Lita Meets the Jacob Sheep

Last year our beloved diary goat Maelita finally had a doe and a buck kid; this is after 2 years of twin buck kids. We named her Lita as she is a smaller version of her mother, being half Nigerian Dwarf. Initially Lita was the soul of quiet politeness. Plus being so petite she is also incredibly cute. When she finally started to really grow, she became short, sturdy and very spunky - so much so that Maelita really did not like sharing quarters with her any longer. Since Maelita is due to kid in a couple of weeks, today we decided that it would be prudent to move her our of Maelita's stall and into the pasture with the Jacob ewes and their lambs - figuring that she would have plenty of company, and energetic lambs for playmates. Lita greeted the Jacob flock by running up to them intent on play, jumping into the air and galloping along sideways. The sheep fled in terror, which is when Lita decided that it would be a fun new game to run after the sheep.

However the Jacob reputation for cleverness is well deserved and they also have relatively low flocking instinct, which made it easy for them to separate out into multiple groups and thus Lita was only able to run after one group at once. Fortunately by evening Lita was finished with the fun and games (at least for now) and was busy eating hay along side a couple of lambs.

Spring Comes Slowly

Sir Walter Wally (NC's own groundhog) predicted an early spring. This was confirmed by the famous Pennsylvania groundhog. I see signs of spring all around. We've got crocuses.

And dandelions.

And even some daffodils looking like they are getting ready.

And then there are the Jacob lambs. NC028-103 had twins (ewe, ram) early this morning. We're now up to 7 lambs from 4 ewes, with 6 ewes yet to lamb. But it still feels so cold outside and the lows are supposed to be in the 20s for the next few days.

First Lambs of 2016!

NC028-131 (FCS Early) had twins (ewe and ram) in the pre-dawn hours of Monday, January 18, 2016. She is a reliable ewe with very strong maternal instincts and a very nice fleece. I always love the first lambs - gazing into their soft gentle marbled blue-brown eyes, marveling at their tiny hooves; my lovely transcendental lamb moment came to an abrupt end when Early wacked me the thigh to let me know that I had held her baby quite long enough and that she would really prefer me to leave (but not before giving her a treat of course).

Winter I Can Live With

It is a well known fact that farmers tend to watch the weather obsessively. With the first potential snow of the year forecast for today, I was checking carefully emergency winter weather supplies and checking for the latest weather updates frequently in the last day or so. It looked really impressive when it was coming down.

But by the afternoon it was all gone and the sun was out - definitely my kind of winter weather. Now if it would only stay just a little above freezing at night... that spares me bringing in rabbit bottles overnight and extra watering in bowls. Looks like we are in for some serious freezing over the next few days though so no rest for the weary.

Newest Angora Goat at Avillion Farm

Pictured below is "Ghost Buster" - as in who you gonna' call. He comes from Kid Hollow Farm in VA. I spotted him from 100 feet away at SAFF in Fletcher, NC this year. I've been yearning for a blue buck for several years now - blue being the breeder slang term for white with colored fibers. Right now he looks silvery blue, but he will most likely darken with age. This goat has it all - lovely fiber, nice conformation and a charming personality as well. It was too late to use him this year, other than as a "clean up" buck, but I'm really looking forward to the kids he'll produce in the future.

Where They Are Not Supposed To Be

Winter has felt very long this year - even though the worst of it did not happen until February. Trees are not supposed to be bent over with snow and blocking the road.

Trees are also not supposed to land on fences, allowing sheep and guardian dog to escape.

Ducks are also not supposed to be using the rabbit grooming table as a nesting area.

2014 Weather

The first third of the year has turned out to be a real challenge weather-wise. A relatively normal January was followed by highly changeable weather in February - featuring a heavy snowfall in the middle of the month. In March, we experienced a late winter ice storm that left much of Orange county an official federal disaster area; I had not seen so many downed trees and debris since the aftermath of hurricane Fran in 1996. We'll be cleaning up from that one for the next year. April's weather event was a hail storm like I had never seen before - large hail stones and lasting about 30 minutes. I wonder what May will bring ...