Special Delivery!
I know you haven’t heard from us in a while but there are many good reasons for the silence… in fact too many to count. In February, Grandpa Stan and I delivered out first quadruplet and a twin all in one night. In the month of love, we had several other multiple births all due to superior genetics and excellent nutrition. Here at TrinJam, we are consistent and methodical about the care and diet of our animals and it is paying off. We have been delivering, delivering, delivering…
Because of my passion for agriculture, I like to show people the realities of farming and all the toil that goes into the products that you enjoy at the end of your fork. If you google “goat” or “sheep” on the web, the images that come up are fluffy animals frolicking upon a green carpet of grass. While we definitely have these moments on the farm, there are also the not-so-photogenic times.
These are the times when I’ve worked a 12 hour day and now about to have dinner, when I realize that a mother is in distress. She’s in labor and as I help deliver her blood drenched kids, my coveralls are soaked in a concoction of bodily fluids. Even though we are ecstatic about the births, we also immediately recognize that the next few days will be a hectic feeding frenzy as we supplement all of these new kids or lambs to make sure that they thrive. Some of you may not realize that while a goat may have 4 kids, she still only has 2 teats to share :)
There are still other times, when a faithful goat or sheep reaches the end of her natural life and I have no choice but to put her to pasture with respect, kindness and dignity. No matter how many times this happens, it still breaks my heart to see an animal at its last, especially when it has served us so well. We are faced with a constant cycle of life and death on the farm and it is both a blessing and a curse. The realities of farming are truly a mixture of blood, sweat and tears.
Below are The 4 Musketeers! From left to right: Mere minutes old, 2 days and then four weeks.
Below are the triplets we had, 3 days old and then 3 weeks later
