Just Kiddin' Around....Literally!!!

Nothing encompasses the term "springtime" better than baby animals.  Closer to home, it means time for BABY GOATS!   This kidding season, we've had babies being born not just at my barn, but also at my Mom's barn across the road.  Since the end of February, we've been spending most of our time going back and forth to the barns checking for new babies.

So far, we've had 8 kids at my Mom's house (all BOYS!)  and at my house we've had 7 (4 girls and 3 boys) with 2 more does left to kid.   Making sure that the dairy goats are taken care of can be a full time job, but one that definitely comes with it's rewards.

Some of the rewards are pictured below:

Pippy (r) is going to be leaving after she is weaned, and going to Kentucky.  The little boy (l) is for sale.  He is a livewire.  These kids are Alpine x Oberhasli. They spend their day drinking milk, playing games. They are quite the dynamic duo.  Their super power is to be able to leap over objects and make really cool jumps while banking off of the wall.

This little cutie is headed to southern Arkansas to be a part of a show herd owned by a young high school student.  By day this little doe sleeps, and by night she is bouncing around her pen with her brother. She has a secret identity as Wonder Goat. She has a golden collar and an invisible jet pack that takes her all over the barn saving goats from harm.

This little guy is having sweet dreams of flying through space.  When he grows up, he wants to be an astrogoat. His favorite tv show is The Big Bang Theory,  and his favorite food is warm milk with just a hint of alfalfa.

After being overdue 9 days,  this trio (boy (l) girl (middle, and behind) has made us ready for anything.  They don't care about deadlines.  They have written the book on being fashionably late.  The boy, like most males, was holding up the show because his hair wouldn't part down the center the way it should.  He was determined to be first, so he held his sisters captive until finally "grandmaaaaa" changed his mind.  His sisters joined the party later.  The bigger female kid is going to live with Pippy and become a show goat.  They are going to work it on the runway and show off their great capacity to milk. :)   The "little sister" is small in size, but not in determination.  She was walking, talking, and ready to eat before the rest. 

I created a dairy goat packet last year, which will be one in a series of farm related products that I will be posting this spring.  This particular packet features a drawing that resembles one of my goats here on the farm. The packet also explains that, and shares a photo of her for the classroom!

Click the sample to view the contents of the Dairy Goat Packet!

Next up will be a Blog post on SEEDS.  I love this time of year.  You can always tell that it's springtime in the Ozarks because of all of the bright yellow daffodils along the highway.  When we moved here in 2000,  I wasn't real sure why there were all the flowers.  I thought at first maybe it was something the Highway Department had done to beautiful the "Natural State."  It wasn't until a few years ago one of the local towns people told me the real scoop.  Everywhere you see the daffodils is where an original homestead was.  He said that when you view it from the air,  you can see where all the plots were.  Back when the area was homestead and farmed,  the walkways to the homes were lined with daffodils.  I thought that was pretty neat!

See you next time!

Spring is near.... Hatch some Chicks!

Some of you may know that I live on a farm in rural, Arkansas.  One of the "cool" things about living on a farm is being able to see different animals, and different stages of development. You can learn a lot from a farm, I like to think of it as a built-in classroom!  For kids that live in the city or have never experienced life on a farm, studying about hatching chicks is a great way to bring the farm into the classroom!

The chickens are a hoot! My Mom raises Buff Orpington chickens, which are a pretty big chicken that lays large brown eggs. She also has a few Bantam chickens that are a smaller breed. Sometimes there are a few crosses in the mix, their eggs range in color from a darker cream to a brown color. All of the chickens mingle with the other animals. Sometimes even getting cozy with the barn cats!

I was inspired to create my Hatching Chicks Mini Unit a few years ago after seeing that there wasn't a lot of quality materials on the subject out there.

Click the cover to view the Hatching Chicks Mini Unit

We've always enjoyed counting down the days until the hens came off the nest with their clutch of chicks, and seeing what color the chicks are. We don't need to incubate them as the hens do that for us. We have, on occasion, hatched chicks out in the open because of the warm consistent temperatures in the summer time. Sometimes the hens will leave the nest before hatching out all of her chicks, which leaves a couple unattended. You can hear the little chick peeping inside the eggs, and we usually hunt around to see if we can find the eggs and help them finish being hatched out and then they are placed under a hen at night.

My Hatching Chicks Unit was designed to be open-ended. The packet features a 21 day life cycle with original hand drawn illustrations.

The ring book depicts all 21 days from fertilization through hatching. 

Also included in this packet are 21 Life Cycle Posters to accompany the Unit.

This is just a sample image of what is included.  Chicken Word Wall Cards, Chicken Journal Cover and observation sheets, and Parts of an Egg labeling worksheet.  There are over 16 activities included in this packet.  Pieces are designed to mix and match, or be used as part of a larger unit.

This cute egg/chick craftivity is also included (pattern, and instructions). 

My vision for this Unit was to use it in conjunction with incubating and hatching chicks in the classroom.  Although it is not a requirement to hatch out chicks, the materials can be used without that.  The observation sheets could be used if you visited a farm with chickens. 

Click the CHICK to download the chick writing papers freebie!

Domino Matching Game

Materials needed:

• Stickers
• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Lamination film / Clear Contact Paper
• Domino / Matching Game Template (Click link to download)
• Avery Magnet Paper (optional)

This project is simple, and easy to put together in just a few minutes. This is one that the kids can work on right along side of you.

The domino/matching game can be created with any color card stock, or any type of stickers. For my example I chose to use 2 colors of pastel cardstock to make a matching game. I selected a package of baby farm animal stickers which would match well with the farm theme.

Directions:

1. Print off the domino/matching game template onto cardstock. Using a template makes it easier to keep the game pieces the same size, and it saves time having to draw it out onto the individual pieces of paper. Print out as many sets of domino/matching game pieces as desired.

2. Cut out the individual game pieces, leaving the line in the middle. This provides you with 2 halves in which to create dominoes OR you can create a matching game as shown in the example.

3. Select the stickers for your project. Stickers don't have to be acid free, as you will be laminating over top of them.

4. Place the stickers onto the domino/matching game pieces as desired. In the sample, one animal sticker fit perfectly on each square of the game piece.
5. After the stickers are secure on the game pieces, laminate it for durability using a heated laminator or clear contact paper.

Now you're ready to play!

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P.S.  We had our first babies of the season on February 7th.  There will be anywhere from 15-20 more being born between now and the 3rd week of March!    This is what I do when I am not working on new projects, and creating! :)