Roundup time again

Grandson Rylan (on 4-wheeler) keeps the stragglers moving 

while his friend Will keeps the middle moving. 

It's been nearly two months since the goats have had any feed out of a bucket so the old "rattle the bucket" trick didn't work at roundup time this month. First they wouldn't follow and, of course, it's always hard to drive them. It was especially difficult because the sides of the county road we drive them down to the corrals is covered with fresh johnsongrass and other goodies. Everyone had to stop along the way for a quick snack.

Finally, using 4-wheelers and on foot, we managed to get the goats penned up.

We had gotten a late start, so we didn't begin working goats until 2 p.m. First we pulled all the kids out and put them into a pen. Then we FAMACHA'd all the does with only about 5% needing deworming. Not bad since the majority were still nursing kids at this point.

After going through the does, we sorted out the buck kids for weaning. None of the bucklings needed deworming! 

A few of the late-born doe kids were still on the small side and had rough hair coats. We gave them a dose of Valbazen for possible tape worms and a delousing.

We finished about 4:30 p.m. and turned the doe kids back with their moms and penned them in a small pasture next to the barn. Today we'll be trimming hooves on the does. I've only seen one limper this spring, but hooves have not been trimmed since last summer sometime. Some of the hooves are looking a little ugly and overgrown, so while we have this cool, cloudy weather, we'll take care of that job.

The corrals are located behind this building where

the Goat Rancher office is located. The office really

is located in the middle of a goat farm.

The goats are funneled through the back yard into the corrals.

Penned up and ready for sorting — finally.