Farm News: The Good and the Bad

Raising animals gives the family a certain appreciation, not to mention education, about the cycle of life. Saturday another lamb was born, a little ram. That makes three for three. One more sheep to lamb this month and then there won't be anymore babies for awhile.

Today we put Daisy, the female donkey in with Luigi, the male donkey. Lydia asked, "Why do you want to move Daisy in with Luigi?" I looked at her and said, "Why do you think we would want to do that?" It was like a light bulb went on, and she said, "Oh you want them to breed." Yep. In about a year we should have a little donkey foal.

We are venturing into raising chickens, co-op style. We are planning to purchase 100 Cornish X chicks very soon. We have sold shares in these birds. I am really excited for this project. A little nervous too because we've never done anything quite like this, but I think it is going to be good! You can see the details on our Facebook page. Click on the discussion tab.

The bad news is that one of our doe goats died. She wasn't showing any of the usual signs of illness, but Sunday morning we found her dead. Her kids are three weeks old. They are eating some feed and hay, but really aren't ready for weaning yet. We hoped that one of the other nursing does in the barn would foster them, but the does want nothing to do with the kids that are not theirs. Luckily we were able to find another "momma" willing to foster them.

Lydia loves being a little momma to the animals that need a little extra TLC. Feeding these kids a couple of bottles a day will help them with the transition.

And that is news from the farm.