Pictures of goat kids!

Zasia's Nubian doe kid just bookin' it! Bottle fed and ready for her new home, pending G6S testing as mom's a Carrier and dad's a Normal! She was born last Thursday and is a sweetheart too!



Zasia's other doe kid, a beautiful black and tan spotted Nubian. She will be retained if she comes back G6S normal!

This boy is simply stunning - long, very dairy, long rump, and as spectacular as his sire who ADGA youngstock appraised Excellent. He's covered in moonspots and will remain extremely colorful. He is G6S normal by parentage, and available also. His dam is Flower, multiple Best Udder in Breed winner.

43 degrees at 11am

THANK YOU FOR EL NINO!! Woohoo!

All week we've had temps in the 30's.....actually, most of last week too. On occasion we've been hitting 40. Hello? This Alaska? February?? EEEK! I even did chores in a sweatshirt this morning, no jacket! The deep snows are melting off slowly but surely. The sheep think they are in heaven...big hay bale in the feeder, fresh straw and hay in the shed for bedding, and snow melting away all around them. Of course we'll have more winter, we don't have thawed ground for spring planting until May and often get snows in April, but this is a very welcomed break! Even the goats are relishing the warmth, the ducks are finding puddles to bathe in today and the chickens are out exploring far away from the chicken coop, searching for anything edible to peck at. I'm even thinking we should shear sheep now instead of waiting for March like usual........hmmmmmm.....would be nice to see what's under all that thick wool!

CRAZY!

I'm sure others are going crazy at this time of year too. Waiting waiting waiting.......just when will the first lambs start showing up?! How about you? Are you waiting for lambs?? I'm hoping Garrett will have my BFL ram lamb for me this year, my unregistered flock will appreciate him greatly! My registered Shetlands are waiting for a Moorit Spotted ram lamb too - let me know if you have a bottle lamb fitting that description this year, I'll have plenty of goats milk to feed him if you'll let me fly him up this way!

On another front, my beautiful Muscovies are hatching! YES - IN FEBRUARY! Crazy. They normally have a very low hatch rate at this time of year, but our winter has been so mild and since I sold a very nice black and white Pied drake to a friend, my Blue and White Pied drake has been VERY busy. I will have some gorgeous rarer colors available in another week or so. Muscovies are unlike any other duck, and many are pets. They do NOT quack - so they make the perfect duck for families in suburban or city locations that allow quiet fowl. As part of their greetings they make a nice hiss hiss hiss sound and literally wag their tails. So my Valentines Day present is a bunch of hatching ducklings - yay! If you want any, just let me know!

And I'm on the "forever waiting for the goats to kid" syndrome. I have 7 Nigerian Dwarves and 4 Nubians due within the next 30 days. One of the Nubians is due any day, and she's definately letting me know about it too. She'd prefer that I just pull up a cot and stay with her 24/7 I'm afraid - ha ha! The Saanens aren't due until this summer, so they're outdoors enjoying themselves!

It's been beautiful weather for us. No terrible cold snaps lately, got a decent snow of 8 inches a little while ago promptly followed by days in the 30's to help melt some of it down. Of course there are still huge snowpiles around the farm and still a deep covering of snow, but these warm days have been fantastic! I even got a 'tan' yesterday while teaching herding lessons facing the sun for 4 hours straight - yay!

Hope you take the time to send a note - let me know what you're up to -

And today's show results

Today was a different day! The judge was fairly new to cattledogs relatively speaking so we came out with different results indeed. Today my Anna took Winners Bitch, Best of Winners, and Best of Breed for the 5 point major - woohoo! Mimi, her daughter, took Reserve Winners Bitch! LOL! We had a great time and want to thank everyone who helped - we can't do it without you and you are GREATLY appreciated!!! I'll post photos when they come in a few weeks.

Today's dog show

Just a quick note - we went to the dog show in Anchorage today and will be doing so tomorrow. My puppy girl entered in the 6-9mos puppy class took Winners and Best Opposite Sex for the 'major' with Linda F handling her since she IS Helen's Auntie and special friend, and Anna, Helen's paternal , sister took Reserve Winners Bitch. Our boy Flyer, the lovely mottled boy, took Best of Breed for his first major at 9 months of age. Yay! We had a great time and big thanks to the friends who came to help today - they made it all possible!!!!! Even one of my puppy owners was entered and showed their own girl for the first time ever in the show ring - for both the puppy and for them! Congratulations!!

Herding pics

I just got some photos given to me that were taken during one of this past summer's herding trials. I thought I'd share these two photos with you of my boy, Russell, working sheep. He was entered in AHBA Ranch Dog Level I, and did a fine job that weekend, handily finishing his title. Enjoy!

First photo - the ram who decided he didn't want to be part of the group....

And once again, the ram being told he WAS part of the group! Good boy, Russell!

Ever get blamed?

Ever get blamed for something you didn't do right but thought you did do right?

If you have a large flock or farm, do you sometimes wish that you could just deal only with the animals instead of the people?

People are so rude some times, downright condescending too. I honestly think that some 'city folks' think all farmers are hicks, sit on the porch in a rocking chair with nothing better to do, and that the majority of them have a 5th grade education.

If you have a large flock, farm, ranch, or herd - you have a wealth of knowledge and experience that no newcomer could ever have no matter how much they've read.

That's just the way it is. The feel of something under your hands tells you that something specific is wrong. The walk, the eyes, how the head or tail is held, even how the animal chews it's food - they are all very important clues to each individual's health and well-being. The longer you have certain individuals, they become much more than a number, a score, a rating, an appraisal, a tag, a tattoo. They have personality quirks, likes and dislikes, and records behind them of birthings and sickness and health. They aren't always written records, but mental notes that we store and we see those notes when we see that animal each day.

And at certain times of the year, when the farm bursts at it seams with new borns everywhere and planting, or harvest is under way, the brain fails us. A momentary brain-fart. Or, like during the recent windstorm we had here, so violent for 3 days that when it was over all you could think of is how nice it would be to sleep for the whole day because you're exhausted, worrying about all that you take care of. Recently I thought I was doing someone a favor and thought I understood what they wanted. So I did what I thought was expected, only to get a plethora of nasty, mean-spirited words practically telling me I was an idiot for what I'd done. My feelings were very hurt, it was supposed to be a joyful thing and I had been happy to do the task. Instead, I got to see what 2 people are REALLY like when things don't go just the way they wanted them to, and I can tell you, I have little value left for those 2 humans. Condescending and rude, I had to read their notes twice to finally catch on to what I was being blamed for doing wrong.

Such is life I suppose. I understand the animals much better than I could ever understand most humans, and that is why I like the lifestyle that I have chosen. So if I misinterpret something you say or something you imply, forgive me for not understanding you and just make an attempt to explain it to me a different way. My job is working with animals. For many other people, their job is to work with people. Sometimes the two sets of humans don't understand each other very well in the end.

Do other shepherds, ranchers, and farmers often feel the same way?