Stray Dog of Seven Valleys

This fella was chasing our chickens and our neighbors chickens all over the place on a Saturday afternoon. He stayed with us for 4 days while we looked for his family. He didn't have a microchip, and no family turned up - so unfortunately, we had to take him to the York Co. SPCA. He was a sweetie.

Runner after his bath! He was filthy from running through all of those puddles!

Runner sleeping comfortably at John's feet.

Snow Goats

I don't understand why these goats want to stand outside on the thick layer of snow and ice when they could be cozy in their straw bed!

Visit to Perrydell Dairy Farm

No matter what time of year it is, one of our favorite things to do out here in the country is to visit Perrydell Dairy Farm. It is a 15-minute drive to this family-owned cow dairy and farm market. This family bottles their own milk and sells it from their market right on the farm. They also make their own ice cream from their milk, which is creamy and delicious and comes in many different flavors to choose from! In their store, you can find anything from locally made cheeses and their own ready-to-eat desserts, soups, and salads, to breads, baking mixes, candies, and unique kitsch for your home. And of course, they sell lots of milk. A local woman, Norma Warner, sells her farm's goat milk at Perrydell, and she also just started selling her own farmstead fresh goat's milk cheese. I hear that this cheese is delicious, but I haven't had the opportunity to taste it myself, because it sells out so quickly. While visiting, you might be lucky enough to run into Tom Perry, one of the family members who makes the farm a success. He can be very friendly and informative if he's got a chance between his many farm chores to chat with you.

Even on this 20-degree day, the kids cannot pass up an opportunity to experience the delights of Perrydell's hand-dipped ice cream. On the front porch you can sit on the long bench and eat before heading back to see the new arrivals on the farm. They have a constant flow of newborn calves arriving to, one day, add to the milk production at the dairy.

If you get there at the right time, you may get a chance to watch the cows being milked in the parlor - eight at a time - through a large glass window. Or you might be able to watch the process of bottling that same milk. On this day, the kids had the great honor of bottle-feeding the calves!

There were probably 15-20 calves on this particular day. Some are kept in wooden sheds, some were in individual fenced-in plastic housing. Calves are so cute and full of energy, especially at feeding time. A few were so excited to eat, that they were giddily jumping around their pens when they saw the bottle coming. I was surprised at how much air they were capable of getting!

Here you see the full grown cows at feeding time. Their feed is extremely fragrant, and can be smelled from very far away. Some of the cows are very curious about their small visitors and attempt to sniff and/or taste them. This dairy farm is a great place to spend an afternoon anytime of the year. When you come to visit us, lets go to Perrydell!

winter flurry

This time of year, it's hard to keep a constant offering of liquid water. I take fresh water out 2-3 times a day, depending on how fast it freezes over.


Chickens eat their crumbles.


Snowy Juniper.

Farmer Ed's Boer kids

I heard from a friend that Farmer Ed, the fella that I buy my alfalfa hay from, has 28 new kids that were born within the last two weeks. He keeps Boer/Saanen mix goats. Mostly Boer in them. He sells them at auction. My friend invited us to go with her and her daughter to visit with and handle the goats. Farmer Ed wants his goats to be friendly, so he likes people to come and spend some time with the kids. We were more than happy to go cuddle with these newborns!

This thermometer was hung just outside the door to the barn. If you look closely, at the bottom it says: "dead stock and animal removal". This is the kind of thing that I would have had displayed in my college residence back in the day. I thought it a strange sort of thing to have up on your livestock barn. Seems to portray a hopeless attitude about what you're doing. I have to confess that the thought to steal this little gem crossed my mind - but I'm too old to do such things anymore.

After walking into the barn the first thing I see is this shocking sight. Ironic.

I later learned that one of these babies was born directly into a bucket of water in it's mother's kidding pen.

Two dead goat kids laying in a wheelbarrow. It was bizarre - I kept expecting to see them breathing, or twitch in reaction to a dream, or change their sleepy position. But they didn't move at all. They were eerily still. As my boys observed them and asked if they were dead, they showed almost no reaction at all when I confirmed their suspicions. They just walked on toward the live babies in the fenced loafing area. Dead babies forgotten, once inside the fence they each immediately picked up the first baby they could get their hands on. I think they held every baby in there at least once.

The boys got to see first-hand the beauty of kids nursing from their mothers. They found this sight to be amazing and it never seemed to lose it's magic to them. The goat kids were pretty active and vocal and as a whole seemed to be pretty healthy. There was one kid, who was the smallest of the bunch, who was obviously not doing well. Later Farmer Ed said he didn't expect her to make it. She wouldn't nurse from her mother, wouldn't take a bottle, and he and his wife had been tube feeding her. Her back legs and rump were covered with runny poop and she just stood there, not showing the same vigor and energy as the other babies. That baby really bothered the boys who kept asking if she was going to be alright. I hope she will be.

On our way out, Farmer Ed arrived home from church. He says that he's got a secret stash of that good alfalfa hay left over that he'll sell me! I am so glad - I've been buying my hay from Agway. It's mediocre. I'd like my goats to have nice hay, especially in this cold weather - and with my pregnant girl.

Despite the harsh realities of life on the farm, it was a nice visit and good to see how another goat farmer does his thing.

Today's Snapshots

Juniper is still trying to push me around; despite my persistent redirection. Doesn't seem to be working.

This is what us country folk do with our used Christmas trees... throw 'em out in the yard and let the animals eat them. I love that.

The Seven Valleys J.D.s.

"Warriors ... come out to playeeeyaaay!"

Photo Update: Ginger at 8 weeks

(hopefully) Bred doe, Ginger at nearly 8 weeks along.

ivy treats

As you can see, we have lots of ivy growing on the front of our home. When John closed our storm windows for the season, he trimmed the ivy that was growing in front of them. It looks neat and tidy for now. It won't take long for it to grow back over once again. After John's trim, I picked up all those cuttings and took them to the goats. They LOVE ivy! You can see on the house, on the parts of the plant closest to the ground, it grows sparsely; that's because when we take the goats out to browse, this is one of their favorite spots to stop and munch. They eat it up the wall as far as they can reach.

Going to town on the ivy cuttings.