kidding time

It has taken a while to get these up, but here's a look at our first kidding season. For us it was a little later than usual because our does were due in June. 

We watched for signs every day. As the doe gets close to kidding time, her body will start to adjust. Her pelvic bones begin to spread out. You can see the area around the back bone of the goat, where it connects to the tail area, begin to indent. You may, or may not, see a small amount of jell/mucus leaking from the vulva, this is called "loosing the plug". Later, an extension of this will be a steadier leak of fluid.

In our experience "strutting" happened 24hrs before kidding. When the bag is strutted, the skin is as tight as it can get. It will look shiny...it also looks very uncomfortable. I was tempted to relieve some pressure, but didn't want to milk-out colostrum. Read all about "Liquid Gold" here.

We put the pregnant does in a smaller pen at night so they would be easy to locate. There were many late night check-ins by flashlight. 

One night, around 11:45...

 

Gidget was the first to kid. She's the herd queen. Above you can see her tail raised as the ligaments loosen. Below, you can see the kid's head emerge. What you see is the ideal presentation - a diving position. At this point we wipe the nose clean and continue to encourage the doe with soothing words and steady hands.

Around 2:00 am we had our first kid.

As soon as we clear the airway, and towel-off, doe and kid bond. She starts trying to get him on his feet immediately.

We dip the cord and the hooves in iodine and place clean used feed bags under the kid.

In the morning we all get to know each other.

Two sets of twins soon follow.

Our approach to milking in a later post.

farm update - chicken sperm and goat teats

It's been very busy around here. I'm working on two sculptures that I hope to have finished in time to present to the curator of my upcoming show. We also added three pregnant goats to our herd in steps toward getting our creamery up and going. I'm still making cheese with purchased milk, but soon we should have plenty of our own. The local extension office has been helpful with legal information and in my free less busy moments (while filling a trough, or taking a pee) I'm reading in preparation for being a goat midwife next month. To catch you up on what's happening on the farm I took some pictures this evening...

The new girls are Saanens. Saanens are known for their large size, vitality, herd compatibility and their “eager to please” temperament, but the largest part of their popularity is their milking ability. They are known as the Queens of the Dairy Goats.

These girls are all pregnant and their udders are starting to grow

We are teaching the herd to goat pack. Evening walks are good training

leaks

lettuce

baby apples

figs

plenty of eggs

new additions to the egg laying team

a Show Girl for the fun of it

a beautiful new Cochin rooster for breeding. They have so many feathers that they can't breed naturally. The kids and I learned how to artificially inseminate on a 4-H field trip

My two older ones recently competed in the Virgina Poultry Federation's Poultry Judging Contest. Their teams did well in the state wide competition.

Hopefully my next post will include the finished sculptures!

rooster?

The first time we brought home chicks we all hoped they wouldn't turn out to be roosters. Our little urban set-up couldn't hide the inevitable crowing, so any chicks that looked like they were male had to return to the farm. One little guy remained ambiguous for a few months until one September morning when we (and our neighbors) awoke to quite a few loud cock-a-doodle-doos. I quickly brought him inside, but he would not stop. He was determined to show off his new talent and I was determined not to have a visit from animal control. He stayed in the closet until he joined a large flock later that evening.

Now we are lucky enough to have plenty of space for our barnyard explorations and think it would be rather nice to have a rooster to protect the ladies while they're foraging around the property. 

We have three Ameraucana chicks that are close to being sexed. The Ameraucana roosters are beautiful, so we're hoping one of these might be a male.

picture courtesy of Hidden Falls Farm

The kids have been guessing, I have a pick, how about you? Which of these chicks will be a rooster?

Leave a comment stating which chick you think is most likely to be a rooster:

chick #1
chick #2
chick #3
none of the above

The people who pick correctly will be entered in a drawing for a Tangelo Studio, Papier-mâché Hen. The chickens have an inspection coming up, so I'll post the results on July first.

the next morning

Everyone was safe this morning.

While collecting eggs we found this nest in the honeysuckle by the coop...

Life goes on - get back up on your horse.

a boy and his ducks

The girls have been busy working on handling their hens for poultry showmanship competition. The boy must set himself apart...

I'm happy to say he has fallen in love with his waddling troupe and we're all learning about waterfowl as we go along.

One of my first posts (many months ago) was about children's connections with animals and the importance my early years on the farm played in my development. I am thankful that we now find ourselves in a place where my children can experience these gifts.

Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

Albert Einstein



making goat cheese

We are now officially cheese makers, albeit very inexperienced ones. The results were delicious and I encourage you to give it a try.

Curious about making some of your own? Want some advice for getting started? Check out my guest post at Grown in the City.

simpler living (my rasp and nippers)

The last couple weeks we've been having trouble with the Internet connection and I've been kept away from the blog. We have limited options for connection here and our first choice ended up being painfully slow....amazing being an hour from a major city! Thankfully our second choice seems to be up to snuff and I'll be able to manage the new Etsy store check in here with more ease.

Around the homestead we've prepared another garden bed employing the Lasagna method. With this method you don't have to work the soil at all, or remove existing grass. It's our first time doing it this way and if nothing else it was a fun way for the kids to help out. There's been plenty of winterizing and carrying water to frozen troughs. Luckily this grey settling in for winter was punctuated by a night of partying with old friends till the wee hours...we need some of that every now and then! Filled with cheer we're ready to continue through the winter months ahead.

Another focus around here has been learning new skills. We enjoy this effort to live closer to our food and to connect as a family through our connection to the land. I hope this choice is open to anyone who wants to explore it no matter what their financial situation - that it's not just seen as a luxury. I think there's a stirring in many of us that feels uneasy about letting the years pass saying,"I'll eventually have the time." If you're honest with yourself and keep simplicity the goal you have a good chance at making a new way now. I'm stumbling and strengthening as we take small steps to escape the work-spend-consume treadmill, it's a hard thing to unravel, but we're already enjoying time together as a family that we've never known.

There are many things we've had to address, but one thing that makes an immediate impact is cutting out paying for services whenever possible. This means mastering a few new skills. My skill for the month - learning to trim hooves. I thought I would always employ the services of a farrier, but I started to wonder if I could do it myself.

I've watched farriers at work since the age of five and I spent years reading through my Official Manual of the British Horse Society. With some more training I felt confident I could cut this bill out of our budget. Big A brought home the rasp and nippers I'd been eyeing at the Tractor Supply Co. and I'm now doing successful pony trims. Anything more complicated like shoeing or corrective work I would need help with, but for now we're set.

What new skill have you learned that has helped the family budget?

the renegade pony and the little prince

I woke to a cold, grey morning - chewed granola and watched clouds roll themselves over the mountain and linger, dropping a steady rain over the forest and fields. As I settled into some work, I received a call, our little pony, who is staying at farm over the mountain while we prepare the barn for her, had escaped and was running around evading all efforts to capture her. She refused apples and sugar. She disappeared into the woods and returned, defiantly tossing her head and kicking up her heals.

I left my work on the table, dragged my son (home from school with a stomach bug) into the car and took off to capture our renegade mare.

When I pulled up I saw her across the field. I was prepared to chase her around in the rain cursing, but she waited as I walked across the field and took hold of her halter. She licked the palm of my outstretched hand, steamy breath lingering above the tall grass.

"You had me drive over here with my sick child in the rain you absolutely naughty little brat!" She just looked at me and her eyes reminded me of a story:

"Good morning," said the fox.

"Good morning," the little prince responded politely, although when he turned around he saw nothing.

"I am right here," the voice said, "under the apple tree."

"Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to look at."

"I am a fox," said the fox.

"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "I am so unhappy."

"I cannot play with you," the fox said. "I am not tamed."

"Ah! Please excuse me," said the little prince.

But, after some thought, he added:

"What does that mean-- 'tame'?"

"You do not live here," said the fox. "What is it that you are looking for?"

"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean-- 'tame'?"

"Men," said the fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean-- 'tame'?"

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."

"'To establish ties'?"

"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world..."

"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower... I think that she has tamed me..."

"It is possible," said the fox. "On the Earth one sees all sorts of things."

"Oh, but this is not on the Earth!" said the little prince.

The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious.

"On another planet?"

"Yes."

"Are there hunters on this planet?"

"No."

"Ah, that is interesting! Are there chickens?"

"No."

"Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox.

But he came back to his idea.

"My life is very monotonous," the fox said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the colour of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat..."

The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time.

"Please-- tame me!" he said.

"I want to, very much," the little prince replied. "But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."

"One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox. "Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me..."

"What must I do, to tame you?" asked the little prince.

"You must be very patient," replied the fox. "First you will sit down at a little distance from me-- like that-- in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day..."

~ Antoine de Saint Exupéry

And so, on this cold, rainy day I realize that my cycle of water carrying,feeding and brushing has tamed this little horse. She had been left alone for so long before we bought her and I wondered if she would respond, whether she felt a need for connection, but now I understand - she was just following taming protocol.

for the wild things

As I work on preparing the outbuildings for winter, the kids have taken on a project of their own. They will be in charge of turning the upstairs of a small carriage house behind the house into a club house. They've filled a note book with plans and yesterday we started the patching and painting.

This will be a place for the children to exercise freedom and responsibility...a place the kids will rule. The only requirement is that they (and their club members) discuss and come to an agreement about the rules they will live by. I've already heard some spirited round table discussions over chocolate chip cookies.


Although my kids played in the ally and small garden behind our row house in the city before we made our move, I really had to overcome my concerns to give them the space they needed (and I admit I was peeking out the kitchen window the whole time) I think any mother could imagine what my concerns might be. In contrast, I remember being told as a child to go play outside - I'd run around exploring the barns, fields and streams, with or without a neighborhood kid, until I was called for dinner. I know that time was important and I've tried to find a balance between caution and "executive function" no matter where we find ourselves.

It's interesting to watch the diplomatic skill and work ethic that emerges when they really believe they've been left to their own devises.

getting warmed up (it's been a while)

Well, it seems I'm finally returning to my regular work habits. Not so homesick now, just other-home-fond, and I'm finally getting to enjoy my new surroundings instead of fussing with setting up house, and nail biting observation of my children's transition. They are doing just fine and the level of annoyance with my hovering seems to be in direct proportion to birth order. So far we've been working on the farmette, enjoying the countryside and exploring one of my favorite cities. I like being in this place that escapes suburbia, but lets me be in the city easily when I want. I'm still getting used to seeing my kids running off through the field or hanging out with the pony, chickens and dogs for hours. There's so much for them to learn from this quiet observation and wordless communication.

I've been able to carve out a few days in the studio; I'm warming up with some small oil paintings inspired by my hikes on the mountain and I'm near completion on the first of the new paper people sculptures. Here are some images of the work in progress; I should be finished with this piece by tomorrow.

It feels good to be back in the swing of things. Check in to see how the balancing act continues...urban homesteading turns homesteading, new animals arrive, the family explores and I'm reunited with the studio!