It Is Hot!

The weather extremes this year have been phenomenal. The heat and humidity are such that we haven't experienced here before and the storms are spectacular and a bit frightening. No matter what is going on weather wise however the chores must be done and the animals taken care of. Which is how I found myself stuck in the barn this morning during a deluge of rain. I was rather hesitant to go out to milk this morning as we could see the storm clouds coming in and the lightening flashing but of course the milking can't be put off so away I went. I was almost done when the rain started to thunder down on the barn. Of course with the metal roofing it really does thunder! Still... the rain is welcome and my rain barrels were almost filled.

For the last few days we have had a heat wave with temperatures reaching in the 100 F range and humidity very high, which of course makes it seem even hotter. The poor girls didn't want to leave the barn even to eat so, silly me..... I decided it was time to do some much needed hoof trimming and deworming. It took me quite a while as this is only my second time trimming hoofs and I am no expert. The biggest problem was the heat. Even with all the barn doors open there was very little breeze and it wasn't long before I was drenched in sweat.

Of course the girls handled it much better than I did! Supposedly Nubians can handle heat better than most due to their big ears.

The one year old girls were actually pretty good. This was there second time on the milking stand and they all went right up as if they had been doing it all along. Of course they didn't exactly like having there hooves trimmed but that might be because I'm not good at it yet and it takes me a long time. Of course treats make it all OK.

Nom, nom, nom.... Must make sure to get even the ones in the corner!

OK... Are you done with me yet?

Getting them to take the oral horrible tasting wormer was a bit tricky but a few raisins soon took the horrible taste away. Goats are sooo forgiving! Maybe that's a lesson I need to learn. Especially when they get out and get into the grain! Grrr.... Have a good day everyone! More rain on the way here!