Tag Archives: goats

First Snow!

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

Yesterday we finally got visited by Old Man Winter. When it was all said and done we ended up with at least six inches, though we were expecting up to twelve. The sheep have been enjoying the colder weather and when I went out for evening feeding there was a lot of sproinging and prancing, even with the snow!

Wembley

Alabama

Pretty McPhee

Orion can’t allow me to wander the field without being about 2 inches from my pockets, just in case I’ve brought treats out.

Lyra

Sabine and Lucy

We removed the sides of the shelter after the high winds the last few days did some damage, but it’s still enough shelter to keep the hay snow-free.

The chickens had ZERO interest in going out in the snow.

The goats don’t much like getting wet, either.

Yeardley

The sun is out and it is very, very bright today.

Lucy’s been enjoying playing in the snow with the kids.

And now I’ll leave you with pictures of Samantha and Roquefort’s nightly post-feeding frolic.

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Tagged chickens, goats, lambs, Lucy, Maremma, sheep, weather

Chore Day!

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

I don’t usually sing the praises of warm weather in January; mostly because it’s enough of a tease that it makes those bone-chilling February days seem cruel after the fact. Today, though, we were lucky enough that it was both a holiday AND the weather was nice enough that we could tackle some more important farm work with Paul home. And BONUS: I had my phone with me so you can see some sweet sheepy noses!

One of our lambs, Finchley, has been scouring (he has diarrhea), and since they can get super dehydrated, super fast, I’ve been giving him a supplemental bottle of lamb milk. The dogs absolutely LOVE it. Here’s Orzo having a bit after Finchley’s evening dose.

I’ve also discovered that I can’t mix this stuff up in the kitchen if the kitten is around or she will tear me to bits trying to get at it.

Lamb congregation. They were expecting me to produce their evening food.

Yeardley and Wimbledon seem to be having a conversation.

Mabel got moved to the back coop.

Fairfax is looking sassy.

Get my good side.

Fresh bale, delivered into the new shelter……

….which hopefully can withstand Caramel.

Check out Perivale’s spotted ears!!!!

Staunton.

Perivale.

Wembley still likes to get all up in your business.

Suspicious Wimbledon is suspicious.

We also finally got our Christmas tree out to them, and they dove right in.

Hannah loooooooves the taste of pine!

We also got some fresh bedding into the prison coop and discovered an egg had been laid. Fingers crossed this means we will start seeing some production out of these girls at last! (We’ve been threatening them with the stewpot but they’ve been unphased.)

Now that we’ve had this lovely mid-50′s weather I wonder how long before I’ll be posting super snow pictures!

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Tagged chickens, chores, ewes, farming, goats, lambs, Maremma, sheep, weather

Winter Work

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

Now that we’ve finally started seeing some winter-appropriate temperatures we finally ventured out for the weekend motivated to achieve some important farm progress.

It was apparent after last winter that having our water lines partially buried out to the back field was not a great idea; the above ground portions would thaw out in the sun and allow water to flow in the warmest portions of the day, whereas underground saw no benefit whatever from those warm rays. Not wanting a repeat of that this year we dug up the buried hoses and moved them into a different field along with the water troughs. After a long year of wet weather the troughs had begun to sink into the mud, which never seemed to dry or freeze completely. I was sick of the mess, the sheep were sick of the mess, and we were hoping by moving the water we could keep them out of the muddy areas altogether.

After that we decided it was time to install a better shelter against the possibility of freezing rain AND take back the chicken coop that we’d been using as a makeshift lamb shelter.

There’s plenty of room under there for everyone when they want to get out of the weather – it’s about the same size inside as the run in shelter on Susie’s old barn. I even put their feed troughs in there. Not that it made any difference at all in yesterday’s monsoon; they would have zero to do with it. I will probably put their next bale of hay inside both to encourage them to go in and also to help pad the ground a bit with the waste hay.

We started putting hens from the coop out front into the back one now that it isn’t overrun with goats (there is fencing in front now to keep said goats out!).

Look at all the room for chicken-related activities! (One of which better be laying eggs, because I’m tired of this egg drought we’ve been having).

Obviously we will still have to knock off any heavy snow that might come our way, but the pitch of the roof on this shelter will make that far easier than the flat-topped ghetto shelter of years past. Our biggest concern was simply a wind/sun/rain break for them, and I think this will accomplish it marvelously.

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Tagged chickens, farming, goats, sheep

Merry Christmas From The Flock!

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

We had some holiday fun today. Not everyone enjoyed it as much as we did, but I think you’ll all like the results!

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

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Tagged goats, lambs, Lucy, Maremma, sheep

Early Fall Farm Report

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

Early fall is upon us (at least in terms of farming and shepherding!). It’s time to start making lists of all the work that has to be done before the weather turns cold (and dare we say – snowy?).

First on the list was getting the Angora goats sheared. Their fleeces grow so very fast that they get sheared twice a year, as opposed to the sheep who are sheared only in the spring. Since the summer was so mild there was some concern that the fall would turn cold quickly, so we wanted to get the goats done early enough to grow back just a bit of fleece before we get any chilly temperatures.

Emily came down a few days ago and unfortunately once she set up the skies turned dark and the thunder began. We whipped through getting them sheared and the fleeces bagged and got no pictures. But I took some this evening after feeding time, though not all the newly-naked ones were cooperative (I’m looking at YOU, Martin and McPhee!).

Wembley and Margaret (or Sad Margaret, as we call her, since her ears tend to droop down and her fleece covers her eyes in a way that makes her look perpetually morose)

Miss Hannah. Doesn’t she look velvety with her new ‘do?

Roquefort, the Silver Fox

Keswick

Cassie

Lucy

The goats have worked a hole in the fence by the hay. Not because they don’t already have a fresh hay bale sitting conveniently out in the field or anything.

Wimbledon

Monticello

Fettuccine the Wonderdog

Soon we’ll be cleaning manure out of the field to till into the gardens for next year, scrubbing out the water troughs, winterizing the chicken coops, and setting up a winter pen for the flock.

Right now we are enjoying spending time outside with the flock in these glorious early fall temperatures. Stay with us awhile, fall!

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Tagged farm update, farming, goats, lambs, Lucy, sheep, Shepherding

This Evening in Pictures

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

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Tagged ewes, goats, In Pictures, lambs, Maremma, photos, sheep

Movin’ To The Country…

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

…gonna feed the pigs lotsa peaches.

Our awesome friend Trina works for the big local orchard and today brought two big bushels of fallen peaches and apples for the pigs and chickens.

Brace yourselves for lots of pictures, because there’s nothing I like better than pictures of happy pigs!

Churchill tried to nose into the box as soon as she set it down, but I wanted to keep track of how many peaches (and peach pits) they were eating.

Even Bertie got in on some apple action.

As did the chickens.

Agnes (who we are now fairly certain is actually a male) partook of a few figs.

I just love seeing them all share in summer’s bounty!

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Tagged chickens, goats, pigs

Fresh Pastures

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

This evening after feeding we opened the gates to the big field. As the light was fading, all the mamas and lambs found their way out to fresh grass and weeds. On the one hand, it feel so wonderful to be able to put them out onto pasture; on the other hand it makes me terribly anxious sending our babies out into such a big space! At first there was much commotion and noise as the lambs frantically called after their mamas, who were so engrossed in the new green foodstuffs that they paid no heed to their babies’ distress.

Eventually everyone fell in with their little family units and felt a little braver, jumping and nibbling and sniffing.

It was hard to get many good pictures with the light so poor; in fact I took about 500 and only wound up with a handful that were usable. It was much, much darker than it appears in the pictures.

Cini is back with the sheep after a good brushing. He and Oona are thick as thieves; pretty sure they’re plotting something.

I’ll be nervous the next few days while everyone gets acclimated to the pasture, but it’s lovely seeing them among so much green.

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Tagged ewes, goats, lambs, Maremma, sheep

Spring 2014 Shearing Party

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Amy Karasz | Comments Off

Another shearing party, come and gone!

Yesterday’s super laid-back party may have been my favorite one yet (aside from the absence of several people that shearing just isn’t right without).

There was plenty of food, beautiful weather, a great new venue, and lots of friendly faces! For us, not having too much going on to worry about made it easier to enjoy, and we were free to spend more time talking to the people that came out to see us.

Since we had fewer animals with us to shear, Emily was free to take it a little slower and entertained the crowd with anecdotes and explanations about the various fleece types and how the animals react to being sheared (hint: they really don’t).

Unfortunately, Susan was laid up in bed as-per doctor’s orders, but Mike brought her along via Skype and she got to see how we were doing at various points throughout the day. It was pretty strange not having her there, but we had some extra help in our good friend Trina, along with her daughter, Rachel, and Maddie brought her friend Hanna to help as well.

Paul, Trina, and Rachel. I couldn’t have managed without these three.

Because we had rented a pole barn in the county park there were plenty of people out who just happened by either walking their dogs (always a bit dicey for us) and riding horses (the park has quite a lot of trails for horseback riding). It made for a pretty varied group.

Susan sent samples of the newest Juniper Moon Farm yarn for everyone to try out. (My favorite is Marlowe!)

The kids were very entertained by the animals. Emily made sure they got to pet them before and after their “haircuts”.

Emily patiently answered questions, explaining that shearing doesn’t hurt the animals one bit, and that they are bred to relax when handled properly (key word: properly). It’s something that those of us who see them every day know already, and forget that not everyone else is aware of it.

I hope everyone who came out had as much fun as we did, and that we were able to answer everyone’s questions.

Trina took a lot of fabulous pictures all day and they are posted on the Facebook Shearing Party page, HERE.

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Tagged goats, Shearing Day, sheep

A Shearing …

Posted on April 5, 2014 by mvobsession | Comments Off

In April 2008 my daughter Deb, her dog Chappy, and I went to a shearing on Martha’s Vineyard, our first shearing ever. The weather was gorgeous… low 70′s, bright sunshine, soft breezes, good food, good friends… it was great.

The sheep and goats and the older kids (goats, not humans) were already out and about when we got there a little before 10 am. You’ll notice in the bottom picture the adults have closed ranks around one of the young kids and are all focusing their attention in one direction…

They are staring at Chappy, our Boykin Spaniel who to them is a predator. Chappy on the other hand is looking at them increduously and wondering, what the heck are these animals?

Whenever Deb and Chappy moved to another spot the sheep would move and face them… it was really interesting,

I’d never seen shearing before and it’s very interesting. The sheep and goats look almost in a Zen state while they’re being sheared and having their hooves clipped. The wool is mostly in one piece when the shearing is finished, it’s amazing. The wool is so soft you can hardly feel it, it’s also still a little warm to the touch.

They seemed really happy to get their coats off.

Random pictures from a lovely day.

In the beginning of my post I said the ‘older kids’ were here at the shearing… the ‘little kids’ were not. The following day however we got to meet them up close and personal at the farm.

Cuteness overload.