Enjoying the Holidays

With the shortness of daylight and cold weather combined with holiday visiting not much time for anything other than watering, haying and feeding. When the weather gets this cold all the animals eat more hay to warm their bodies. Aerielle and Aifric were even under the barn to stay out of the cold rain and wind. They have such a heavy coat of hair in a normal rain they just back up to the wind, yesterday they ate twice the daily amount of hay. Closed the windows on the lamb and kid barn last night, some of the kids were wet from eating out in the rain and were cuddled up together, the sheep just slept out on the hill, still have their own shelter on their backs. Hope to shear the sheep soon if we have a warm spell in January. When I started keeping goats I soon realized they needed good shelter year round, with sheep they only need shelter when freshly shorn in winter. This week will be spent taking care of stock and making plans for fiber projects for the new year, I am thinking of spinning a two ply Cormo yarn in natural dyed colors.

Regifting

Regifting is acceptable. Merry, short for Meredith, was given to me last week when whe did not work out for the first recipient. A young neighbor soon found out that Pyrenees do not make the best house dogs. When she called me I was hesitant to take her since she had been in the house, but she was so young, 8 weeks old, I thought she would be worth a try. I penned her with some young billies and she went right to work, trying to bond with them. After a few days the billies have decided she is not going to eat them. She is not crying for people, so hopefully she has found her calling and will spend her life as a working dog. A working dog is happy when it has a job.

Calico kitty

Even the cats enjoy this bucket of skirted wool that has been sitting around forever. When my workshop door is open they will run in and find the softest fleece to bed down in. When the sheep will allow it, the cats will bed down with them, sometimes on them or next to them. But, sheep nor goats will allow the cats in the barn when they have small lambs or kids at their side. They will chase them out. When the heat lamps are on and the lambs are snuggled under them for warmth, the kitties try to get next to them, but the mamas will not have it. For some reason sheep see everything as a wolf. Guard dogs, cats, small children that move to fast, even chickens can cause them to stomp their feet as a warning. If that fails, then they will simply run away.

Rain

Dry creek has been dry for over a year and so has the farm pond. We are extremely dry and only got a little rain today. Most people don't like the rain, it can be an incovenience to them, but we can't live without it. Unless our weather changes, water could become critical in our area. Crops need rain, pastures need rain, trees need rain, sheep need water to drink and so do we. There are so many things to worry about when you are a farmer but lack of rain is at the top of the list. I was asked by a visitor recently how the drought in the midwest affected the price of food. Seemed odd to me that everyone did not know that almost everything is grown in the midwest. When there is no corn, wheat, or soybeans, there will be no beef, pork or chicken. Most of our meat is grown in feed lots and confinement houses, and eat corn, wheat or soybeans. It's crazy to grow houses on your farmland and your food in a dirt lot.

Fresh chicks

Sometimes visitors to the farm ask isn't it too late in the year to be hatching chicks? I didn't hatch them, my chickens are free, comepletely free to live as chickens want to live, so if they hatch chicks in the winter that is their instinct. If you want fresh eggs year round you need a new crop of pullets. The only rule is they have to stay out of my garden during the growing months and I remove all the extra roosters to prevent my hens from getting pecked to death. They have many acres to scratch in and roam, are pretty warry of the hawks and varmints, and the pyrenees and maremmas are on guard duty. The cuckoo marran's aren't usually good setters, most of the time a game hen will set her eggs, but this cuckoo did a good job hatching, hope she's as aggressive as the games at protection of her chicks.

Happy Happy Happy

Santa arrived early on Wednesday morning with these two girls. She, not he, was driving a black Ford dually, pulling a horse trailer, I've been waiting on this kind of santa all my life. It was a short trip for them compared to their first trip. Airielle and Aifric traveled by plane from Ireland, where gypsy horses originate, to my friend Toni's horse farm.  Both mares will foal this spring. They are very calm and friendly, waiting at the gate to be petted or brushed. Even though they do not produce fiber, they produce lot's of smiles.  Happy, happy, happy.

Going fast

The sheep are working on the grass. With the shortness of daylight and cooler weather the grass is resting for the winter. Moved the bred ewes to the front pasture that still has lots of green grass for grazing. If there is any grass at all my sheep will graze, and turn their nose up at the best of hay, goats will eat hay anytime of year. Goats can never get their fill of roughage, it's what keeps them healthy. Took me a few years to figure that out. If you keep hay out year round for goats, they will stay healthy. Goats are browsers, not grazers, and once the browse is gone, they need hay. Goats need more protein than sheep, browse has more protein than grass. Those trees, blackberry, honeysuckle, leaves, and wild plants have lots of good stuff in them. Just ask a goat.

A bond

There is a bond between Kay and her goats. Snapshot has been down in the bottom pasture for a few months after weaning her kid. Brought her up yesterday and sheared her, she has a beautiful dark brown fleece and somehow managed to stay clean. Kay is licking her in the morning sun, reuniting the bond and welcoming her back to her herd. Kay cries when I move one of her goats to another pasture, as if she has them counted and knows each one by name. Maybe she does. Kay is one of the best dogs I have ever had around mothers when kidding and knows to keep her distance but hang close by, then clean up after the doe and kids move on to fresh pasture. She is close to twelve years old now and has worked for me since she was 8 weeks old. A faithful employee working everday of the year, night and day, a dog that has lived her passion.

For the love of wool

Many thanks to all the spinners and buyers of my wool and mohair. Even the smallest sale will help keep the flock fed and continue on another year. Lots of small businesses are closing, breaking even is one thing, but loosing money is another. Supporting small farms and businesses will surely keep this country going in tough times. Consider giving a local homegrown, handmade or homemade gift before buying that junk that travels so many miles, and how much fuel is wasted on that, in more ways than one, and most of it ends up in the landfill, forever. Wool and mohair is renewable and easy on the environment and then will return to the earth, eventually. Most of my fleeces are grown on grass, sunshine and rain. The does and ewes that are bred and nursing lambs or kids are given a small amount of grain and top quality hay to keep them from using their body reserves. It's a cycle that started with the beginning of time and will continue after we are gone with the support of those that love wool.

Frosty morn

Frosty mornings give way to warm beautiful days. The weather is perfect, it's a shame the daylight hours are not as long as summer days. The sheep really enjoy this weather. It will be time to shear their wooly coats soon. The bred ewes will be shorn before lambing, probably late January, lambs should start arriving in March. Last lambing season the weather was almost hot. The cooler fall days brought the ewes in heat early this year,so the lambs should arrive before the warmer weather. There are several first timers to lamb next spring, so I used a very sweet Finn ram, very colorful and should have nice fleeces for handspinning. Finn sheep are small and have multiple small lambs making it easier on the new moms.

Something new

I love the luster longwools. It started with Cotswold many years ago and when Wensleydales were bred in this country I knew I would someday try them and that day has arrived. This ram lamb is big and beautiful with tight crimped curls and a sweet attitude, that may change as he is young. I will be using him next fall, he will have a year to grow and adjust to his new climate. Getting acclimated to the south can take some time.

Mother of all

Jewell is the last registered Cotswold I have left, and the finest fleece of any Cotswold I have seen. At eleven years old she had twins this spring, thankfully both are ewe lambs. As always she had no trouble birthing the lambs, but I was worried about her gettting around, she is getting real slow and thin. She earned her place on the farm as she mothered the other ewe lambs when they were weaned. Jewell was kind to them and let them follow and sleep with her, taking them into her flock, teaching them to graze and be wary of the dog. I turned Jewell and the ewe lambs in with the bred ewes today and they preferred to stay with Jewell, following her and eating with her, ignoring their own mothers. Jewell, Mother of all.

So far

I am so far behind. Didn't get my kids shorn before SAFF so I am playing catch up. The weather is still nice, beautiful, and the kids are fat. They have fared well over the summer. A goat in good condition and fed well with free choice hay and a good barn can take the cold nights. A goat that is in poor condition and not the healthiest could get hypothermia. You have to know your goats. This buck kid had a ton of hair and would not grow as well had he not been shorn until spring. Mohair is heavy and needs to be shorn when ready so new growth can begin. I always shear my does before kidding, no matter the time of year, nothing could help her more.

Finally

Moved some of the sheep back to the winter pasture even though there had been no rain in many weeks, there was grass, and now with the rain we got this week, the grass will be green, and they will enjoy grazing it. The cooler temperature makes them happy also, and helps me sleep better. How do I know they are happy? They are up moving and grazing and sometimes kick their heels up in the air, that means they are happy and healthy. When the weather is so hot and humid sheep barely move about in the day time, mostly panting, that is hard on the heart and the whole system, they will graze at night and seek shade during the day. Sheep are called stupid by many, but sheep are smarter than most people.

Fiber store open

Tried to make it to the Peachtree handspinner's meeting today but the interstate was backed up for miles, so I detoured back to the farm. Can't take all the traffic and development, the country is disappearing. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Anyway, the fiber store is open and I am getting fleeces washed, dyed and carded, lots of kid fleeces to shear, fresh raw fleece, cotton, spinning wheels and supplies, and visit the sheep while you are here. Get stocked up on winter spinning supplies, some are predicting a long cold winter, fine by me. What better thing to do than to sit by a fire and spin.

Ruby couldn't wait

Ruby has had a hard time with the heat this summer. Nursing twins and carrying a coat of mohair is tough in this humidity. She just doesn't want to eat grain, and pants with her mouth open. A lot of does have twice the hair she has but they didn't refuse to eat. They just regretted it later. Saturday morning made two days in a row she didn't come to the feed bunk. So I sheared her and checked her eyes, she seemed normal. After shearing she was up and moving and no panting. If our weather continues to be 12 months of summer I will have to change my shearing schedule, either shear three times a year or shear in June which is hard on the shepherd.

How many

How many gallons of water does it take to grow that fleece? Friday evening seemed to be one of the hottest-most humid days of the summer. I stayed out past 10:00 pm filling water tanks, about 500 gallons. Saturday morning they were half full, so I refilled them. Finally a cold front came through even though the rain didn't preceed it. Turned most of the barn fans off. The sheep and goats seem to be happy, heads up, not panting, moving around and butting heads. They have not enjoyed this summer at all. I am wondering if wool sheep will have a future in the south.

A white run

I don't usually like to card white fiber, but this was a special request. Before running white all the drums on the carder have to be cleaned of any dyed fiber, or the roving will be contaminated with bits of color, quite a job. Then I decided to run a white Cotswold fleece from Audry, just watching the fiber run down the infeed was cooling. I will follow with natural colored fleeces, then back to dyed. Natural colored fibers are my favorite but rich dyed wool and mohair will catch the buyers eye first. Still waiting on that cold front to come through so I can get back to shearing, hopefully that will happen some day, soon. Got Lambie Pie, Cormo-Cotswold cross shorn and washed this week. I didn't think the fleece would be usuable but after a good shaking and washing the results are beautiful. Never throw a fleece away until you wash a sample, all the sins might wash away.

Ramless in Ga

Sold my Cormo ram today. Was glad he was going to a farm to breed more fine wooled ewes and his fleece will be used for handspinning. Not the prettiest ram, but the best fleeced ram, same grade of very fine wool from neck to britch. Not a friendly ram, but once caught was a perfect gentleman. He takes the heat and humidity well and was a very easy keeper. Time for a new ram to breed his daughters, maybe a colored, curly ram. I have  tried Suffolk, Dorset, Polypay, Corriedale, Ramboulliet, Cotswold, Border Leicester, Blue Faced Leicester, and Cormo. My favorite has been the BFL-Cotswold cross, a very pretty sheep, lots of lustre and easy to shear and process, spins like a dream.

Slow motion

Don't know if I'll ever get enough locks and rovings dyed for fall shows, feels like I am moving in slow motion. The amount of time it takes to get a fleece shorn, skirted, washed, dyed, dried, picked and carded seems to consume me. Then there's that feeling of being over whelmed with the mountain of fleeces waiting on me from shearings past. It's a good thing wool will keep forever if kept dry and moth free. The lanolin will be harder to wash out of an old fleece, but the wool is protected by it. Then there's the question of what color will sell, I prefer the natural colors of the red and brown mohair, every shade of it, light to dark. But next to a lovely dyed fleece, the dyed fleece will sell first every time. Then there's the lovely shades of over- dyed colored mohair, magical.

Gathered around

Summer is slowing down for me, the garden is almost gone, kids and lambs are weaned, for the most part, I leave the doe kids and ewe lambs with their mama a little longer than the males. They will eventually dry up and wean them without all the fuss. Time for shearing again, the fleeces on the does and kids will have to be skirted and picked through since they spent most of the summer in the barn in front of fans trying to keep cool. Time to move the sheep back to their winter pasture where they will have enough grass to eat all winter, hopefuly without hay. If we get enough rain out of this hurricane it could really help the grass grow when the cooler weather gets here. Feed prices go up every week so I am hoping there will be grass for fall and winter grazing. Sheep can make it on good grass but goats will need grain to keep them going. Sheep are like menopausal women, they have a slower metabolism, goats are like teenagers, eat all the time and stay skinny.

perfect weather for everything

Perfect weather for dyeing wool and mohair. Got many pots of a new colorway dyed and the drying racks are loaded. Have 5 fleeces skirted and soaked in water over night. Now that the weather is cooler it is time to start shearing the kids and lambs. The goats and sheep are feeling completely different, kicking up their heels and head butting. After feeling drained from working in the humidity all summer, I was afraid I was loosing interest in what I believe in. After a couple of days of cooler weather I am charged and ready to go.

Monday morning meeting

Sheep are enjoying the cooler and wetter weather and decided to have the Monday morning meeting at the water tank. I hope they are making plans to grow long beautiful fleeces to be shorn next spring. And keep them clean and healthy and irresistable so they sell easily. I have bred sheep for many characteristics over the years. Since introducing BFL in the flock I am close to my goal of a dog killing sheep. My BFL's hate dogs, good or bad dogs. The poor maremma puppy in charge of taking care of them is a bit confused at times. My next goal is to breed a sheep that will spin, knit or weave their own fleece, it irritates me that they sleep in the shade all day while I am skirting, washing, dyeing, carding, and whatever to earn enough money to keep them.

Young guns for hire

These kid bucks are ready for fall breeding. Just Friday they decided it was time. The cooler nights, the wind blowing, who knows, but they are ready for action. Twenty five in this herd to choose from, except for the 4 already chosen and a few will remain here to grow and will be evaluated for breeding next fall. A few unlucky ones, or maybe they are the lucky ones, will become wethers for fiber pets. I have two of them myself that I keep with a band of does, lots, I say lots of incredible fiber and they make great leader goats. There are also two proven two year old bucks looking for a new herd, great fiber and sweet personalities. They can also be delivered to SAFF in October or come to the farm for a look.

Today

Today was a perfect day. A cool morning rain gave way to a sunny cool afternoon that the sheep loved. This is Sunshine's lamb, when the weather is this cool you can see them growing. It is hard for an animal to grow and put on weight when the summers get so hot. And a ewe cannot make milk when she is panting all day trying to catch her breath. Then the parasites take hold and they loose what weight they have put on. It is a full time job raising lambs and kids in the hot, humid south. An experienced eye must look over each animal everyday and just see if anything is off. If there is something odd, time to act. Keep on schedule of worming, vaccinating and feeding, check a limping foot, why are those flies buzzing around that one. Like pieces of a puzzle, there are clues to the problem if you know how to see them.

The welcoming committee

They are always happy to see me. Probably because they know I am the one with the feed bucket, but I don't feed this herd in the warmer months. They don't need grain, just heats them up, and they have grass, what sheep are made to eat. Most of them like to be petted or scratched, but all of them come to see me. When I come around the curve in the road they somehow know it's my truck and run to the gate. I have a new truck and at first I could sneak up on them, it took about a week and they recognized the sound of it. There is a lot of traffic on that road, but they know the sound of their shepherd's truck.

Bring um home Kay

Got this band of goats moved to the pond pasture and the horses back to the sheep bottom pasture. There are lots of trees and weeds that the horses don't eat and the goats relish. Kay is as happy as the goats are about moving to fresh pasture. She spotted a chipmunk in a brush pile and swallowed it. While the dogs were away all the wildlife has been multiplying, Kay will get them back in order. Kay and Wolf are a brother and sister team that guard this group, they have been working for me about 11 years, they have been excellent guards and love their goats.  Sad to say they are getting old and Wolf is not able to put weight on his back leg. I was going to leave him in the bottoms with another group of goats but he managed to make the move with his band. Both of these dogs would give their life for these goats. I have been fortunate to have some really good guard dogs over the years allowing me to sleep at night knowing the flock is safe.

Coming around

The returning goats went through a rough few days, especially this black buck kid. He was crying, dehydrated, had a high fever, no cud chewing and no appetite. Hit all of them with sulfa drugs for shipping fever and coccidia, which requires catching each one of them three days in a row and orally drenching them. Then the buck kid and his mom were hit with all the vitamins and probiotics I could think of. Yesterday he started chewing a cud and tail was back up and wagging and his back not arched up. Today he has been eating on leaves everytime I check them. I think a little goat can survive off fresh trees. He and his brother have the does udder back in working order and getting a little milk and a lot of comfort. I think they will be alright. But that is what it takes when things are off, round the clock care, and sometimes it works.

Returned to the herd

My goats are like boomerangs, no matter how far they go, most of them return. Tansey came back home last fall after a few years of being a pet, a victim of divorce, she happily resides in the sheep bottom pasture with other miscellaneous goats. About the same time she came home, Summer, Cinndy Lu, Susie and Twinkle, bred does, left for a new farm with hopes and dreams of being the start of a fiber business. Today, they returned, with kids in tow. It was a long hard trip for them and Summer and her kids have had a rough time. Got out all my vitamins and probiotics, wormers and bicarb, then picked lots of fresh tree limbs for them, fed and watered them well. Just made my late night check and all seem well. It's going to take a lot of extra work for the next few weeks and some sleepless nights to get these kids back on track. Does anybody see things through? Does anybody think things through? God help the shepherd with the big heart and little pocket book.

Pumpkin Pie

Snapped a picture of this doe kid getting up from nursing Pumpkin Pie. This pair is for sale. A great starter doe and doe kid, Pumpkin is an easy keeper and good mom. Has never had a problem with parasites so she stays in top condition even when nursing kids. Pumpkin has a very fine fleece.

Where wrinkles are favored

In angora goats and fine wool sheep the more wrinkles the better. That means there is more coverage which means more pounds of fiber per square inch. More fiber more money. Legacy is blessed with wrinkles. I sheared this big buck by myself with no worries. He is that nice of a buck.

Character

This is Snapshot's buck kid, a single, her first kidding. He is the darkest chocolate brown. This is the best picture I could get as this kid never touches the ground. He is always on someone's back or bouncing off the walls. A friendly buck built like a tank and very fine, dense covering of mohair. Will make a good show buck as he already sets up.

Ruby's kids

Ruby's kids are both show quality, a chocolate doe and buck with white stripe. The buck is for sale and will be a great asset to a breeding flock. The doe will be in my show string this fall. Ruby is a sister to Tara and like her sister and mother, produces kids that are keepers.

Goats of many colors

There are many shades of red and brown to chocolate kids from Legacy this spring. These are some of the younger buck and doe kids enjoying a Sunday morning treat. I am very impressed with the kids he threw. A very consistent looking group of kids, not common in colored angora goats. The fleeces are very fine and heavily covered.

Tootsie's buck kid

Tootsie's buck kid will be breeding a few does here this fall. He will be breeding the red belted does. Tootsie is a twin to Cookie Doe, Best in Show doe, and has a nicer fleece than Cookie, Tootsie just didn't have the attitude to make a show doe.

Cookie Doe's buck kid

This is Cookie Doe's buck kid, a single birth, her first. Cookie Doe was Best in Show Angora Goat SAFF 2010. This big buck kid has all the qualities of being a top show buck and breeding buck. There are many, many more pictures to come, contact me to select your next buck or doe.

Tara's buck kid

Twin to first buck listed. This kid is just as nice as his twin, that's what Tara does, she has twins that are both quality kids every year. Another show prospect and breeding buck. Should be mature enough for breeding this fall, he's already trying.

Tara's buck kid

Time to list some of the kids for sale. This is one of Tara's buck kids. A big twin with full coverage. Tara is the mother of Cookie Doe, SAFF Best in Show Angora Goat 2010. The sire is Legacy. Both sire and dam have fine handspinning fleeces.This buck hit the ground running and will be a show prospect and a breeding buck.

Most Beautiful Easter Day

This has to be the most beautiful Easter day ever. Just perfect weather. Morning feeding chores went smooth and the last 9 does to kid held off from kidding to give me a break. so I roasted my turkey and baked a pound cake to take to my daughter's house and spend time with my grandchildren. We ate a delicious lunch and visited, then had an egg hunt for  Magi. Made it back home by 3:30 and still no does in labor. Turned the fans on and refilled the water tanks and buckets. Even had time off in the afternoon before starting evening chores. I could never tire of this weather.

Wrangler Jane

This was Josie's first kidding. She is a timid doe that gets picked on by the other goats. The last doe on the totum pole. She has beautiful, lustrous and fine hair. She is a complete ninny, or maybe I am. I heard her straining and screaming, so I checked her and the kid was in position. but after quite awhile of hard labor, she was not progressing. Two front feet were out and the head was there but could not get through. Everytime I tried to help, she got up, then she started running, you don't chase a goat, it's just get crazy. But I knew I had to catch her, that kid was ready to come out and needed help. Finally caught her by the hind leg and laid her down. Had to keep my knee on her chest while trying to pull the kid out so she wouldn't run away. A long stretch. I didn't think I was going to get it out, the hardest and longest pull I have ever had to do. I was beginning to think I had the wrong feet to the head. Finally got it through and of course she took off, running from the pain. So I left and she came back and both are fine. You just have to be there.

Day two

Sunshine is an experienced ewe, so she got those lambs to follow her out to pasture today. They are already bouncing and playing. She really wanted to go out to the big pasture with the other sheep but newborns haven't learned to stay away from other ewes with lambs that will run them away or butt them if they come to close. Safer if they stay up for a few days longer.

Sunshine

Sunshine came in over the intercome around 5 AM. I rushed down to the barn, she had a water bag out and was straining hard. My sheep make a deep grunting sound when there is a big lamb, my goats scream. I could tell when I grabbed the feet it was a big lamb, but it came out okay with a little pull. She kept licking and claiming her baby, but I could feel another lamb waiting to be born. She waited another hour. This one was bigger, good thing it came out second, the first one opened the way for her. Both ewe lambs have BFL ears. Sunshine let everybody know for miles around how happy she is.

Busy weekend

Pumpkin Pie kicked off the weekend with an uneventful birth of a doe kid. Pumpkin is a very laid back doe, super easy keeper, never has parasites and has very fine hair. She read the book on how to deliver. Sweetheart was next, and was at it all day. She didn't read the manual. She tried to have both kids at the same time. Fortunately, they were small kids and  I was able to tell that two of those three feet coming out were back feet and did not belong to the bigger front foot and head. All came out well. Both are black and Tuxedo is the father. Stayed up most of the night checking on Sunshine.

radish

This is a radish grown as a cover crop and to aerate the soil. It made a very pretty crop for early spring. Only my cotton board calendar has the date for spring listed as March 20th. My other calendars do not list the days of the changing seasons, no spring, summer, fall or winter dates are on them. The changing of seasons are probably not that important to most people. I'll admit, it is hard to tell when they change, since we hardly had a winter, and not even a spring, but fast forwarded to summer. I love having four seasons and enjoy seeing the changes of the earth, the trees got leaves and some bloomed over night just last week. It came a soft gentle rain and everything changed. I can no longer see across the creek with all the tree coverage. It's like spring came and left in just a few days.

today

It was a much nicer day today, cool dry air, lots of big blue billowy clouds sailing by. Decided to take a break from the same routine, so I headed to the woods to gather trees for the does with kids. There were dogwoods and dewberries blooming, lots of honey suckle and muscadine vines with leaves coming on, plenty of privet and young pines. The older kids and does have been turned out into a dry lot with all the hay and grain they need, but were very excited to get some leaves, bark and wood to chew on. It was the first time for the new kids to eat something other than mother's milk and they relished every bite. I can see this becoming an everyday chore. But it really is good for them. I also spotted the poke sallit popping out of the ground, going back down for my own treat.

Little Lambs

Jewell's lambs are growing everyday, time to band the tails, think I'll wait and see if the temp will drop a little. The past two days have been June like and miserable. I have two more bred does to shear and hope to get that done tomorrow. Finally got smart and moved the shearing stand to the does instead of dragging does to the shearing barn. The shearing doesn't wear me down, it's the draaging of stubborn does from one pasture to the shearing barn. Needed several drop cords to make it work, but I found them and ran them along the barn rafters from one barn to another to be safe. It makes me feel better when they are shorn and I know they feel better, once I get started most of them realize what is going on and they enjoy it, especially the older does. I hate being behind on my shearing but who knew it would be in the eighties in March. And what about that late cold spell? Well, they are all in good shape, fed well and have good shelter, so we should be fine. No kids have been born since Sunday, this is where I removed a buck and placed another in with the does, a buck that didn't breed any does, never ever had that to happen. The kidding will pick back up soon as I didn't leave him in for very long.

Jewell

I didn't know we were going to have heavy, blowing rain all night. I left the barn windows open and I had put two does with only a single kid each on the stock trailer so I would have plenty of pens for anyone that kidded in the night. When I heard the rain I took off to let up the barn windows, getting soaked, then put a kid under my rain coat and dragged the does back in the barn. The rain was blowing in the trailer. I made my check every two hours as when weather is bad sheep and goats will pack in the barn and if a kid or lamb is born in a crowd it can get unclaimed or stepped on. I knew Jewell was thinking about it, she was standing up all night. My last check was just before daybreak and she had one lamb out cleaning her up, shortly after she had the second lamb. Jewell is 11 years old and I was a little worried she might not be able to support herself and lambs. She did fine as she has always done, had two ewe lambs with plenty of milk and she can't stop baaing about it. She's as proud of herself as I am.

Slammed

Been slammed the past few days. Had some bad luck and some good. It's always going to be that way in the birthing business, you try to accept it and keep going. God keeps you humble and you pray alot. Cookie Doe had her kid this morning, he came back feet first, considered a normal presentation, but when the kid or lamb gets so far out, you need to get it out fast before they breath and suck in amniotic fluid and drown. Fortunately I was there and it was an easy pull, they are both fine. A very nice kid. Like her mother Tara, her milk is slow and thick as egg yolks, but it's the good stuff to grow a healthy kid.

Venus

Venus is one mean doe, but she wrote the book on how to kid and get those kids off to a jump start, just stay out of her way, she will bite and butt you. She wants no help, perfectly capcable of birthing those babies on her own. And she has real good hair and passes it on to her kids. She had two doe kids that will probably carry the mean gene. Just got up from the barn, Jewel, the doe, had a nice single buck kid that is a little slow getting started. Heard her screaming when I went out to do the midnight check, she had him almost out, I finished getting him out and laid him in front of her so she could clean and claim him. Being a first time shy Mom it is important to give her a pen to claim her kid. Sometimes a first timer will leave their kid if there is too much interference from another doe, a young guard dog or the shepherd, or just afraid of the kid trying to nurse her. All the signals have to be right, so she needs time to sort them out, and as soon as that kid talks to her that bond is solid.

Jingle Bell in her jammies

Jingle Bell is a ding a ling. I tube fed her four times a day for two weeks before she learned to nurse her mother. She has never been right. Looks like I could have seen it from the beginning, so who's the ding a ling? Now, two years old and still tiny, she follows me around like a puppy. What can I do with her? She has the finest fleece I have ever seen on an angora goat. Hopefully I can make a couple of scarves from her hair to cover the cost of her upkeep and she can continue to jingle. She got sheared last week when it was in the seventies, then the temp dropped yesterday and she was shivering. She was smart enough to get behind the bales of straw and get out of the wind. I put Magi's old sweater on her and she is happy again.