Spring is about New Life

It's been a rainy week here in the Mid-East and we are so grateful for it. The grass has gone from crunchy to green and now is beginning to put on some growth. Not quite fast enough for the sheep tho and so I've been on the phone hunting down hay because we are running out. Looks like I've found some but at about $25 more than pre-drought prices. Well hopefully one more big roll will see them through to fresh green grass.

On Saturday in between the rains Faye gave birth to twin ewelings. She's always been a big girl so I wasn't sure if she was really carrying, fortunately she is also an old hand at this so she just laid down delivered these little girls, cleaned them up and was nursing them when we discovered the situation. What a great Mum eh? As usual the pairing of Dorset to Jacob has produced wonderfully colourful lambs and these 2 little girls are going to be great additions to our Adopt a Sheep fleece program. The colour plus the buttery softness of the Dorset is a nice combination that we are getting compliments on. They also are friendly and curious about us 2 legged ones.
On Sunday afternoon Grace, one of the Nigerian Dairy goats, decided it was time and went into labour. But goats aren't stoics like sheep; they yell just like we do in contractions. The first goatling was a backward delivery and not alive, very sad but we had to put him aside and look to what was coming next. Fortunately the next doeling came in the proper presentation and was alive but the third was another backward delivery, she came easily though and I kept her head down and cleared her face quickly so she wouldn't breathe in any fluids which can cause pneumonia later. Mom and babies are doing great and we haven't had any concerns. Now we watch and wait for Zoe, another Nigerian Dairy goat and our last expectant Momma.

In the meantime we have started up another "adoption" program called Adopt a Goat, the information is on a separate page of our website. We are hoping that this program will be appealing to families because kids in cities or suburbs really don't get much of a chance to see farm life up closer than maybe a school field day at a petting zoo. I know we didn't growing up and having a greater understanding may help parents and kids feel more connected to the natural things that happen around them. And it's fun for me too, since there isn't anything better than talking about our family and the farm.