The Goat Transporter and Bonus Pictures

Billy here.

This is a cage for a pallet tank with the pallet still attached, but the tank removed.  OK, the technical name if you want to Google it is Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC).

This is a Goat Transport System.

It's just about that simple.  I found a guy with some of these for sale.  He had already removed the tanks.  He sold me this and a piece of metal grating the right size to act as a gate ($20). The whole thing fits like this in the bed of a pickup.  I put down a piece of plywood for a floor, and fasten the grate in place with wire and bungie cords.

Bonus picture of young buck about to go to a new home near San Antonio.

Bonus picture of goat pen rooster soon to have a new owner.

Fee Free Bees, See?

A friend of a friend builds stuff to sell out of found material. OK - junk. Some time back, while cleaning up around his place, he went to move an old speaker box he had sitting around. You can see it in the picture. That's it standing by the two metal buckets. It stands about three feet tall and is about one foot wide by one foot deep.

It turns out it didn't take long for out friend of a friend to look at that speaker box.

Here's why:

This is the speaker box laying on its side, with one of the side boards removed. That's the toe of my size 12 at the bottom of the picture, so that should give you some idea of scale. The speaker box is resting inside a capture box I built out of plywood and framing lumber we had laying around.

Early last Friday morning, KL and I suited up and grabbed up this feral hive. We put the capture box in the back of the TrailBlazer and headed home. Once home, we cut the comb into chunks that would fit into the hive frames. We held them in place with rubber bands.

All to get this:

This chunk of honeycomb is just a small sample of what we should have this fall if our bees thrive.

Yes it tastes really good. No one has ever added high fructose corn syrup to it.

If you're wondering, KL puts the size of the hive at 35,000 bees. I can't count them like she does. She says she only counts every other bee, then multiplies by 2.

Sad Day at High Antler

From KL.....

For those of you on our Yahoo group,
"Makeitwork" ...

Yesterday I told you a bit about a situation we were dealing with here at High Antler Farm. The gist of it:

One of our little bucklings, born the first week of June, had a serious injury. Ryan noticed this late Tuesday evening at feeding time, around 5 pm. The left horn was broken at the base, almost completely separated from his head, hanging by a small attached piece. A raw and open wound, but not bleeding profusely. Goat first aid is not goat Veterinary Science. We are skilled enough to give sub-Q injections, drench, assist in kidding if necessary, but goat surgery ? Naaaah, Naaaah, Naaaah.

Bill called the vet. We were told to bring the buckling in for removal of the horn and a round of antibiotics, total cost, $50- $75 or more, depending on unforeseen circumstances.

Less than 10 minutes after Bill rang off with the Vet, we had decided to just cull him. A possible infection in early winter, more vet bills and "unforeseen circumstances" made the decision easier.

I will let Bill pick it up from here...

Early next AM:

Goat removed from pen and taken out of sight from the other goats.

12 gauge #2 shot administered at point blank range behind and below the left ear in an oblique transverse shot that completely evacuated the cranial vault instantaneously. The goat's brain literally ceased to exist before the goat had a chance to feel pain.

It's a hard heart that kills.

Ryan raises and cares for the goats more than anyone. He has spent hours at a time reading novels to the goats. He took it hard when we made the decision to cull this one.

But, at Ryan's request, he assisted with the cleaning and butchery. We dug a hole for the burial of the offal and field dressed the goat on the ground, first removing the penis, testicles, and scent glands under the neck. My experience dressing deer is that this prevents an unpleasant strong taste in the meat.

We split the goats belly skin from the anal vent up to the base of the sternum, then split the sternum. We cut the connective tissues and dumped the contents of the abdominal and thoracic cavities into the hole.

We did not let the cleaned carcass hang for any period of time. I know there are people who swear by this and will tell you meat is not worth eating unless it has hung for X number of days. I can't argue. I just never have hung meat to age or drain, nor does my dad or brother. Yet we've eaten much fine venison.

The goat was only about 40 or 50 pounds live weight and I judged there was no real need to hang it in order to skin it. (As opposed to hanging a carcass to drain or age, I have hung many to facilitate skinning and quartering.) Instead we worked from a piece of plywood laid over a wheelbarrow. This was a mistake. The work surface was far too low, and I'm still feeling it in my lower back this morning. We should have set up a much higher work surface.

Skinning was easy - we just pulled the hide forward, cutting the subcutaneous fat as we worked forward. We then cut off the back and front quarters , which come apart fairly easy. The trick is to look at how the muscles fit together and cut in logical places. Then release the hip joint and cut away. (That's for the back legs. Goats, like deer, have no skeletal join at the shoulder. It's all muscle and connective tissue. Weird, huh?)

We then took the backstrap and both racks of ribs and buried the offal.

Total time was about an hour and a half. We ran a little long because it has been a while since I butchered an animal and our work surface was not well set up.

He dressed out to about 15 pounds, give or take.

KL: Cooking the meat was not difficult. Bill and I rinsed the pieces of meat under the faucet, placed them in a medium size rectangular Pyrex baking dish, two at a time.

Most cookbooks have instructions and recipes for roasting and preparing beef, poultry and sometimes mutton, but very few list goat/chevon. I decided to cook this like lamb.
I sprinkled a bit of dried rosemary on top, nothing else, roasted the meat at 450F for about 30 minutes, turned it down to 350F, and continued roasting about 2 hours. The meat fell right off the bones, was tender and juicy, minimal fat, meat thermometer 180F. It seemed a bit dry on the top side, and it might have been better to turn it over at least once during cooking, maybe add a bit of water.

Although none of the people actually ate the roasted meat (except Bill, who tasted it and pronounced it edible), the cats and dogs enjoyed it, and we know we can do this again, if the need arises. It smelled wonderful while cooking and the next time we prepare chevon, maybe I will experiment a bit more.

~~Bill & KL at High Antler Farm

Little Baby Goats!

Bridgette looks fondly at her two little bucks. Bridgette had her babies the night KL got back from a long trip out of town.

Amanda shows no sign of needing a rest after giving birth to these fine lads, who aren't even dry yet. Amanda had hers three days after Bridgette.

All goats are doing fine and enjoying their new barn and pen.

Elvis looks on in smug satisfaction.

Life is good.

New Toys

About two years ago, we received several pieces of pre-built deck, with steps, rails, and an odd shaped step-pyramid from a mobile home dealer,going out of business.
Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Bill persuaded his dad to help him dismantle, move, and set up all of this at our place. We had enough spare pieces and pre-built decking to add a back porch, front porch addition, and four sets of stairs with stringers and handrails. This set of stairs was a leftover piece and just right for our goat yard. As you can see, they are inspecting every bit of Bill's handiwork.

(Bill here now) Construction was so simple it doesn't really bear talking about. The step unit was pre-assembled and we just propped up one end with 4x4 posts which we screwed in place. (With my new and fabulous DeWalt variable speed reversible drill which I got for Christmas from my loving and beautiful wife KL. End of gloat.)

The goats seem to like it a great deal (the steps - not the drill) and we figure it will stay dry enough beneath that it will be a good place to put the feed and mineral blocks.

KL and Bill at High Antler

Ladies and Gentlemen - Elvis!

Please help us welcome our newest citizen here at High Antler: Elvis. Elvis is a Pygmy buck. He is about a year and a half old (the people we got him from weren't fanatical record-keepers.) He has had no shots or worming treatments. More welcome news is that he had been on the farm by himself his entire life. The odds that he is carrying any goat diseases is pretty remote.

Elvis came to us due to our sudden realization that our window of opportunity to breed Amanda and Bridgette was about to slam shut. It seems it was only just summer and now we're coming hard up against the end of breeding season. Since KimLee has assured me that Amanda and Bridgette have both whispered in her ear their desire to have little baby goats, the search was on. Ryan, our 15 year old major domo and feeder of the critters, found a Greensheet listing for a Pygmy buck for $50. After KimLee made a call and was assured it was a healthy buck, off we trekked to Lancaster, Texas for closer look.


Elvis was tied to a tree with aircraft cable, but long before we saw him, we smelled him. KimLee assures me that she objects not so much to the odor, as to the burning in her eyes. Sadly, a strong goatly odor must be endured if one wishes to bring little baby goats into the world. After chatting briefly with the owners we were led to Elvis. His gums looked pink and healthy, his eyes were clear (and piercing.) I reached below and subjected Elvis to a mild indignity and determined that he was indeed a buck. KimLee gave me the nod and the next thing he knew, Elvis was being led to the back of our pickup - on a leash. Yes, Elvis is a friendly goat, not your stereotypical Hee-Haw rounder, but a gentle - even loveable - goat.


How did we get Elvis home over about seventy miles of road, most of it freeway, at an average speed of about 60 mph? I'm so proud of our solution to this, I'll devote an entire post to our Goat Transportation System (GTS) - later.

Since Elvis is about to meet Amanda and Bridgette, you should too. Here they are surveying their domain. Amanda and Bridgette are sisters and about 10 months old. With luck they'll have a thing for older goats.

Elvis arrived and was removed from the GTS. He was then treated to a brief walking tour of High Antler and got to greet numerous dogs, cats and chickens. He then entered the goat pen.

Now I'd like to tell you how Elvis suavely greeted the ladies. How he smoothly moved up to the girls, tenderly nuzzled them, and led them into the goat house for some quality goat time. That's what I would like to tell you, but the sad truth is that goat romance is considerably less pleasant and does not involve candlelight dinners at all. Elvis's first romantic overture was to stick out his tongue and snort loudly. Then, apparently having decided that his goat aroma was waning, he did the goat equivalent of applying after-shave. This is done exactly the way men apply aftershave except: (1) the aftershave is applied with a much more personal body part, and (2) the word aftershave should be replaced with the word urine.

There is little more to say that won't have me in trouble with People For Goat Decency. Suffice to say we granted them some privacy and we'll see what develops.

Raised Garden Beds and Containers, Part 1

Now that the snow has melted at High Antler, all half an inch of it, time to assess the repairs and clean up the mess. The next two months are 'down time' for us. December and January are spent making repairs, adjustments, and prepartions for the coming season.

Spring comes early down here. Most of our seeds go right into the raised beds in March, wearing little 'cloches' or mini greenhouses made of plastic drink bottles. Since I never throw anything away, we simply collect them in a bin out in the shed until planting time. Our soil is fondly known as 'sugar sand', because it is mainly very fine sand. In some parts, the sand is twelve feet deep, and then red clay for an unknown distance.

There are some other situations at play here, such as the hot summers, 100F+ days, often as soon as May, coupled with extreme drought conditions. The price and quality of alfalfa hay reflected that fact back in August. Too much and not good, in that order.

We are huge fans of the All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!method. This is one of the easiest things I have ever tried, and the bulk of the work is to get it started. Most people just get out the tiller and make rows, hoe the weeds, water several times a week, and hope for the best. Makes me tired and sore just thinking about it.
Square foot gardening consists of prepared soil in raised beds and vertical trellises. This is pretty basic stuff, and it has made all the difference.

Keeping with our philosophy of making the best of what we have on hand, Bill and I have made some pretty interesting raised beds. Remember, I never throw anything away.... I also find new uses for FBSR (found by the side of the road) and FBSD (found by the side of a dumpster) that others have thrown away. Doesn't really matter what it is, I will find a use for it. Bill's eyes glaze over whenever I ask him to pull over and load up that item someone left for the trash collection during our forays into the city, or the broken piece of whatnot leaning next to a dumpster. I have grown herbs in an old barbecue grill for the past 8 years. We found it somewhere in our journey from the city.

Ideally, raised beds should be constructed of new, treated lumber, and painted with oil based gloss enamel for protection. They should be uniform in size, and pretty. Any similarities in the former and our raised beds begins and ends with the oil based enamel paint. In fact, our only cash outlay was a roll of galvanized fencing, a roll of chicken wire, 2 boxes of wood screws, 4 dozen corner brackets, and a bucket of paint, 'barn red'.

The frameworks for the trellises are a bit more creative. We were given a pvc pipe configuration that was once a soccer goal. After some creative sawing and glueing, Bill was able to make three trellises, one for each of three large rectangular beds. Some leftover short pieces were used in Part 2. More about that later.

~~KL