News From the Ranch, Episode 1739

Posted on October 28, 2019 by prairiemoonquilts in Animals, Prairie Moon Ranch

It’s been awhile since I posted a News From the Ranch episode. It’s been quite a year around here. Last time I updated, the snow was just getting over for spring, and now, we’re supposed to start getting snow again this week. I’m just not ready! But then, I’m never ready for snow — I don’t like it one bit.

In goat news, we found all our babies from this year good homes. Three of them actually went to be therapy goats for a little boy with autism! I’m so proud of our babies. All of them found good jobs!

Wyatt (the billy goat) and Ranger lived together in the yard and the barnlot all summer. As usual, Ranger is highly entertaining, without even trying . . .

Eating breakfast in bed:

Availing himself of the cow’s lick tub (where he looks more like a sow than a goat)!

Keeping his feet dry after it’s rained:

Grazing (he caught me taking his picture through the back window):

And snacking:

He and Wyatt got along just fine, until one day when Ranger got his horns caught in the gate, and while trapped there, Wyatt decided to take that opportunity to beat the crap out of him! So My Cowboy broke up the fight with the HotShot, and Ranger moved in with the nannies.

Which only made Wyatt even more belligerent, since HIS main goal is to move in with the nannies!

Friday is the day . . . Wyatt will get to move in with the nannies, and Sassy and Sissy will get to live in the yard. Sassy and Sissy will love living back in the yard again, altho they’ll think they should just get to move right on into the house at that point, too!

New babies will be due in April, 2020.

Meanwhile, the antics continue . . .

With Lily, the tree goat:

And Sissy, trying to prove that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence:

All this summer, we’ve been babysitting a calf for some friends of ours. When she was born, her mother stepped on her and broke her leg, so she was raised in the barn as a bucket calf. When it came time for her to be integrated into the herd, we were all afraid that the bigger cows might be mean to her, so we brought Princess Matilda of the Broken Leg here to live with our calves the same size.

Since we turned the bull back in with the cows, however, we’re afraid he might injure her, so we separated her out again. She’s been living in the yard with Wyatt, or in the nanny pen with the goats.

And instead of learning cow ways, Matilda has been learning goat ways! She’s learned how to head butt, and yesterday, she wedged herself into a little goat hut and got stuck — it was quite an ordeal to get her out!

We had several kittens here over the summer. This little calico was my favorite, and even tho I tried to save her, her mother was not very attentive or diligent in helping me to keep her safe, and she disappeared.

But this is Freddie:

Freddie has been sick off and on, so I’ve been doctoring him. He abhors being indoors, however, so I have to keep an eye on him outside, and doctor him, if and when I can catch him. The better he feels, the harder he is to catch!

We also have a new accidental resident. Someone dumped her, so we took her in. Her name is Abby, and she loves everyone and everything, but is also scared of everything. I took her for a ride in the truck one day, and she had this look on her face:

She also will not leave the porch unless accompanied by a human or another dog:

She’s slowly getting a bit better, but I don’t know if she’ll ever get over it completely. We lost both of our older farm dogs this year to old age — Blueberry in January, and Skeeter in July — so we don’t have a good guard dog any more, and Abby isn’t it! She’ll tell me when someone is here, but then hide behind me and let me deal with it!

The horses are doing fine. Chip has done a lot of cow, calf, and fence checking, and helped with lots of other things, which makes him very happy — he loves having a job to do.

He’s even done a bit of quilt modeling!

It’s calving season, so I’ve ridden along a few times for evening cattle check, because I love seeing all the babies:

They are just so cute!

That’s about it for the ranch update. I’ll have to come back soon with a sewing update. I’m behind on some things I’ve been wanting to post.

On a side note, I post more frequent updates on Instagram, especially about the animals, so if you want to follow me over there, I’m @prairiemoonquilts. You can see Sissy and Sassy helping with a quilt photo shoot, and . . . cow videos!

9 responses to “News From the Ranch, Episode 1739”

  1. Rose Marie Smith says:

    Sigh……….I miss country life. Although to be honest, I never raised animals like this. Just one or two dogs at a time and a cat now and then. I don’t see how you get all this done.

  2. Becky Cogan says:

    Love reading your stories. Only farm girls understand.

  3. Angela Neese says:

    We have 2 bottle babies this year – one had a great Mom who had no milk, even though little 399 nursed and nursed on that empty teat for all she was worth. We gave it a week, hoping more milk would come in, but nope. Bob brought her to me a rack of bones and black hide, sunken eyes. She hated the bottle, but was convinced finally. She has recovered wonderfully. Daughter #2 was born weighing 16 lbs! Full term, AI-bred and not a twin, she has a form of congenital dwarfism, we think, though not genetic – her AI sire would have been thoroughly tested for any such. She is 7 wks old and finally hit double her birthweight! She is a little doll, wonderful disposition and follows me wherever I go outside. Ah, tales from the farm! I wish we could have some kitties too – but our Heeler, Carsa, thinks they are one of the 4 food groups – right up there with ‘possums and ‘coons and ground hogs. Love reading your blog, sister!

  4. Randy Menninghaus says:

    Thanks . It is neat seeing your other life.

  5. Wendy says:

    I was raised a townie 🙂 my cousin lived out in the country (a mile away). I love reading these posts, because it makes me remember hanging at the farm with her. The look on Abby’s face is laugh out loud funny — kinda how I look in crazy driving traffic when hubby is driving. Heh-heh. Thanks for sharing, Shelly!

  6. Patty says:

    I love seeing your farm animals and what is going on your farm.

  7. Diana S says:

    Love reading your posts about your animals. Goats are so cute but I think our HOA would not be happy about us having a goat or two. Not sure g
    How Tiki would react either. Will keep enjoying your animal stories!

  8. Veronica Kersting says:

    Your animals are so dang cute!! Thanks for sharing. Hope you find a good watch dog.

  9. Darlene says:

    Shelly, loved all the photos and fun stories of your ranch. Those animals are so cute and a lot of work. Sorry for the loss of your dogs I know haw hard that is. Hope you have a wonderful day today.

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