Weed eating machines…

Posted by kenleighacres on August 12, 2017
Posted in: Goat Kids, goats, pack goats, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

Our little guys are still young enough that they are getting goats milk 3 times a day…

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but before they get their last bottle for the day, we take them for a walk and they gobble up as many weeds as they can!

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They LOVE Queen Anne’s Lace!

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Among the favorites are the dandelions and they even eat the puffs!

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We were laughing at what that texture must be like….mmmmm, fuzzy 😉

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Of course the blackberry vines are delicious!

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As are the dead leaves from this apple tree branch.

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I believe this is a wild rose.  The thorns really don’t seem to bother them!

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We all enjoy our evening walks, but they are always eager to get back to the barn and their bottles.

Consistency is key…

Posted by kenleighacres on August 7, 2017
Posted in: Goat Kids, goats, pack goats. Tagged: , , . 1 Comment

at least that is what I have learned with our sheep.  It appears to be working with the goats too 😉

When we brought them home, they had not had a lot of one on one handling, or ever had a collar on, but these boys have caught on so quickly!  We started by putting their collars on before giving them their bottles, and consistently did that before each feeding.  Now, they line up to have their collars put on!

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What good little guys.

Once they were comfortable with the collars, we started tying them up before feeding.

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This serves a couple of different purposes…one – they aren’t fighting each other for their bottles and second – they are learning to stand tied nicely.

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When they were comfortable with their collars and standing nicely when tied, we started taking them for a small walk after they finished their bottles.  This was only 2 days in.  They are now very comfortable going on longer walks.

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After bottle time, is time for scratches and snuggles 🙂

Steps to becoming a good little goat…

Posted by kenleighacres on August 5, 2017
Posted in: goats, pack goats. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

It has been awhile since I did any blogging, but I have been urged to blog about our new adventure….raising pack goats!

I love our sheep and have always been more of a ‘sheep’ person than a ‘goat’ person.  My sister loves her goats and appreciates their ‘goatiness’.  I will be the first to admit that I place goats in the category of being trouble makers…along with all of the stereotypes  that go along with that.  So, when we started talking about getting pack goats and using them for hiking, backpacking, and hunting, I was immediately skeptical.  I did some research and have been following a few hiking with pack goat FB pages and have been pleasantly surprised with how they raise their goats and their expectations of their behavior.  I saw a bright spot and thought ‘we can do this!’

Flash forward to this week and the actual arrival of our 4 goats.

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Meet Glacier, Ghost, Ansel (hiding behind Ghost), and Slick.  Aren’t they cute!

I think that is what gets them into trouble.  People see the ‘cute’ and their cute little antics.  Very cute at this stage…not so much when they are over 200 lbs.!

IMG_7501 We have implemented a few rules and are slowing making our way through the steps on how to become a good little goat.

The first step was to keep all 4 on the floor.  That means no jumping up on us.  If they happened to jump up on us, we simply said ‘no’ and put their feet back on the ground.  Four days into it and they already have this one down.  This leads us to the other reason goats get themselves into trouble….they are SO SMART!

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You can see the little wheels turning in their heads.

So far it has been a fun adventure!  I hope you enjoy following along.

A HUGE shout out to my sister for all of her help and the goat milk from her does for these little guys.  We have another month of  bottle feeding and I know they are going to be that much healthier by getting goat milk instead of replacer.  If you have dairy goats, or other dairy animals, and have’t heard of Simple Pulse please check them out.  My sister and brother-in-law have created an excellent product!

Where to start…

Posted by kenleighacres on November 28, 2016
Posted in: 2017 Calendar, Uncategorized, wildlife. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

That seems like a good title after being gone for awhile 😉 My poor blog has been neglected due to the ease of Facebook and Instagram.  I thought the followers here might be interested in the trips we have taken this year and the calendars that have come together due to them.  I am still very busy with the Felt Pups and sheep and life on the farm is good!

Today only, everything in my Etsy shop, calendars included, is 10% off.  Use code CYBER2016

The Felt Pups give me an excuse to use my camera almost every day…here are the photos that I chose to go in the coming year’s calendar…

Nothing brings me joy, like getting outside and taking photos, and the South Steens area of Oregon did not disappoint!  We saw a lot of wildlife, including Mr. Owl…

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Some lovely antelope….

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My favorite, the Bighorn Sheep….

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…and some incredible Wild Horses!  We hiked many miles to find them and being able to walk among them was something I will never forget!  Here are the photos I chose to go in the Wild Horse calendar…

Our big summer trip was to Glacier National Park…Montana now has my heart and we will definitely be returning!  Here are some of the pictures and calendar pages from that trip…

Lambs, Lambs, and more Lambs!

Posted by kenleighacres on February 1, 2015
Posted in: Farm Life, Jacob Sheep. Tagged: , , , . 1 Comment

It has been busy since my last post!  We are up to 12 lambs – 4 boys and 8 girls.

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Delight and Folly both had twin ewe lambs.

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We have been very lucky and the lambs have been able to enjoy a lot of sunshine.

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Delight’s ewe lamb, Glitch.

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Folly’s girls got an extra dose of cute 😉

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and it looks like they are well on their to being friendly, just like their mom.

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I love the facial markings on Spangle.

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Serendipity’s facial markings are pretty cute too.

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Lily-Grace is a first time mom and she has handled it like a pro!

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Her lambs were really enjoying the sunshine today.

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Ailsa is VERY proud of her ‘mini me’ ewe lamb.

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Legacy and her lambs – Lickety-Split and Lollygag.

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Smooch is still quite the character 🙂

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He has his mama’s sweet eyes.

We have 6 more ewes left to lamb, unfortunately it doesn’t look like they will be doing it in the sunshine.  It has been nice to see it in January 🙂

Happy Feet!

Posted by kenleighacres on January 19, 2015
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

It was a beautiful day and the babies enjoyed their time outside!

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Lots of jumping, bouncing, and happy feet!

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Banjo and Bazinga stayed close to mom, but Smooch was a little more adventurous!

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Susannah is very proud of her babies!

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This is the third year in a row that we have bred her to Windy Acres MacCallum and I love the cross.  This is her ewe lamb, Bazinga.

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Here is her ram lamb, Banjo.

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Smooch was into stirring things up and having a good time.

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He thinks he is pretty special 😉

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We are all wondering when the rest of the babies will make their appearance…

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but the rest of the girls don’t look like they are in any hurry.  From the looks of things, I think next week will be very busy!

Lambs, lambs, lambs!

Posted by kenleighacres on January 11, 2015
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 5 Comments

We had 3 lovely little lambs born yesterday!

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Infiniti was the first up with her very big ram lamb.  This is how she likes to do things…lamb first and have big boys!

The naming theme this year is ‘Embrace your silliness’.  We like to keep it light and fun here!

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Infiniti’s ram lamb has the cutest marking on his nose and Smooch just fit.

It will be fun to match up the funny words on my list with the lambs as they are born.

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Susannah wasn’t far behind Infiniti and had a lovely set of twins – a boy and a girl.

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I love her little girl!!!  Her name is Bazinga 🙂

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She is so sweet and even agreed to pose with one of the felt pups that I recently finished.

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This is her very handsome brother, Banjo.

Not sure who will be next, but it looks like we will have a day or two before any more lambs are born.