Mary, an E'st a Laine Merino with two black ram lambs. I was up at 4:30 this morning to bottle feed the baby goats. There are four of them now, coming to feed. Two are orphans in that their mothers rejected them, but the other two are triplets who need supplementation because the larger stronger siblings push them aside and they were not getting enough milk. Loki, the Angora buckling, was shivering and refused to eat, which for him is unheard of, so I assumed he was ill and gave him a little shot of penicillin for his fever. He was shivering and very warm and hopefully by tomorrow he will be feeling so much better. Walter, the Cotswold ram got his medicine today too, though yesterday I missed it. 21 days of cornering him and squirting 20 cc's of medicine down his throat, is not that easy. He is a big ram and does not want the medicine.
The bed and breakfast guests were beautiful people and we enjoyed a long leisurely morning breakfast. They departed just before noon, but lunch was already prepared and underway. My cousin, Ken and his new family and sweet little baby girl, visited today. I have not seen Ken since he was a boy, some 30 years ago. It was a really fine visit and I do look forward to seeing them again soon.
While they were here and we were out looking around, the power went out. My heart sank because there are three heat lamps over new chicks and ducklings, who would die without the warmth in a short time, particularly the day old chicks and especially the turkeys. I tried several things, while waiting for the power company to come, but nothing worked, so one group of birds was collected and brought into the house. The other group is a little older, so could manage without the heat for an hour or so, but it was not warm outside. Other people came to buy chicks and I had to turn them away because I did not want to open the door continuously and chill the babies. My friend, Charlie, offered to go to town to buy a small generator, but by the time he came back, the power company had replaced the blown fuse in the transformer that feeds power to the farm and we were right again. There is also no water when there is no power, since the pump for the well is electric. So, it was quite unnerving for an hour or so, but turned out fine in the end. The folks who came to buy chicks said they would come back another day.
In the meantime, I am rather exhausted and have been running off my feet for a couple of weeks. The last goat kidded today and all was well there. There are a few straggler sheep to lamb, though, so until they do, I will have to keep a close eye on the flock, and of course continue to feed the bottle babies several times a day and night. zzzzz.
The bed and breakfast guests were beautiful people and we enjoyed a long leisurely morning breakfast. They departed just before noon, but lunch was already prepared and underway. My cousin, Ken and his new family and sweet little baby girl, visited today. I have not seen Ken since he was a boy, some 30 years ago. It was a really fine visit and I do look forward to seeing them again soon.
While they were here and we were out looking around, the power went out. My heart sank because there are three heat lamps over new chicks and ducklings, who would die without the warmth in a short time, particularly the day old chicks and especially the turkeys. I tried several things, while waiting for the power company to come, but nothing worked, so one group of birds was collected and brought into the house. The other group is a little older, so could manage without the heat for an hour or so, but it was not warm outside. Other people came to buy chicks and I had to turn them away because I did not want to open the door continuously and chill the babies. My friend, Charlie, offered to go to town to buy a small generator, but by the time he came back, the power company had replaced the blown fuse in the transformer that feeds power to the farm and we were right again. There is also no water when there is no power, since the pump for the well is electric. So, it was quite unnerving for an hour or so, but turned out fine in the end. The folks who came to buy chicks said they would come back another day.
In the meantime, I am rather exhausted and have been running off my feet for a couple of weeks. The last goat kidded today and all was well there. There are a few straggler sheep to lamb, though, so until they do, I will have to keep a close eye on the flock, and of course continue to feed the bottle babies several times a day and night. zzzzz.
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