Custom-made ornaments will add special touch to Christmas tree

Ornaments with the images of ECR Rusty (left) and Iron Horse were
handcrafted from the photos on the catalog cover, pictured here.

A closeup of the Rusty ornament. The image is engraved
on a gourd then hand-painted.

While visiting one of the vendor booths at last month’s Cream of the Crop Kiko sale in Corydon, Ind., I noticed a display of Christmas ornaments engraved with goat artwork. One particular ornament really caught my attention because it looked just like my buck ECR Rusty. As I looked closer, I discovered it was Rusty! And there next to it was an ornament decorated with another famous Kiko buck, Iron Horse. 

I soon learned that the ornaments had been engraved by Pam Jones of Legacy Keepers Farm in Hazleton, Ind. She had used the cover of the Cream of the Crop catalog as a guide for duplicating the likenesses of the two bucks. Pam was recovering from surgery and was not able to be there, but her table was well-manned by her energetic daughter Jaime. 

After the sale was over and she was packing up, Jaime presented me with the Rusty ornament as a gift and also gave Dave and Linda Sparks the Iron Horse ornament. I guarantee these ornaments will have permanent spots on our Christmas trees. 

Pam custom makes these ornaments, working from a photo of your goat or other animal and charges only $20. She has a variety of other handmade items available. Pam says there is still plenty of time before Christmas if anyone would like to place an order. She can be contacted at home 812-784-4104 or cell 812-385-6877. Her website is www.legacykeepersfarm.com.

ECR consignments to 2014 Cream of the Crop sale

The Cream of the Crop Kiko production sale will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Harrison County Fairgrounds in Corydon, Ind. These are the top consignments from Egypt Creek Ranch. A complete catalog and list of activities can be seen at www.creamofcropkikos.com. I can be reached by e-mail at kikogoats@hughes.net or call/text 662-519-9697, if you have questions. We hope you can make it to the sale, but if you can't, phone bids are welcomed. Contact me and I will arrange for someone to help you bid. We will also help make arrangements for delivery. Learn more about our Kiko operation at www.egyptcreekranch.com. All of our Kikos are registered with the NKR; learn more at www.nationalkikoregistry.com.

LOT #8 -- BBM Vicky T728

BBM Vicky sells bred to our TAY Onyx son, 
BBM Hanky Panky's Y266, pictured with her below.

LOT #32 -- BBM Kylie

Perfect genetic combination: Rusty and Nick on top and Sports Kat on the bottom.

LOT #33 -- BBM Kitty

Twin sister to Lot #32.

LOT #58 -- ECR Damon

Proven genetics. Double-bred Onyx on top.
Dam is Sports Kat x ECR Gloria.

LOT #59 -- ECR Axel

Solid black. Solid muscle. Solid genetics.

LOT #96 -- ECR Hallee #392 (Substitute)

50% Kiko doeling.

LOT #117 -- ECR Madee #2

50% Kiko doeling.

Breeding season in full swing on Egypt Creek

We began some limited breeding in August but this week we gathered up the main herds, sorted out the does and put them with bucks.

BHF's 3rd 'G' Traveler. He doesn't win any beauty contests,
but his offspring sure could — both boys and girls.

SRK Percival (TAY Onyx and ECR Rusty genetics).
Percival and these does are part of the Rittenhouse Kikos herd.

ECR Pharaoh
(ECR Rusty son with Onyx and Nick genetics on the bottom).

ECR Rusty's Rambo (Rusty x ECR Hanky Panky-Nick daughter).

ECR Spartacus (3rd G Traveler x BBM Vicky-Nick daughter)

ECR Xcalibur (double-bred Xcelerator) with our
high-percentage Kiko commercial does.

Multi-tasking on Saturday morning

This is the fourth and final pen of does we worked this weekend.

Over the past 2 days we have gone through every doe and buck on the ranch checking for parasites or any other problems. We also pulled out all the goats that we are consigning to the Cream of the Crop Kiko Production Sale next Saturday, Oct. 6, in Corydon, Ind. (For more information on the sale and the ECR consignments, click on the link at the top right of this page.)

Although it has been dry this summer, the goats have thrived. The adult does have regained body condition, and the February and March doelings look like yearlings almost. Out of the pen full of goats pictured above, only one needed deworming. 

We pulled these does out of the pasture; they are

consigned to the Cream of the Crop Sale.

Rudee Lee gets her nails done by Roland McAvoy

before she heads for her sale debut in Corydon, Ind.,

next weekend.

ECR Rusty's Rambo meets the women

ECR Rusty's Rambo (ECR Rusty x ECR Hanky Panky)
in with a group of does.

I got up early this morning and was able to catch Rambo before he and the other bucks took off for the pine forest for the day. He didn't like being dragged through the yard and to the next pasture, but as soon as he saw who was waiting for him, all four brakes unlocked! I put him into a pasture of about 20 head that I plan to sell bred. They are all nice does, so if they don't sell and I keep them, they'll be bred to one of the best bucks on the farm. There's still not a lot of activity here -- just too hot. But a cool front is headed this way, so a small change in the weather may spur some action. 

For pricing on these does, see the Goats for Sale-Does link 

in the top right corner of this page.

Rambo likes the look of this commercial Kiko doe.

Sorting and deciding who to sell

The goats pass a neighbor's home on Hankins Road on their way

to the barn. It's a quarter-mile from their pasture to the catch pens.

For several days this week I have gone through every pasture and looked at every goat, male and female, making that annual decision on who will stay and who will be sold. In an ideal world, I'd keep them all and just keep growing the herd. But in reality, there are feed bills and land notes coming due this winter and the goats are responsible for covering a lot of those expenses. So some goats have to be sold.


Some selections are easy, like in a goat show. The very best and the very worst are easy to spot. The worst — the ones with rough coats, the skinny ones, those that didn't raise kids this year — can go to the local sale barn (or in the freezer as ground goat meat). The very best stay here. At least most of them.


Some of the good ones go to the Cream of the Crop Sale, which Egypt Creek Ranch and Goat Hill Kikos have hosted since 2008. These is where the decisions get tougher. If they're good enough for the production sale, they're also good enough to keep. Sometimes it gets down to "one for me, one for the sale ..."


This year I will be taking 21 does and 3 bucks. I made my final decisions yesterday and hope to begin updating my For Sale pages soon. I have a good number of really nice Kiko percentage does that I have raised and purchased. I plan to offer some of these for sale off the farm also. 


I was extremely pleased with how well the does and doelings were looking. Everyone was healthy and meaty. The hot weather seems to have agreed with them. We are about 15 inches behind in rainfall, and in this area, that's a lot. The pastures are crispy on the hilltops and hillsides. I was surprised to find quite a bit of bermudagrass in the bottoms. The goats don't love it, but they eat it when there's nothing else. Also, with the drought, I've noticed a lot of leaves falling off the trees; that has helped the forage situation a good bit. 


The does in the bottom photo have been with their moms all year and have never had any supplementation. I'm putting four of those and four of the red doelings in the Cream of the Crop Sale. All of these doelings are on pasture. The ones I purchased from the Russells are on light supplementation because they were pulled off their moms and moved to a new environment. That "change of address syndrome" can be tough on kids so I try to keep their nutrition level up. 


Yesterday, however, most of the 35 doelings that I am supplementing didn't show up at feeding time. I jumped in the truck and found them around a drainage ditch enjoying some fresh grass. It was after 6 p.m. and they were content to continue their grazing. I blew my horn and headed them toward the barn. I knew that once it got dark, they would just bed down right there. There is no guard dog in the pasture, so I wanted them closer to the barn at bedtime. 

These are some of the percentage Kiko doelings that I

purchased from Lynn and Ware Russell of Camden, Ark. 

These ECR doelings have been with their moms on pasture since

they were born in February-March.

Bucks delivered to Oklahoma forage test

After the incoming bucks were processed, they were put into a

holding pen before being moved into their grazing paddocks. 

Each buck was examined as it was unloaded. Each received 

a CD&T vaccination, deworming, fecal test

and FAMACHA score.

 

On June 21 I delivered six bucks to the Kerr Center in Poteau, Okla., for the 2012 Oklahoma forage test.  There were a total of 57 bucks from 14 breeders in seven states consigned. States represented include  Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas. Breeds included Boer, Kiko, Savanna and crosses.

The bucks will get a warm-up period until July 1 to get acclimated to the climate and the forage. The test period will be July 2-Sept. 19. The field day and awards ceremony will be Saturday, Sept. 22.

For more details on the test, visit http://kerrcenter.com/event_links/goat_buck_test.htm.