Big Pink Mama

No, not me!!! Shame on you!!!
 
Once the kids get up and running, they are just like any other children...you can never fill them up!  There is a short span of time in the process where we do nothing but milk does and feed babies all day. It gets REAL old REAL quick.  But then comes the glorious day when we introduce them to BIG MAMA.
Big Mama is a pink five gallon bucket with 10 nipples that we use to feed everyone all at once.  It is a little work to get them trained to it, but once they get it, life on the farm becomes a whole heck of a lot easier.  All we gotta do is walk out there four times a day and dump a gallon of milk in her, and then just sit back and enjoy the babies.  No more milk spots on your glasses, no stiff spots on your shirt from the spills last time you fed.  No more shock when you look in the mirror and for a brief ignosecond think you have leprosy because of the dried milk on your face that you have been walking around with all day and nobody mentioned it to you.  Ahhhhhhh.  Such luxury to have Big Mama to do the work for you.  If ony she did windows.

Yesterday was training day.  Today, they are on their own.  This is the day when you find out which kids have the brains, and which kids are gonna need a little assistance in life.  Today's winner is......Maud!!!  She is the first one of the bunch to figure out that the Diner is OPEN full time, and boy, was she excited!  My bet is that Lace will give us something else to do now that Big Mama has freed up some of our time.

We have started calling Maud  "Pippi" because of her pigtail ears, and because she has one stocking up and one stocking down.  And she is full of fun.  She is gonna be one of this year's keepers, along with Splendora.  Although Utopia make LOOK more like our beloved Doodles, Splendora has more of her personality, and a great little conformation, to boot!

So we are keeping Maud and Splendora, we lost Harrold, and placed White Lily with the family that bought Ren and Lucy last fall.  That leaves Utopia; Splendora's brother, Veribest; and Lily's brother, Cut & Shoot.
He is our only wether so far this year.  I thought that was kinda a funny name for a wether, but Jed & Jethro weren't too impressed.  Must be a guy thing.  Ellie May calls him Snippy.   The Clampitt's are a sick and twisted lot.

During the naming process, Ellie & Jethro lobbied hard to name Lily and Snippy "Dimmit and Ding Dong."  I told them that Dimmit was out of the question, but if they could find a Twinkie, Texas, they could use Ding Dong.  First thing the next morning...as i am making coffee, and still bleary eyed...Ellie comes to the kitchen chirping, "Well, there wasn't a Twinkie, Texas, but i did find a Little Debbie!"  To which i reply, "Oh good, that will work."  It took me a couple of seconds before i realized what had just happened, and as i turned back to her i just glimpsed the wheels turning, and the "wonder if she will give me the keys to the car?" look in her eye.  I am gonna have to watch myself in the mornings before coffee.  That child just might take advantage of me.