Mountains of Poop

Yesterday I got back into the swing of things with milking, gardening, and taking care of the dogs (Princess was even worse on the walks). Nothing too out of the ordinary until dinner. Instead of regular farm dinner the interns were treated to Indian food at a restaurant nearby. There was so much food it barely fit on both tables! All of it was amazing. We all ate as much as we could but there were still tons of leftovers to take home.

Woke up to pouring rain around 6 this morning and power that was flickering on and off. Luckily it stayed on after a little while. It's nice being up so early and having the farm to myself for a little while. The mist lifts off the mountain and the sun starts shining in, helping to get all the animals going for the day. This morning I was on feeding and somehow it took me four hours, about double what it should have. Part of the problem was the teens didn't want to go out to their normal pen (it had recently rained) and Princess was being even more stubborn and depressed. If you got her and Mia together the two could be quite the pair.

When the dog's away the goats will play

Forget the walk, just pet me

I did manage to get all of the milkers and babies fed at the right time. Everyone else just took a little longer. The babies were cute as usual, they love being held while you feed them. Unfortunately only 4 in the main pen are still in bottles so you just have to throw the others back in. Two are still in quarantine, but they're looking pretty healthy. The newest babies were just added to the feeding list. I was a little confused since they're still with their mothers, but I decided to give it a try anyway. Arlen and Amarillo were ok when I picked them up, but weren't hungry at all. Neither was JuJu and she just wanted to run around. Her new favorite thing is trying to jump on her mom's back. When I knelt down to play with the other two she did this to me! Definitely surprised to suddenly have a goat on my back! She wouldn't get off until I gently stood up and she slid down. Finally got everyone fed, watered, and walked. When I was done I walked back through the main yard and heard nothing, no dogs barking, puppies yelping, or kids bleating. Complete silence telling me everyone was feed and happy.

Feeding time for the puppies. They just started getting puppy food yesterday

Had enough time for lunch and then it was time for mucking the milker's stall. They get cleaned out about once a month and it is a long, gross smelling process. Literally had mountains of poop both in the huge container to be taken away and a very large pile in the yard (that will then have to be put into the container when it it returned). We all worked together though and finished it in about 3 hours. I think the girls will be very happy with it. Off tomorrow, have to figure out something good to do.