Breakin’ in a new Farm Hand
Brandon putting out hay
This is Brandon, my new Farm Hand. He’s been over here several times, working for a few hours here, and a few hours there, but yesterday he got his first taste of an 8-hour day on the Farm. He survived.
There was much to do and I was glad to have him around to do it. Feed had to be unloaded from the back of my Suburban, and the bags emptied into the feed barrels.
The animals had to be fed their grain, and hay put out twice.
The barn had to be cleaned out. Old straw, etc., had to be swept and shoveled off the false floor, and piled in a garden bed that I’m building up. The alpaca’s poop pile in the barn (why in the barn? grrr) had to be dug out. As friend of the farm Sue observed, Brandon’s choice of shape for the hole is a little suspicious.
The dug out alpaca poop pile in the barn
My husband will know where to start looking if I turn up missing!
All that poop and dirt had to go somewhere to break down. Brandon moved some of it to the garden bed, and then constructed a compost container for me out of pallets.
No doubt he would have liked to have had better tools than my small rusty saw, but he stuck with it. I found out that he’s a whiz with a drill driver.
The finished compost corner
All in all it was a great day of work and visitors. We said goodbye to Ameretti and Jellybean as they went to their new home with a loving new mom in Oklahoma. Sue and her granddaughter had a good time holding the babies (we have 9 on the ground now, with more to come!), and I warned Brandon of bigger jobs to come. It’s good to have good help!
All of the animals continued with their meanderings. Here are a few shots of what else was happening.
Who and what are you?
Ebony (left) and Falu (right), little ewe lamb sisters
One of the hens sharing Princess's supper
Lily curled up in a hay trough
Another busy baby day!
Two sets of twins this morning kept me hopping! Our sheep, Seven (as in Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero), gave us twin ewes.
Ebony, twin to Falu
Falu (a Swedish red)
Gamboge, son of Flower
Harlequin, daughter of Flower
Harlequin, daughter of Flower
Like I said! Busy day!
Images from the last few days
Sorry all. I’m run ragged and too darn tired to write. So pictures is all you get!
Boysenberry in his sweater
Bodacious, who usually twins, VERY pregnant
Baby Dorado (which is a gold color) right after his birth
Most of the boy goats enjoy the new grass, but there are some holdouts
The alpacas enjoying their new grass
The twins, Boysenberry and Carmine, with their ewe, Nina
Frappe with her broken leg
Boysenberry in his sweater
The goats are sheared!
Our morning was filled with the hustle and bustle of everything involved in getting our 30 goats sheared by professional shearer Danny Smith who drives into Texas from his home in Missouri to make the rounds of Texas sheep and goat farmers. This is truly an activity that “takes a village” to complete. Goats have a way of making you think 30 of them are at least 60! But thanks to an army of enthusiastic volunteers, the job is done! All were rewarded with a hearty lunch buffet and fresh eggs from our chickens. Organic fertilizer (a/k/a alpaca poo) was also available upon request! We try to think of everything here at the Fancy Fibers Farm!
Words can’t do justice to the hard work and fun of this morning, so enjoy the pictures!
Now you see it ….
Today’s theme was magic! Now you see it; Now you don’t. And lots of work was accomplished in this beautiful spring-like weather.
The first magic trick involved the goat’s feeding pen. Now you see it (in all its muddiness a couple of weeks ago, being enjoyed by our former Pig)…
Now you don’t! And yes, everyone was quite confused.
That’s because we moved it from the north side to the south side of the alpaca’s feeding pen.
On the north side, the ground is low, and despite multiple bales of straw trampled into the mud, the goats seemed to always have wet feet when they ate. On the south side, the ground is higher and gets more sun, so the mud will not stay around as long. They will be much happier! Goats are prissy animals, and they don’t like getting their feet wet!
The second magic trick involved our compost box. The Welder and one of his helpers built the box for me, but it quickly became clear that it was too small for its purpose. The dogs had begun to use it for their own personal sleeping spot. It was there (I promise), and then it wasn’t!
With a little balancing act to help our magic, Ken and I managed to move the box into the garden area. It will be fine for growing vegetables!
For my last trick, I turned my attention to a couple of alpaca poop piles. The alpacas make it so easy to clean up after them! Now you see it ……
Now you don’t!
The alpaca poop joined the rabbit poop and sawdust as the bottom layer of nutrients in the new garden box.
Ken managed one other trick today; he found the break in the water line below the hydrant in front of the Big Barn.
We’ll see what the plumber has to say about that on Tuesday.