Sweet hello and goodbye
- Laura Wayte
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Our student apprentice Summer Spell is ending her two years at Deck Family Farm this month. It is always poignant when students leave, but Summer's is especially so because of a lamb named CC and Sorel, the goat.
Summer has been focused during her apprentice year on the grazing side of our operation, planning and implementing the intricate ballet on pasture that is regenerative farming. Additionally, she helped manage the other interns and learned natural building techniques, including creating stained glass windows in our bathhouse.
Summer has been particularly focused on goats and sheep. Last winter while tending the sheep, she and the other students raised five lambs by hand whose mothers had rejected them. And now the female, named CC (short for Cookies and Cream), has just given birth to her first baby.
"Even though she was smaller and younger than the boy bottle lambs we raised, she was super tough and would shove them out of the way to get her spot on the bottle bucket," said Summer.
Today, CC is quite useful as a stabilizing presence, now that she lives in the main herd again. "She's out there ready to say hi and get pats. When we work with the sheep it's nice to have her there as a calm presence for the other sheep since she is not scared of being handled."
Summer says she is a good mom despite having been raised by humans!
But what about the goat named Sorel? She's pregnant and due to kid this weekend! (check back for more photos!) Sorel will be leaving the farm with Summer who plans to milk her and begin learning about goat dairying.
When Sorel was hand raised she became so tame and trained that she lived a lot like a dog: going on hikes, sleeping inside, riding in cars. Summer even took her on a walk in Seaside, entertaining the tourists as they walked with their ice cream cones!
While CC is not afraid of humans, she and the other lambs did not become that tame! Goats are very curious and intelligent and therefore can engage with humans in special ways. Sounds great, but it also makes them difficult to keep because they are great at escaping and causing mischief. Sheep are thought to be less smart than goats, and because of that they are much easier to herd and manage in large numbers.
We expect to be seeing Summer once in a while. Her sister, Kara, will be remaining on the farm to finish her year-two apprenticeship.
We wish Summer (and Sorel and her kids) the best of luck.
