Tuesday, February 17, 2009

It's Kidding Time Again

In case you're trying to reach me without success -- I'll be down in the baby goat factory, where production has gone into overdrive.

As I said to a friend who came by last week, "They'll start kidding when the weather gets bad again."

Am I a prognosticator of goat behavior or not? It is cold again with some precipitation forecast.

I'm doubling up does in the maternity barn. We could use two.

I should come up for air again sometime soon.

Oh, by the way, daffodils are up and budded.

Friday, February 13, 2009

High Winds, New Kids

We're experiencing some very high winds all day long. Although the temperatures are relatively mild, it feels chilly.

We had the first two kids of the current "batch" born yesterday morning. I'm guessing the rest will be coming along soon, judging from the number of does who are waddling around the pasture. I'm grabbing one big round doe each time I get a chance and getting them inside the maternity barn. That's so much easier than going up to the pastures and retrieving cold, wet babies and mothers.

The last fourteen, fat little babies "graduated" to the big barn and are staying with the herd. They are almost half the size of the adult goats and looking good!

Friday, February 06, 2009

Who Needs Punxsutawney Phil?

Who needs Punxsutawney Phil to predict when Spring will arrive when you have Sophie the cow? In about nine degrees F, she had a new calf out in the middle of the pasture on the ice. I say Spring is right around the corner, and if the baby can hold out until tomorrow, it will be about 60 degrees and sunny.

What a wild ride February can be.

Sophie is a Holstein cow that I was given as a cute little calf. She was raised on goat milk in a bottle and is now the largest cow in our herd. She's had a calf a year, usually in February, since she was three years old. Holsteins are those commercial dairy cows whose offspring are routinely taken away early so that the milk produced can be pooled and sold. Seldom can people appreciate their wonderful mothering instincts and grasp how sad it is to deprive them of the experience of raising their own young. I will give Sophie a big kiss and perhaps take a picture later today.

Other signs of impending Spring: the Embden gander is escorting individual geese to the goose house to start the egg laying season. He sits outside and waits until they re-emerge.