Visit From Dad
My 91-year old Dad, who grew up with sheep, came to visit today, with his caregiver Rodney, and my cousin Diana and her daughter Angela, who were visiting Dad for a few days.
sheep
First-Time Mother
Yesterday at 5:00 Lolo was getting ready to bring the ewes in when he noticed Harriet, a yearling who got her name because of her resemblance to her father, Prince Harry, had a broken water bag. He brought everyone in and gave me a call. By the time I got to the barn Harriet had
First Lambs!
We have an auspicious beginning to lambing. Lisa left the barn last night saying “my money’s on Bunny.” Bunny did indeed look ready, but we didn’t really expect any lamb to be born until tomorrow, 140 days after the rams went in. Surprise! I walked into the barn at 7 am and there was Bunny
Mother Takes a Ride
A few days after shearing, we notice a huge swelling on Mother’s shoulder. Mother is one of the retired ewes who lives in my back yard, and a very sweet girl with big brown soulful eyes and a love of corn treats. She was a good milk producer who had difficulty lambing last season, and
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A Salad for Valentine’s Day
Melinda weeded the garden today and put the fresh-pulled weeds along the fence, where the ewes enjoyed the salad.
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This Too Shall Pass
The ewes are getting pretty tired of both the rain and of being pregnant! They are looking very large, and there is a lot of soft moaning going on in the shelters. Just two more weeks until the lambs start arriving. We are sincerely hoping for a dry March. Lambing in the rain really is
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Shearing Day
With all the rain we have been having lately, we were worried that it would rain over the weekend, and so made hurried preparations to bring the sheep into the barn, because there is nothing wetter than a wet sheep, and that makes for a difficult shearing. We were lucky and got a dry weekend,
The Down Side of a Wet Winter
With all the rain we have been having, it is going to be a great grass year. But right now, everything is saturated and we are swimming in mud, especially in the areas right around the shelters where the ewes are spending most of their time. Lisa comforts Marilyn and reminds her that all this
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Got Corn?
My select group of retired ewes (the “pets”) live by my house and always gather at the fence when I walk by for chin-scratches or a treat of corn. Bebe (7 years old), Mother (5 years old), Shorty (6 years old) and Emy (7 years old).
End of Breeding
Not such a Happy Halloween for our boys–we took the rams out today, a couple of weeks earlier than we usually do. They have been in with the ewes just 21 days, which is just a bit longer than a ewes’ 17-day cycle. We find that most of our ewes get bred in the first