In Pasture

We’ve been horribly dry for quite a while again.  Once the rain stopped drowning us, it just quit.  I’ve had to water my “garden” and the ground is cracked.  We’ve had only had a few sprinkles since the hay was made.

Myson on the rock watching his herd

The grass was turning brown.

I’m glad we got the hay made.  After my bales were put in the barn, my nephew made the rest into round bales.  They work well for scratching against.

Gidget

(Blaze in the back)

Orpheus wasn’t too sure about that huge thing at first.

Orpheus

The bales have since been moved from the pasture, but we still hadn’t had rain.

Finally, we managed to get about two tenths of an inch Sunday morning, and then we had more overnight into Monday.

Lily

It’s was still dry, but that was certainly a big help.  Then we had more rain.  Last night, we even had rain and sun at the same time when a tiny cell went over us.

Osiris and Zinnia in the door

Hopefully, it will really let the pastures grow again.

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Setting an Example

Blaze was not helping my erosion problem along the ditch.

Blaze (with Jimmy P watching)

She doesn’t seem to care that she’s knocking loose soil away from the roots.

Jimmy P and Freya checking Blaze out

She had quite the interested audience.

Then her grandbuck, Zeus, thought he’d see if it felt as good as it looked.

Blaze and Zeus

He seems pleased with the results, and he gets a head bump of approval from grandmaa.

Silly goats.

Tracking Kids

Everyday is an endless stream of tracking kids.  I have twelve kids that were born in June, and they do a pretty good job of sticking with their moms, but sometimes they fall asleep in pasture yet, so I have to go keep track of them.

Pluto

Anubis and Freya

Jimmy P

The last time kids were not with their moms was when we came home from Villisca.  I milked and Dolly was there.  My sister commented on her big udder.

I mentioned that being out in pasture she was probably getting ready to feed them.  Then I opened the door and the boys weren’t there.

Dolly with Anubis and Pluto

I went out to track kids and found I was missing five.  Dolly was quite helpful.  She followed me around yelling for her kids.

Dolly (on the right) with her mom, Lily

If you haven’t heard Dolly talk, she’s quite loud and obnoxious.  It wasn’t long before I heard a kid answer her from across the ditch.  I helped them over, and it was a great reunion.

front to back: Pandora, Calliope (was not one that was missing), Jimmy P, Anubis, and Freya

Other times. the kids stay in the barnyard and have to wait all day to eat.

front: Pluto and Anubis; back: Jimmy P and Osiris (checking out the chicken)

When the moms get close again, they’ll call to their kids.

Zinnia (left) and Cookie

Of course, they sometimes don’t figure out where they are hearing their moms from, but luckily, the moms help them out.

Jimmy P headed for mom and Osiris trying to figure it out

Jimmy P nursing and Zinnia still waiting for Osiris to figure it out

Zinnia finally took off to try and catch Osiris who was running the wrong direction; At last getting to eat.

Finally, I have my bottle monsters confined to the north paddock with Harley.

Horus, Eve (front), Gilgamesh, and Enkidu

They had been free to go wherever they wanted (except Enkidu was too big to get out), and they even went out to pasture with the rest of the herd once or twice.

Horus and Eve

But when they decided to start going out into the driveway and almost to the road, I had to put a stop to that.  I must say, tracking kids is one of the more pleasant jobs on the farm.

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