As the year ratchets down, the weather cools to a tepid 50 degree high.  The wet weather of September is a lost dream as we enjoy the final weeks our our season involving milk production, breeding schedules and farm help.  After several calls and emails, we now have a breeder with good qualifications for our girls.  Their Date Camp has been scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving.  While we now only milk once a day, with a decreasing production, strangely enough we are receiving emails and calls from new customers.  Milk now sells out each week.  Praise God for new customers who may benefit from our milk,  Enrique Orosco has come to live with us and is helping us with the fall clean up as we put our garden to bed and clear the pastures of old hay and manure piles. 

We still have work in the cold weather approaching winter.  Our accounting needs to be updated to the present. We've a few goat chill times scheduled in the next few weeks.  I started to evaluate how to improve the feed of  lactating goats for next year.  I will be making another trip to Jefferson Wisconsin to visit Frank's Organic Feed Store.  We need to stock up on hay for the January through April months.  Reflections include deciding on writing grants,  participating in fundraising of the Waller property for the next year and setting goals and objectives.  

May your fall be as gentle and pleasant as ours.

 On the second day of October, we took Martha to our local veterinarian.  He reviewed her health after Dr. Vigil's evaluation, and weighed her at 88 pounds. In January, she started the year at 150.  Martha could not maintain her health due to the loss of her teeth.  When a goat cannot chew and process grasses sufficiently, the animal will deteriorate.  I learned a lot about goat teeth and check ever other goat's teeth once a year. 

She was six years old and our oldest goat.  She was queen leader of the herd and our star milk producer.   We could not understand her weight loss and she suffered an eye infection in the last two weeks.  Once we saw her missing teeth, we realized the reason for her waning health.  I will miss taking care of her;  yet it is a release for all of us.  

The end of August and beginning of September are doubly busy.  Weaning requires us to separate the babies from the mommies.  Milking happens twice a day.  The production of milk steadily falls until November.  All summer long we review production and health of the nursing nannies.  We also review the development of each kid analyzing them to see if they have the strength and potential to produce milk on an urban dairy farm.  Still we managed to complete our permitting process in all the complexities.

As for the mommy milk production, we have top production winners and problem girls.  Gracie has become our queen this year averaging 4.5  of milk per day.  Her babies are strong and healthy and she holds up in all the moving around we do.  This year Destiny has two different illness and was off the milk line more than on.  Illness produces high somatic countwhich is too high to sell to humans.  Somatic counts are determined by lab samples sent to Wisconsin once a month.  She has just gained good health and is now back on the milk line.

Babies for next year to stay are Emma, Twist and Ophelia.  Stay tuned for our announcement to find homes for the other kids. 

In April 2016, the State of Illinois revised its regulations for raw milk sales.  A permitting process was created and a packet of requirements made available to the public.  That same year, with the help of a Wwoofer volunteer, we wrote a grant from Frontera Farmer Foundation to construct a milk processing room, purchase milking equipment and improve our fencing in pastures/lots in the city.  The year 2017 was dedicated to upgrading our milking system and constructing a dairy room for processing. This year we completed our goal; in August 2018 GlennArt received it Raw Dairy Farm Permit.  ​

GlennArt Farm considers and carefully maintains standards to assure customers may receive quality unpasturized goat milk.  

GlennArt Farm offers the public an opportunity to feed the goats, pet the goats, talk to the goats in Waller Street Pasture from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m. on Saturday August 4.  
Join Us!  See the attached flyer with more information.  

A new chapter of our lives now occupies our weekends until the end of July.  The ever changing weather conditions have caused David to swiftly manage rescheduling with our very flexible instructors and participants.  With the cold weather the first of May, we  were forced to reschedule a number of classes.  Two weekends ago the weather turned into an August heat wave.   Yet yoga participants kept coming!  We held four classes this last weekend as the temperatures rose.  Our classes were held at the Waller pasture under a black shade tarp cutting the heat by 5 degrees. Many people so enjoyed the interaction with our goat babies, made it worth the efforts to keep the animals cooled off.  This last weekend of June 9 and 10 were only 2 days of a five day cycle of rain. Although we managed to hold two classes, three were rained out.  Last weekend we have endured a heat dome in the 90s at Garfield Park classes. 

This coming  weekend seems comfy though we have decided to purchase and set up a pavilion tent to help us mitigate changes in temperature and rain.  
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O Chicago, the windy city brings such different conditions daily.

Two weeks ago, Thibout, our volunteer,  called me to the porch.  He said there was a cat sitting on the chair who purred and sat with people on the porch.   I said hello to the gray tabby, telling her "NO you cannot stay."  We have three cats in the house.  No more cats.  To add complications, this young female appeared pregnant as well.  Not a good scenario for us. 

David waited a few days when the cat continued to grace us with her pleasant presence.  He said, "We need a 'barn' cat who can fight the rat war in the alley."  She would be a great deterrent.  So we started to feed her in the garage.  She appears every day when we do chores, and likes to eat with the chickens and goats.    

Kittens anyone?  

My priority for the last 20 days has been goat health. We have begun milking and goat yoga classes.  Both of these activities require healthy animals.  Please only read this if you are interested in goat care.  It is a bit detailed. 

When a goat becomes sick its stomach, the systemic health of the animal dives towards illness.  What does one do when five out of 17 animals are ill?  Three baby kids and two mommies caused me distress.  While I am not an animal husbandry specialist, my degree is in Library Science.  So I researched, using materials on the internet as well as my vet and mentors.  Dr. Vigil came to burn horns for Gracie's girl.  We discussed the possible illnesses. While here he took a lab sample of one of the kids.  With his oversight and recommendations for the coccidia parasites in the babies, I began a routine of medication using DiMethox brand of sulfadimethoxine (40% liquid).  It is an injectable medication given orally to goats.  After two days it did not appear to help in two of the kids, both orphans.

Last May 31, Dr. Vigil suggested a larger dose.  I chose a more radical action.  Two of our orphans had volcanic diarrhea from the time we brought them home.  In my research one suggestion was to take them off milk for two days.  So I mixed the 911 (trademark product) electrolyte powder and fed them this jello type stuff for two days, small doses of 4 ounces every two hours.  The diarrhea stopped.  Their digestion systems were re-started with a little bit more of milk for three days, six times a day.  They began to chew cud and digest more slowly.  I gave them full milk after a week.  It was a very deliberate hand-on process, which I do not suggest lightly. We are back to three feedings a day. They have had no problems since. 

Typical to intense management of many goats in a small space, other babies became ill.  Last Sunday we had four kids with problems. So Monday, June 10, we reorganized the sleeping space for babies, which sleeps twelve growing kids. They have now over 100 square feet of space.  Peptobismol (yes the stuff you buy at Walgreens) is given three times a day helped.  Cross contamination is slower.  Today, only two slightly poop messy  bucklings showed problems.

One of our milkers, Destiny, remains weak;  however she is slowly recovering her usual cheeky self.   I learned to take a temperature when a goat is facing away from the herd, lies down a lot, and walked slowly. The fever broke with antibiotics, accompanied by B complex.   Dr. Vigil provided followup via phone on Monday.  We have been very fortunate to have him.

In these situations when one cannot see the outcome,  gratitude  and hard is imperative, along with prayer.  I was very thankful that Dr. Vigil provided text support, as well as my mentor in Wisconsin.  Our Wwoofer volunteers Thibout and Apoovra cleaned goat mess caused by bad poops every morning for two weeks.  I also appreciated the documentation which is found online: Fiascofarm.com and Onion Creek Ranch http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/.  My evening reading involves animal care with a study of The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable by Julliette Blaircli Levy.  Our farm in the city of Chicago is always a learning experience. 

Here they are these sweet fraternal twins.  At 2:09 p.m. on Friday May 18, Gracie 'freshened' or gave birth to a couple of giant babies.  The boy weighed 11 pounds at birth and the girl 9.2.  Mom and kids are safe and beautiful. 

With the arrival of Gracie's kids, we could use your help.   GlennArt formally has opened the Name the Kid Contest!  Please follow the link to contribute your names for babies.  We close the contest on Friday May 25.  Our impartial judge will announce the name of our dozen babies on  May 26.