Spring

Quiet days alone at home are rare for me, and when there's a cloudy wet drizzle keeping me inside it is especially peaceful.  The animals have all had their breakfast, so its a good time to sit and write a long overdue update of the activities going on around the farm.  

Every season has its own things to do, but spring takes it to a whole new level of business with the arrival of baby goats.  This year, a total of 13.  Two girls had triplets, one had quads, and the other two had a single and twins.  A few are still available for adoption.

Enid and Judith decided to kid on the same day at the exact same time and in the same stall.  It appeared that Enid had a single large buckling, and Judith had twins, a doeling and a buckling.  These girls were the bottle babies from Christmas 2017, so they were a little young and inexperienced for motherood. At first, Judith stood appearing to be in shock, and Enid took on the role, licking and cleaning all the babies.  Eventually, they both made an attempt at the mom thing for a short time.  The kids would nurse back and forth on both mothers, not really minding who was who.  After a couple weeks, Enid decided enough was enough and stopped letting the kids nurse.   It was a gradual process, and she proceeded to dry up.  She moved to the 'dry' side of the barn and Judith took over.  Meanwhile, With all of the dams having triplets and quads, I have randomly bottle supplemented the kids so they are all growing nicely and bottle friendly.  Autumn has done especially well as a first freshener, keeping up with triplets without assistance. 
Princess Flower, third freshener and mother of the quads wins the award for 'mother of the year' caring for her own and snuggling with all.  And yes, that is a chicken in the middle of the snuggle pile. 

I am happy to report the milking barn is complete along with gutters, downspouts and a tank to collect water.  It still needs inside finishing touches, such as electric and lights, but its usable and clean. And the best part for now is I am hauling less buckets of water up the hill. 

Another EXCITING development is completion of the she-shed.  A new room in the basement sealed off from the garage and pets.  A lot of soap and other goodies are being made, and the Etsy shop has launched.  No men or animals allowed :-)

We can't forget the greenhouse.  Its a work in progress, still learning, but a few things are starting to grow. 

Pierre is continuing to recover.  He is back with the boys in the buck field, still has a limp in his rear leg but holding his own with the rest of the herd.

Have a Blessed Easter!