Morning Bray Farm

November 21, 2011

Got milk?

Posted by Morning Bray under Goats | Tags: Abigail, goat milk, goats, milking goats |
[14] Comments

For the last couple of weeks, we’ve noticed Abigail’s udder getting bigger and bigger. We wondered if it’s possible for a doe to start filling her udder and making milk without ever being pregnant. (Abigail has never been pregnant.)

As much as I wanted to show you the size of her udder, Abigail was very shy about letting me take photos.

Turns out, the answer to our question is yes. If a doe starts making milk without ever being pregnant, it’s called being “precocious” and is actually not uncommon.

Here’s Don seeing if Abigail was making milk. If we had captured the audio, you’d hear Don saying something like, “I can’t believe I’m milking a goat.”

Yup, Abigail’s got milk. More research showed us that it’s best to just let her be and not milk her; she will eventually reabsorb the milk.

Thanks for trying, Abby. ♥

November 19, 2011

Miscellany around the farm this week

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Ducks, Farm | Tags: Buck, Canada Goose, donkeys, ducks, Emmy, Gracie Belle, Izzy, tack |
[4] Comments

Emmy getting out of her bath at 31° F:

Canada goose in the alfalfa field:

Gracie Belle and Buck:

Izzy, with her beautiful, blue eyes:

Colors in the barn:

November 17, 2011

A bit of Ellsworth trivia

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Ellsworth, Elmer E. Ellsworth |
[10] Comments

If you’re a fan of Morning Bray Farm’s Ellsworth, here’s a bit of trivia for you.

Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth was the first Union officer to be killed during the Civil War. (I love his name.)

Shot by an innkeeper while taking down a Confederate flag in Alexandria, Virginia, Ellsworth became a martyr for the Union cause.

From Wikipedia:

In 1860, Ellsworth went to Springfield, Illinois, to work with Abraham Lincoln. He studied law in Lincoln’s office and helped Lincoln with his 1860 campaign for president.

Here’s the part I like the best:

Ellsworth was only 5′ 6″ tall, but Lincoln called Ellsworth “the greatest little man I ever met.”

Sounds like another Ellsworth we know and love, doesn’t it? ♥

November 16, 2011

Loving the autumn sun

Posted by Morning Bray under Dogs | Tags: autumn sun, diva, dog, Enzi |
[15] Comments

No one loves the autumn sun more than the Diva.

She absolutely worships it.

♥ ♥ ♥

November 14, 2011

Things I love looking out the window to see

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: donkeys, herd dynamics |
[22] Comments

I love looking out the window to see our four youngest taking their morning siesta, acting like a herd and arranged like a pinwheel on the ground:

I love that their matriarch is standing watch over them:

And that when Nigel hears the clicking of the camera shutter, he stands up to join Gracie Belle on her watch:

And, I love that Ellsworth is always, always there for his herd, especially when he senses they need him:

♥ ♥ ♥

November 13, 2011

A monumental moment

Posted by Morning Bray under Burros | Tags: burro, Nigel |
[32] Comments

This is definitely a monumental moment. It was 1 year, 6 months, 27 days in the making*.

Nigel wore a halter for the first time yesterday.

There was a lot of Happy Dancing going on here; Nigel included:

As most of you know, Nigel was quite wild and completely untouchable when he came to us in April 2010, and it took almost five months for us to touch him. He’s always had a “thing” about ropes; the mere sight of a rope has always sent him into a bit of a panic.

We knew we had to let Nigel do things on his own terms in his own time. When I finally got the halter on him yesterday morning, he was completely calm. I was so happy.

Once Nigel discovered the halter wasn’t going to prevent him from eating, he was a seriously happy camper.

*In case you’re wondering, I didn’t count out the days and months. Of course, there’s a website that calculates the time between dates:

From and including: Friday, April 16, 2010

To, but not including : Saturday, November 12, 2011

It is 575 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date

Or 1 year, 6 months, 27 days excluding the end date

Alternative time units

575 days can be converted to one of these units:

49,680,000 seconds
828,000 minutes
13,800 hours
82 weeks (rounded down)

I love you, Nigel.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

November 10, 2011

Don’t worry, he’s not grown up yet

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, donkeys, donkeys playing |
[23] Comments

A couple of days ago, Flartus jokingly worried about whether Bernard is growing up and becoming a mature young donkey.

Don’t worry, Flartus. He’s not. We give you five minutes of a still typical Bernard evening:

Nigel: Oh good grief, Gracie. There he goes again.

Ellsworth: There he goes again, Buck.

Ellsworth: Round and round he goes, where he stops, nobody knows.

Bernard: I never want to grow up. Hey, I wonder if Gracie wants to play with me.

Bernard: Not so much. I wonder if I can find someone who does.

Bernard: Buck, do you want to play with me?

Bernard: Please?

Buck: Okay, Bernard, I’ll play with you.

Bernard: Squirrel! Oh look, there’s mamma! Mamma, do you want to play with me?

Me: Oh dear. His ears are back. That means he really wants to play.

Bernard: Squirrel! Oh look, there’s Patrick! Patrick, do you want to play with me?

And there you have it. See? Don’t worry. ♥ ♥ ♥

November 8, 2011

A big, happy therapy session

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: Bernard, Buck, donkeys, Ellsworth, therapy donkeys |
[23] Comments

Our friends from Casa de Cuckoo were here for a visit on Sunday.

For all of us, their visit was like a big, happy therapy session.

Bernard was on his best behavior. Instead of his usual playful craziness, he was calm and sweet with GK:

As always, Ellsworth was a gentle soul:

Bernard loved GK’s ear rubs:

And GK’s hugs:

At first, the rest of the herd watched from the sidelines:

After seeing the benefits though, Buck decided to join the therapy session:

Before we knew it, GK was surrounded by many lovely donkeys:

GK’s smiles were priceless:

And, since we’re talking about donkeys and therapy sessions, I posted this video on Facebook. I’m posting it again here because it’s definitely worth watching if you haven’t seen it.