Birth of a Blog

Ruminations is one way of reaching out to our community, but this blog is another way. Between issues we often find things we want you to know, and recently a couple of ideas have come forward that lend themselves to this kind of exchange. So I decided to start "Just Ruminatin'" as a way to keep the conversation going between issues.

Send us your photos, articles, hints, etc. to the magazine. We've been very pleased with the participation we've been getting. Thanks ever so much to our contributing editors. But we'd like to grow Ruminations into more of a community, so here goes:

1) Have any of you had the same problems I've been having with late heats, does not settling, and throwing off your breeding programs? After struggling for six months I finally had a really helpful conversation with Blue Seal Feeds nutritionist, and she suggested that we try using a chelated mineral, rather than a regular mineral salt.
Our farm well is very heavy with iron, which we've known was causing our bucks especially to suffer from copper deficiency. I have one line in particular that is "Cu Needy." We have been upping the amounts of copper, using cattle blocks, copper rods, on top of using SweetLix minerals. Our hay has been better than average, and consistently from the same sources, but still I was seeing late puberty in junior does, older does not settling after repeated breedings using different bucks, and few of my show line ready to show or be appraised this year.
We have switched to a new mineral program here, using Blue Seal EZ Pels, and taking out the mineral salts completely. We will use copper rods if we see the faded coats and bowing legs that we were seeing, but the only minerals they will be getting are in kelp and a top dress with EZ Pels. Already I'm seeing a change for the better in my buck behavior, and my top milker is acting more herself when she's in heat (Translation: loud and pushy, rather than whiny and meek like she has been.)
In my conversations around the nation this past few months, I've found many people having similar conception rate problems. Is this "one of those years," or have we been pushing copper so hard that we've thrown off the zinc, selenium, cobalt, manganese and copper balances?
Could people post their experiences and comments here?

2) The new issue of the Ruminations is currently at the printer. We are launching a new program called "Working Girls," paying respect to those hard working milking folks who are using their goats' milk and dealing with milking every day. So many herds are cutting back on their herdsize, we want to highlight how productive and useful these little "mini milkers," are. So, watch for the "Working Girls," section and for a new milking program to be launched in the upcoming year.

3) Ruminations is also publishing a "Buyer's Guide to Nigerian Dwarf Goats." Sorry, Mini dairy goat folks, but this is targeted especially at the potential ND buyer. Much of it is transferrable to your situation, but the ND buyer is often a "different creature," than the conventional goat purchaser. The guide will be available for $5, including shipping and handling, and will decipher the alphabet soup and abbreviations seen on pedigrees, discuss different types of breeding operations ie. large/small, milking/show. It invites the reader to ask questions of themselves as to what they can be comfortable with as they venture into the world of Nigerian dwarfs.
Our hope is that we can encourage more people to bring ND's into their families, providing milk and smiles rather than confusion and sometimes disappointment. It is a result of several conversations I've heard over the years with people who try to figure out which animal to buy, from what farm, and what is meant by some of the terminology.

So, 2009 is off to a running start with Ruminations. We hope that your kidding seasons are easy and "full of does." Let us know.

Also, send us pictures for the website of how you survived this past winter, and 2008 in general. Many of you faced drought, fire, floods, snow and ice, more than any of us is used to expecting. We'll start a gallery on SmallFarmGoat.com to show off your photos and stories.

Thanks, I hope you'll participate in "Just Ruminatin'" and spread the word about it, and the Ruminations.

Pat