Kim Lemmon

People who knew me in my youth would have never guessed I would have babies of any species born on our property let alone assist with the births. I never had a strong stomach for blood or body fluids.

About 7 years ago a friend from college was buying pygmy goats at the same time I was and she talked me into sharing a buck and starting a breeding program. I had originally planned to just buy a couple of wethers to serve as pets. It has been an adventure ever since.

As all livestock caregivers find out eventually, there are many things you need to learn to do yourself. I love my vets but there are only a few of them in the county that handle large animals, and it seems that usually when I have a kidding emergency, they are all out on other emergency calls.

A few years ago, a group of goat friends and I started our own little maternity group.… Continue reading

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been helping my neighbor, Patricia, with her barn chores. She is recovering from surgery and has lifting limitations so her daughter, Liz, and I have been working together to make sure her stalls are cleaned and her water buckets are full.

Patricia is a good friend and I like her horses so it really isn’t work; I enjoy visiting with her and her horses. She has also helped me chase loose minis and deliver newborn baby goats many times in the past. We make a good team.

The only drawback to visiting Patricia and her barn is her stallion, Ace. Ace is an aggressive stud and to make matters worse, he seems to particularly dislike me. His hatred for me is kind of funny because he really doesn’t have a reason. I’ve never touched him, let alone hit him, and I have always talked nicely to him.… Continue reading

At this point in my life, I’m never really very surprised when I find some kind of problem or disaster in the barn. I will admit that I did reach my breaking point last spring, when the barn flooded and my pregnant goats where standing in three inches of water but that was a pretty extreme problem.

Most of the time rotten mini horses, Mike and Ike, create the little surprises I meet randomly during my morning feedings.

I wasn’t really very surprised when I saw Mike and Ike munching on several bales of hay they had managed to pull into their stalls one morning last week. Really it was only a matter of time until it happened.

Last summer, in an effort to cram as much hay into the barn as possible, my husband, Mark, and I filled two of our three horse stalls with hay. It seemed like a great idea at the time.… Continue reading

At this point in my life, I’m never really very surprised when I find some kind of problem or disaster in the barn. I will admit that I did reach my breaking point last spring, when the barn flooded and my pregnant goats where standing in three inches of water but that was a pretty extreme problem.

Most of the time rotten mini horses, Mike and Ike, create the little surprises I meet randomly during my morning feedings.

I wasn’t really very surprised when I saw Mike and Ike munching on several bales of hay they had managed to pull into their stalls one morning last week. Really it was only a matter of time until it happened.

Last summer, in an effort to cram as much hay into the barn as possible, my husband, Mark, and I filled two of our three horse stalls with hay. It seemed like a great idea at the time.… Continue reading