Timing

They say timing is everything in business. I think it has something to do with agriculture as well. I think God may use timing to provide a bit of humor, certainly for him but also for us if we take the time to appreciate how many facets are involved in timing.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I had a nice family with two daughters here who were excited to see the animals and farm. They arrived on Monday and we made a brief tour to introduce them to my staff, i.e. sheep, goat kids, hens, and horses. Tremendous rain storms were in the forecast and nature did not disappoint us. Tuesday dawned to pouring rain and about 2 inches had fallen during the night. After a big breakfast, we headed out with umbrellas to do the chores.

First stop was the hen house where the ladies had out done themselves to be sure both girls had their own handful of eggs. I have three hens from last year and 5 young hens that I bought as chicks in the fall. They are just coming online for production so you never know what you will get. I average is two very large eggs from the three older hens and maybe one or two from the adolescents. The production of six was a record for my girls but very welcome with the B&B being well booked during this spring break/Easter week.

We moved from the hen house to the dairy goats. I have two ladies who are fresh. One had a kid in December so her production is waning but valuable especially now. My little Nan had kids four weeks ago today and it was triples for the second time. She is a small Netherland Dwarf and does not produce enough for her three kids. In fact, last time, she had no milk and they were raised with milk replacer. This year, I kept Bell fresh by milking after her kid was sold. I intended to make some cheese (feta is my favorite) but just haven't had the time so my dogs were enjoying the bounty. When Nan freshened with triples again, I scooped them up and bottle raised these as well. However, instead of milk replacer. she was in full production so I combined her milk with that of Bell to make a sufficient quantity to raise the kids. Having bottle fed kids is really wonderful for my guests who, no matter what their age, giggle when holding a kid and bottle feeding it.

Well back to my story. We were out milking Bell and Nan as I tried to help the girls learn to first clamp the teat before squeezing. With some practice, they were starting to get the hang of it. I had milked the bulk of the milk out so that the bag was more friendly for teaching hand milking. I was watching the girls practice and compare skills when I happen go glance across the field to see that my older ewe had a lamb at side. Now remember we are standing in the rain with umbrellas milking because the milk stand is outside next to the Nanny Nest until a milking area is built.

Being the shepherd that I am, I apologized for what I was about to do but I abandoned my guests to finish milking while I headed to the barn to get a cart to go get the lamb. Fortunately this ewe is quite tame and we have a relationship where she enjoys me scratching her as much of the time I can afford to such comforts. By the time I reached her, she had two lambs and was trying to clean them in the downpour. I scooped them up and we headed to the old barn. It most likely has seen over a hundred years of sheltering new calves and other livestock so I added lambs to its list. I got them in safely and quickly bedded it with some hay. After a moment to catch my breath I examined the lambs to find that I have two boys. I really wanted ewes to build my flock but boys add to the bottom line so that is fine too.

At that point, I rejoined my guests who had followed me to the old barn and were peering in through a window to see the new lambs. We took the bottle of milk to the goat kids and they had a great time feeding them. As the bottle was nearly empty, I could see that there looked like a lump instead of liquid. I popped off the top to find a fist size mass of fresh goat cheese. Apparently they had done some shaking of the bottle along the way from mom to kid. No matter, the dogs enjoyed and the kids still had more than enough to fill their little bellies.

What a morning it was for my guests. I am sure it will be something they talk about and remember for a long time to come.