Who knows how her coloring will change in a few months. I would have never thought Ruby would go from brown and black to reddish or that all white Snowy would end up half black after just a few months. I'm just so excited and relieved that she actually had a girl!

And yes, the boy is very cute, with his little black and white waddles and his sweet little face, but no, I haven't named him and I'm not sure that I will. I'll be looking for a new home for him as soon as we can wean him, so in about 8 weeks. Better not to get to attached.



Finally milking will start in 2 weeks and I can't wait. Milking Margo and Cupid once a day, I expect to get about gallon to a gallon and half a day. When we switch to twice a day, I think it will be more like 2 gallons, but only time will tell!

Time to go back to the barn and snuggle some babies!

A Day of Many Margos

Yesterday our flock of sheep grew by 4 and they are essentially Margo's. What the hell do I mean by that!

We had been looking to double our dairy sheep flock, going from one Margo to two. That is easier said that done. No one that I know of around here has dairy sheep, so I settle in, combing through Craigslist ads to find what we're looking for.

Our options were very limited. We could either drive 5 hours one way north or 5 hours west to get exactly what we were looking for (just one dairy sheep) or we could drive 3 hours east for something that's not exactly perfect. Yesterday we went east and came home with 2 more Margos.



These ladies are both a year and half old, have never been breed, which means they've never been milked and that they are kind of a risky investment. But they're young and while they are a little skittish, don't seem to really mind me that much. They've also been through a lot, surviving a wild fire last summer together, which is why their owner did not want them separated.

Right now they are in a pen together, away from the rest of the animals. I've been going in their pen today trying to hand feed them chow (they are NOT into eating that!) and petting them. They like to be scratched on the face and top of the head, just like Margo does, so hopefully I'll win this pair over soon.



So how did we end up with even more sheep yesterday? Margo had her lambs without us!



Margo had been acting like she might go into labor on Friday night, but Saturday morning there were no babies and we had told the leader of the hippy commune we were buying the sheep from that we'd be there by 2. We had to go.

Pretty much none of our friends know enough about animals for me to feel like I could ask them to check on my sheep that might be in labor, so I just hoped for the best and prepared for the worst. When we got home Margo and her twins were healthy and happy in the pasture. Last year, before we got Margo, she had a still born lamb and I was very nervous about her delivery this year, but she didn't need us at all!


I'm guessing she had them between noon and 3. When we got home at 6 the lambs were cleaned off, dry, feeding, and walking around-just like they should be! She had a boy and girl, bringing our count to 6 boys and 2 girls.

These two are the cutest lambs we've ever had. They're a weird mix of Margo who is wooly and their dad, who is a hair sheep. The girl is a tall and skinny clone of Margo and the most snuggly lamb ever.

We only have Cupid left to have her kid(s), then the real work of daily milking starts.

Spring: bees and lambs!

This is our third year lambing and just like the past years, nothing went as expected.

Ginger, Coco, Lulu. That was the order I thought the girls would go and I only got the first one right. Ginger had her babies on the exact day we expected them-right on time! She needed a little help with her first lamb, but she took care of the second one on her own. And what cute twins!




Then we had to wait a solid seven days for the next lamb. It wasn't giant Coco, but little Lulu. Keith was home for this one and we helped little Lulu deliver her one big boy lamb. Lu dotes on her one cutie.




8 long days passed while we waited for Coco to finally lamb. A friend who raises sheep stopped by and was certain that Coco was carrying triplets, but with Coco being so huge, how could you tell?! Well she was right and we slept right through it. At least I have an excuse called a terrible cold combined with codeine cough syrup. I'm guessing she lambed around 3am and just popped out 3 little black and white lambs. You are amazing, Coco!



This brings our lamb total to 6, with 5 boys and 1 girl, which is weird. Of course this is the year we hoped to keep a girl from Lulu, but only Coco had a girl. We are also hoping to keep a girl from Cupid, but who knows what is going to happen. We still have Margo and Cupid left to have babies and that should be this weekend, so we should find out soon.



And while we're doing all of our normal lambing/kidding stuff, it is also time to add bees! Keith surprised me with a Flow Hive this Christmas. A friend and I are taking a class through Oregon State University Extension office, where we are getting hands on bee experience along with nucs to set up our own hives. We got our nucs on Sunday night and I set them up in our hive on Monday.



Like any other animal, you have to feed and water the bees. The green box on top of the brood box is full of sugar water to feed the bees until spring finally kicks into gear here. Just about everyone in our class told us not to expect honey this year, and really I have no idea why. My plan is to feed and water the bees, but the Flow super on in a few weeks and hope for the best. I guess only time will tell!

When Margo and Cupid finally lamb/kid, it will be back to milking for me and I can't wait! Until then, enjoy the sunshine!

Exploring the Baja, one margarita at a time!

I know Keith and I were excited to go to Mexico, but neither of us really knew what to expect. Yes, we'd read the books and chatted with friends, but you still never really know. I just wanted to get as much sun as possible in hopes that it would keep me warn until summer.

Back in August we bid on and won a 10 day stay in a casita in Los Barriles, a small town on the Sea of Cortez on the Baja peninsula. It was donated by Chris and Christina Geyer, former Wallowa county residents and their casita has become a home away from home for a number of Wallowa county residents. They were fantastic hosts, with loads of advice and cerveza and they put up with us disappearing for days at a time. And there were so many places to go!

We started off by catching the last day of Carnaval in La Paz, about an hour and half from where we were staying. The last parade night was Tuesday night and we were lucky to catch it. Fat Tuesday was a very literal description of the night, with booths serving piles of savory tacos, delicious gorditas and the most beautiful candy displays you've ever seen and so much more. Not surprisingly, we ate as much as possible!




The floats in the parade were amazing. Carnaval meets Roman gods seemed to be the theme. I won't bore you with all the floats, just the best ones!




We stayed in La Paz the next day for a kayak/snorkel trip that we caught last minute. While the kayaking was for an incredibly short amount of time, we did get to see dolphins and whales, swim with some sea lions.




From there we used Los Barriles as home base, seeing as much of the Baja peninsula as we could. We made it to Cabo Pulmo, a beautiful national park with great snorkeling, mostly empty beaches, and a restaurant that served amazing squid and shrimp tacos. We made it here 2 days and I know we could (and hopefully will) spend more time there in the future! Keith even saw a sea turtle while snorkeling!




We made it to two hot springs in one day. El Chorro was a bit of a surprise. It was crowded when we got there, so Keith went for a short hike and I hung out and read. By the time he got back, the place had cleared out and we got in the little rock pool that was warmer and then I freaking lost it! As soon as we got in there I felt this weird tickling on my back. I was being eaten by fishes! While Keith was totally fine this, I could not handle it for the life of me! I was laughing so hard at how ticklish this was I just about fell out of the pool.




There was also a side trip to Todos Santos, a cute place with a bunch of at galleries, delicious margaritas and where we got to see a few not even a day old baby turtles that were going to released into the sea later that day. And a day or so lounging on the quiet beaches of Punta Pescadero.



There was so much more than this and still so much more to do. I really hope we go back, actually I'm sure that we will! Next time, hopefully we'll have more time and our own sea kayaks!

Fresh out of milk

Today is such a weird day. Today is the last day I have to milk until May.

Since Cupid was in milk in July of 2014, the longest I've gone without milking was when we were in Thailand for 3 weeks. I milked Cupid right up until I started milking Frannie this season, then for a while was milking both Frannie and Margo. Now Margo is long dry and looking super pregnant and Frannie has been producing less and less, so I have been drying her off for the past few weeks. How do you dry up a goat in milk? For a week or so I milked her every other day, then every third day, then every fourth day, today was 5 days since I last milked her and this is how much milk I got:



She's not exactly the super producing beast that Cupid is, but she's been a good milker this season. Next time I milk her, I will hopefully be milking both Frannie and her little doe Ruby, who will of course be full grown by next fall. She's still kinda small, but true to her name, Ruby's coat is turning a little red!

Just like every morning I milk her, Frannie snuck through the door to the milk stall and jumped up on the stand, without any help from me. This is so much easier than having to lift Margo or drag Cupid!



As long as she has enough food, she is a super easy milker. This morning she may have gotten a little extra, since it was her last time and all...but still there is never enough!



And then there's all the prego or hopefully pregnant ladies. For me, the most important ones are Cupid and Margo...and Snowy. It's always hard to tell if the ladies have been successfully breed and Margo's wool coat doesn't make it any easier, but she is looking larger than usual. I really hope she's got a couple of goofy, big eared lambs in there! Cupid on the other hand doesn't look pregnant at all, but she hasn't gone back into heat for a long time, so I'm guessing she is. She is also always trying to beg for more food or sneak into the milk stall for chow, so with all the extra snacks I'm giving her, she better be breed! With Margo and Cupid in milk this season, I will hopefully be getting about 2 gallons a day! Think of all the cheese! Snowy is our wild card, I'll keep my eye on her, but I'm not expecting kids from her.




Then there's the rest of the sheep. They are looking huge! The earliest they could lamb is the end of March/beginning of April, so we've still got a few months, but good lord, they are wide. It seems like no amount of food is enough and they've even been kicking the goats out of the barn to eat all their hay. Every morning I go out to the barn, the sheep try so hard to convince me that Keith has not feed them earlier that morning. The big eyes, the sad bleeting...these ladies are just a bunch of con artists!




Life is going to be pretty quiet here until March or so. It's nice to have a bit of a break, but I can't wait until we have loads of kids and lambs running around the pasture again and a fridge full of fresh milk!