Saturday, April 08, 2017

Will spring ever... be sprung?

We have been having some crapacious weather lately: cold, grey, rainy and the farm is a muddy hellhole! After the deluge we got Thursday and Friday, most of the snow has disappeared. I took this pics before that happened. And here is Mr. Rudy!


Perhaps that should be KING RUDY since he is definitely top pig in the herd. It's nice to see the porkers outside again now that it's a bit warmer.

I keep thinking spring has sprung, but then we get snow or a miserable day, and I think, NOT QUITE! But the goats have headed back to Goat Mountain so winter must be over...



Debbie claimed her spot!


Debbie, Salty and Pepper


The Pygmy brothers Salty and Pepper again!


They definitely have the best beards in the herd, although Penny's comes close (yes, she is a bearded lady!)


The new guys have fit in really well.


Ninja and Cindy are super cute.


And here's Daphne, herd queen! The vet came to see her again last week. Since her Caesarian last year, she has had "crusty butt" issues we're trying to solve. I've washed her butt so many times now, I've lost count, and my barn coat is permanently scented with Daphne's unique aroma.

I just finished up giving her a week of antibiotic shots. As far as we can tell, she is getting recurring urinary tract infections, possibly because she suffered some nerve damage to her bladder during the C-section, and isn't emptying her bladder completely But the vet is still working on a diagnosis. I have to clean her crusty butt again... she has a sort of slow drip which is unpleasant for her. We'll see what we can do. Apart from that, she seems happy. All the goats are getting hoof trims this week.


Ninja....



Bert at back left, Ninja centre, Pepper right, Cindy in front


Cindy has blue eyes! They are a really nice pair of goats.


Pepper and Salty are sweet too. 


And here is my lovely Genny the Boer/Nubian cross.


I think  she was posing for me!


And Bert! I love this guy so much. He follows me around like a dog and is a little ray of sunshine at the farm. Hard to believe someone would leave him for dead on the steps of the SPA de l'Estrie at the age of one week. I'm so glad he ended up here. He's quite a little character.


These two are so photogenic.


Horns are good for scratching!



And there's Pepper the stealth goat!


Geoff the Boer goat is very photogenic. He's a nice boy, second in command after Kevin.



I love the white spots around his face and neck.


Annabelle, Penny's daughter.



Debbie and Annabelle doing some friendly head-butting!

And how do you like my lap dog?


That's my Dodger!

I am truly fed up with the mud here. The horses are ankle-deep in it right now (they come into the barn every night so they get some relief from that.) I seem to have mud on all my coats and most of my jeans. I have nearly lost my chore boots to the sucking muck on several occasions. This crap can't dry up fast enough. We're supposed to get some much-warmer temps next week (up around 20C!) but also more rain. There is some local flooding around here and the creeks, rivers and ditches are all running really high. We have some water coming in our basement walls (stone foundation) which only happens when things are super-wet. We also have three sump pumps working hard in the basement. Our house is on top of a hill, so nothing too bad happens here as far as flooding goes. I am glad we don't live next to a river right now!

But eventually it will dry up and warm up, and then it will be July and I'll be whining about the hot weather. :) I am feeling a lot better as far as the concussion goes. Mostly back to normal; still some headaches and ringing in my ears, and I'm resting more than usual, but I'm back to driving and running, which is great. Can't wait to ride my horse again in June.

Hope you all have a great weekend! 




9 comments:

  1. They all (and you) are so beautiful. I could have lived without the crusty butt, but then not as much as you could. We've had summer-like days. I sure hope we're not due for another bout of winter. Of course, you would be so grateful for OUR version of winter. June and your horse are not far off!

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  2. Goats, goats, and more goats! But how could there be too many goats! And I swear they're all smiling.

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  3. Luckily, no snow here. But it came down as rain... so it's total mudhole here too.

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  4. Many animals in a small space can really churn things up and it just is a mud hole. Spring doesn't help.

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  5. We're having the weather you want, no snow, warm temps, and most everything has dried up nicely. Of course, that isn't likely to last as it is still early in April. I remember losing boots in the muck when I was young...and getting yelled at by mom for it.

    Great photos of the goats. It's hard to believe that some of them were babes just last spring. Good to hear your concussion symptoms are getting less as well.

    Eileen

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  6. I love your goats!

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  7. Lovely photos Natalie! How on earth do you keep track of them all???
    So glad you are feeling better.
    The creeks around here are running very high too. The lawns are very spongy.
    Take care.
    Robin

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  8. My sympathies to Daphne. After my hysterectomy, I've lived with a bit of crusty butt myself. Oops. TMI? Glad you're feeling better, Natalie!

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  9. What a loverly bunch of ungulates!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!