poultry swap!

Sunday I was up early, even for me. I had to get a jump on the day since I had quite the schedule ahead of me. The morning activities included all the usual farm chores, but along with all that, I was heading to a livestock tailgate party over the state line.

The annual Schaghticoke Poultry Sway happens the first weekend of May. Picture a fairgrounds parking lot with endless cages, squawking, chirping and animals and people everywhere. Folks pretty much park their trucks and set up shop. Need a rabbit? A peacock? Maybe you had your eyes on a black lamb or a goat kid - you can get those things here. It's quite a show. I scored two new laying hens. Little girls, just fifteen weeks old, but promising. They're scared of everything right now and haven't left the coop once.

I showed up to the swap with a sneaking suspicion a goat kid would be riding in the passenger seat on the drive home. I wanted a young buck I could train for pack work. I have two packing dogs, but with Jazz and Annie are both nearly ten years old, the idea of taking them out for long treks in the Vermont mountains seems less and less possible.

But a goat like Finn, he's a natural mountain man-agile, fast, made for steep climbs and happy to help carry the burden. I've been reading up on training a draft animal of this sort, and so far Finn's big job is to walk on a leash, which he's doing well. I've taken him with me to work, Tractor Supply, Wayside, everywhere I go throughout the day this kid is with me. Learning people, and noises, and following me around with his tail wagging. I can't wait till we're in those mountains together. Just a gypsy and her violin and her trusty goat...Few things are that perfect together.