Circle M Farm

Our little mama corral is alive with running, jumping, exploring babies these days. Here are some sights and sounds from the Circle M barnyard:

Spot is about a week old here, and he and his mom, Cricket, have just been let out of the lambing jug (a 10-by-10-foot private pen) into the corral with the other moms and babies. He’s a bit nervous, but having fun getting to know all his fellows in the barnyard. Cricket will keep him close and safe. I like how you can hear so many of the farm’s sounds – spring peepers, chickens, dogs…

Now Spot is getting more comfortable with life on the outside.

Our goats kids are just adorable – Rainbow is a doe and Brite is a buckling (now wethered, which means we have taken steps to un-make his buckness). Their ears look odd, but they are meant to be that way. Their dad is Congo, a big Alpine buck, and their mother is Tapioca, a graceful slim La Mancha. La Mancha are goats of Spanish descent that are pretty much earless. They have ears to hear with, but not a lot of floppy ear-skin. It’s sweet to hear all the babies and mamas talk to each other.

Prissy was our last sheep to have lambs this spring, and they are just as tiny and sweet as can be. You can see the whole family is quite docile and gentle. This one standing, Patches, has uneven spots around his eyes that make him look rather pitiful! Or sort of scary, like a Day of the Dead figure. When Spot, who is just a week older, looks in on the new babies, he looks like a giant!

These are two of Polly’s lambs on their second day out of the lambing jug. They have almost caught up in size to Bambi and Barbi, the Christmas lambs!

Here, Polly’s triplets and Tapioca’s kids are learning to nibble stuff: hay off each other’s back, mineral and salt from the feeders, and occasionally, ears. The munching sound is the moms eating hay.