Hay Feeder Goat

Sheep and goats are often mistaken one for the other, but after the last few years of working with both, I’ve noticed there are things goats do that sheep don’t do:

• Risk life and limb to climb trees.

• Dance in mid-air as they jump off firewood piles.

• Lie contentedly in hay feeders.

Athos and Macchiata are the most frequent culprits (at least, during times that I’ve been in the barn; who knows what the scene is like after hours?). They burrow into the hay that hasn’t been eaten yet, finding a comfy spot to lie down. Sometimes, they even start eating as they lie on top of their food.

But one thing I noticed as I took a picture of Athos was how content he was to be there.

Athos was doing something different from the rest of the group, but he was content to be himself and content to be where he was.

Even if the spot wasn’t really the best spot to be—he would eventually be booted out by the shepherd or sheep looking to eat—he could enjoy it while he was there.

Thanks for Reading!

What is something you enjoy that is considered “different”? Let us know with a reply to this email. We’d love to hear from you!

If you received Sylvan Sundays through a forwarded email, you can learn more about our farmers here. For an uplifting missive from the farm each week, click below to subscribe.

This Week on the Farm

Friday was the Southern Indiana Grazing Conference, and it was a packed house of 300 livestock producers, technical service providers (e.g. U.S. Department of Agriculture employees), and agribusiness representatives. Information-filled sessions energized us for our own work on the farm.

Some of the nuggets of information we picked up from the conference included:

• There are methods in pasture management that can reduce the amount of hay fed or handled during the winter (great news for both our backs and our wallets, as we won’t need to buy as many bales to lift).

• Solving one problem can result in new, different problems, but you’re still further along than if you hadn’t solved the first problem.

• Rather than focusing on feeding the world, focus on feeding your community.

This friendly cow greeted us at the hotel Thursday night:

Lamb watch continues, and we’re hopeful that we’ll get many lambs this week!

Farm Shop

The “Gandalf the Ram” sticker is a wonderful edition to my water bottle! It’s stayed on through many washings. Our Light in Winter artist, Lydia, has created stickers from her pen and ink drawing of Gandalf the Ram. Check out Gandalf’s sticker here!