Lambs!

One of our tenants here on the ranch has a bunch of ewes that have just had their lambs - as in today and yesterday. They are so small and and fuzzy.

Other than that there is not too much to report. I have been the one of two people on the ranch for about a week and it has been a lot of work but nice time have alone.



We also got some new guard dog puppies to watch out for the sheep. While they are not quite as cute as the lambs, they do have a lot of spunk. We are looking for names if anyone has any ideas... one boy and one girl.

A Whole New World

Well, after one month here I have learned how to harness and drive teams of horses/donkeys, trim goat hooves, sex rabbits, kill and gut chickens, artificially inseminate goats, maintain guard dogs, treat parasites in small ruminates, identify different types of parasites in fecal samples, wrangle llamas, ride water buffalo and camels... the list goes on. Not to mention milking goats and making cheese and soap (with lye! scary). I've also learned to weave and make candles from scratch. I've spent my day (you would think this should be plural... its not) off in the garden learning all kinds of fascinating things about soil composition, composting, bees, worms, organic framing practices, how to control pests, and how to treat different types of crops to increase yield. I've done some work with the headquarters of Heifer International to learn more about Heifer's history and mission, as well as to hold a cow named Hollywood for numerous television interviews (in some of these you can actually see my arm! :).

I've decided to stay here though lambing, kidding, and calving - to see all the babies born. If I'm not careful, I may throw all my life plans and goals in a bucket and buy a farm. I love it!

Milking Goats

Every morning I milk three goats. They love it because it relieves pressure in their udders and also because they get fed grain while they are in the milking stand. I get about 3/4ths of a gallon, and its very good. If we don't need all of the milk, I feed it to the pigs, who LOVE it and are always so excited that they spill it everywhere as I try to pour it in their dish.

Things hear are shutting down for the winter. I've been the only person working on the ranch for the last week because everyone went home for thanksgiving... it has been wonderful. Everything takes a little bit longer, but its great to take thing slowly and check on all the animals and to get nibbled on by baby goats.

My favorite goats are two twin goats that have an upper respiratory infection that I've been treating in the barn. Their names are Omaha and Samosa (see photo). A lot of the animals have been looking sick and getting paracites and such. Because we are an organic farm, we dont give de-worming shots... we try to do it naturally. This means that I can be found force feeding ewes papaya seeds (does this help????), Vitiam B12 and Chickory plants.

Hog Heavan

Yesterday there was an impressive rain strom, and right before the lighting and downpour really got going, two baby pigs escaped. They were covered in manure and when I tackeled them (the rugby skills did not help in this case) to put them back in their pen (the hearding and coaxing had already failed) they screamed bloody murder and broke out in hives. Not to mention that now I was absolutly soaking wet and also covered in pig manure.

We also discoved that one of the dogs has a hot spot on his back, and in just about two days, has managed to scrach out about an 8 by 10 raw, hairless patch on his back. wow. Poor puppy.

All and all, I'm still having an incredible visit and am very excited... today I learn how to make goat cheese!

Chicken Fried Chicken or Chicken Fried Stake?

Today I went to Petite Jean State Park, which was beautiful. Lovely waterfalls, overlooks, and rock formations. However, the high light of my day was during lunch, when I heard one man ask his wife, "Well Darlin, you haven' chicken fried chicken or chicken fried stake?" I confess to being heartly confused about what chicken fried chicken could be... when I picked up my menu I discoved smoothered pork chops (also fried), fried catfish, turnup greens, and fried cheesecake for dessert (which was excellent!). It made me smile - I guess I'm in the south!

My parents came to visit for a few days and we have had a wonderful time - this is an easy place to love.

Learning the Ropes

While wrestling rams today to change their markers (they wear crayons on their chests so that when they mate with the ewes we can tell which ones have been bread) I got painted red. And I mean everywhere. My face, my arms, clothes... covered in red crayon.

In the mornings I get up and do chores, which just means feed all the animals and check their water and count to make sure none are missing. Than in the afternoons we do that again. In the middle of the day, we mend fences, move animals, treat sick animals, clean pens, etc. I love it.

A few days ago I was on Central Arkansas TV holding a heifer named Hollywood (she got this name because she's been on TV a number of times).

My third day on the ranch we did turkey and duck chopping. I de-feathered 15 turkeys and 9 ducks ... and killed a few of them also. But they were served for lunch the other day and I didn't eat them.

There are three guard dogs for the sheep and one of them is terrified of people. They (the people at the ranch, not the dogs) have my resume and thus know about me and the guide dogs and have decided that its my job to settle him down. The only trouble is, before I got here he went through a barbed wire and electric fence to evade capture and has been roaming free - making him nearly impossible to approach. I've tried just about everything that I can think of and we are at an impasse. So I just spend time sitting about thirty feet away from him waiting for him to get used to me. Any suggestions?

first impressions

It is beautiful here. Rolling hills, misty evenings, and of course, lots of grazing animals.
My room is home to 20+ ladybugs and a praying mantis.
Water buffalo have HUGE horns.
I got a note on my door that read, "hey, we share a fridge. I am SOO sorry. - Tyler” It is indeed a mess.
My roommates are brewing pumpkin ale in a bucket in my bathroom.
Tomorrow I start milking goats!