Belated Baby Face/Critter of the Week

I am running behind this week so I'm combining Baby Face Tuesday with Critter of the Week and posting them both a day late.

This week we're honoring Lucky, our purebred Nubian doe, born February 8th, 2009. Lucky was the only surviving kid out of triplets. Her mother, Princess, had difficulty birthing due to the first kid being mal-presented. All three kids were pulled, but only the tiniest one of the three, Lucky, was alive. She weighed a mere 4 1/2 pounds.

Due to the traumatic birth, Princess rejected Lucky, and raising her became our responsibility.

She was such a joy to care for!

With it being early February, and having no mother to snuggle with in the cold, Lucky spent the first weeks of her life living in the house with us. We would take her outside on nice days as often as we could so she could socialize with the other goats.

Having a goat in the house sure was a fun experience and she gave us SO many photo ops!

Here's a video of one of Lucky's romps with her half-brother Willy:

But as the weather became milder and she grew more self-sufficient, her time spent outdoors with the herd became more frequent and for longer lengths of time, until she was no longer coming inside at all.

Here she is, above, at four months old, and below, here she is now (sorry about the bad picture quality- my camera thought I was taking pictures of the thorny twig, instead of the goats!).

Critter of the Week

Lil' Ann!

We got Lil' Ann in February of 2007. She was just six weeks old, and oh, so cute with all her wrinkles and folds of skin. Lil' Ann is the only dog we ever paid money for-

she is a purebred Red Bone Coonhound and is one of the sweetest dogs I know.

Here are the two girls with Lil' Ann and yawning Buddy, our now-deceased Chihuahua. It's amazing to see how close in size the two were and to see how HUGE Lil' Ann is now.



Lil' Ann claimed the front seat on our move to the new farm.

Critter of the Week

Jasper!

We found young Jasper, hungry and homeless, in August of 2010. He immediately became a part of the family. Unfortunately, his life was about to take a very traumatic turn....

...when he was hit by a car and broke his pelvis. Miraculously, he somehow managed to drag himself from the road, all the way through our front pasture, and into our yard where we immediately took him to the vet. He had pins put into place and his tail was removed due to having no circulation to it. The veterinarian informed us that he may never be able to do all the "cat" things that a normal, healthy cat can do.    

Jasper found a best friend in another stray that came to us, little Lizzie:

And Jasper endeavored to show us just how "normal" he could be:

He has an infinity for water that you would not believe! Any running or dripping water he hears draws his attention, and if you ever leave your drink setting around, you better be prepared to clean up a big mess!

Jasper is one of the friendliest cats I've ever known, and his striking "tuxedo" coloring adds such a gentlemanly look to him. He's a very special cat who is loved very much.







Critter of the Week

Billy Bob!

Billy Bob, an eight-month old Nubian buck came to us in January of this year. He is a super sweet guy and has fit right into our little farm. The ladies LOVE him, and he will become a daddy in a few short months! 

Critter of the Week: Princess

This week we honor Princess, our purebred spotted Nubian doe born in 2006. We acquired Princess and her half-sister, Dolly, as kids still on the bottle. They were our very first venture into the world of goats. Having Princess and Dolly was such a wonderful experience! We could spend HOURS just watching them run, jump and play. Even watching them sleep brought a smile to my face:

They soon grew into sleek and dainty little ladies:

Princess turned out to be a superb mother and milker. After having a difficult first birth, in which only one of her triplets survived, her second birth went quick and smooth, producing very colorful twins:

We look forward to this coming spring, when Princess is due to kid once again. She is also going to become a grandma this year!

Critter of the Week: Mocha

Welcome to the first installment of our Critter of the Week feature. This week we honor Mocha, our sweet rabbit. Mocha was born April 12, 2010.

Mocha and his siblings at a few days of age. Mocha was the only brown one.

Here he is with his mother, Starlight.

So cute! 

When we moved to our farm, we tragically lost Mocha's mother when the neighbor's dogs ripped the rabbit hutches open and killed her and another rabbit. Thankfully, Mocha only sustained a gash in one of his hind legs and an injured front leg. He's not 100%, but is functioning like a normal rabbit and is very happy in his new home. Mocha loves celery and carrots, and when you throw him an alfalfa cube he chases after it! He's very entertaining.  

And here he is now.