Not the Early Bird

You've heard the saying, no doubt, that the early bird gets the worm? Well, I'm not it. Our fence is completed and beautiful (Yay, David!!!) and the feeder has been bleached and scrubbed, but the bucklings aren't coming home today. One of them (Tripoli) is about 8 weeks, so it will be good for him in particular to nurse more, but that's not the main reason for their delayed arrival. One of his sisters (Abigail) was sold off the farm on Saturday and in order for his mom to let his other sister (Dierdre) nurse (she's not very aggressive) he has to be nursing. He's aggressive and holds the mama in place, and Dierdre really needs the extra milk, being the smallest of the three. So, the buyer of Abigail is the early bird, it appears. A bit of a letdown for us all at Stoney Heights after our eager anticipation, but in the long run, it's better for the animals all the way around.

The second buckling, Jarlath, (but really the first) can't come home alone, so he's staying at Standing Stone until Tripoli is ready or he wears out his welcome, whichever comes first. Why might he wear out his welcome? Well, he is too little to reside with the big boys, but too big to be residing with the girls with out wanting to fulfill his God-given job description, a job for which there are no posted positions yet--according to the two legged members of Standing Stone.

So, when will our boys arrive? I really don't know. It could be a week; it could be a month. In the mean time, we are just enjoying our girl goats (already over 70 pounds! They should be able to breed this year!) and our little featherd bipeds (a joke our church family will get--came from a sermon quotation of an evolutionist who called humans "featherless bipeds"). Their wing feathers are growing, and some of them are getting tail feathers already! The one who needed kangaroo care seems to be growing much more slowly than the others and is most at home in human hands. I hope she turns out to be healthy and strong, in spite of her shaky beginnings. I suppose if we can't be the early bird, having 26 birds and 2 big doelings to care for is blessing enough!