Hi, Phoenix here. We’re finally getting warmer weather going into spring after a crazy winter. This is one of my favorite seasons with the arrival of our fur, and feather, babies. This spring, we have a lamb, two goat kids, and over a dozen chicks running around. 

The lamb is the firstborn for that female and is quite small. But she’s strong and keeps her mother on her toes. Our hair sheep are relatively cold-tolerant and the lamb’s been fine outside following her mother. 

The goat kids, on the other hand, needed to be brought inside at night for the first week as they developed the ability to moderate their own body temperatures. These Nubian mixes are adorable troublemakers, jumping up on everything and making us laugh. 

K and I decided to get new chicks this year as our older laying hens are starting to slow down their egg production.  They’re a breed I hadn’t heard of before–Production  Blues, a cross between Rhode Island Reds and Blue Australorps. Both are known to be heavy egg layers, so I see many deviled eggs and omelets in our future.

Having all these baby animals around is a stronger antidepressant for me than anything that comes in a pill bottle (though I use those too). I could easily spend hours watching the chicks hop around, or the goat kids and lambs jump on everything. Times like this make me especially glad to be on a homestead. I hope you enjoy the pics!

Next blog post: Part 2: Springtime on the homestead–converting a house to off-grid