Thumbelina’s Story

Posted on June 16, 2014June 16, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Tiny Thumbelina is a fairy tale; a tiny girl whose adventures include toads , moles and naughty boys. Eventually like all good fairy tales, she finds her true love, a flower-fairy prince just her size.

When Mama goat had a pair of twins this spring there was a tiny surprise, a 3rd sibling but so tiny. Only about 1/3 the size of her brother and sister. She was very weak. The farmer watched closely but long after her siblings were on their feet and nursing the tiny goat-ling just lay in the hay.

It did not look good for the tiny baby. But the farmer was not going to give up so easily. He scooped up the tiny creature who was so small she fit in the palm of his large hands. He gently took her into the house where he cleaned her up and began the long process of hand feeding her.

She needed her mother’s milk with it’s special immunity giving properties so the farmer milked mama so that the littlest goat could have the same nutrition as her bigger brother and sister. It was nip and tuck at first but once the farmer knew his little charge would make it he named her Thumbelina.

By the time Thumbelina was 3 weeks old she was hopping and careening around the yard and head butting the pet dog Bandit. Bandit doesn’t seem to mind and follows the little terror everywhere.

She follows farmer as he goes about his chores. She has clearly bonded with the gentle man who saved her. She is too small for the barnyard so she lives in a child’s playpen in the house as a family pet.

Yes Thumbelina has become a healthy, if tiny, 3 week old kid. She is 6 inches tall and weighs about 4 lbs. It looks like Thumbelina, the pygmy goat, has found her happy ending just like the fairy tale.

Thumbelina is a pygmy goat but tiny even for that breed.

Photo of the Week ~ 22

Posted on June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 by Dusty Roads

This week was very close. I have to admit I was torn too. The winner is Majestic Elk with 31 points but Thumbelina was right behind with 26 points. I’m glad it wasn’t a tie. The Elk photo represents a lot of work searching 3 states for the elusive animals but how many times do you see a 6 inch 4 lb goat. A miniature bundle of cuteness.

Baby Alpacas

Posted on July 25, 2013July 25, 2013 by Dusty Roads

If you have been following my posts for awhile you may remember a post from last November about a “Teeny, Tiny, Farm-ette”. In that post I introduced a friend’s little farm where he tends to Silky Chickens, alpacas, pygmy goats and horses along with dogs, cats and a parrot or two.

About a week ago he called me to ask if I still liked taking pictures of baby “critters”. Of course I said yes. At the time of the call he had a 2 day old Alpaca baby. I couldn’t go visit right away so the baby was about a week old when I got there.

The baby had a friend, another baby Alpaca that was 2 weeks old and an”older” friend that was about a month old.

I was surprised how big they were for so young but as grazing animals they would have to be able to get around quickly if they were in the wild to escape predators. I had a chance to pet one, not just take pictures and I understand why they are so valued for their wool. They are so soft and fluffy. They are softer than they look.

Mama didn’t like too much attention being showered on her young one but she behaved, no spitting but she did stick out her tongue once to show her displeasure.

They had more baby pygmy goats but when I went into the pen they crowded around me so much I couldn’t get any pictures. They were funny as they tried to chew on my jeans and nibble on my sneakers.

As I was preparing to leave I found out that some baby “silkies” had just hatched so a quick stop by the nest box yielded a picture of this tiny chick.

It’s easy to see how Animal Planet can make a series called “Too Cute” about baby animals because they are just that…too cute!

A teeny tiny “Farm-ette”

Posted on November 28, 2012November 28, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Boy have I been slacking! Statement not question. I always get lazy when the weather gets cold. Each year it gets harder and harder to motivate myself to brave the weather. Seems like I get cold easier and warm up harder. Winter hasn’t even “officially” begun and I’m trying to go into hibernation.

In the midst of this seasonal malaise I got an invitation from one of my co-workers. He knew I have an interest in photographing “critters’ as he refers to them and his pygmy goats had just had babies. He wondered if I’d like to come down to see his little “farm-ette” and take some pictures. He warned me to wear boots because it might be muddy. I assured him that wasn’t a problem as I had grown up on the same kind of “farm-ette” (I love that word)

Our definition of a “farm-ette” is a little land on which a few animals are raised for fun and maybe a little profit. Whatever combination of animals you like. This includes the old-fashioned “family farm” as long as it isn’t too big. The homeowner has another job that pays the bills and for the animal hobby. I grew up on a “family farm”. At various times we had chickens, pigs, cows, sheep, goats and horses but my Dad worked at his business every day as well as the farming.

My friend has a similar situation. He raises Silky chickens, Alpacas and pygmy goats and a couple of horses along with the family pets like cats and birds. Although I didn’t get to see them I believe he said he had a couple of parrots.

We started our tour in the chicken coop. These aren’t the regular run-of-the-mill chickens. These are called silky chickens and they are cute as can be. The hens have a Pom-Pom on the top of their heads and male and female are really fluffy. They are just the cutest things. There were some chicks and I went about trying to catch them in pictures…boy are they fast!

After my only partly successful attempt to photograph those feisty birds we walked through the alpaca paddock heading to the pygmy goats. The Alpacas were a bit more willing to stand still and “pose” but still kind of wary of a stranger.

Then we reached the goats. Pygmy goats aren’t even as tall as a big dog. I think the adults only came to about my knees and they were very friendly.

The little “kids” were bouncing all over, climbing on feed sacks, opening and closing the barn door, just getting into everything.

Here the light was very dim so it was once again a photographic challenge but I can tell you these are really cute babies.

I’m glad my friend thought to invite me over and take the time to show me around. Like “Charlie” of Charlie’s Angels my friend wished to remain in the background so all we’ll see of him are his hands . 🙂