I’m often asked which method I prefer. I’ve used the scalpel method (not for the faint of heart), the Burdizzo & we had our Zebu “banded”. Here’s my opinion of each one.
The first bucks I altered I used the Burdizzo. My husband held each of the 2 bucks while I used the tool. I found it very difficult to handle the tool itself not to mention listening to the little guy scream like a banshee! Both bucks screamed until no more sound came out.
Although I followed the method to a “T”, a few weeks later I noticed that on one of the boys the sperm cord had not been severed therefore I had to do it again. As careful as I was, I managed to put the tool on exactly the same location as the original clamping. When I opened the Burdizzo, I had cut right through the skin! It broke my heart and I put the tool away for good ($49 down the drain). The little buck did fine but it broke my heart.
Earlier this spring we “banded” Ziggy our Zebu. Some call this method inhumane but as I watched Ziggy, I don’t think he felt anything after an hour or so. It took a long time for his sack to dry and fall but he had a really big set!
This past April after studying the scalpel method I castrated Tino. It went well but the fellow helping me by holding Tino didn’t feel so good. Since that day, Tim no longer feels comfortable around me with with a sharp instrument!
I found this method easy & fast but I worried about bleeding. Tino did fine but he was very listless for a few days.
This being said, I did more research on banding and found this great article online submitted by Whispering Willows Acres farm. It shows step by step photo of the procedure but also important it provides pictures of what to expect in the coming weeks. I invite you to read the article and view the excellent pictures provided. This site also provides information on other topics – it is very simple and well done!
I’ll be purchasing a banding tool later today to take care of my little bucks before they get into trouble! Bucks will be boys and I have plenty of little “girls” around to make them happy! I’ll let you know how things go!
Below is a short video of my Pygmy bucks trying to breed Molly, my fainting goat. They did succeed.. Molly is due July 12th! Can’t wait to see the results!
Please share your experiences with me and my readers by either posting a comment or directly on my Forum.
Scott & I realized since the passing of Murphy (our house Chihuahua), that our home felt sort of empty. We’d discussed briefly the acquisition of a house dog and our only requirements were small & non-shedding.
Wouldn’t you know it, with everything that we have going on we just had to have another responsibility! I couldn’t leave well enough alone…no, I just had to have a dog in the house.
I didn’t care whether it was pure bred or not, it just had to be small (cute), and of course non shedding. Not having a dog in the house for the last few months we had grown used to having a dog hair free home and that was one thing neither Scott or I was willing to sacrifice.
So I scanned the local internet advertising sites. By the way, you cannot list animals for sale on Craigslist unless they are livestock/farm animals. My favorite site is the local sales network There you can open a free account and post any kind of item you have for sale. It’s directed to mid/east Tennessee residents but I have in many cases traveled 2 hours to purchase the perfect animal.
I found our little princess via “Oodle” which directed me to Petfinders Through this website I came across a wonderful lady that breeds Bichons. I called BJ and we spoke a bit. She then emailed me pictures and as soon as I saw the little munchkin face I was done!!!
So here she is our little “Mouse”. She’s a registered Bichon Frisé and she was born April 9th, 2009. She’s nearly paper trained but we need to keep a close eye on her and not let her roam the house. She’s adopted the kitchen area behind the island and that suits us just fine.
Last night around 11pm I locked her up in her little crate and she only whimpered once. I let her out at 6:20 this morning and she played a bit and then peed on the paper. I had to leave her alone for about 20 minutes and I didn’t want to crate her again. When I returned she was on the rug in the kitchen and there were little doggy turds on the paper! Wow! I was sure she’d head for the rug in the dining or living room but she was a good girl!
It’s very hard to take pictures or videos of her because she just wants to poke her nose in the camera! But I did manage to get a few good shots. You can find them all on my Youtube site.
Next week the grand-kids are visiting… I’m sure Mouse will be a big hit!
Spring has brought many little baby goats to the farm! Actually the streak started Valentine’s day. Here are the announcements!
02/14: Valentino & Valentina – Proud mom, Oreo
04/23: Ace – Proud mom, Bambi
04/30: Pepper – Proud mom, Cocoa
05/25: Gizmo – Proud mom, Chausette
06/11: Deuce – Proud mom, Brownie
06/14: Pee Wee & Herman – Proud mom, Boo
06/22: Sadie & Sammi – Proud mom, Blacky
06/24: Doe 1, Doe 2 & Buck 1 – Proud mom, Noel (yes, triplets!)
The only one left to kid is Molly the fainting goat. She was pasture bred with Flip & Samson & is due mid- July.
Most of these babies are sold but if you’re interested in any, please contact me. All does are $100 & bucks are $50 intact, $75 banded. All will be vaccinated before leaving the farm.
I’ve got bunches of videos – please visit my YouTube site and post comments. Below is Noel & triplets, only a few hours after birth.
Everyone is doing great although I had concerns with Boo’s little doe, Pee Wee. She was and still is very small compared to all of the others. Of course, her mom Boo is also very small & I was surprised to have her give birth to twins. She’s much friendlier now that she has babies. Pee Wee (black & white), is okay now but you’d think she was a newborn – especially if you compare her to Noel’s triplets born yesterday… (see video above).
Much has happened here since I posted last more than a month ago! I’m not sure where to begin but I’ll try to remember all the important stuff.
I realized that acquiring Tank had been a mistake. As much as I loved the big guy, I didn’t have the time to exercise him. I put out a few ads to find him a good home.
I finally found a good home for Tank but at some point I thought the big guy would end up retiring here as a large (& expensive), lawn ornament! In the 6 weeks or so that I owned him, I only rode him once and that was in a round pen. He did fine but I was very careful. I hadn’t ridden in over 10 years & I pretty much out of shape so I took it very slowly. Tank was good and although he didn’t respond very well to the bit that I was using, he was a good ride.
Well, two ladies came to purchase him (2 separate occasions), and after being poked and prodded, he was saddled and ridden… about 3 feet. He bucked & lunged and was immediately dismounted. This happened with both riders and I was politely told that this horse needed A LOT of work. Oh well.
Then Lori came by with her 14 year daughter who saddled Tank, mounted him and rode him like a pro! She even rode him bareback and Tank was the perfect gentleman!
They took Tank home to Crossville and the last I heard, Tank is now ridden by Bree an 7 year old! Here’s a quick video of Bree & Tank
So lets just say that Tank didn’t like the 2 ladies that came earlier – he either wanted to stay here or was waiting for the perfect home with Bree!
I’m very happy that he’s found a good home. He was a great pony (I found out later that he was too small to be considered a horse), but needed more than what I was able to give him. Don’t get me wrong, he loved being in the pasture all day and being groomed and loved on but I truly beleive an animal such as this needs a purpose. Now he has one and he works every day, as he should.
A few weeks ago my husband installed a “Forum” feature on this website. I was very excited about this because I thought it would receive a lot of activity.
The funny this is that I continue to receive inquiries via “comments” that you can enter following my posts. Don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoy the fact that people consider my advice. I’m just disappointed that no one is using my “Forum”
I know that I need to be patient! We have a forum type option on our business’s website and it’s been a slow process although it’s been a few years that’s its been offered to the public.
I also know that on most forums, it appears to always be the same people that post & the same people that respond although the sites boast 100’s of members!
I’m also a little leary of “Forums”. I’ve seen many instances where people just seem to wait to read and respond negatively to a particular post. It blows my mind to see that some people are so brave when there’s cyberspace between them and their “prey”!
I’ve actually been a “victim” to this sort of treatment. When it happens you want to respond and justify your statement and this type of response just encourages your attacker! Once you react to it, you start a chain reaction that brings most members out of the woodwork! In my case, I didn’t even have to react – members just spoke out on my behalf!
Why are people so petty? What is it with people that they just have to be mean and nasty behind their keyboard? I’m sure that a lot of these folks are nice people in person. It’s like the guy that curses about all the drivers around him while in the privacy of his car. I guess he gets crap off of his chest while in the safety of his vehicle.
There is a “motto” that I try to follow all the time, no matter what I’d like to say and that is, IF YOU CAN’T SAY SOMETHING NICE, SAY NOTHING!
Don’t be that idiot hiding behind his keyboard being the big man because he can publicly try to humiliate the writer while maintaining anonomity. Why choose to be the “bad guy” when you can be the helpful person?
This being said my friend, please post to my forum. If you don’t see a topic that appeals to you, create a new one. If you have something to sell, post it! You never know who’s reading!
And to all of you that do write to me via the comments section, thank you and PLEASE… please follow up and let me know what happens!
Yep, really didn’t think I’d ever do this but I suspect a couple of my neighbors knew it was just a question of time. I got a horse. I full size horse. Actually I’d call it a horse & a half! Let me tell you how I came to have “Tank”!
Of course with me it’s never simple so here’s what happened… Last week I answered an ad on Craigslist – a lady had 2 trained miniature gelded horses (I didn’t feel either one to confirm their sexual status), for sale along with a couple of saddles. One was from a petting farm and was very much accustomed to having children all around him and the other was just a beautiful little childrens horse that was the pet of a 2 year old boy. I even saw a picture of this little child riding this little horse with a saddle & all! She claimed to have to sell all of her horses because of a sudden re-location. She also had 2 full size horses.
Scott & I got there & a young girl was riding “Buddy” while another was walking “Brownie”. Brownie was quite the looker whereas Buddy looked like a beat up old horse (although they’re both only 4 years old). I bought them both and we loaded them up. I hate to admit to this but it was an emotional purchase – not a conscious one.
The lady sort of pleaded with me to take the full size horses also -she wanted good homes for them. She originally wanted $400 for Tank but gave finally gave in to $100 including 2 saddles. Trust me, I didn’t give in right away. I know how much work full size horses are. She claimed Tank was a very gentle old horse (around 10 – & that’s been confirmed), but only had one speed, slow. Scott thought it was a good idea and we loaded up tank also. She really wanted me to take the other but one was enough.
When we all got home and put the boys in a separate enclosure from my girls it was obvious that Brownie wanted to be with Ol Blue & we let them romp together. He immediately mounted & bred her and she was ready. Wow.. this guy was supposed to be gelded.
My neighbor Earl showed up and checked out the boys. Surprise! Both were intact but Brownie only had one testicle. This condition is called Cryptorchidism & as you’ll read from this link is a very undesirable condition.
The next day my neighbor Val who’s a licensed farrier and horse expert came to tend to their feet and assess my purchase. Tank received a high note & so did Buddy although he’s a little thin and has a dry cough. She strongly recommend that I find Brownie a new home as soon as possible. Surgery for this condition can easily run past the $500 mark & I didn’t intend to spend that for a little horse that I had no idea if he could drive (the purpose of me purchasing him).
Tuesday evening Earl picked him up and brought him to a horse auction in Cleveland (TN), and I sold him to a nice lady that fell in love with him. I told her he was a stallion but she didn’t have any mares so that didn’t bother her. I’m confident that he found a good home. He was a very good looking little horse and was certainly high spirited.
As for Buddy, he still looks like a beat up old horse but he’s very small and very gentle with children. The vet will be here Tuesday to geld him and see if we need to give him anything for his cough. As soon as I get the “ok” from the vet, he’ll share the same field as the donkeys, Ol Blue, Toffee and big old Tank!
I purchased a saddle and a bridle for Tank and I look forward to my first ride on him. I hope he’s as gentle as the seller claimed he was! I’ll keep you posted!
This morning my husband (personal I.T. guy), surprised me with a new feature for my website. Crazy Goat Lady now has it’s own “Forum” for sharing information, knowledge, ideas, pictures, feel good moments, … anything you’d like to share with me and other readers that are farm related.
I even have a “For Sale” section! – who knows? You might find a buyer for that old saddle you have hanging in the barn or a buyer for that little goat that needs a “forever home”.
The idea came about because I mentioned to Scott that I was getting more and more general questions about goats & stuff but that the newer posts were at the bottom of the page instead of the top. All I wanted was for him to work his magic and fix that. What a surprise when he said he was setting up a “forum” on my website so that everyone could participate! Awesome!
Please create your profile and actively participate. We all have so much info to share! There are many “newbies” out there that have many questions and there’s bound to be a reader qualified to answer or help out.
Soon we’ll all be able to upload pictures & video from our private collections. Feel free to post whatever you have that you think might provide someone additional insight. I know that I have somewhere some birthing videos that I’d like to share. Going back to my first Fainter goat giving birth, I would have loved to see what a “normal” birthing looked like to know if everything was under control with mine.
I know that there are many small farm hobbyists out there like me and sometimes we feel embarrassed with questions we think are too simple for the “experts”. Well, on this forum there are no stupid questions – please feel to ask whatever you need to know. I’m anxious to see how many participants we’ll have.
I also want to hear about the things that make you laugh – like my little Tina, a week old Pygmy Goat trying to climb on Stormy the Llama – she spent 10 minutes trying to do that & I just sat there & watched. Nothing else matter to her and frankly, nothing else matter to me! Tell us about your “nothing else matters” moment!
Welcome everyone! I look forward to reading all of your posts.
My goodness.. it’ been such a long time since I last posted! I feel guilty that I haven’t kept my reader’s up with all the little things that have happened since I wrote about Murphy’s passing.
February 14th Oreo finally gave birth to twins… Valentina & Valentino were born without any help from me. I showed up for morning feeding and “voila” two extra little mouths to feed! Tina was mostly black, the typical Pygmy goat coloring with gray muzzle & ears while Tino is a solid, solid jet black. Not one white hair anywhere! He is a darling! I have since sold Tina and kept Tino – not sure if I’m going to keep him, castrate him or sell him… I’m on the line with this one because I think he’ll end up being a bit taller than my current stud. Flip is very small & compact and since I’m trying to breed small, he’s just perfect! We’ll see. If the right buyer comes along, I just might let him go.
At this moment my rabbit has 4 little bunnies. This is her 3rd litter since I’ve had her but all the bunnies from the 2 previous litters died within the first 48 hours. These little guys born Saturday the 18th are squirmy and very much alive. Of course it’s much warmer these days than it was when she birthed earlier this year. I’m anxious to see what the little ones will look like. Flopsy is a gray Lop Ear and the buck is a solid black Lionhead. They should be very cute.
I also have two hens that have hatched 7 chicks. They’re so funny… they have their boxes side by side in a large cage (to keep them safe from Possums & feral cats), and they keep stealing each other’s chicks! Strange thing is that hens can be really mean to the chicks… they often peck at one chick in particular and often times wound them mortally.
Stormy my goat loving Llama (referred here as “Uncle Stormy”), was sheared on Saturday. He looks like a different animal altogether! I think he’s not too happy with his looks as he’s been keeping pretty much to himself inside his stall. Maybe he’s cold? Could be… all of his wool is gone! Note that this wasn’t a “show” trim but just a plain old shearing – no fancy cuts! In a few weeks he’ll have some growth & he won’t look so strange!
About a month ago I bought another miniature horse… named Cowgirl. She’s a caramel color with blond mane & tail and came with a cute little wooden cart. I renamed her “Ol Blue because of her beautiful marble blue eyes and the fact that she’s at least 20 years old! I was able to drive her but realized that the cart (and me!), was way too heavy for her to pull comfortably so I bought a little “Easy Entry Cart”. She does much, much better with it but it still is difficult for her on these hilly roads.
Saturday (April 18), I had my petting farm set up in town and drove Ol Blue all the way into town with Toffee tied behind me. It took us about 45 minutes to get there… it’s a 5 minute drive in the car! She did well on & off… she tires easily and I don’t want to overdo it with her. So now I’m shopping for a younger horse! Ol Blue is a very gentle horse and very well mannered. I hope that my farm will be her last… she’s such a good horse – she deserves a final home here!
So, final count, I have 6 adult does 4 of which I’m sure at are pregnant and should kid end of May, beginning June. That would be Noelle, Chausette, Brownie & Blackie. I don’t think Old Goat is pregnant (she may never be), and Oreo isn’t yet… Molly my fainting goat looks pregnant but I can’t tell for sure yet. She & Bambi would also be due end of May. My young little Cocoa looks like she’s about to pop a kid any day now & I have to keep a close watch on her. She’s way too young to be birthing but she came to me that way in January.
I have several kids for sale at this time and you will find their pictures/videos on my “For Sale” page.
This is Murphy, our long coat Chihuahua. We got her when she was 6 weeks old. Actually she was my husband’s pick.
It was 1999 and all I wanted for my birthday was a black & white Chihuahua. So I found “Lucy” and had Scott come and pay for her. Well, he saw Murphy and decided we had to have her also. She was Lucy’s half sister and was a bit older so she got to come home right away whereas Lucy wasn’t quite weaned yet. Scott named her Murphy after “Murphy Brown” because although she weighed less than 1 pound, she had a lot of spunk!
Even though I loved both of my puppies, Lucy was my favorite and Murphy was just another cute puppy. There was something about the brown eyes that just didn’t do it for me. As a matter of fact, when we started traveling with our business, we had to consider finding homes for some of our dogs. We lived in a motorhome and had 4 dogs traveling with us. In October I had found the perfect home for my beloved Lucy but as much as I tried, I couldn’t find anyone to take in Murphy!
Anyhow, when Murphy was about 3 years old, she disappeared on a cold February day in Tennessee. I wasn’t worried about it much until dinner time when the weather got much colder. Scott & I drove around the neighborhood a few times but couldn’t find her anywhere! Around 8pm I got really worried and got on my knees and prayed to God that if he sent her back to me, I would keep her until the end of her life. Well, Murphy showed up a few hours later… hungry, scared and full of burrs. It was a very happy moment.
Later that March a fellow saw Murphy & offered me $500 for her! Of course I couldn’t let her go.. I’d made a serious promise and she wasn’t going anywhere!
Well, several years later (promise on the back burner), 2006 a lady working for me told me that she’d gladly keep Murphy if I had thoughts of “giving her away”. I did for a second and then remembered my promise. The strange thing is that I had Murphy’s picture as my cell phone background and although I looked at that same picture several times a day, I never noticed anything special about it. Until the day I told Mona that she couldn’t have Murphy. That’s when I noticed the image in Murphy’s left ear.
The picture in the top right corner is THAT picture. You may not see the image as it is now a copy of a copy… but you might see it. Look carefully – I see it.
Years went on, between 2003 & 2009 we lost Dallas, Woody & Rocky. Three of our Chihuahuas went to Rainbow Bridge. We felt sad for all of them – they were our babies.
A few weeks ago Murphy got a tooth abscess and was put on antibiotics. She did well and healed. Then this past Monday (Feb 16th), Murphy started to act sick. Wouldn’t eat or drink… just stayed in her doggy bed. I wasn’t alarmed until Wednesday & took her to our vet who immediately did blood work. I don’t remember the medical term but because of the antibiotics, Murphy’s red blood cells were breaking down. It was some sort of auto-immune deficiency – or similar to Lupus. The vet put her on more antibiotics and steroids but he wasn’t very optimistic. He said she’d get a lot worse before she got better. IF she was going to get better.
Saturday morning we had to leave for Daytona for business and so I dropped Murphy at the vets to board until we returned. I couldn’t get an update Sunday but first thing Monday I called the vet and he gave me the sad news. Although Murphy appeared to be getting better and her red blood cell count was up, she didn’t make it. Poor little thing died in her cage between morning and afernoon rounds. It just broke my heart.
Although for a long time Murphy had been for me the dog that pulled my heart strings the least, she had in the last few years become my favorite. She was the ONLY one allowed in the new house. She got special food. She got table scraps. She was our “Jesus” dog.
Scott and I pray every morning before we start our busy day. Murphy usually waited on our laps until we got to the Lord’s prayer and then she’d get all excited and would come to my face to lick me. It’s like she understood who we were talking to. I don’t know. I just know that Murphy was special. She was very needy. She didn’t like for us to leave her with the other dogs. She was a people dog. Her eyes held so much expression… she was my “Jesus” dog. She was special enough that for me, Jesus’ face had appeared in an image of her. I’ll always beleive that – no matter how far-fetched that may seem.
I hate it that she passed away all by herself in a cage – that I wasn’t there to hold her in her last moments. But I know that Jesus was there… because she was special.
Murphy Girl, I love you and I’ll never replace you. You were one extraordinary little pooch!
Poor Ziggy… Thursday the 12th of February we brought him to Danny’s (L & J Farm Supply) where he underwent a minor procedure… well, minor for us – major for Ziggy!
We had Ziggy “banded”. A heavy duty rubber band was applied between his belly and his testicles. This band is then tightened to cut the blood circulation to the testes. Eventually the “sac” will rot and just fall off.
The following pictures were taken with my husband’s Blackberry Storm – he had forgotten to bring his camera! The first picture is Jonathan holding the contraption that fits the band over the “sac”. Looks like something from a horror movie!!!!
Although this is said to be the most humane method for this procedure (no cutting or bleeding or danger of infection), Ziggy wasn’t too happy with this. He kicked and pawed and rubbed his butt – just trying to get rid of this contraption!
Today he’s doing much better. His appetites back but he’s pretty quiet. You can tell he’s not comfortable – he walks a little stiffly but he’ll be fine. He’ ll be a much better pet.
So far Ziggy hasn’t really shown any signs of “maleness” but last week when he met my 8 month old filly Toffee, he did the lip curling thing and seemed to find her rear end quite attractive.
Ziggy is pretty smart for just being a bull. He doesn’t like to be penned up and a few times I’d let him have free roam in the main barn pasture. Catching him to stall him in the evenings has always been an event. He’ll go for a “trick” once but you’ll never catch him with the same trick twice!
I’m hoping once he’s all healed up he’ll come without having to be tricked! The good thing is, once he’s on a lead, he follows like a puppy. When we brought him to Danny’s he just hopped in the trailer and hopped back in to come back home.
Join the forum discussion on this post
person. It’s like the guy that curses about all the drivers around him while in the privacy of his car. I guess he gets crap off of his chest while in the safety of his vehicle.
Yep, really didn’t think I’d ever do this but I suspect a couple of my neighbors knew it was just a question of time. I got a horse. I full size horse. Actually I’d call it a horse & a half! Let me tell you how I came to have “Tank”!
ive him anything for his cough. As soon as I get the “ok” from the vet, he’ll share the same field as the donkeys, Ol Blue, Toffee and big old Tank!
This morning my husband (personal I.T. guy), surprised me with a new feature for my website. 
as sheared on Saturday. He looks like a different animal altogether! I think he’s not too happy with his looks as he’s been keeping pretty much to himself inside his stall. Maybe he’s cold? Could be… all of his wool is gone! Note that this wasn’t a “show” trim but just a plain old shearing – no fancy cuts! In a few weeks he’ll have some growth & he won’t look so strange!
This is Murphy, our long coat Chihuahua. We got her when she was 6 weeks old. Actually she was my husband’s pick.
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