CrazyGoatLady

That should have said coil spring, not spring steel. 

Hello Son Of Ander! Welcome and you came to the right place to learn and be inspired

I hope you can get to have some one day, Steve. You'll love them. Frosty is right. Goats love weeds, brush and leaves. My goats favorite are leaves. We have turned goats into grazers, but they are actually browsers. Maybe the powers that be will open up to the idea. They are gaining in popularity in large numbers as people discover the benefits from smaller stock that are easy to feed, and provide so much. Meat, milk, yogurt, and soap. And they are very affectionate. They love you back

8 hours ago, Frosty said:

Nice punch goatlady but I think it's too long for practical use

You're right. I got caught up in thinking I wanted to be well away from the heat. Maybe cut it off? I have some spring steel, which leads into tonight. I had a great time with my son in the shop. He gave me my first lesson in welding. We cut off a 5" section of spring and decided to tack weld a rebar handle to it because I don't have tongs to fit and that would be easier anyway.  He asked me to make a handle for his welder cart. So I made that for him and told him what I have learned. Then onto the spring. My weld failed, but his held up. So, I'll work on getting better at that. His handle is rebar. I know, I know! Its awful stuff to forge, but that's what he wanted because of the texture. He was drilling holes in it and it ate the drill bit on the last two holes. When it's done, I'll get a picture of it mounted. But it was such a wonderful time with my boy ( he's 25).  Couldn't ask for more

Haha I don't have enough of them to keep up with the grass. We've had a lot of rain, and it grows like crazy. We sell eggs and rabbits and I try to keep it looking nice for business. I leave it high for them, but take a little off the top so it doesn't look like a jungle. The punch is for making holes in wall hooks if it'll work. Really just for something I've never done to see if I can do it.

I'm apologize,  I'm not sure who that question is directed at Steve. If it's me  it's sucker rod. If not, I apologize again. I didn't want to be rude by not answering a question, just in case

My anvil doesn't have a heel on it either. You learn to be creative. I have a piece of railroad track plate that has 8 square holes in it. Mounted upside down on the back of the stump that has a railroad track anvil mounted to the front. Comes in handy. Or I find ways to use my vise. I use it to pull out the branches of a horseshoe. It will also hold jigs for different applications. Where there's a will there's a way. Congratulations on your new anvil

Oh man! Yeah he'd chase the girls all over the place. They would holler day and night for days on end. Enough to drive ýou to drinking. In the summer time, they'd look like they were going to have heart failure they'd pant so hard. Buckberries...I like that.

Here's another couple of pics. "King of the mountain" was in full swing today

There has been some stellar work posted on here! Well done to everyone. I had to clean the shop to work in it. Mowed grass and cleaned up around the farm so I could get in some hammering.  No great shakes. I made a punch from 5/8" sucker rod. Came out to 11" long. I didn't think my little anvil would stand up to it. First time I've ever worked that material and first tool I've made that will need heat treating. Little nervous because I've not done that before either.  I'l have to study up on that. Wish me luck...

I'm trying to keep this G- rated.  But we are talking about animals. He would always mess with the girls a little. My FIL said, "Just because the means have been removed, doesn't mean the will isn't still there!". But he didn't start really chasing after them until I sold the buck. He acted like I had never seen him before. He doesn't do the tongue flapping thing, which I think is hilarious. I didn't notice the faint smell until recently. I suppose with a full buck, I wouldn't have been able to. And yes Frosty, Blue has a beautiful beard.  I was trying to find a pic of my boys beard. It was getting very nice. He was still young. I'll track one down later today. My dogs smell like dirty socks... wish they smelled good. You'd be a rich man selling your dogs formula for goat un- stinkyness. I'd be first in line This is the buck, Wyatt Earp. The second pic is one of the new boys. They are two weeks and 3 days old. 

I don't even have an intact buck, but I still get a whiff of buck stink occasionally. My wether still tries to be Randy with  the ladies sometimes. Do yall think he still has something going on or just my imagination? He's never sired any babies

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Most folk don't know why bucks smell the way they do or nobody would associate with us.

Ain't that the truth! (Shivers) 

I had no idea that's why they are called nannies. Learn something new every day. I drank bad milk once and I didn't drink it again for probably several months after that. I just got home not long ago and haven't eaten supper yet. I didn't want to cook just for me, so a bowl of cereal it is. I didn't realize it, but I smell the milk too. 

Good for you Farmall. Very nice of you

If you let people know you're a blacksmith, some things start making their way directly to your smithy

And if it seems odd that I've never had goat milk( besides the yucky stuff) is because of lactose intolerance. That's why I wanted to raise milk goats in the first place. I still don't drink much milk though it's better now. Used to have an allergy to eggs and oddly enough, we raise laying hens for eggs. But I can tolerate small doses of those much better than store bought. I'm hopeful about goat milk. Thomas Powers mentioned goat milk cheesecake. Sounds tasty

Thank you Charles. I'm thankful I haven't had much trouble with worms for a couple of years now. That milk was terrible. I'll have to find someone around here who has dairy goats and try some. There are people a few miles from us who have a large herd of Nubians. But if they sell them or milk, they don't advertise very well. We were going to see about buying a couple but couldn't figure out how to get a hold of them.  Most everything around here seem to be meat goats 

WFM: I don't know exact prices on shipping. I would suppose that would depend on the sellers shipping rates. But I'm pretty sure on most, it would depend on the weight. I'm 5'2" myself. My current anvil is a hair under 70 lbs. and I can pick it up and the stand it's on and move it fairly easy. Of course a stump or heavier stand mount would obviously be heavier. I'm looking at a heavier anvil because mine is too light for serious hammering. As you get further along, you may decide you want to do bigger projects. Being such a sizable investment, really put some time in researching what you may need. I personally would like something at least 120 lbs. with a thick waste. There are many here who are far more knowledgable than I about his. Just where I'm at right now. I raise Boer goats. The two kids are are Boer/ Spanish mixes. You should look at the thread Show Me Your Goats and post some pictures. I'd love to see them

They are right and that size stock is easy to cut with a hacksaw. 

Sorry! It sounds like you've had a rough go of it. Hope you get to feeling better soon. 

Heck, I've posted some of my stuff that I look back on now and think, what in the world were you thinking?! But it's something you made and pictures are well loved here. 

You should post your hardy in What Did You Do In The shop Today so we can see it if you haven't already Chris

I've been looking at new ones and the prices in the weights you've listed are anywhere from about $250 (US) to $650 and above. Depending on the maker and what style of anvil it is. There are so many wanting (and getting) that much or more for beat up, light weight anvils. I think if a person has the money,  they should just buy new. And those prices are probably here to stay. But I'm sure someone with a much better perspective on it than me will be along shortly. 

I didn't see Marc 1s post, but I obviously agree with him

Actually, I do know how they taste... when you run around from chore to chore without washing your hands and you wipe sweat off your face... and my boys were very demanding for pets. I know that's grosser than most people even know, but its true. Needless to say, I made it a point to wash my hands. I can't remember what the name of that dairy is. Somewhere out of the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area I think. And my olfactory senses lit up when I tasted it. Rotating wormers is a good idea also. There's quite a bit of debate on how to do things like what your talking about the with the mineral blocks. We raise pedigreed Texas A&M New Zealand's and TAMUK( Texas A&M University at Kingsville) composites and rabbit breeders are just about as hard core on what is the gospel for what to do when it comes to raising them. We know people who are convinced they have some deadly disease, and then they are just fine a day later. Book knowledge, but no feel for it I think. I've only had a handful of rabbits die in 4 1/2 years of raising them, unless they were butchered. Two from snake bite, and two from heat stroke. And babies whom their mother put them out. Things like that.  I must be doing something right to have such low mortality rates. And only one goat who died from worm infestation. Ive learned a lot since then. I guess my point is, I don't tell anyone an absolute way is the best. If they ask, I explain what we have done and then done differently after learning better from hands on experience. Sorry for the painfully long post 

I bought some goat milk from the store. Nearly five dollars a quart. I went to drink some, and it was the foulest stuff to ever cross my lips. It tasted exactly like a buck smells. I could have went out and licked one and it wouldn't have tasted any different. We don't raise dairy goats so I don't know. But I've been told ýou have to keep the does separated from the bucks or they'll pick up the scent in their milk. Something else I need to study up on. Anyone have any insight into that?

If you've never heard of it, there's a magazine called Goat Rancher. We read about a study in New Zealand about deworming. Worms are virtually non existent in sheep and goats there. Most wormers in the U.S. don't work anymore because they have been so overused. The USDA doesn't allow us to use the same kind of meds they have available in N.Z.  so the recommendation is to use two or three wormers in conjunction with each other in big doses. I can tell you what we do if anyone is interested. It works and I have nearly 0% worm problems in an area that is riddled with them. 

Such wonderful stories. I never thought posting a picture of goat kids would turn out to be such a great thread of its own.