Happy Thanksgiving!!

We give Thanks this day for all our friends and family.  We at Oldesouth Farm especally would like to Thank our Clients and Customers for making this year a wonderful year!!!  THANK YOU!

Once again the Turkey's are safe.  These are a couple of Royal Palm Turkey's at Oldesouth Farm.  To beautiful to eat, they have paid their way by producing young turkeys to sell.  I do love my beautiful turkeys... 


Had an interesting outing last night when the water well would not work.  Yes, got off work at 830 pm and off to the farm to see what was going on.  All electrical lines & plugs & breakers fine, removed the well house, opened the electrical box, shine the flash light and see a group of ants hanging out at one of the electrical points.  Of course, when playing with electricity, always remember to turn the breakers off.  Getting zapped like the ants is not fun. 

Then I took a nail emery board to scrape the dead bodies melted to the electrical points.  They are attracted to the current (heat) and their remains cause a short, where the two points can no longer connect, stopping the pump from working.  Took about two minutes to clean them out.  Once the breakers were flipped back on, the tank began to fill and we were in business once more.  I guess I need to kill some ants.  Will think about the options to not contaminate the well, but keep them out of the electrical components.

Back to the hospital at 0700 this morning, working the Holiday and will enjoy Turkey Dinner baked by the ladies in our cafeteria. 

Thanksgiving is almost here...

As we ready for the beginning of the Holiday Season, we give Thanks for our family and friends.  November is flying by and Christmas will be here shortly.  We especially Thank our clients and customers who purchased Livestock and Dairy Products from us.  We also Thank the Lord for our good fortune and a great year.  Thanksgiving is a time of giving thanks and we are grateful.

We have dried off several does and are milking Scandal, Liz and Oldesouth Silver Princess has come home to be milked.  She has two lovely daughters sired by Superb.  SunRa is still milking, and insists on coming in to be milked, but will be dried off shortly.  NC Promisedland SIA SunRa has just been awarded her SG (Superior Genetics) award!!  She is an ELITE sweet girl now!  SG is a combination of conformation and production, calculating out to be in the top 15% of the entire Nigerian Breed!  It takes a pretty girl who can milk to receive this award!!!  My sweet SunRa is pictured below doing what she does best, milk...

UDiamond, Oldesouth Belladonna, Oldesouth Babette, Oldesouth Cocoa Delight, Oldesouth Summer, Oldesouth Blue Reba have all been dried off and have earned their milk stars with CLASS!

  UDiamond is very pregnant, probably with quads and was drying up for the show in Dothan.  I think everyone has earned their star except for Little Tot's Estate Silene.  Silene is an older doe, LAed 90, but has not been milked, so it is a big if as to if she will make her milking star.  2012 will be her make or break year.  I hope to freshen her daughter mid 2012, sired by Oldesouth Shell Foop.

The girls will start freshening again in December, hopefully after Christmas to give me a break.  Next year no one will be freshening until the end of February. UDiamond and Sunra are due to kid in January 2012.  I do hope UDiamond has a couple of does.  She had bucks this past year.  The final numbers will come next week, but I believe she hit the 1000 pound mark as a first freshener.  Will post the final numbers when we get the last milk test results.  UDiamond is pictured below.

Our weather has been a bit up and down, with temps in the 70s and humid with rain, and now a cold front is passing through.  We received some rain which I hope will make the planted winter grazing take off, reducing the need for so much Hay.

Oldesouth Blue Alexa is due to kid the middle to end of December.  Her kids are sired by Superb.  I am really excited about this and think Alexa will be my first home grown SG (Superior Genetics) doe.  She milked over 700 pound of milk and LAed at 85.  All this as a second freshener.  I can not wait to see what she can do as a third freshener.  This little doe is under 19 inches tall as well.  She is a true Nigerian Dwarf!!




Most of the Icelandic sheep have gone to their new homes.  I really miss old Havvah and that goofy Boing who would jump into the feed bucket and hook her horn in your pocket or bucket.  I have their lambs and will keep a few Icelandics for myself.  I do love their fleece and especially their lamb meat.  I have three young rams going to the processor Nov 30th.  Lamb is so healthy, sweet and good for you, one would be crazy not to keep a few.  I held back Havvah's son by Snow Man as herd sire once Snow Man went to his new home.  The Trump is still here, but went through some tough times.  The Trump had to have his horns cut, had horrific fly strike and almost died.  I scrapped maggots FOREVER off him and shot him with every antibiotic I had to save his life.  Trump, not being all that friendly, would not get close to you to check him out.  It was not until he was at deaths door did he let you know, all was not well.

I noticed him not out with the girls, his ewes.  Had to run him down with the Kawasaki Mule to get a hold of him and see if he was OK.  HE WAS NOT... and collapsed, thinking I had killed the stubborn SOB, had Philip, his brother Evan and myself gather him up and then we saw the full extent of his problem...  OMG!  Maggots like I have never seen in my life, all over his face, head, down into his horn beds, around his neck, down to his shoulders. I did not have to temp him to know he was in BIG TROUBLE!  Trump was to the point of delirium.  I got the reciprocating saw, lopped off the horns and started digging out maggots!!!  Shot him up with Biomycin and Exenel to start, then switched to Biomycin and Extended Pen G. I sheared his head, down to his shoulders.  It has been so cold here I darned not shear him completely in fear of loosing him to pneumonia.  He looks goofy with his head and shoulders shorn, with the full puff of fleece over the rest of him.  Trump has never been friendly, but knew he needed help and did not fight our doctoring and his recovery.  I am happy to say, I think he will be OK and live to see another breeding season at least...  I do love the beautiful Morrit lambs he produces...

This is the last photo of The Trump with his horns in August 2011, photo below.

Alabama Fall Continues...

The temps have gone from cold to more pleasant.  We have just returned from a Monday Goat Show at the National Peanut Festival in Dothan, Alabama.  We came home with Grand Champion SR Doe in Milk and Grand Champion JR Doe!  We were very pleased to also win best Nigerian Dam and Daughter, Sunra and Scandal, as well as Best Dairy Herd.

 Brush Creek Liz is an older doe I had picked up in a group acquired in March.  We are really impressed with her udder when she freshened the beginning of October and gave us a drop dead moon spotted little buckling.  The buck will be retained, sired by *B Lost Valley PG Superb *S.

Liz is pictured to the left with Nick showing her to Grand Champion Sr Doe and Best of Breed in the Nigerians.

Liz from the side pictured to the right.  She is a very dairy doe with a great topline, udder and will be going on DHIR mid November.







Our JR doe is Farm Oldesouth Sweet Donna, daughter of Oldesouth Belladonna, sired by *B Rosasharn MR General B *S.  Donna is a sweet little Diva, photo below.  She won Grand Champion JR Doe and has her first leg toward her championship.  The judge was Daniel Young from Georgia.

It was a long day and we enjoyed fresh, boiled peanuts, which are a favorite of ours while watching the show.

We are Thankful for the wins and on the way home the truck broke down on 231.  It suddenly started making a loud noise like a hole was in the muffler, then power was lost.  We made it to a BP gas station, where I called Mr Paul and he drove from Selma with his truck, two hours away to pick up the trailer loaded with 13 goats.  We arrived home safely at 130 Tuesday morning.  The truck was towed to Selma and the Mechanic is working on it as I write this passage.  It has been to 3 different shops, four times.  Hopefully the problem will finally be diagnosed and fixed.

We have an intern volunteer helping us for 3 weeks, Joshua Spearing.  He is from the WOOF program, learning about goats, sheep and goat showing.  He helped prepare the goats and with the showing.  He has learned a lot and we will have photos of him shortly.  He also is quite the Chief and we are enjoying his cooking with lamb, beef and deer meat.