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Greetings, to one and
all, from all of us at Dalby farm, on behalf of my wife
Cheryl, myself, (Joel) and Ed, also known as Grampy,
we welcome you to our website. The Farm Journal is a
daily diary of some of the happenings we experience
here on the farm. It's our way of sharing, some of the
special times and events that we encounter, with you.
Throughout this Journal you will read entries from all
of us pertaining to life here on the farm. It's not
always an easy life, but it definitely is a fulfilling
and very rewarding one. It's our little piece of Heaven!
October 2002 Today
was very exciting for us because we officially became
a satellite farm for the Plimoth Plantation's Rare Breeds
Department. They brought over Arapawa Island Goats and
a Wiltshire Ewe. All of the animals are about a year
old. (We cannot breed the does until they are at least
two years old. It is important that they are old enough
when they are first bred. Breeding too soon can result
in a lot of potential problems with both the does and
the future kids.)
They all seem a little nervous but I am sure that once
they get settled, they will be fine. I am pleasantly
surprised at how docile the buck, Pembrook, seems to
be. He has really big horns and could be quite a handful.
He has never been with other bucks; the plantation purposely
kept him out of the buck pen because they knew that
he was coming to our farm. The rule of thumb is that
bucklings should not be put into a buck pen before they
are at least a year old. The risk of them getting hurt
or even killed is higher when they are young and more
vulnerable. Because Pembrook was just completing his
first year this past May, and because he was slated
to come to our farm, they kept him with other young
animals. I am glad because he really is a sweetie. The
girls are quite skittish but I also expect with time,
they too will adjust. They are a feral goat so they
will never have the temperament of a domesticated goat
but I think that they will be manageable.
October 2002 Over
the years we have raised many different kinds of animals,
but none compare to these Arapawa Island goats. This
is our first time experiencing, a feral (wild) goat
breed, and there are some differences I have to get
used to. They are so beautiful. Kit and Kat are our
two does and they are sisters. Understandably, they
are very nervous and not very trusting of their new
owners. Cheryl is already in sitting with them, letting
them know that their space is also Cheryl's space. I
think she has already started to make an impact on them.
Kit, the smaller of the two, seems to be the more curious.
I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with them
yet, but I intend to win them both over very soon.
October 2002 Pembrook
is a handsome, mostly black, longhaired buck with some
brown and white colorings mixed in. Initially he struck
me as a tough customer. One, I felt, would be very difficult
to deal with. But as the days went by, Pembrook proved
to be a very gentle and friendly buck.
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