Growing Little Ones!

First off, I am sorry that I am just now realizing that I didn't post about this sooner! These precious little ones were born on May 30, 2015 (the first one hundred degree day of the year), to Lone Star South MsMcallie and Jaune Ranch Pygmies Powerstroke. As of this morning, they are 16 days old. The little buckling (more silver of the two) has been larger all along. Here is today's update on weight...

This morning, the silly little family HAD to have the fresh pellets, not the ones the knocked over last night. 

This is the little doeling i the weighing bucket. She is so sweet and loves to cuddle! 

I don't know why I cannot get this photo right side up, but weight today is 3 lbs 12 oz. Late last week she was 2 lbs 4 oz. So while she is markedly smaller than her brother, she is still growing.

And here is the little buckling. When they were last weighed, he was at 3 lbs 14 oz. 

This morning, here he is at 4 lbs 14 oz. Oh, goodness, he will be a big one!

We had been supplementing the little doeling with additional milk early on, when she was having trouble i the heat of the day. At this point, she hasn't wanted the extra milk, though we continue to offer it. Both little ones are eating some hay, and enjoying the crumbles from mama's hay pellets.

Such a treat watching them grow!

Playtime With the Big Boys

Shine is too old to play with the does now without constant supervision, but really loves to play with the big boys. Daddy Powerstroke is kind and cuddly, and Uncle Obediah is the goofy rough and tumble uncle. Bailey was working in the doe pen yesterday, and I was seeing to ,y grow out pen a nd geese nearby, so snapped these photos through the fence (they all just want pet if we are inside the fence, so from outside was the only way to catch the fun!

Obediah rears up on his back legs, and Shine rears up too. Then Obediah drops to all four a few inches shy of a head but, and lets Shine heat but him.

Obediah allows Let Your Light Shine to push him all over the pen, as though he is winning  a great wrestling match! Shine loves every minute of it, going like gangbusters, racing around and acting all goofy tough. They talk and ma and play in the cool morning hours with great abandon.

Here, Obediah allows Shine to shove him, shoulder to shoulder, moving in a circle like he is spun off balance by the little one. Shine really needs the time with other goats, Obediah and Powerstroke are really missing their old buddy Huey. The play time is really important for all of them!

Every so often, they take a short break for a snack at the hay feeder. The bog boys share one side, leaving the other for the little one to have room. Shine just thinks he is such a big boy like his daddy and uncle! He prances around in between mouthfuls, tail wagging and singing to us as if to say, "Did you see that? I am BIG!" You just have to love the youthful exuberance the little ones bring to the herd!

Baby Buckling Update- 8 Weeks Old

It is hard to believe that the precious duo is now two months old!

On Thursday, Bailey got their hooves done again, but they refused to cooperate to get on the scale on Friday afternoon. Here are some updated photos and their weights....

Let Your Light Shine is Mr Curious. Since he still spends about half of his time in the house, he is very comfortable inside. He has gotten into several capers lately, from trying to sneak onto the counter to steal cookie dough to jumping on Bailey's back to sneak a ride to

borrowing from Shadow Paws' book and sleeping with his head on Bailey's pillow.

Let Your Light Shine weighed in at 19.74 pounds, And he is trying hard to catch up to his brother!

At least we know all that milk is actually going somewhere!

He also loves a good ear scratching...

And chin scratching! He knows he has it good!

Freedom's prayer, his mama Silver's favorite, isn't too sure about the house though, so we had a harder time getting any decent photos!

He did ask to go out and return to his hollering mama from the get-go!

Freedom's Prayer weighed in at 20.6 pounds! Still growing beautifully, and while he really didn't show it off in the house, he is growing beautifully and maintaining the great looks that earned him the first title in his prospect buckling class.

Even if he won't stand still for the scale!

I do love the goofy look he gave here though!

We feel very blessed to have them doing so well and Shadow is loving have Shine in the house to play with!

An Update on the Pygmy Bucklings

Saturday night was the first time we had had a chance to weigh the young bucklings since before county fair. We had tried a couple of times since we had been home, but with all f the craziness, getting them to hold still for the scale to settle was apparently not in the cards.

We had difficulty getting Let Your Light Shine to take bottles, so we ended up using syringes and bribery to get him to eat at first. It turned out his medicine for the infection in the cut he got sneaking through a fence to play with his daddy. We knew he would be a bit behind his brother in growth after that, despite being taller all along.

So Freedom's Prayer went first. He growth has been consistent and balanced. He even earned himself his first title as the top prospect buckling this year at fair. We were so exciting, as he even placed above a breeder's goat. Of course he is too young to see much, but it was pretty thrilling that our herd was competitive that way.

Freedom's Prayer weighted in at 15.20 pounds. This means growth has been slowing from the first month, but he is still growing well. I am hoping to look back at these to compare to other babies when they arrive.

He doesn't seem to like having is photo taken on the scale, though!

Let Your Light Shine was next. Once we got him to  stand still, he weighed in at 13.25 pounds.

Baby Shine is now markedly smaller than Freedom's Prayer, but is guzzling 4 large bottles most days. On Wednesday, they will be six weeks old, and we look forward to seeing how the stats match up this coming weekend.

Always a Project to Keep Me Busy

This weekend was Charlie's Birthday. We packed up two cakes, and he picked up pizza, and we enjoyed the Arizona game with his Mom, Dad, Grandma and Uncle. Wyatt and Bunky were so funny about the scores up and down, of course we were rooting for our home team, my alma mater, but it was not to be. So we enjoyed sunshine cake and the family time and a good game anyway!

I got working on the garden Saturday afternoon. I have been wrapped up in pen building, seedlings, sprouting, baby chickens and baby goats and haven't gotten much done. Not to mention work and home schooling, right?  So I wet down a corner of the garden by the asparagus which just won't give up, got to pulling weeds (yes, it was the easier corner) and got the new blueberry and grape plants in.

The asparagus is just left of center. It always fights through a little on its own, but once I get things on track again it will come back I believe. Notice the hose? Cannot get the sprinklers o turn on, but we will work on that and until then I can get it done with a hose.

That is the little ten by four or so patch I got weeded. About one twelfth of the garden. Baby steps, right?

I really have my work cut out for me, though on Sunday, Charlie went in and burned a lot of the tall weeds so I can get to raking, pulling, and tilling faster.

The garden as a whole. Yup, lots to do. But it will get there!

The gander is being so very protective of his goose, who is sitting on seven eggs. They are an adorable couple. When he gets bored, he goes in and chases Shadow for fun, though, at this moment I had just changed out the feed and water in their regular enclosure, so he walked all the way back to where she decided to nest by the swing set, hollering for her all the way, and made her come back to eat.

I rather believe she just got up then to get him to pipe down and be quiet, though she does love the water when it is freshly changed each afternoon.

Shadow Paws is absolutely in love with the baby goats. She wants to be the babysitter, but we then babysit all of them, as this is her first time with baby goats. This little one had a hard time getting the suction going on mama, so we were syringe feeding for the first four days, trying a bottle but not getting anywhere. The other one only took a day, and this one had to go with us on Sunday so we could keep food in it. After a bath Sunday night, he took a bottle for me! Not much of it, mind you, but when his brother went out, and mama took him, and then this guy went out, his mama was climbing the pen gate to get to him, and he LATCHED ON! Thanks goodness!

He did get to visit the Sunday School classes at church, along with seven baby chicks, as they kick off the Easter units, and was a huge hit!  He did beautifully, and eventually we decided he on his name. But he evening, Bailey had both of their names.

So, introducing Patriot's Dream Freedom's Prayer on the left, and Patriot's Dream Let Your Light Shine on the right .

I also baked a large batch of egg shells. Did you know you can bake them at 350 degrees to kill any bacteria, then grind them up to add calcium to the hens' diet? Well, here is one batch!

Well, here we go, off to start another wild week as we get ready for county fair and the heat to set in. Hope things are beautiful where you are, and you are feeling all of the wonder of Spring!

Next Adventure!

It's hard to get rolling on a Saturday morning, but we are off to the races, so to speak. Bailey and I are loading up Powerstroke and Obediah and little Versie to head up to Cottonwood for a goat show! We won't be back until late tomorrow, so we are leaving the place int he capable hands of Charlie and Wyatt, as well as the farm dogs =).

Presently there are ten baby chicken in the house, five Brahmas, two Silkies, two Cochins and a d'Uccle.  The tiny Cochin front and center, as well as the little Silkie better seen on the right in the lower photo seem to ave the makings of being visiting chickens. They love being held and played with and jump right into your hand to go for a look around.

These group of them seems to like the camera, too! The remaining Brahmas hide when the camera comes around!

We have had five straight days with rain storms. Not all day, but at least once or twice a day. The geese are loving it, but the mud and the craziness have laying a bit off. The Ameraucana who laid this tiny green egg is two years old!

Well, with Bailey and I heading off, I thought I would share the contest one last time, and remind you to enter, we will draw winners shortly after we get back!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Share with friends and have a great holiday weekend, cuddle your animals and stay safe!

Starting the Week Off Right

I cannot help it- I LOVE these monsoon sunsets! Funny, because the opposite direction from this, it was dark. And we are presently having RAIN out there!!! Barrels are out, and excitement is in my blood!

Gosh, the angle on this makes the whip portion look particularly bad! But the breakfast treat of the week- bowls of honeydew and Chinese cantaloupe with chia coconut granola and a little whip on top!  I think I have a chia thing going on these days!

Shadow is looking a little TOO comfortable while Wyatt works on math on my bed- AGAIN...

The hen in the Big Pen loft has now lost her eggs twice. I had a talk with her about shaken baby syndrome, but she wanted her eggs back so I let her have them.

She immediately gathered the remaining three back under, then later the two. I shudder to think where the others have gone after two weeks...

For those of you who follow us on Facebook, you have likely already seen these photos. I went out with Wyatt today to check on chores, and found Huey, having wedged himself under the top of a plastic dog house at the edge of his pen. At first I was worried, 

but then realized that he was just fine there. It is funny, the animal kingdom. When Huey just wants to lay around and not do anything, if Bailey puts food in their buck, even if there was already some there (and the almost always is) Powerstroke pushes Huey gently to his feet and grunts until he walks over to eat.

Shadow was having some goofy of her own, out chasing squirrels in the woodpile.

Well, I guess that is about all for today. Lots to do, and a big delivery coming tomorrow!!!  I will share photos and tell you all about it!