Shiela’s mom had these two Monday evening. We still have one more doe to kid. Godiva’s daughter Hershey Kiss is as big as a house and still hasn’t decided to bless us with her little ones.
These little girls are snoozing in the tub and it looks like the one is drooling and letting her tongue hang out…guess all species including humans have funny sleep habits!
If you were wondering why we were late to the Sat. markets and Celia was not at the Sunday market this is why…
20 goat kids and lambs were born between dawn on Sat. and dusk on Sunday which were the hottest days of the year so far. We hit 107 in Tonopah. Unable to regulate their own body temps the first few days of life they required cooling. Our bathtubs, showers and a play pen held all of the little ones during the heat of the day. At night everyone goes out to thier moms. Talk about a traffic jam. Here are the little darlings dreamig in the cool air on a soft blankie.
These spotted Navajo Churro lamb twins didn’t want to hang out with the goats and took over the shower stall! Too bad you can’t wash wool in the shower while on the hoof:) Here they are at 4 hours old. They are from Cousin It and are named “Lurch “and “Thing”.
During the day they are fed gatorade mixed with their own mom’s milk. By the time you get through the bottle feeding every 4 hours it is almost time to start again.
We napped in between feeding ourselves!
All of you who came to our shearing knew that the time was nearing for lambs. We crossed our fingers that it would be soon and Jimmie watched the herd each time the rest of us went to market. Easter eve when feeding the sheep I gave the girls a pep talk. I wondered if it was just too much to ask if I could have an Easter lamb. They watched me between bites of grass and grain and seemed to be listening.
I hurried out of bed this morning to see if I got my Easter wish. Rhiannon and Manawydan had a baby girl lamb! In keeping with Celtic myth and our heritage we have named her Eostre after the goddess of Spring. Happy Easter to all of you.
Today the baby ducks from 2nd grade graduated to 3rd grade here at Chile Acres. The little ducklings weigh between 7 to 10 lbs each and I could only hold one at a time as we transferred them to the big duck enclosure. We put a ramp for the newbies to get up into the above ground pond and made a puddle for them to play in until they figure out how to get in and out of the pond.
Some of the older ducks thought the little ones were exciting to watch. Another jumped in the pond to show them how it is done. Others were a little shy and just peaked out at the new kids on the block from the safety of the little duck houses.
After two weeks of wild weather– which prompted us to contain the new little fluff balls in our bathtub, the chicks are outside in the new nursery inclosure.
It is truly a pleasure to use the facilities without having beady eyes staring at you– although the little one that talked the most, “Chirpy the Wonder Chicken”, is missed a little. Here they are scratching around like little chickens should. Have no fear our egg loving customers–here comes the next generation.
This morning I saw a group of our “employees” hanging out at the “watercooler”. I wish it was like one of those reality shows where the boss can listen in to what they are saying… Were they wondering about goat milk for breakfast, gopher patrol in the new garden, baby chicken watching? Hmmmm…