Missing Willow Farm

Sophia’s got the most expressive face of any dog I’ve ever seen.  I think it’s because her fur is lighter around her eyes, it’s almost like sad clown makeup.  She and her brother Milos know their job and do it well.  Stray dogs steer clear of our place since they arrived.  The farm we got our ram from last weekend lost seven sheep to their neighbor’s dogs already this year.  They have no livestock guardians.  We’ve got really good goat fence which keeps most everything out….. except roosters.

Nothing escapes the scrutiny of our goats.  Any time something new comes into the pasture, they run to check it out.  That includes our Kawasaki Mule, which we have to remove the keys from if we park it for any amount of time.  We had a buck who twice removed the keys with his lips.  He could also open the pasture gate, which requires studying to figure it out.  Hardly anyone gets how to open it the first time.  It’s like a farm I.Q. test.   We got a gate lock, and he went to a new home.

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  The new stock trailer was needed because we had to go pick up a ram.  He’s a katahdin, just like our Kat Von Sheep.  A katahdin is a hair breed.  They don’t have wool so don’t need shearing.  They’re also nicely resistant to intestinal parasites.  My husband trimmed his hooves while he was still in the trailer.  When the door opened, he bolted out and tore around our pasture until he came across the rest of our flock, which brought him to a screeching halt.  He’s already making friends, the ladies seem to like him.  He hasn’t told us his name yet.

Necessity required us to finally purchase a stock trailer and we found a doozy about 90 minutes from here.  It’s gently used and considered a two horse trailer but we don’t plan to ever have horses.  We’ll use it to shuttle sheep and goats and hopefully some day pigs, too.  It’s just the right size for our operation.  I like it.  It’s fancy.  🙂