Recently in Sheep Category

I have reached a point where I dread the thought of having to cut grass this spring and summer. The area of our property that is designated as 'yard' and requires the cutting of the grass is huge. I am tired of cutting grass. It takes 4 - 6 hours to cut everything and do the basic trimming. Every week. Never fail. Can't forget or ignore it. It gets out of hand too quick.

I have spent much of the winter trying to figure out how to deal with the issue. I contacted a few groundskeeping services but the estimate for weekly work is too high. It is just a big front yard with a white front fence that needs weed eating after mowing. Also some occassional bush trimming. It is not a golf course for cripes sakes.

So I have taken matters into my own hands. I am NOT cutting grass like we have in the past if I can help it. Instead of hiring a service I got me a clearing crew. We set them to work this past weekend.

 

Here's the deal. They clear and fertilize the yard. I make sure they have an all you can eat buffet salad bar. It's a barter system but I really think I got the better deal.

When it is 100 degrees and they are working their butts off this summer keeping up with the grass I'll be inside sipping lemonade and watching Netflix instead of sweating like a lumberjack and burning money in the form of diesel fuel in the tractor.

I think the back yard will take them the better part of a week. With the cool rains we are having they have unlimited cool, crisp, green grass. The first day they ate themselves silly.  They are actually making quicker work of the back area than I thought they would. By weekend we should be getting them ready to move on to the next greener pasture.

In case you are wondering how quickly they can clear a feild. Here they are in their common pasture at the barn. See the grass? No? That's because they ate it all. One day off that feild and the grass recovered to green. We could visibly see the difference in one day.

It is going to take some effort with some fencing issues - as in we have to put some more up but I think in the long run it will pay off. We can rotate them around in one week time lots and eventually get to the point we can separate the boys from the girls as needed.

Also, grass fed lamb for my fall freezer is a huge pay off for the extra fences.

The third ewe due to lamb this month has done her duty. Yesterday I was out filling the goose pool and kept watching her at the barn. I saw something moving but honestly it looked like a guinea behind her. I got closer and closer and then started shouting to Colby who was forking hay over for the goats and sheep.

I saw the white one just plop out. It got up to its feet almost instantly. Both were slick and wet and warm but cooling quickly.

Colby got busy with the jug (making a new bedding stall for mom and babies) and then we put them in.

There is something about the miracle of life that leaves me in tears every single time.

 

 

 

 

We are paying close attention to the ewes. We had another ewe lamb yesterday at dark. One baby froze it was so cold. I am heartbroken over it. I don't think we could have saved it if hwe had been given a chance to try.

 

We do have this beautiful baby resting in a snug barn with its momma.

 

 

Have you any wool?

Yes, Sir! Yes, Sir!

2 lambs full!

Dorcas lambed this morning sometime around daylight. She gave birth to one white and one black.  

I was standing at the kitchen window and kept seeing something and sort of shook it off as guineas. I saw something again and did a double take and there was a lamb in the field. I gave another scan across the feild and then saw the movement of something black behind Dorcus. Another lamb.

This has been an amazing morning for me and Colby.

Can you imagine?

I accomplished, learned and taught myself many things this past spring, summer and fall.

I have learned that ram lambs have their name for reason. I learned that ram lambs grow up to become sheep rams. I also learned they are a force to be reconed with if you start out blind and raise them like other animals on your tiny farm.

Lambert (nearest Steve in the above photo) was more friendly than Maybelline (her eyes look like she is wearing eye liner) or Petuna (pink rimmed eyes). He didn't want to be handled at first but he came around when he realized that people meant food and my red bucket meant cracked corn. One of the biggest mistakes made was Steve petting him and scratching between his ears - and I am certain he must have touched his face where his musk glands are located. Which is a big no - no.

Lambert soon decided that Steve was just another ewe in different sheep clothing. He also decided that Steve must be put in his place with the other ewes and made to be obedient to his ram lamb ways.

This created odd situations that began to escalate as Lambert grew from a three month old lamb into an almost nine month old lamb ram.

When we did the barn chores I often stood back and kept Lambert occupied while Steve exited the feild. If I didn't Lambert would make a springing leaping run at Steve from behind and rear up and try to head butt him. One more than one occassion Steve could have been seriously hurt.

Which it wasn't fair to Steve but, honestly, the ram never did anything to me. The more the ram antagonized Steve the more Steve want to break a board over his head. More than once Steve had to fight his way out of the field. At times I found it comical but it really wasn't. In the real world of sheep and rams it was escalating into a dangerous situation for Steve and for Lambert.

Initialy, Lambert began to nudge and headbutt Steve for attention. These buttings became more aggressive, more frequent and more dangerous. Not only for Steve but the children, especially Steven, who had to be supervised at all times in the feild or the barn. Steven and Gracie had to stay on the tractor and couldn't get down to run and play in the field. While in the barn I had to keep my ears and eyes peeled to make sure the ram wasn't charging from the opposite end of the field.

When we went out on the tractor Lambert would ram the tractor - each time with more and more force. He put a big dent in the side of the little red farm truck. He hit Steve one evening off guard and damaged his cell phone. He would follow Steve to the pasture gate and ram the gate. He would rear up on his hind legs and hit the gate as if to say, "I'm gonna get you, boy."

This behavior I felt was never malicious. Yes, he was aggressive, but he wasn't mean. He was just being a ram. He never did this to me. I think he learned early on I wouldn't tolerate his behavior and never reared or tried to ram me. He never really had an interest in Colby either although he would at times make a charge for her when her back was turned but when she stopped and faced him he backed down. He also like to butt for food. He would slam the door of the feed room as if to make you hurry with his share.

And so with his increasing size, increasing aggressiveness, his increasing torment of Steve, Lambert met his fate sooner than I had hoped.


Yesterday, with Colby's help, I processed Lambert. I did it. I felt it was my duty to give him a good death and to honor his life. I brought him to this place. I gave him a good life. In the end I tried my best to give him a good death. Taking a life is never easy.


His hide will be sent to the tanners. I took it off in one clean piece. We rolled it up tight, wrapped it in freezer paper, tied it inside a thick plastic bag and put it in the freezer.

 

Stretched out as you see in the above photo his wool coat is nearly 4 feet in length. He will be tanned soft as butter and will be used at the foot of the bed for keeping cold feet warm on freezing winter nights.

 

His meat has been prepared and is in my freezer. I did not weigh it but we ended up with over one hundred pounds of lamb at the minimum.

Perhaps in February or March his legacy will live on. A ram lamb and two ewes in the same field should mean those ewes will lamb come spring. He was a very active young man, feeling his oats often.Pehaps nature will smile kindly on us and show us the circle of life and Lambert and his legacy will live on.

I sure hope so.

We went to the Fall Fiber festival and Sheepdog Trails at Montpelier this weekend.We did not get as much time to watch the dogs put through their paces with the sheep but we did see some and those dogs are amazing to watch.

Colby and I were drawn there by our desire to work with the wool fibers our sheep are currently growing. We want to sheer it, prepare it, spin it and create beautiful things with it.

We saw sheep sheering demonstaration. I am certain we can do this with our ewes. Only we have hand sheers and not electric one. This scottish blackface was sheered in just a couple minutes.

   

The alpacas are tempting! Of all the fiber I handled the baby alpaca for me was the finest, the pinnacle of luxury.

 

I had my own little pack animal to haul my loot out of there.That bag contains 5 ounces of alpaca fiber for felting my homemade goatmilk soaps. Mmmmmm. Luxury.

 

Speaking of luxury. I bought 1.2 pounds of mohair, hand spun, dyed with natural english walnuts.I have never had this fine a yarn to work with. It is fabulous!

For those who may not know mohair is the fiber from angora goats. The goats this fiber came from are from Virginia not too far from me down in Charlottesville. I like the idea of keeping things simple and processed and provided close to home.

 

This big bundle looks like a giant dredlock. It really doesn't look pleasing to the eye at all. It is fantastic to the hands and a close eye inspection.

I couldn't wait to get started. Can you see how fine the yarn is when cast on my wooden crochet needle? This is the most amazing fiber I have had a chance to work with. I am making myself a shawl. This is the kind of luxury that will spoil you if you give in to the urge to use what nature provides.

Next spring when we sheer our ewes I will be spinning and crocheting and knitting with my own wool.

Who knows, I may even have my own alpacas and angora goats by this time next year.

I already got me an angora rabbit from a nice lady at the show.

 

His name is Peter. Peter Rabbit. Hopefully he will sire me quite a few lovelies for harvesting their fibers. These animals grow a super thick coat. They thrive in cold temperarures. He will be clipped periodically and his fibers processed and stored away until we have enough to actually process a 10lb batch.

Steve asked if I wanted a spinning wheel for Christmas.

Sigh.

He knows me well.

I am living my dreams.