Bad timing, new kids, new challenges

While I was in Leander, TX Mama and Victoria had quite an evening; so much so that Mama told me that I was not allowed to leave again. It all started when she got home and found Kira attacking Tilly. Lately Tilly and Molly – the two pot belly pigs - have been escaping their enclosure and foraging in the secondary enclosure where the coop sits. It had not been an issue until Wednesday evening when the dogs decided to break through the back yard gate to attack the pig. Though we are never sure what triggers such responses this was severe enough that Mama thought Tilly would have to be put down. I assured her that a pig is pretty difficult to kill and if she was not bleeding profusely, she would most likely recover. I got to see her last night when I got home and she looks like she will pull through but it raised Mama’s desire to find a new home for the two pigs. We’ll see what happens both in the recovery and in the rehoming.

As for the dogs, Kira seems completely oblivious to the fact that she did anything wrong. Kobe is deeply repentant; even to the point that it was difficult to get her to go into the back yard the following morning to do her morning ritual. Victoria is at a loss at to proper discipline methods for Kobe  but we will eventually find a recourse to alert her to the error of her ways. It may be that she has to find a new home but for Victoria that is like giving a child away. One way or the other we will work through it – hopefully with no further loss of stock. For my part, if the dogs kill another goat (two months ago they killed Boomer), I will not allow them to live at our farm. I may not allow them to live.

Later that evening Millie started to give birth. I assume it was all completed in a relatively short time. She now has three little kids nursing her. There are two boys – the black and white ones – and one little girl. For the moment, they see to be healthy. We are watching carefully to make sure they all get an equal share of Millie’s milk. There is a tendency for one of the three to be crowded out by the other two. Once that happens, the one who is not getting the milk has to be bottle fed. It is not optimum and it is not a given. Mama and I will be as alert as we can be to ensure they all three have the best possible chance to stay healthy; even if we have to begin bottle feeding one of the three.

Once Mama and Victoria were back inside Wednesday evening Victoria discovered a mouse in her bathroom. It was not dead but it was not moving and it had chosen to take position right in front of the toilet. Neither Mama not Victoria were willing to remove the rodent so it was still where it lay when I got home last night. In order to use her bathroom, Victoria had covered it with a paper towel. So, the evening I left the farm, the ladies had to deal with bad dogs, a mauled pig, a dead mouse and three new kids. It was not the evening that Mama had been hoping for. Fortunately, she did not give me too hard a time about being away.

There are some interesting situations developing here at work; some very good, some a little overwhelming and some a bit alarming. All are due to some huge growing pains as the company grows almost exponentially. My prediction is that by the end of the year we will have grown by 30%. That is huge. An HR challenge. A payroll challenge. A management challenge. A comradery challenge. An integration challenge.

I believe I can help but time will tell.