Westmoreland Fair 2012(More to follow)

Fun and Work

If there was a trophy for goats with personality, I think we all agree at our farm, that Adeline would be a winner. She is always first at the stall door demanding to get out and get the day started. No lingering in the background for her.

Julia has her entered in the Westmoreland Fair again this year, and we hope they can do well again. 

Trixie had been an entry all along, since the day she was born, and was a very big girl until she had a bout of pneumonia about two months ago. We almost lost her, and to save her, started bottle feeding her again. Lucky for us, we have 4-H friends who traded us goat milk so that we could nurse her to health. Of course, now we will have to wean her again, but it was worth the effort. She is not as robust as she was, but passed her fitness vet check and will show at the fair.

Each morning, when she can, Julia helps get the goats out, fed and watered, and helps with any special tasks, like shots, where another pair of hands is helpful.

To get the three goats she is taking ready, she has tried washing off those dirty knees and grooms them at night. With her mother and brother helping she gave all three a major bath yesterday while we had a nice warm day to dry them up. No need to have them catch a cold now.

 There's a lot of fun in all this work.

Today I even LET Julia dump the manure!

Its a bit of a walk up the hill, but I remind her of what a good work out she's getting to keep her in shape for running (yes - she runs races with her dad).

 Jock helps of course!

 Can you see? She's still smiling!

So tomorrow the animals go to the Westmoreland Fair, and a busy nine days begins.

Good Luck Julia, Adeline, Ali and Trixie!

Snow, Blue Skies and Bottle Babies

Beatrix has become quite a screamer, especially for the afternoon bottle.

She'd be through this fence if it weren't for the electricity.

As soon as I(or anyone) step though the gate, she is butting my legs to get between them to line up for her bottle.

We use this larger black nipple and I try to put one with less of an opening on hers to slow her down just a bit, but as you will see in the VIDEO, she really goes to work.

I have to really hang on because she gets impatient if the milk doesn't flow fast enough, and tries to butt it like she would the udder to let down the milk.

 Claire is home for Spring Break, and came over for some goat duty.

4-H started this month and Julia is getting ready with some early goat work too. She also helped with the kid weigh in Sunday.  There IS math in goat herding!

Our other bottle baby Becka is still supplementing her bottle by stealing from Trinity, and is here in the middle of her foster brothers Pip and Squeak.

This is the pile on at night. Becks is in the corner, almost out of sight. Trinity has no hope of getting rid of her.

The newest little guy, Britches(middle right), joined the herd this week-end after a short two days of fence training, and tried to be a tough guy from moment one. He isn't a shy one, and at three and a half weeks on Sunday, already weighed in at 19 pounds.

 Back to dry fields and blue skies for a week-end.

 After all that prancing and running all over the field, Britches is one tired little kid.

Adeline and the rest of the herd might not be the youngest, adorable goats on the farm, but they still get some love from Julia.

48 Hours Later And A Nice Surprise (Or Two)

Lucky for us we have great neighbors, and neighbors that love our goats.

Julia came twice on her school conference day to help get the orphan twins bottle fed.  Trust me. No easy task. We are not as good as mom.

Then her mom Allison came today and came up with a better technique and the twins ate twice as much as they had the first day.  Luckily, no scours (diarrhea) after 48 hours on powdered supplement. 

They are probably not getting as much as they would with mom, but we are getting used to the bottle and hopefully they will get used to the change and get easier to get started.  There is a lot of resistance, but patience is key.

After the morning shift and watching the herd come and take care of the orphans, we were closing up the barn when I looked on the hill and saw a bear walking the tree line.  As it turned out, after closer observation, he is sick with mange.

Our Game Warden was called, but of course, the bear ended his one hour nap in the sun and wandered off before he could be caught. We have the neighbors on the look out as none of us want any of our animals, or us, to share the bear's affliction.

Then just as things were settling down, Allison noticed Vinegar on her side in the corral. Yes, she was starting to kid. 

I struggled to get her out of the field with the buck, and once through the gate, she took herself into her stall. 

After a long half hour, she gave birth to a single, lovely, paint buckling.  Here she is unwrapping him!

 This evening he was fluffy and soft and a great cuddle after a long couple of days. 

Smart Kids Wear Helmets

My 4-H Julia was still on California time after a nice vacation there, so in order to get to her morning barn time faster, she rode her bike. This was a new one for me and Jock, but seeing her come across the fields and through the yard confidently on her bike made my day! She had her books on her back and her helmet snugly on.
I couldn't have been more pleased. She looks pretty pleased too.