Spring is the time of plans and projects... -Leo Tolstoy

Every year the cherry blossoms burst with great vigor, appearing suddenly overnight.  It usually coincides with the first day I pull the Zyrtec eye drops out of storage.

The honeybees worked tirelessly collecting pollen and zipping back and forth to the hives over the roof of the house. We watched the steady stream for a few minutes, a well-organized two way highway from dawn to dusk.

The girls are feasting on fresh greenery and giving our pocketbooks a little rest. Hay prices are horrendous and heartburn inducing. Knowing we have a large pasture brimming with clover we can ration the last remaining bales and force them to eat the 'free' food outside. 

These are our retained babies-  Maribel, Emmette, Lark, Sofia and Delfina. They quickly learn to be wary of the fence!

After a day of romping in the warm, windy weather, the growing kids look forward to dinner.

And promptly pass out.

Never need a reason to post togg-dumbo ears.

Well hello! Mickey was hoping to get his picture taken, his beard gracefully flowing in the wind.  Warm weather means that very soon I can shave the winter crusties off the boys. Their rut 'habits' leave quite the coating of grime. 

Whiskey waits patiently for the strip cup of milk. Otherwise she has little use for us.

It was Rog's turn to save a stray. After swerving to miss this young female painted turtle on the road near our house, he jumped out, scooped her up and placed her in the bucket he had conveniently sitting in his truck,

Off to the wetland she went. After a few minutes of cowering in her shell, she poked out her nose and started weaving thru the cattails. This means its my turn! I save kittens, Rog saves reptiles...I'm thinking ...stray steer or maybe a horse??

The last goat births of the year...

Goats, like humans, have a habit of nesting as they prepare for their babies to arrive. We usually see them scratching up the straw bedding, creating and destroying pile after pile. They create nests for their bulging bellies, nests for the new babies to rest in. As they get closer to the arrival of the new babies, they finally settle down and relax a bit.

When the expectant momma goat gets up to feed, if we're lucky, we get a quick glance at her eggs to make sure they are healthy. For such large animals goats lay pretty small eggs. Sometimes we have to shuffle around the straw to find them. This is a saanen goat nest, so the eggs are very pale. Alpines generally lay darker brown eggs, sometimes gray colors too.

 

Marigold is getting agitated as she lay on her eggs. Goats are ruminants so they release a lot of body heat. they are excellent nesters and keep their eggs very warm in preparation for hatching. When she feels the eggs start to stir, she will get up and let the eggs hatch without interference, ready to take care of her newborn kids. 

Goats, unlike chickens, have no use for an 'egg-tooth' so they use their specially designed hooves to tap-tap-tap and gently break through the shell. Those long legs are itching to get out of their confinement, its not uncommon to see the eggs roll and flip as the babies are hatching out. 

Often as the hatching kids get really restless we'll see the eggs burst open into many small pieces and the goat kids will use their butts and tails to speed up the process of hatching.

Finally free! Momma goat will usually quickly clean up the eggshells so as not to leave any evidence for predators. Plus the calcium in the shells will help them gather their strength after sitting on their eggs for five long months. A second egg hatched soon after, probably stimulated by the movement created by her twin sister hatching out beside her. Now its time to celebrate, twin girls just in time for Easter!

Happy April Fool's Day!