Mischief

 Zeb seems to look down on the world. 

He dislikes anything messy, noisy, dirty or new. This was his look when I pointed the camera at him. 

It didn't help that this was standing next to him:

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Sigh".

I don't think I ever wrote that even though I feel sad when I think about Ewean, the lamb we have in our freezer is so delicious. We've had roasts, stews, curries and ribs and it has all been the best lamb I've had.

Thomas is a beast! I can't believe how big he is. He is very protective of his girls and this is the look he gives me when I feed them their hay.

When we got him we were told that he respects Border Collies and won't try to ram if you have a dog with you. He learned pretty quickly that he doesn't have to respect this Border Collie.

Ryan is too busy trying to share some breakfast with Thomas (no idea what Ryan was finding to eat in the hay) to notice Thomas backing up...

Bam! The next photo would have shown Ryan hiding behind me.

"It's ok! I'm ok!"

Ryan didn't let Thomas get him down - he decided to show off for Abby instead.

"Come onnnn play with me!"

"I take it back I take it back!"

 Poor Ryan. At least the goats respect him.

Or maybe not...they wouldn't let him jump up on that barrel. They even gave Queen Abby a hard time.

Abby is *so mad* that the goats push her around...

They always look like they're smiling - they probably are! They get a nice hay filled barn to sleep in and climb around in all to themselves, grain twice a day and pretty much any other time I look at them and am overcome by their cuteness, and the rest of the time they explore the farm and get into trouble. They shove their way in to share Mischa (one of the horses)'s breakfast, they pick at the best of the sheep hay and they steal chicken food whenever they get a chance.

I can't get over how cute these goats are. They are so so naughty and funny! Nathan found them sleeping in the hay barn at the very top of a stack 5 bales high and they were so cozy in there that when I tried to call them to put them away in the evening, they didn't want to come out. Today they were yelling and yelling outside and since they're normally quiet (unless they lose sight of one another), I rushed outside to see what was going on. They were just standing by the door to their barn...I guess they were too cold outside and wanted to be let back in.

Pure Innocence (yeah right!).

You know who definitely isn't innocent anymore? The roosters of the Breaking Bad gang. They're 5 months old now and they're at that stage that I hate where all they do is chase the hens around. I'm going to put Hank and Walt online and see if anyone wants them (if not, we'll slaughter them), and we'll try keeping Saul.

Gorgeous Walt:

Hank of the overly long neck.

Saul:

After much hoping, finger crossing and deliberation, SoZH is unfortunately a he. Too many boys!

 

Some tentative plans for next year include raising broiler chickens and pigs on pasture and having a bigger veggie patch in the orchard. We are trying to figure out how much we'd have time for if we're both working full time off the farm, and we think we can fit a lot in as long as we're prepared for it all in advance. The day to day chores aren't that time consuming - it's things like suddenly having to fix broken fencing, or treating a health problem, or dealing with fungus on the tomatoes, that takes up time. We're going to try to get as much ready for the busy season as we can over the winter. So far so good - Nathan built this awesome broiler chicken tractor for under $10 using found parts!