March

March flew by with a flurry of kids. The trend this year was for 3-4 am births which is both good and horrible. Horrible because I have to get up at 3am but nice because the rough stuff is done by 7.

For the most part, the weather held out and our birth days did not correspond with any of the frigid cold days we had this winter.

We went from two to forty in a flash. Yes, they're all cute. No, we've never had an ugly one. Some are cuter than others, of course. As in- the first born is always cuter than the last, lets face it those late kids kind of get the shaft in terms of cuddle time. We had several picked up early this year, some by 1-2 weeks of age so the barn never got to the overcrowded panic point.

Through March we also tried to think of ways to tire Ivy out - impossible! Our last weimaraner, Kaelyn was a bit of a sissy in the cold and she certainly didn't like getting muddy. Not Ivy! We quickly learned that long-haired weimaraners are completely oblivious to cold, snow, ice, frozen mud puddles, etc. We also learned that those lovely long tail plumes are like a damn sponge when it comes to mud. Ivy is fortunately crate trained and fortunately quite a happy pup most of the time. That wagging happy tail, however, did a number on our walls and doors. We decided that April would be a good time to give her a good trimming.

February

Some months are tougher than others, especially on a farm. The weather just flat out stinks, the wind is biting and miserable and the desire to hibernate runs strong. Two things we must always remember are:
1) The animals must eat, drink and exercise - generally before we do.
2) When you have livestock you have deadstock.

February started with a case of urinary calculi in one of our mature alpine bucks, Patriot. We were excited to acquire Patriot only one year earlier and were looking forward to seeing what he would bring to our alpine breeding program. Unfortunately it was not to be and we had to euthanize him shortly thereafter. Which brings us to another thing we always have to remember - large animals often die in winter when the ground is frozen and hard. Yep, yet another challenge I'd rather not get into.

Late February brought the start of kidding season, a little later than normal for which we ended up being thankful due to the rather cold start we had to winter this year. Paloma started things off with two healthy kids. Check!

Charlotte followed with a really stuck kid. Check! In the wee hours of Sunday eve / Monday morning. Check! On a workday. Check! With the truck unavailable and the trailer full of hay. Check! And our first goat c-section. Check! One lone dead doe kid, which would have been her first female kid in 4 years. But Charlotte lived, which was the goal- she had a rough few days but has bounced back nicely into her role as herd queen. The other reality of farming is that every choice has several variables - we chose to save Charlotte as she is one of our highest appraising and productive does, we chose to save her over her kid who quite honestly I mangled a bit trying to get her out. We chose to save Charlotte knowing that this unexpected hefty expense would impact our entire season of animal sales, profits, etc. Though we're thankful we were able. We chose to do this so she could have the potential to be bred again and finally have that healthy doe kid I've been so patiently waiting on. We'll see. This will make for a nervous sleepless 'me' come February - March of 2019.

And the nerves and fatigue set in quickly for the kidding explosion to come.

January

Another blog slacker catch-up series... starting with January. Time has traveled so quickly and my memory is so crummy that I will refer to my trusty i-phone photo album to remember what transpired.

Oh yes! It was cold. Really cold.

The New Year came in with a bang, we stayed up till midnight.

We started adjusting to life with Ivy. Translation - saying 'no' constantly, playing keep a way with just about everything, lack of sleep that rivals that of new parents, constantly coming up with ways to stimulate the mind of a pup that truly doesn't rest, among others. Here is a rare photo of her sleeping - even in rest she's a nutjob.

I had a brief escape to south Florida for a meeting but it was far too brief.

In January we said goodbye to Mama Kitty at 20+ years old. We inherited her with the farm and her previous owners estimate she arrived in the mid-90's from Northfield Park after having a few litters if kittens. She was deaf, had a funky ear but she was sweet and affectionate and somehow could hear a can of wet cat food being opened a mile away. She's the only cat I'd ever met who routinely sat up like a dog to beg and her favorite hobby was sitting outside our patio door torturing Luna, who desperately wanted to be her friend.

The end of January brought the start of baby goat preparations, barn cleanings and lots and lots of fireside naps!