Not off to a good start!

Well, things on the farm have not been as peachy as I'd like them to be. That is, unfortunately, the reality of farming livestock. Sometimes things work the way you want, but more often than not, things go a bit awry.

About two weeks ago, we had a doe kid 12 days early. That early, we knew the kids would not be viable - one was filled with fluid, the other was tiny - both premature. I have started milking that doe since, and she has turned out to be a great doe. She stands quietly, I don't even tie her, and she comes to the door of the pen when she sees me coming - I will have to get a video of Mabel heading for the door when she hears my voice! She has turned out to be a quiet, good milker despite being something like 87% boer - not a milk breed at all. I guess some good can come of the loss of the kids as I am planning to soon start making cheese and yogurt with the milk from Mabel, and have an opportunity in April to visit with a friend who is an avid soap maker, who is planning to show me the ropes of soap!

Yesterday morning, I went to milk Mabel and found an otherwise perfectly healthy looking buck kid dead in the pen. How frustrating! He was probably still born, but either way, not a very pleasant way to start the day.

3 for 3... it's not looking good so far, but I am hoping this means that the rest of our kidding season will go awesomely and without flaw. Here's hoping, my fingers are crossed anyways!

It is hard to leave the farm when you are on your first real day of "Kid Watch 2010", but that is the reality of it. All of the adults on the farm work full time jobs most of the year (I get a few months off in the winter as I work seasonally), my sister goes to school. Most of the time, there is no one here on the farm full time to tend the animals. Things can go wrong when you're not looking, when you're sleeping, when your back is turned for a split second. They say when you have livestock, you have deadstock, too.

Fortunately, my father has a couple of weeks off so he is keeping watch on the herd and the flock now, getting some spring cleanup done, and working with a couple of horses. Sometimes it feels like our work is never done, though!