A Visit to the Taj Baahal

We've had a warm spell this week relatively speaking so Andy took the opportunity to do the mid-winter barn cleaning in preparation for shearing and lambing.  Even using the skidder and stockpiling the manure rather than spreading it as he goes it still takes three full days.  Right now we have the ewe flock separated into five different groups within the barn.  This is partly so we can feed some groups differently and partly because if the full flock ran together there would be a woolly tidal wave at feeding time and somebody would get hurt.  Consequently, when we clean the barn it becomes an exercise in Musical Chairs to switch groups from one pen to another.  Happily, Andy created a pen area out in the feed bunk last fall to house one breeding group.  That became the place to park a group while cleaning their area.  It's new, bright and airy, and has everything a sheep could want so we call it The Taj Baahal.

While it's comfy, it's not 'home' to this group so we coerced tempted them to move there by luring them with the grain bucket.  Once the grain was gone it dawned on them that they were stuck.



Jolly is not impressed and would really rather go back, thank you very much.

Helll-oooo.  We're done here.  Let's go already!

 

Crap!  They're actually leaving us out here!  There they go!

 

As much as they didn't like being in a strange place (a hundred feet from their normal area!  Gasp!) they trooped right back out there the next day since grain was involved.  Then we moved another group into the vacated cleaned area so we could get the second area done, and so on.

 

Everyone is now back where they belong on nice clean bedding and feeling much cooler.  The pack will build back up to just a nice amount by lambing in late March.

 

Gads!  Lambing is just five weeks away!  Time to boost vaccinations in the flock and schedule shearing.  Just when I thought I had a little breathing room to Get Stuff Done.  Sigh.