Missing Willow Farm

One of the quadruplets went to a new forever home yesterday as a bottle baby.  He’s the one we almost didn’t notice over in the corner of our barn when we found the babies.  He was struggling to stand up and hadn’t had any milk yet I’m sure.  I brought him a warm bottle of goat formula and he sucked it right down.  His new mama is 15 years old and the most lovely young lady.  I’m pretty sure he’s sleeping in her room in a crate.  We got photos of him today and he looks like he’s settled right in, baby blanket and all.  I think she’s going to spoil him rotten.  Yay!

(!)  There hasn’t been much exciting going on here lately to report on.  That changed this morning.  We found Hermione with triplets when we went to the barn to feed everyone this morning and were totally surprised to find a fourth hiding in the corner.  Wow.  She’s my best milker by far, hopefully she has enough for everyone.  In related news, baby goats are super soft and snuggly.

We’ve had record breaking cold here lately and the pond finally iced over a bit.  There’s proof all over the pond that we still have an otter visiting.  It leaves holes where it pokes it’s head up out of the water through the ice.

An otter has discovered our pond is full of fish.  Grrrr.  He’s kind of a big one, too.  We’ll need to encourage him to relocate, and hope he doesn’t tell his friends about his tasty find.

For homemade cinnamon rolls!  Gotta start a diet after the holidays…

This guy showed up on our back deck this morning when we were opening presents.  His sibling was lurking in our woods.  We were able to use treats to catch him and read his tag.  Called his owner who said “Oh don’t worry, they’ll come home soon”.  Sigh.  We’ll just enjoy our visit in the meantime.  Merry Christmas.

My friend Lora and I decorated sugar and gingerbread cookies this weekend.  She’s just an amazing baker.  We met in her cookie decorating class a few years ago.  She’s a great teacher!

Our critters get excited when a new hay bale appears in their feeder.  It’s a bit of a chore to get it in place.  We have to put everyone up in the barn to keep them safe away from the tractor, and from a few hundred pounds of hay as it drops into the feeder.  Isn’t Lizzie getting so big?

This little guy was born yesterday.  He spent his first night in the nursery pen in our big barn with mama so they can bond.  They’re both out and about with the flock today in the bright sunshine.   She won’t let him out of her sight.

Lizzie’s got her own pasture for a bit.  We moved her over to our chicken pasture away from our lambs.  Since she’s still a puppy, she plays too rough with the little ones.   It’s just across the driveway from our big pasture so she’s still a presence should any predators come calling.  I don’t think we’ll lose any chickens this winter to raccoons!