Big changes really. The goats have gone to live with my friend at Meadowkeep in Northern Alberta.
While I miss them, I don't long for them like I thought I would. Right now life is so busy and so full, I felt like they didn't get what they wanted out of things here and knew they would there. And she was looking for some more girls so... The worst part? I didn't get a pic of them filling up the car that drove them to their new home! Need goats? Get in touch with Ester. She is a truly amazing human being who has great breeding stock and is passionate about her animals There is a fine soft snow falling and as much as I'd like to complain, or perhaps feel I should, it's incredibly beautiful out. And maybe we'll have reduced risk of fire this year because of all of the snow pack.
I do think it might be time to dust off my knowledge of weather Deities and do some offerings. First of all - thanks for notes you've sent and my apologies about my long silence (again). I don't know about life for you but around here, things have been kinda kooky. Some has been good but some not so much. This has been good: Yep, three babies born at the end of May. Two bucklings and a doe. They're all adorable and friendly, and everything I could want in babies. And this: That was the second crop of babies. There was a third but after a day we managed to reunite them with their mama.
This came because I said "never again" to brooding chicks in the house. I said "never again" and then was faced with the option of either letting babies die or brooding them in the house. So of course... And then I started school. I decided, in spite of everything else going on, to apply for a doctoral programme. I thought it was one out of my reach and somehow got in. Funnily enough, now that I'm in the programme, I'm wondering if it isn't out of my reach. I have never been in such a tough programme but it's compelling. And I'm not much good at quitting. So, there's the update. I hope things are moving along well in your world. So, when you take a step back in your job, you take a lesser job for a cut in pay and a cut in stress, you scale back your week, you move into a smaller, cheaper house, you do something that reduces money and stress, that's sanity money. I recently not only gave notice in my Supervisor position, I've gone back to an old job that I love. It's a job that I rock, one with flexible hours and a massive pay cut. Yep, you read that right. Pay. Cut. Both lower wage and fewer hours. I was offered another job with a bigger wage and the potential for way more hours and tonight, after the poor Woodsman had to hear it all, we opted for the sanity money. The sanity money is enough to pay the bills - just. The reduction in stress is a major bonus, both because I can do this job in my sleep and still love it and because I'm outside of the other management stressors that were driving me nuts! I have some significant health stuff that definitely flares up with with stress. And frankly, the stress has been consuming a lot of my thought and creative energy - and exhausting the Woodsman and Teen who aren't big fans of seeing me stressed. And usually, I deal well with stress but caseload stress isn't the same as this stress. So, I took the advice that I often dispense - consider my priorities and move in that direction. So sanity money it is. It will let me enjoy most days at work, and still be able to be home with goats and chickens and the garden, not to mention the fam. And explore all of my creative ideas. Will there be challenges? Sure. I have the debt from my store to pay off and a grocery bill that needs to be cut in half. But are those challenges worth it? You bet. Well, in spite of my best efforts, I've given in to my habit. And yes, another goat came home. He's just young but shows great promise. He comes out of spectacular dairy and temperament bloodlines, and we love him already.
I cannot wait to see his babies! So, it seems that 2015 is my year of changing, learning, and growing. Of course every year is like that to some degree but this year, this year has taken the cake in that regard. My latest learning and growing experience consists of my iPhone and some water (yes, right out of my pocket and into the toilet). So, why do you need to know about this whole TMI situation? Well two reasons.
The first is that it's meant no pictures of things that usually motivate me to get a post up. The second is that I found out that although I purchased Apple Care +, it's not showing up on my local shop's system. So that's meant a week with no phone. Now this is definitely a first world (or developed world, to be more accurate) problem but a problem it is. In my case, it's not just a convenience thing, I use my phone with my clients to book appointments etc. so this has made it tough for them to get ahold of me. In future, I'll be going to my local provider to be sure that my Apple Care+ is showing up on their system before there's a problem. Coming up next... tomatoes! I had given up on goat breeding. It was too much work/stress/hassle. And then, one knit night, I was speaking with a farmer friend I respect immensely. She told me they have been selling cows and horses their way. Not to people who would be unsafe (as much for the horse as for the person), not having made any alterations or adjustments to the animal that they feel aren't in the animals' best interests. In short, they don't do anything that to sell the animal that they wouldn't do to one they were keeping. She got me thinking - that and spring and missing babies hopping around. She inspired me to continue on (with apologies to the Reluctant Goatherd).
I love my goats in spite of the sorrow the losses brought out of the last breeding. After a year of research consulting with vets across the province and beyond, and studying lineages, we think we've figured out the baby problem. If we're right, we should have a different experience next time. The only way to be sure if to breed them this year and see, which is a bit of a daunting way to go about it. Through all of this soul searching, I've realized that I have some really strong values about how I raise my animals and I can't comfortably compromise those principles for sales. One of those principles I hold dear is around the controversial issue of horns. Now, first of all, let me say I think we all need to do what we need to for our animals. As someone who has had horned animals up until my most recent goats, I've grown into my farminess with a horn related comfort. In fact, I think I'd go so far as to say I have a preference for horns. I've come to rely on them as a handle and for something to catch the goats in the headgate. I also like the fact that they can scratch their backs with them and hopefully, it helps give them a bit of extra protection in the event of predation. As I live in a cougar/wolf/coyote/etc area, any extra little bit of protection is a good thing. Yes, I have bent over and nearly poked myself - I think that says more about me and how mindfully I am dealing with my goats than it does about the horns because, ahem, I've done that with fruit trees and shrubs and fences too. I'm not cutting off every single thing that sticks out and could poke me but I am trying to pay better attention. After a lot of research and soul searching, I've decided I will be selling horned goats, with a twist. If you want to have your babies disbudded, (and 4Hers have to) I have no problem with that. In order to hold a baby for anyone, I require a $100 non-refundable deposit. If you would like disbudding to happen, I will just add on a $25 fee which is far from the full cost of the disbudding. I actually stole the idea from a few breeders in the US who are doing the same thing, for the same reason. I think we all know there are some people who feel strongly about having disbudded animals, or they're showing and have no choice, so this was the best compromise I could come up with to accommodate all of those views. Also - horned goats look just awesome. I love the primitiveness of them. Seriously - how can you look at this and not think "yes!" This will be our 12th (I think) Spring in this house and it’s the first one where we won’t have any babies. It’s a strange thing to wrap my head around. From the first year in this house where a puppy literally wandered out of the forest to ducklings, goslings, chicks, lambs,and kids, there have been babies of one kind or another. And this year, none (unless a hen or duck on a secret nest surprises us). I have to say I’m mixed on the whole thing. On the one hand, the reduction in stress and worry and busy-ness is a great thing. Chores are simple and haven’t changed. No specialized foods needed. I don’t need to sleep with one ear and one eye open in case babies arrive on the same day as snow. On the other hand, those long nights and early mornings have fond memories for me. The time we watched from our bedroom window with our then little son as one of our ewes gave birth to twins (one of whom would become a bottle baby affectionately referred to as Super Lamb). Here is a pic with her and Paks (our Pyr, also gone) found online (my photos of them are archived) J and I watched a goodly amount of BSG while either waiting for labouring ewes or keeping ridiculously late hours because what’s the point of going to bed when you’re getting up in two hours to bottle feed anyway? of course there comes a point when you have to call it and just go to bed, with your phone tucked under your pillow so the alarm wakes you without waking everyone else. Or last year when the boys were away from home during kidding and my poor, cold Gita had to come in the house to warm up. It was just her and I and the dog. She tipped the scales at just over a pound when she was born so, I would bring her in every two hours, after being nursed, so as not to inadvertently weaken her or interfere with the bonding process. I think it was the goats that did me in this year. To lose two brothers, one at three months old and the other at seven months , and not know why. They were healthy enough at birth but Freyr went downhill quickly. Bern not as fast but he died late on New Year’s Day this year. Rough start to the year. With their deaths and the accompanying unanswered questions, in spite of the investigations that were done, I decided that I wouldn’t be doing any breeding this year and paired my livestock right down.
Now we have three goats, chickens, and ducks. That’s it. And while it’s meant a reduction in stress and work, it’s also reduced other things. No more waking up with all of the anticipation of a kid at Christmas, looking outside to see if babies arrived in the night, no lamb Olympics around the house, no fresh milk, no peepers hopping on your hand and pecking a bit of food out of it (ok, that still happens but the chickens are no longer small and cute when they do it). It’s a well needed break but a trade off too. I suppose that’s smallholding in a nutshell. It’s rarely easy, it’s exhausting, and so full of emotion. But it’s real. It’s a kind of reality you cannot experience in any other way. I think that’s part of what makes the joys so full and the lows so deep. It’s a tough one to explain to people who either aren’t doing it or who don’t get it, especially when you work outside of the home in addition to keeping a smallholding. Why on earth would you want to deal with kidding or lambing and still have to be at work at 8:30 the next morning? I don’t know that there is a way to put that feeling into words. I suppose for those of us inclined to it, the nearest thing would be to call it a vocation, a calling. There are just some things that you do that aren’t about how much money you make or making your life easier, they’re just what has to be. For me, smallholding is very much like that. |
AuthorI'm a 40-something writer and smallholder living in the wilds of BC with my family, our small herd of Nigerian Dwarf Goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats. Archives
August 2017
Categories
All
|