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| Spring is coming? |
Spring has hit Dreamfarm. Not weather wise, but the barn is filled with new life. All of our sheep have lambed, and 9 goats have had 19 kids. Belle, one of our matron goats, had 4 kids on Friday afternoon. They are all doing well. We have 20 more goats to kid (have their babies). Goats usually have twins, triplets are common.
Because it is so wet and cool outside, the animals tend to stay inside the barn. It is important to have clean, dry pens for birthing. So we have been spending a lot of time cleaning pens. That job is done by hand with a pitchfork.
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Kids drinking from a bucket (last year)
Notice there is no snow! |
We bottle feed the newborn kids for about 2 days, then we teach them to drink from a bucket filled with moms milk. The bucket has nipples attached to straws that sit in the milk and once the kids learn to suck they can drink of good amount of milk. Each bucket can feed 10 kids.
The month of March will be filled with taking care of the kids. By early April we plan to start making cheese again. Diana has refinished the outside of the vat pasteurizer and the bulk milk cooler. She also painted the inside of the milkhouse. It all looks so nice white and clean! We will wash down the walls in the Cheeserie and clean all the equipment and utensils, then we are ready to make cheese.
Our daughter, Alicia, who has been living in Brooklyn, New York for a little over a year, has moved home and will be working on the farm and in the Cheeserie this season. Alicia has a soft spot for the animals, and she has worked with the cheese in her earlier days on the farm, so she is a great asset to Dreamfarm.
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| The path shoveled for the pigs. |
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| Happy pigs outside! |
We purchased 3 black mulefoot pigs (a heritage breed) in February. This is earlier than we usually get pigs, but it was the breed we wanted, and the pigs were weened and ready to be sold. We named them Crosby, Stills and Nash. With all the snow, we had to keep them in the barn rather than their pasture. But last week we needed to get them out of the barn to make room for the goat kids. So we pondered how to move them. We tried to pick them up, but they were too strong and we could not get a good hold on them. We had an idea....let's shovel a snow path from the barn to the pasture, could that work? So shovel we did. We let Crosby out, he started down the path and then took off toward the road. Our plan wasn't looking good. But then he suddenly went back to the path and followed it all the way to his pasture, wow! So we let Stills and Nash out and they walked right to their new home on pasture. Life is good, and they are thoroughly enjoying the outdoor life.
The 200 chickens we brooded as chicks in November are just starting to lay their little pullet eggs. As soon as the snow melts, all of our chickens will move to their outdoor hoophouses on pasture.
So many changes are happening on the farm this time of year, it is exciting but we look forward to the days when everyone (animals and people) are settled in a schedule. As life goes, we will be at that place in time soon.
