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We hope that you come back often to see what is going on around our ranch!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Flying Pygora's!


Pygora kids having a blast at their new home with Dawn and Paul Brown of Tailfeathers Farms in Newport, Arkansas.

Photo by Dawn Brown

Our breeding groups are now together as of October 20th. In about 150 days our baby Pygoras should start arriving. We check our groups twice daily and write down any girls that are showing an interest in their buck. We use this information so we can plan when our busy time will be during kidding season. We aim for spring break when the 2 legged children are out of school and would like to come to the farm to help out.

We just finished shearing and hoof trimming our baby doelings. What cute little bodies they have under all that fleece.

Lisa

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Preparing for breeding season


Setting up our breeding pens


All our does were hoof trimmed and de-wormed this week as we prepare them for breeding season. We will be putting our does with their carefully selected buck next week. We are now busy putting up panels around each of our 12 breeding pens as added security. We find that if the bucks can't see each other, they are aggressive on our pens and their interest and energy is spent on their girls.

Once our breeding pens are ready, we will be bringing in our does and sorting them into their individual breeding areas. We will then bring the bucks in and they will get de-wormed (they were hoof trimmed earlier before they went into "rut"). Once this is done, the boys with be put in with their girls. They will be together for 4-6 weeks. Spring kids are just around the corner!

Cross country delivery update as of 10/11/10 evening


A barrel cut on one of our old goats will keep her warm this winter and also give us her prime fleece.

George made his last delivery to Maryland yesterday and is now on his way back home to Oregon.  George wanted me to let everyone know how much he enjoyed meeting each of you and he knows that all the animals are going to great homes.  I look forward to getting updates from all of you on how the kids are doing. 

George is staying in Iowa this evening.  He is hoping to make it back home to Oregon on Thursday.  I'm looking forward to having him home as it's been pretty quiet around here without him.  

Thanks to everyone for your passion for Pygora's!

Lisa

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Southern delivery update as of 10/9/10 eve

George has made his 3rd Arkansas delivery and all 3 North Carolina deliveries today! He has been spending an average of 14-18 hours on the road each day. George is a person on a mission to get all animals to their new homes safe and sound and quickly too!

I asked George what were the highlights he saw along the way. He said the fields of cotton in Western Missouri was something he had never seen before. He said it looked like a field of snow. He saw the cotton being harvested into huge bundles. He saw a sign for a cotton festival. If he had more time he would have loved to stop and see the festival.

George is bedded down for the night in Clyde, North Carolina and will be heading to Maryland for his last delivery. Maryland is normally on our Northern delivery route but the new owners were unable to take delivery in September so special arrangements were made with George to delivery to them. George is such an accommodating guy!

I'm looking forward to having George back home on the farm. There is so much to do in preparation for breeding season. It's hard to imagine that in only 5 months, we will have newborn baby Pygora's bouncing around the farm.

Thanks to everyone for your passion for Pygora's!

Lisa

Friday, October 8, 2010

Southern delivery update as of 10/8/10 eve

George called this evening after making his last for the day. He is in Arkansas for the night. He has one more delivery in Arkansas tomorrow then he is off to deliver to North Carolina. He is on schedule. I thought I’d post his phone # for easy reference: 503-703-8875.

I asked George how the day went. He said he went through some very beautiful country that he has never seen before as he has always done the Northern delivery route for the past few years. He also said he had a near accident as there were pallets that were in the middle of the road and the person ahead of him ran over them and blew out her tires. Fortunately George was in the other lane and missed them but he said it got his heart going. You just near know what you are going to run into while on the road.

Next update is tomorrow.

Lisa

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Cross country delivery update as of 10/7/10 evening

Hi everyone!

George left New Mexico this morning and is now in Waco, Texas for the night.   I asked him about his highlights for the day. He said he saw a lot of oil wells that are not common in Oregon. He also saw a lot of Cacti.   He didn't have much to report or he was too tired to talk when I called him this evening as he has been putting in long driving days since he left Oregon on Monday.

George reported that all the animals are doing great. They and George are all bedded down for the night. The temperature this evening is around 60 degrees in Waco.

George will be making his 2nd delivery tomorrow morning (Friday) then he is heading off to Oklahoma for his 3rd delivery at noon. He is still on schedule. After that he heads to Arkansas for a delivery on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Next update is tomorrow.

Lisa

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Cross country delivery update as of 10/6/10 evening

Cross country delivery update!

Hi everyone!

George made his first delivery to Arizona this afternoon. He is now in western New Mexico for the night. He will be arriving in Waco, Texas tomorrow, Thursday 10/7 at 8 pm. Friday he will be heading to Oklahoma.

George said the trip has gone very well so far. He is pulling some very long travel days so that he can get the animals to their new homes as quick as possible with only a short amount of time spent in the trailer.  Go George!

 All the animals are doing good as George checks on them each time he makes a stop. He refills their water buckets and makes sure everyone is bright eyed and content.
 
I will be giving another update tomorrow.    ~Lisa

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Our Pygora goat, Inka, at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival


Last weekend was the 14th year for the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival held in Canby, Oregon. It was a lot of fun and before I knew it, it was over. There still was so much I had not seen and not enough time before it was time to pack up and head home.

Not many people know this but the festival came about as 5 Pygora breeders wanted a place to show their goats after finding out Pygora goat no longer could show at the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon. The BSG had outgrown their space and they decided to get back to their roots as a sheep, angora goat and fiber rabbit show. They did allow Pygora goats to have an exhibit pen but no longer a show.

The 5 Pygora breeders got together and planned out what they envisioned this new show should be like. It was decided that the festival would be inclusive of all fiber animals and natural fiber plants. Next came the question, what do we call it. "Flock and Fiber" was chosen as it was inclusive of all fiber animals. "Flock" for a flock of sheep and "Fiber" that described the fleece on goats, bunnies, llamas, alpacas and so on. "Oregon" was chosen so people would know where this great event was located and "Festival" was chosen as it sounded like a party and a very festive occasion. It was now known as the, "Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival" or "OFFF" for short.

Each of the 5 people took on an area of interest to them. They were: Brandy Chastain Festival Director and show catalog coordinator, Janet Hanus fleece and fiber arts show, Jackie Liner education and youth activities, Darlene Chambers vendor booths, and me, livestock barn and shows coordinator and webmaster.

Next, where was this show going to take place? We visited many different fair grounds and once we saw the Clackamas county fairgrounds, we knew we found the perfect place. It had the old fashioned country setting with a comfortable, cozy, and inviting feel. It was perfect for our venue.

Where do we go from here? Now it was time to figure out how we were going to execute this plan. Brandy and I decided to head out together to visit other shows around the country. We went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, the Michigan Fiber Festival and to the Estes Park Wool Market in Colorado. We got lots of idea's and brought them back to discuss with the others.

All 5 of us would meet once a month for breakfast at the Shari's restaurant in McMinnville and go over what we were doing and what we needed to get done. I always looked forward to these get togethers.

Our show catalog went out and we waited for entries for the animal shows, vendors, and classes to come in. I don't remember how the others felt but I was getting nervous as I had a huge barn to fill and what if no one showed up. Of course I had a plan B if plan A didnt work. My plan was to bring all my animals and put one in each pen if I had too. Fortunately entries started to pour in and we almost filled the barn! Many, many, sleepless nights before the big event.

Today, Brandy is the only one left of the original 5. She is still running the show as the festival director. Some of the original 5 still participate in the OFFF. Some show Pygora goats while others are vendors at the show.

Over the years, new areas were added such as the great lamb cook off. It is fun to reflect back on how this all got started and see how it has evolved into one of the premier fiber animal shows with visitors and volunteers coming from all over the country to participate.

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Our Southern delivery truck will be leaving Oregon on October 5th and will be making it's way to the east coast. My driver on this trip will be my husband, George.

The kids have all had updated in-fleece photos and fleece samples taken as they are in prime fleece right now. They all have their certificates of veterinary inspection and are ready to meet their new families!

Thanks for visiting our Pygora website!

Lisa