Time Flies, but Not Memories

Summer,

Where have you gone?  It feels like you just came the other day!  Now school is right around the corner, I am going into 9th grade, 4-H fair came and went, and so did my first 4-H State Achievement Days!  Well, I can a least tell how everything went.  Last week, I went to my very first State Achievement Days, 4-H State Achievement Days is an educational three-day program for 4-H members (ages 13-18), sponsored each year by Penn State Extension. This annual event is held to demonstrate achievement of 4-H members and provide recognition of their accomplishments in competitive as well as non-competitive events. I participated in the Livestock Skill-a-thon.  My team and I practiced with Cindy Foulke, our vet, 4-H leader, and a wonderful teacher.  She taught us a lot of what we know, and thanks to her, we went, did a great job, had a lot of fun, and learned a lot.  Our team placed 1st and I placed 2nd overall as an individual!  I was very proud of how we placed.

On the last day of State Days, our Dauphin County 4-H Fair started.  We left Penn State and headed right to the Farm Show Complex for 4-H Fair.  Thanks to my mom, sister, and Papa who worked very hard to get all of my animals to fair that morning.  Also, thank you, Matt Bishop, for bringing his horse CJ to fair and getting her all settled in.  As soon as I arrived, I fed goats and rabbits, checked on all of the waters, checked on Journey, fed him, set up a goat agility course, and prepared my goat for my Large Animal Pet Project.  For my Large Animal Pet Project, I taught my goat, Scooby, using clicker training techniques!  We started in March and now he can go over an agility course that my dad and I built and he listens to my commands.  I was very proud of him because even with all of the noises and distractions, he still went over and through everything that he was asked to!  I am happy to say that we won first place!

The same night of the Large Animal Pet Projects, they held the Dairy show, which meant that I showed my dairy goats. First was showmanship.  I used my La Mancha doe, Cocoa, for my class and we did very well.  We one first in our class!  After showmanship, we held the dairy goat breed show.  The first breed up was La Mancha.  That meant that Cocoa was my first goat to show for the day.  She did very well and the judge said a lot of nice things about her.  Next, I showed my Nubians, Peek-A-Boo, Daphne, and Luna.  Peek-A-Boo did great considering that she went lame for seven weeks just a few months ago and she is an older doe.  She did, however, move on to the picking of the Champion Nubian.  Daphne and Luna also moved on to that class.  Luna was Reserve Champion Nubian and Peek-A-Boo won Champion!  He did say that Daphne has a lot of potential but not the maturity as the others.  After showing Peek there, I did decide to let her retire and enjoy life.  So she is now dried up and I will not use her for breeding this fall.  She will just be enjoying life and watching over all the other goats as she has always been quite maternal.

Whew - that was just day one!  The second day included the horse show and the rabbit show.  I began the day with feeding all my animals housed at the fair, cleaned pens, groomed rabbits, and then prepared myself and the horses for showmanship.  I was fortunate to use C.J. for showmanship and we actually placed third which qualified us for the district horse show.  As soon as I was finished in the showmanship ring, I quickly ran over to the rabbit show where I was able to show all my rabbits.  They all did well and I went on to win Best in Show with my English Angora from my friend Donna.  He is gorgeous.  After the show, we had to complete showmanship which I did using my American Fuzzy Lop named Julius Pepper.  We did very well and I won showmanship with a perfect score!

After the rabbit show, I had to race back to the horse show.  I was up for the Beginner Trail Class with C.J.  I was a bit nervous because there was a rather steep bridge in the course which I had never experienced before.  Well, C.J. did beautifully and we placed 1st in the class, also qualifying for districts.  I then competed in the miniature horse classes using my little guy, Journey.  We first did the in hand trail class where we placed first!  Next up was miniature horse driving.  Ashley, my sister, was my assistant which I need because I was still in the junior category.  The footing wasn't the greatest, but Journey pushed through it and we will be going to districts for those two events as well. 

The third and final day was equally exciting for me.  It was the large animal livestock show.  First up for me was sheep showmanship.  Usually, even though I try, I don't do very well as I am showing a wool breed of sheep in the same class as a market sheep.  The wool breeds aren't shorn for the event, but the market lambs are.  The judges seem to prefer the clean look of a shorn lamb over my wool sheep.  Well, I did do my best to have my girls, Queen Bee and Queen Polly from Kelly Anderson, looking their best and I had spent a lot of time with them both before fair getting them used to walking well for me.  Guess what?  All my hard work paid off because I won the junior division in showmanship.  I went on to compete for overall showman against the seniors and I was chosen for champion showman!  I was shocked!

The final event for me was overall Large Animal Clover.  In this contest, all the first place showman compete by showing each species of large animals that were shown during fair.  I had to show a pig, horse, sheep, market goat, dairy goat, dairy beef, and dairy cow.  When they announced the winners, I could hardly believe it, they called my name as champion showman!  I am so proud of how my friends and I did at this year's 4-H fair and I look forward to next year.

I can not believe that it is already August!  It reminds me of a quote, "How did it get so late so soon?  It's night before it's afternoon.  December is here before it's June.  My goodness how the time has flown.  How did it get so late so soon?"  That quote is by Dr. Suess.  I can say that I will miss you summer and I will see you next time.  
                                                                                                      Your friend,
                                                                               Madi  

 

 

Showing Cocoa



Showing Cocoa

Daphne being shown

Showing Peek-A-Boo

Showing Peek-A-Boo

Sheep Showmanship

Sheep Showmanship

After Large Animal Clover

Never Give Up

Hello everyone, I know it has been a while since my last post, but this summer is just flying by!  I can't believe that I turned 14 last week and school is about to start!  We had some exciting news here at Blue Mountain Farms the other day.  Tyler raises the Dexter cattle and he has been trying for years now to get a little girl calf.  Last year, Dream, Tyler's first cow, had a heifer.  Sadly, her umbilical cord was torn and she died moments after being born.  So, Tyler tried again and was hoping for a happy, healthy girl.  We waited and waited and waited.  Finally, the morning of July 22, 2015, Dream had her calf!  She had it over night without any problems.  If only it was always like that. 

As I was feeding that morning, I saw Tyler walking from the barn to the fiber mill were mom was.  I knew something was up when I saw the big smile on his face.  He said, "Madi! Dream had her calf!"  Immediately, I asked, "Boy or girl?"  He said, "A girl!"  Finally, Tyler has a little heifer that was born right here!   I am so excited for him.  After waiting all that time and he now he can show with his little calf and his cow, Dream.  How amazing is it that for his last 4-H fair, before he ages out of the program, that he is able to show full circle with this precious little calf and his favorite cow ever?  Oh, Tyler gave Dream her name because it was always his "dream" to own a cow.  Now if he could just come up with a great name for a great little girl.

4-H Fair sure is going to be a good one!

Tyler with his first calf from Dream

  

Dream and her calf

Dream and her calf

Here she is!

Rabbits: Truly Multi-Purpose

Fiber, Meat, Hopping, Pet, Therapy, Show, and so much more!   A lot of people believe that rabbits are just pets or are used for meat.  What they don't know is that a rabbit serves so many purposes.  There are 48 different recognized breeds of rabbits within the American Rabbit Breeders Association and each breed has their own purposes.  A few examples are the following: Angoras are used to produce fiber.  The nice thing about Angoras is that their coats grow back.  Californians are usually a meat breed.  Rabbit meat is one of the healthiest meats, low in cholesterol, and high in protein.  English Spots are a full arched breed and they love to hop.  The full arched breeds make it look easy to jump over the jumps and they have a great time doing it.  

If it weren't for all of my experiences with PaSRBA and 4-H, I wouldn't know that rabbits are such a multi-purpose animal.  PaSRBA does a wonderful job promoting the rabbit industry in a positive way and I hope that this will continue for a long time.  There are a number of opportunities for youth when showing rabbits while learning all that there is to learn, participating in showing, traveling to demonstrations, and meeting new people.  Hope to see you at a show or a fair soon.

Best of Breed French Angora.  One of the examples of showing.

Best in Show and Reserve in Show.  Another example of showing.

Here is an Angora yarn.  An example of fiber. 

Let the Summer Begin!

Hello everyone!  It has been a while since my last blog post, but it has been a little busy around here.  The kids and lambs are growing like weeds!  I continue to give them bottles three times a day.  They are a little angry with me because I am giving them water bottles in the afternoon!  I am sure that they will forgive me, I hope.

I am very excited because last weekend, I had my evaluation for homeschooling!  My evaluator was very impressed with all that was accomplished this year.  After she came for the evaluation, which two of my friends were also evaluated and did well too, we went for testing two days later.  I took the test and really was not sure how I did.  Once Maddy, Logan (Maddy's brother), and I took the test, we went out for lunch and then to Sweet Frog for desert!  I had a great day.  When I received my results about a week later, it said that I tested at an average of 11th, almost 12th grade!  I was very happy with that since I had no idea how I did!  

The day after the testing, my mom and sister, Ashley, loaded up the car and left for the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival.  I would have gone with them, but Angora Nationals was being held the same weekend.  My dad took me to Ohio for the rabbit show that Friday.  The day that my dad and I were about to leave, one of my French Angora rabbits started kindling and my eggs in the incubator started to hatch... of course!  I really didn't try to have so many things happen while I wasn't going to be home, but sometimes things work out that way.  So, I had to instruct my Nana, who is not the most fond of animals, to watch everything until Tyler (my brother) came home from school.  That was fun trying to explain everything, but she figured everything out though.

  While I was on my way to Ohio, six chicks hatched and two kits were born!  They were all healthy and I am very glad that they were!  Nana was great by keeping the bottles going for the lambs and kids as well as keeping watch on the incubator and nest box.  I received a number of text messages from her giving me every detail of what was happening at home.  I really enjoyed getting her messages and secretly, I think she enjoyed giving the bottles and seeing the chicks hatch!    

That Saturday in Ohio, I showed five Angoras and I had a great time doing it!  I didn't win any Best of Breeds but I am glad that I went!  As soon as the show was over, my dad and I left to start our tract to Maryland Sheep and Wool as I was entered in a sheep and goat skill-a-thon the next day.  

On Sunday, I was ready for the competition!  Dad went home with all of the rabbits and I stayed in Maryland with mom and Ashley.  I wasn't really sure what the event was going to be like.  There were a lot of kids in my category that looked like they have been a part of this for years.  I had no idea how I was going to do and neither did my other friends who were participating in this as well.  

When the contest was over, we all had pizza that was provided by the people who ran the event.  They then announced the awards.  They started with juniors and worked their way up to seniors.  I was an intermediate.  There were 27 kids in the intermediate category and they placed the top ten.  I really did not expect to win anything since it was only my first year.  Little did I know, they announced my name for third place!  There were two stations about wool and they haven't done that before so they had a award for just the wool and I tied for first place!  I was so happy with how I did for my first year!

I had a great weekend in Ohio and Maryland, but I was very happy to be home that Sunday night!  Oh! I forgot to mention that this weekend, we opened up our pool and Maddy and I made jelly!  It truly is time to let the summer begin! 

One of my rabbits that went on the trip to Ohio! 

Nana and Papa in the class "How to Give Bottles to Madi's Goats 101"

I think Nana had fun giving bottles 

Perseverance, Persistence, and Patience

Friday: I knew the day was going to be different when I walked out, in the early morning, and felt a warm breeze.  Spring is really showing itself now!  Borealis wasn't acting like herself.  My first thought was, "Maybe she will go into labor today!"  I began to build with excitement! 

The day went on like my average day.  Work on school, feed bottles, eat lunch, check on the animals, finish school, and get ready for a 4-H meeting that night.  My friend Maddy came to my house so she could help me prepare for the 4-H meeting and feed the animals.  While Maddy and I were feeding my rabbits, mom came in and said, "Something is wrong with Borealis."  Those words to me were terrifying.  I ran to the barn and saw what look like her uterus coming out of her!  We contacted the vet, Cindy, and she said to push it back in and she would come an take a look at her.  We did exactly that and about forty five minutes later, she drove up the driveway.  I am really glad that she is such a nice vet!  Turns out that Borealis had prolapsed.  Cindy was able to use a prolapse retainer, or a U-spoon, for Borealis.  The only problem was that she didn't like it, so she would bite at it.  Then we had to put a dog cone on her.  She looked a little upset with me, but she was okay.  We also had to induce her labor just to be safe.


Saturday:  Ashley, Matt, and I all woke up early to travel to a rabbit show.  I always love to go to rabbit shows on days like this.  I am happy to say that I won Best of Breed American Fuzzy Lop, Best of Breed English Angora, Best of Breed French Angora, Best of Breed Giant Angora, and Best of Breed Satin Angora!  It was exciting that I won with rabbits from my own breedings or rabbits from good friends of mine.  The more important part is the fact that I had I great time with my friends!  I helped my friends Maddy, Brooke, Cassie, and Abby.  I had a wonderful day supporting PaSRBA (Pennsylvania State Rabbit Breeders Association) and  spending time with some great friends.

Sunday:  On Saturday night, Abby slept over and Maddy came to hang out.  If you've been following my blogs, I have been working with Peek-A-Boo for about five weeks now to help her build her strength to stand again and she was starting to show improvement.  On sunny days, I would always get her outside for that vitamin D.  Also, it was good exercise for the kids, who are growing like weeds!  So this past Sunday, with the help from Maddy and Abby, Peek-A-Boo was outside to enjoy the sunlight.  I went to the barn to grab some food for Peek, but when I came back, she saw the food in my hand and she stood!  She was standing!  A little wobbly, but she was up, using her legs!  I ran to give mom the notice and she made a mad dash for her shoes and she caught a glimpse of Peek's strength.  Peek laid down again and immediately tried standing.  She did it!  There was still hope, lots of hope. 

Monday:  I walked outside to begin the early morning feeding.  The whole morning I was thinking about getting Peek outside and keeping her in the pasture for the day.  After feeding, I decided that would be the best idea for her.  My mom helped me get her outside and as soon as she was out, mom cried.  Success!  She was out and enjoying the daylight!  There was just one problem, the kids.  They figured out a way to escape within a minute.  So, I thought that Cocoa and Bubba could stay out and I could tear down their pen and set it up for the kids.  After a lot of trips back and forth, I had it all set up.  I put the kids in and gave them some food.  "Go be goats," I said.  That day Maddy came over to stay until the Shooting Sports meeting that night.  She and I were checking on Borealis, Peek, and the kids a lot.  Finally, around three o'clock, Borealis went into labor.  She was pushing but nothing was happening.  My mom and I took out the prolapse retainer and checked to see if the kid was in position.  Borealis wasn't dilated enough and that's what the problem was.  After a lot of pushing and pulling, the last kid of the season, here at Blue Mountain Farms, was born!  It's a buck.  Of course, another buck.  At least he is happy and healthy.  Borealis seems to be doing well too.  I decided to name him Storm.

Today:  All is well today.  Peek is outside, the kids are starting to eat grain, Borealis is happy, Storm is great, and all of the animals are eating their hay and enjoying the day. 

Storm!



Shaggy!

Daphne was mad because I didn't give her a bottle



The kids are enjoying their day

Peek is standing!!!



Shaggy is one interesting goat!

Storm!

He is showing off

"Hey! What are you doing?"

He is a cute little guy, don't you think?

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Hello everyone!  It's been a little gloomy out lately, but that sun has been trying real hard to peek out.  It's finally spring! Speaking of peek and trying hard, Peek-A-Boo is almost standing!  Last week our vet, Cindy, came to dehorn the kids.  She was very impressed with the improvement on Peek and said that we should see a big difference within the next few days.  Well, I waited for that difference, but nothing was happening.  I still put her in the sling everyday and was doing everything that I could do.  

Saturday, April 4th: I was woken by the door closing.  My friend Maddy had slept over that night and we were surprised when my mom walked into the living room to tell us that Willow, one of my Angora goats, has kidded!  She had a little, salt and pepper colored buck!  He was already up and running!  Willow is such a wonderful mother.  Thank goodness!  He is very healthy and doing very well.  Today, he was even able to join the other Angora goats outside.  They seem to accept him, but Ella, Willow's kid from last spring, is a little bit angry because she thinks that Willow likes the little buck better.  A little jealousy going on there, but she will move on eventually.  Silly goats!

Monday, April 6th: It felt like a normal day, well, my kind of normal.  It was raining and a little cold.  The animals were making a lot of noise, like usual at this hour.  I walked into the barn and, like always, I went to Peek's pen first.  Right away, I was greeted by three little kids with milk-like breath.  They were bouncing all around and they knew that it was soon time for Peek to go in her sling.  She seemed a little energized today.  She was sitting on her hind legs like a dog.  She loves this position.  It looks very uncomfortable, but she likes it.  I could see that her eyes were brighter than they have been over the last few weeks.  I put her in the sling and walked out to get her food.  When she saw me come around the corner with that scoop of food, she jumped off with her back legs and landed right on the ground, waiting to taste the sweet feed!  I was shocked!  She had never done that before!  Maybe she was becoming close to standing on her own!  I gave her the food and let her go for a few hours before I had to put her in the sling again.

Today: Ashley's sheep are growing like crazy!  Suess is looking great!  He can't stand being away from Ashley for more than an hour.  He has to be with people.  He isn't liking the whole "you have to be a sheep" thing.  This morning he was bouncing around like he had little springs in his legs!  He is one interesting little lamb.  I like to call him unique.  Also, Peek is still trying really hard.  It's like a switch of determination went on!  She has her mind set on standing!  Fingers crossed, I hope she will be able to soon.

Thank you for reading this blog! 

Willow and her little guy! 

Willow's kid!

Peek!

Told you she loves this position.

Peek-A-Boo almost licked the camera!

"Zoom Zoom" Here comes Scooby!

Maddy and Daphne.

Me and Scooby.

Suess watching the flag.

Suess was a little sleepy.

They are like little spies! 

Yep, that's my sister

Marshmallow enjoying the breeze 

Mac, Tyler's bull, decided that he wanted to go outside of the pen, so this picture was taken while we were trying to get him back in.

  

There's Somethin' in the Water This Time of the Year!

Well, we have been a little busy lately here at Blue Mountain Farms!  First, I would to report on the kids.  Daphne, Scooby, and Shaggy are all doing very well!  Their daily routine is the following: eating like crazy, bouncing around, and sleeping.  Meanwhile, I have been putting Peek-A-Boo in a sling every day three times a day.  It isn't an easy task, but it needs to be done.  She has shown so much improvement that it is hard to believe!  She is trying harder everyday and I am really hoping that she can stand on her own soon.  Our veterinarian, Cindy, was even impressed when she saw Peek almost stand.  It was pretty interesting that Peek wanted to get up mainly because she is not a fan of the vet!  Quite surprising since Peek-A-Boo loves almost everyone.

On March 18th, Flo, Ashley's sheep, was contracting!  She was not acting like herself since that morning and now, she was having her lamb or lambs.  She pushed about two times, then hooves, and finally, a ram lamb!  Right away she was licking and cleaning off her little lamb.  A few minutes later, she started pawing at the ground.  "Was there another one?"  we all thought, but my mom was thinking this from the start.  We all thought that Flo was done after the first lamb, so we didn't believe mom until Flo started pushing again.  Like always, mom was right.  Another ram lamb!  Flo is such a wonderful mother!  She has, now, two happy, healthy ram lambs.  

Since Flo had her lambs, we knew that it wasn't going to be too long before everyone else had their lambs.  So we had a hourly barn check.  Every time we would go out to the barn, we would have to check Flo and her lambs, Pam (Flo's sister), Oats (another one of Ashley's sheep), Harley (yet another ewe of Ashley's), Willow (one of my Angora goats), and finally Borealis (another Angora goat).  The days just kept on passing by until finally, on March 29, yesterday, Pam went into labor.  I went out to the barn to check on everybody and give the kids their bottle.  I looked in Pam's pen, and there she was, pushing!  I ran to the back door to call for mom and ran back out.  She pushed and pushed and then mom said, "She needs help.  She is having trouble."  My dad went in to hold her and mom tried to pull the lamb.  I ran into the house to have Tyler come out to the barn, but, by the time we arrived, the lamb was out, another ram.  To our surprise, it was all black!  This was new and quite shocking since both parents are white!  Genetics are a curious thing.  

After about twenty minutes, Pam had the lamb all cleaned up and he was already trying to stand up, but Pam started pawing again.  We did not expect her to have twins!  A few pushes later, a new born ram.  Oy vey, another ram.  How many rams are the sheep going to have?  There were still two more sheep to go, and hopefully one of them has at least one ewe.  Unfortunately for the second ram lamb, Pam had no intention of cleaning him off.  She wanted nothing to do with him in fact.  This meant that she was rejecting him!  We can never really understand why a mother does this, but sometimes it happens.  Needless to say, he spent the night in a crate in Ashley's room, but all he did was cry.  He cried all night long and let's just say that in the morning, the crate went outside to the barn.  No worries, he is getting plenty of attention and bottles.

This morning seemed normal, so I didn't think that there would be any lambs or kids today, but around lunch time, when only Ashley and I were home, Oats started crying, a lot.  I ran out and watched her for a little while until she began contracting.  Immediately I ran to call Ashley, working in the mill, and raced back to Oats.  Ashley came down and we waited and waited.  She was pushing but nothing was happening!  We waited for about seven minutes, then we saw hooves!  We knew that she had to have this lamb soon or else it was going to die.  The only thing was that no one else was home!  It was just Ashley and me.  We knew that she was going to need help, but finally, after what seemed an eternity, mom pulled into the driveway and I alerted her about Oats.  She didn't hesitate to run to the action packed stall.  After Oats pushed about two more times, we knew she needed help.  My mom and Ashley went in and Ashley tried to pull the lamb.  Mom held Oats and calmed her down.  In less than a minute, one ram lamb was welcomed to Blue Mountain Farms!   He is strong, healthy, and Oats loves him!  Hmmm - Ashley currently has a perfect record of ram lambs with only one more ewe, Harley, left to go.  

Now it is Willow's, Borealis's, and Harley's turn.  I hope they have no trouble and they are all healthy. 

Peek-A-Boo this morning.

Peek in the sling this morning.  She loves when I give her snacks! 

Pam's lamb.  Isn't he cute? 

Pam's other lamb, Suess.  He is the poor lamb that Pam rejected, but he is happy with his bottles, attention, and crate!

Willow and Elle are pretty funny goats, don't you think? 

Secret is enjoying the Spring like weather! 

Ashley having some fun with the kids