Tippin, Trimmin And Milkin'

Yesterday, a group of like-minded people got together to learn some essentials for keeping goats and sheep, to mate a few rabbits, and to 'pick' plums. Our host, Jen, gave lots of good pointers and patiently watched as we all tried our best to accomplish new tasks.

Starting in the sheep pen, everyone got a chance to tip, trim, and vaccinate a sheep - to the accompaniment of laughter and expulsions of air as the beasts squirmed out of our grasps.

 

These sheep were a little distrusting of us from the get-go.  I'm sure they knew something was up when they realize how many people were standing in their pen watching them.

 

 

Separating sheep from their herd-mates and moving them into position is a special skill - they're very stubborn, and surprisingly agile. One of the lambs made a break for the door and left the pen while about three feet in the air.

 

Number One.

After all of the sheep had received their shots, and sat for their mani/pedis, we moved on to the goat pen.

 

This was a slightly different setup, using the milking stand to effectively immobilize and distract the goats while we trimmed hooves and vaccinated. Well, as much as you can distract a goat, especially when it runs out of food..... Since we were a bunch of beginners, some of the animals lost patience with us over time.  Having them stand while we worked meant that there were balance issues as well - and I found that the front legs were much easier than the back because of the positioning....

Probably the most anticipated lesson of the day was learning to milk Elizabeth - mother to two little babes on the farm.  We all gave it a whirl, then watched somewhat abashed while Jen showed us how to milk quickly with two hands in a continuous action. There may be some room for improvement!

 

The babies were adorable.

 

We finished off the chores by gathering plums from a very overgrown tree absolutely laden with fruit.  The easiest way to get at that fruit, was to cut down some of the branches out of reach - the tree will either receive a severe pruning in the near future, or be removed to make way for an expanding vegetable garden.

Just before I left, Jen helped me collect several potentially fertile eggs from her flock's nesting boxes.  Celine is broody again, and if she has the perseverance to sit for another 20 days or so, we might have some chicks hatching in our backyard the first weekend of August.

Gypsy and Notch (Jen's Champagne bucks) were mated to Chun Li and Sakura, so we should also be seeing some cross-bred kits in 30-32 days.

A very busy, educational, and enjoyable day. Thanks Jen!