Because of the snow day on Monday, Tuesday was my first day at Yellow Springs Farm. After I arrived, Sheryl and I went down the road to the other farm at Hollow Road, which the owners rent. At Hollow Road I got to meet some of the goats and take care of the daily chores.
When we first arrived at Hollow Road, the goats in the field all rushed to the fence and watched us getting out. These goats live under the protective eye of April the donkey. The first time we went into the field to muck out their shelter Sheryl cautioned me to stay on April’s good side because donkeys are trained to kick to kill. Many farms now use donkeys to protect their herds. Later in the week, when we went to drop off the manure, I noticed the farm we went to also have donkey to watch its sheep.
Inside the
barn at Hollow Road are kids who are being raised by their mothers, called
being “dam raised”. The rest of the kids are split between a pen in the barn at
Hollow Road and the kid’s barn in the field at Yellow Springs Farm. Also the
pregnant does (female goats) that are about to kid (give birth) are brought
into pens in this barn. The rest of the pregnant does, who are not so close to
their due date are kept out in the courtyard field behind the barn. They had
one doe kidded unexpectedly months before they thought she would out in the
field. Sadly, the kids were found dead the next day.
The kids are fed milk from these buckets three times a day. The hardest part of doing this is getting into the pen and putting three buckets of milk into three different stands while wading through a sea of kids jumping on your legs who are trying to get at the food. Also while they feed you have to spread them out among the three buckets and make sure each one gets enough. Working with the kids was far and away one of my favorite parts of the practicum.
Sometimes
the newborns need help learning to suckle. In these pictures Sheryl is helping
Petal’s little doe Posy feed from her mother.
No comments:
Post a Comment