Graduation Day

We got involved with making hay and got a little behind on other things, but yesterday was a Big Day for the ram lambs - there were officially weaned from Mom and went to live in the upper barn with all the big boys.  We don't castrate the boy lambs as we're never sure when someone might want to buy one as a breeding animal, and also they grow more quickly with their full load of hormones.  It's also just unnecessary in our situation since we have a way to completely separate them from the ewes.  So right around the 4th of July (when they start getting real pesty with the girls) we put them on the trailer and bring them up to the Baa-chelor Pad.  They have a fine time as adolescent boys eating and then sitting around, butting heads and jumping on each other and NOT harassing the girls.

Camp?  We're at camp?  What's 'camp'?

Ram lambs are so easy to work with compared to ewe lambs.  The ewe lambs are full of high drama like teenage girls - they scream and throw their hands into the air, roll their eyes and run away for no reason.  The boys are like surfer beach bums - all laid back and cool about everything and willing to go where you want without too much arguement as long as it doesn't look downright scary or difficult.

OK, this looks familiar.

We have a creep area set up as in the lower barn with vertical rollers set too closely for the big rams to get through so the lambs have a safe place to eat a little extra hay, a nibble of grain at night or just hang out without the big rams bossing them around. 

Dudes, check it out..... you can see the whole yard from back here.

Um, yeah, that's cool.....but do you see my mom?

Some of the little boys are more needy than others and they called for their moms for the rest of the day and off and on most of  last night, but by this morning they were pretty well adjusted and got down to the business of just grazing and learning their new boundaries.

Grass is grass no matter where you are....let's eat!

Congrats, boys.  Have a great summer.

Supper Time

Things change so quickly with lambs.  The majority of them have discovered the joys of alfalfa hay.  They have their own creep area that the ewes can't enter, and even though there is room at the other end, they seem to enjoy crowding each other.  It's not worth eating unless I took it away from somebody!

Mine!  Mine!  Mine!

Must........squeeze......in......

Well heck, if nobody's gonna eat that......I can juuuust reach it.

Wait.....is that better over there?

And BB, the bottle lamb, and the others who have been getting supplemented have graduated to the nurse bucket.  Feeding that lot lately has been like showing up for a mugging four times a day: total thuggery - pawing, jumping, shoving......   No personal service now, but it's always there for a slurp as you're going by.

"Momma" had a makeover, kids.

Don't worry, they still get hugs.