Farms Don't Stand Still When You Are Sick

Goats need hay.

Eggs need gathered.

Chicks need watered.

Ducks need feed.

Dog's need attention.

There is always something to do on a farm. Being sick doesn't keep the animals from needing the things that they need from their farm owners.

When you have kids in school and a spouse that works off the farm and you are the only one who takes care of the animals, the garden, the dishes, laundry, dinner, and other such things being sick is possibly an option but never an excuse for not getting things done.

There is always something to do and a person must answer the call to duty when you take care of animals. 

The joy of the whole situation is when you go outside and are coughing your head off, sporting some sponge bob pajama bottoms, hair unbrushed, coffee'd down breath and those animals come running to via for your attention. Pet me, rub my hair, play with my ears, feed me a cracker, share with me Ma...share with me....It makes the aches and pains of being sick just fall to the weigh side.

A farm has so many responsibilities. Sometimes it can be very overwhelming. I have never had such wonderful experiences as I have on this farm, though.

Animals love you. They do so without every expecting anything back. The NEED things from us but they will love us regardless of whether we provide those needs or not. Animals are loyal. They warm our hearts.

As I anticipate the baby goats being here in the next 4-6 weeks I realize the impact that will have on my responsibilities every day. Several hours worth of work will be added to an already hectic schedule. A schedule I would never change because I love it. 

Invariably I entertain the idea, almost daily, that my does will find the perfect time to have their little ones will be in the middle of the night, on the coldest night of the winter, when I am the most exhausted. I am hoping, by some miracle, that this isn't going to be what happens. However, I have never had much luck at things going in the way I "plan" or prepare for. It is usually the opposite for what I have planned. You would think that I would make the plan to be the opposite of the original plan so that when the plan got here it would be the correct one and not the one I had originally "wanted" to happen. I do not really have that much fore site (or common sense as my mother would say). With that being said I need to start getting a spot prepared in the barn for all the items that I might possibly need if complications are to arise. 

In the next two weeks I will be "stalling" the two older goats who are due in late January through early March. I do not, for one second, believe they will last until March. Putting them up at night, with a baby monitor so I can hear if they need me or start making a ruckus, is the perfect way to get as much sleep as possible while still making sure they are safe and that any babies born are not gotten by predators.

As the medications from the Chronic Bronchitis I was diagnosed with for the 2nd time already this winter kick in I am finding myself needing some serious sleep time. I will try to start daily taking pictures of the does to post so that we can see the difference of how much they grow from now until giving birth.

Happy Farming Everyone!