New Friends on the Farm

I'm pretty sure you've made some new friends during the first few weeks of school. That's wonderful! I hope you have a lot of fun with them!

We got some new animals this summer. Our favorite animal is a new puppy!

Here is Mishka!
This is the day we brought her home on June 30.

Here she is two weeks later.

We are so happy with her! She loves being on the farm. Scout is her favorite friend. They like to work together to bring the goats into the barn when it's time to milk.

I'll try to get a video of Mishka and Scout herding the goats or the cow. We're trying to teach Mishka some tricks, too. You can follow along as we teach her and as she grows. We love having a puppy again!

We also have a new buck on the farm. A buck is a boy goat.

Meet Teancum!

Teancum doesn't belong to us. He belongs to our friends. Their little farm is too small to keep a buck along with their other goats so Teancum lives in our pasture. 

He's easy going and pretty friendly so we like him here.

Lilly is 1 1/2 years old.
She'll grow a little bit more this year.

We also have a new doe. A doe is a girl goat. Her name is Lilly. 

We named her Lilly because she talks a lot! Do you have a friend that talks a lot? We have a little girl who visits the neighborhood and she talks and talks and talks and talks..... I don't think she knows how to listen because her mouth is always going!

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JJ isn't new, you probably remember her from last year. She is nine years old and she's having some trouble. She limps a lot because her front ankles hurt so much. We took her to the vet, who said she had arthritis and maybe a small tumor that we'll have to watch.

I think it's so interesting to look at x-rays, don't you?

When JJ comes out to the barnyard she wears some braces to keep her from
getting sore and limping. She also gets some special pain killer for dogs,
it helps with the swelling from the arthritis and it helps keep the pain down.

People can use aspirin, Tylenol, or ibuprofen for pain and swelling. Dogs can use aspirin, but they can not use Tylenol or ibuprofen because those medicines will make them very, very sick!

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Sometimes there are happy, fun things on the farm. And some days things don't go as well. One thing I've learned from working with the animals and working outside is that I can do anything that I think I can!

Every week last year we tried to do something nice for someone else every day. 

This year I'm going to remind myself that I can do anything that I think I can. While you're learning and growing and trying new things in school, I'll be learning and growing and trying new things, too.