Welcome chicks!
Guess what I saw today?!?
Yup. That’s Fall right there. Right in my own backyard.
I love Fall. I love the crispness in the air and colors and the anticipation of it all. Fall is just lovely.
This is also the season when we start getting the ewes and nanny goats ready for breeding, starting by making sure that all of this year’s lambs and kids are weaned. Usually the mamas take care of this on their own because they have had enough of nursing babies for one year.
This is also the time that we separate the buck kids and ram lambs from the mamas and doe kids and ewe lambs because they are now fully functioning males and we don’t want to risk letting them impregnate the little ones. The day we separate them is one of my least favorite of the year. The little boys are all freaked out and scared and I worry about the reception they will receive from the big bucks and rams in the boys pasture. The big guys can be bullies.
We moved the biggest boys- Sweet William, Basil, Bay Leaf, Cumin, Cilantro, Oregano, and the lambs. They are all doing just fine with the big guys.
Since the angora goat kids need grain and the older guys don’t we are feeding them separately in a small catch pen. Truman has decided that he’s a big ram now and prefers to spend his time with Lincoln and FDR- his father and brother- and with Buster and Cosmo, our Babydoll Southdowns.
We left the tiny little peewees like Ancho and Chipotle (pictured below with their mama Beatrice) with their mamas for a bit longer. They are just too small for my comfort level at this point.
Salina is almost back to 100%. We are only keeping her isolated at this point to allow her milk to dry up. She has finally put some weight back on and I don’t want her getting thin again by feeding every kid and lamb in the flock.
We will be having the rescheduled Fall Shearing the weekend of October 24-26th. I’m still waiting to hear from the location if it will be Saturday or Sunday. I’ll let you know ASAP. Thanks for being so understanding about the need to reschedule!
We have entered the farm in a contest to win a tech makeover from intel. The makeover would allow us to install webcams in the lambing and kidding barns so that when the new babies are born ya’ll will be able to watch. But we need your help to win. Please click this link-
http://www.needatechmakeover.com/2008/09/mvfiberfarm-needs-a-tech-makeover-because/
and vote for us. You can also leave comments about why you think we should win. So vote, comment and keep your fingers crossed!
XO
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20 Comments
Susan,
Great colors in your backyard, but I hope you didn’t get too close since it looks a lot like poison ivy or poison oak.
Debbie
No worries! Ever since the eyelid incident this summer I’ve been extra careful…
What a nice photo of the boys feeding together. Their hair looks so silky! What are you using on them, Pantene?
And I am not sure who that is with his chin on the blue fence, but is that a boo boo on his forhead?
Oh, shoot! I should have written about that. When we trim hooves and worm the flock, we mark their foreheads as we go so we know who has already been done. It washes off in a couple of weeks.
I love these updates! I love the fall! I totally miss Sweet William! I’ll have to go give him a cuddle when I come in October. SO PSYCHED I can go to the shearing, by the way!!!
Off to vote for you! Webcams would rock my world and make me way less productive at work.
In a good way.
yup, fall arrived here last week, literally on the first day of autumn! voted for you!!
Is that a trick of the camera, or is the goats fleece really that beautiful silvery grey? I can’t wait to touch it!
Web cams, huh. Will you write those of us still working in offices a note to our bosses, giving us permission to watch?
I held baby Basil in the spring and I cannot believe that he is off to live with the big guys.
I know Adele! I can’t believe it either. It’s a bittersweet thing for me…
thanks for the pictures of fall! and the critters. susan, i have to ask you, why does the mama have on what appears to be cape? isn’t her fleece enough to keep her warm? hey, i’m just a dumb city kid, what do i know?
puddle duck
ps…voted
Poison ivy is right up there in my book next to the beleaguered ash trees for “Most Beautiful Fall Color”. Lovely stuff if you’re looking for color! Me, I feel itchy just looking at the monitor.
What a great silvery shine on their backs in the first goat picture.
The goats are that beautiful. I had some quality time with them this weekend, and even though it was raining, they still looked adorable. Maybe even more so since they were wet!
A webcam would be awesome! I voted for you and posted about it on my blog. Hopefully that helps to spread the word. Do you know when the contest ends?
Good luck!
Can you tell us about the coat/jacket that the sheep wear? I’ve seen this once in Ireland (with printed ads on the coats no less). Do the sheep need winter sweaters? You have a pool of knitters on the ready.
Susan
Have you thought of selling cards – either individually or packages of 4-6-8? The shots are really nice and would make wonderful blank cards on good ivory or cream stock.
Francesca
Ancho and Chipotle are the sweetest little guys. I really enjoy reading your update, and seeing all the photographs of your farm. Karen
What beautiful colors! We love hearing about the flock and seeing all the great pictures. We cast our vote for you on the Intel site. Good luck!
Read about you last april in the wall street journal and have followed you since! i voted for you!!! let’s go MVFF!
from central mass,
knittinggolfer on rav
Salina is such a beauty!!!!