Prof. Sam LawlerSep 19, 2025

Fediverse! I need some help!

I have a fellowship to go to Aotearoa New Zealand for a few weeks, and also an offer of an additional fellowship to give lectures around NZ. This is INCREDIBLY EXCITING!!

...but I have a lot of animals! And it's going to be during Saskatchewan winter! The potential farm sitters I've reached out to locally have all fallen through, so I need help to find someone.

Not sure if I should put out an actual farm sitting job ad here? Or if there are better places to try?

Show threadProf. Sam LawlerOct 7

Just got my official letter for the fellowship to New Zealand! And I have a possible lead on a local farm sitter, but nothing is set yet.

So I'm just going to put this out onto the Fediverse again, in case someone who knows how take care of goats in Real Canadian Winter (down to -40C temps) happens to be looking for housing in Saskatchewan in Jan-Apr 2026

Show threadTimothy Schwinghamer (he/him)
@sundogplanets I'm not going to do it but I'm curious whether or not you have heat lamps. I used to use heat lamps for my goats, in the relatively warm winters of Southern Ontario.
Oct 8 at 12:39amWeb
Show threadProf. Sam LawlerOct 8
@schwinghamer I do use heat lamps on newborn goats (and sometimes headbands, and all sort of silly things to keep their ears from getting frostbite)
Show threadTimothy Schwinghamer (he/him)Oct 8
@sundogplanets send an email to me timothy.schwinghamer <at> agr.gc.ca with the job ad and I will send it out to my AAFC coworkers.
Show threadProf. Sam LawlerOct 8
@schwinghamer Thanks!!