I've really been struggling for a year now, to get on plan with the herd. I heard be ready last year, and to get rid of the miniature breeds of goats, which I did. Building the new herd has not been an easy endeavor. I have some wonderfully friendly goats, but I've also suffered some losses. I realize being in a divided house does not bring the blessings that unified obedience does, but this is on me . . . I believe in retrospect, I was trying to take a short cut and Abba just doesn't do shortcuts, so much. He does miracles, but He doesn't cut corners. I tried to have an instant herd, and I got shot out of the saddle on that plan. Building a herd, means young ones that will be a part of the place for years to come. That's what I did the last Shemitah and just sold them this past year.
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Now, as I survey the herd, my perspective is a bit clearer and much more practical. The price of livestock is skyrocketing now, and the number of farmers who are not deeply in debt is dropping drastically. I was actually made aware that a number of farmers not only have a mortgage on the farm, but borrow the money to buy seeds, and banks actually finance the purchase of livestock herds, and repossess them. This country is so deeply in debt, that even our food is mortgaged long before most folks purchase it with a credit card . . . Okay, end of rant and back to the homestead herd.
Last month I purchased a very nice looking Oberhasli doe with a fine looking young buckling. Within two weeks, her buckling had been killed and she was just out grazing . . . She never did bellow for him. That was my first clue. So, here I am down the buckling I wanted for a herd sire, but she's got milk while I have two bottle kids and two bottle calves. When I purchased her, I realized she was no spring chicken, but I'd hoped she'd raise the buckling. When that didn't pan out, I tried to settle for less in the plan, and here's where the hard lesson comes in. Abba has been working on me for years to stop settling for less than His best. I take left-overs and seconds in stride and He wants me to stop it . . .That's not to say, I'm going to insist on the best of the best and the most expensive of it all, but I have settled for much less than even average far too many times.
Since I had plenty of hungry mouths that needed milk, I decided to milk her. I certainly could not let the goat, Esther, is her name; develop udder problems. She needed milking and I needed the milk. There was only one problem. She'd never been in a stanchion, on a milking stand, or milked, and she's probably six to eight years old. Not to brag here, but I've never met a goat I couldn't stanchion train . . . until now. I didn't quit at the first sign of difficulty. Far from that! I could have sold her at auction, earlier this month, but I wasn't ready to give up yet! That evening, that very evening upon returning with four new purchases, my patience and endurance with Esther was over.
That lesson took over four weeks to learn, several pounds of grain, plenty of spilled milk, and some dislocated ribs. As is the case so often, I have high hopes and I want things to work out, but they simply are not meant to be, and I endure and endure and endure until I end up hurt or broken, or . . . stuck! I like to think I'm learning, but since I continue to have remedial lessons, perhaps I'm not catching on as quickly as I'd like to think I am. This lesson did come much quicker than some have! So not only is Esther not a good milk goat, I've been too injured to fully work with the new ones I brought home. Abba wants so much more for us, than we are willing to settle for! I'm learning.
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