The Routine

This time of year, when the sheep are fed indoors, chores become a structured routine and boy, do the sheep learn it!  While Andy starts mixing up the grain ration (everyone gets some now even though nobody's bred because the hay isn't the greatest) I go through each pen and pull the leftover hay stems out of the feeders and scatter them for bedding.  The pens with youngsters and old grannies and special cases, like Snubby, get better quality hay but also get grain too.  By the time I move on to the next group Andy is doling out grain and putting hay in the feeders.  We have the flock broken into five groups based on age and body condition and it just makes things less of a madhouse to have smaller groups contained so there isn't a huge stampede when the grain goes down.

The largest group is made up of the biggest, most robust adults and we shoo them outside entirely while servicing their area.

"C'mon, stop lollygagging!  We've been out here five minutes already!"

Fawn:  "I don't think she's really trying - she's just standing there."   

Salsa:  "Yeah.  I sense no urgency at all!"

Snowflake:  "I will stare at you with my yellow sheep eyes.  It's bound to make you move faster!"

And when the bail on the bucket falls and makes a clink sound .......you can practically hear the collective gasp of anticipation.

Clem was keeping one of the inside groups company.

"I'll just sniff this cat for a minute.  Ahhh, I can feel the tension falling away............"

"We've tried an intervention - it didn't work.  She's a cataholic.  So sad to see right in broad daylight.  Before breakfast, even."

And then the morning feed gets distributed.

"She'll be back.  She always comes back.  They can't resist me."

And that's about as exciting as it gets here in winter.

Looking Good

Sunday we finished readying the new pens for sheep, divided the ewes into their groups and introduced the rams late in the afternoon.

So far everything is working very well.  We have automatic waterers in most pens.  We only have to carry buckets to three groups and they are the smallest and so have the least water consumption.  I like these black water troughs from Tractor Supply.  They are large enough to allow 2-3 animals to drink at once but fairly shallow so if it gets dirty and needs cleaning it's not a big job.  Andy built an elevated platform for each trough so it wouldn't get bedding kicked into it.  The edges of the box come up a couple of inches so the trough can't get pushed off if the sheep crowd it.  We've found that they like to chew on the hoses sometimes - recreational destruction - so the hoses are shrouded in flexible plastic drainage pipe to keep sheep lips off.  Nugget, on the left, is bummed that we took all the fun out of it and it's just....water.  Most of the lambs are in the big "non-breeding" group which includes all adult ewes who aren't being bred for various reasons but we put this pen to use housing some of the smaller lambs who we want to make sure get enough to eat and don't get bossed around by the big ewes.  That's Daisy standing up front and center, Fortune a little blurry to the right and Fawn partially hidden on the bottom left.

A bit better view of Fortune.

She looks thin here but she's not, it's just the camera angle.  I can't get into the pen with them without being nearly trampled with affection which is great fun but not when you're trying to take pictures.

And little Snubby who is doing just fine although she always has something to say - loudly - about every situation.  I caught her chewing - not flattering - and had the shutter speed so slow to catch the light that things are a bit blurry.

Flopsy.  Her ears swivel independently like a cartoon animal and she's getting cute brown freckles on her nose.

We put Danielle in with the lambs.  Having had a stroke or two and being ten years old this year we thought she would benefit from minimal competition. She has a perpetual slight head tilt and doesn't turn to the right worth beans.  I think she has a lot of character in her face, kind of like Bette Davis after her stroke (and I mean that kindly and respectfully to both parties).  Interestingly, she and Snubby have struck up a friendship.  Animals.  They know.

Next to the lambs we penned Ian and eleven Cotswold ewes.  He's behaving himself very well.  We were a bit concerned that he might lust after the lambs but apparently the older girls are keeping him plenty occupied.  Wouldn't you know he'd turn his head just as I took the picture.

We're trying three ram lambs with small groups this year.  They are all taking to the task with enthusiasm.  This is Nigel, trying to convince Lovey she's in heat.  He is from a colored mom so should give me some colored Cotswold lambs from at least some of these colored ewes.  His fleece is showing good curl and really nice luster.  Ian is doing the heavy lifting this year with the other colored and color-carrying Cotswolds.  It's too many for a lamb to manage but if he does give me some colored lambs he'll be promoted next year and have a group of about twenty.

"Do you mind?!  This is hard enough without an audience.  Sheesh."

 

"Whatever, kid.  Just don't mess up my curls."

 

This is Neville.  He's auditioning to take Lucky's place in a year or so.  He's built nicer than the picture suggests and has good curls with a very small britch area.  He's been working the ladies like a pro, so he's got at least one talent.  Heh.

 

 

Everybody should have a job they're good at.  ;-)

So How Are Those Lambies?

The lambs are growing very fast right now, having good pasture and mom and some creep feed when they want it.

The Gang of Six (bottle babies) are really developing their own personalities.  They do all hang together in a little group so when the whole flock goes out to pasture in the morning they usually go with the flow and don't look for me too much.  This morning the youngest one, Flopsy, got sidetracked by something and didn't stick with the other five.  She thought she'd stay with me but when I stepped back into the barn she got positively frantic, poor thing, so I trooped out to the pasture to find the rest of the Gang for her.

The sheep saw me right away and thought I was going to open a gate into a south pasture so they all started to run toward me.

Then they thought I was going to go down the hill and open the east gate into the big, lower pasture.

After a while they gave up wishing for better and went back to grazing their perfectly nice pasture.  It was a beautiful morning and I could have happily stayed out there all day.  It did give me a chance to take some pictures. 

Fortune is the big sister of the group.  She's my C-section baby and doing very well.  She was born March 20, so is the oldest.

But still wants to come to momma whenever she sees me.

She's losing the baby lamb look and changing into a big kid.  She waffles between wanting petting and hugs and loving, and shrugging off attention to go eat or see what the other lambs are doing.

Daisy is the next oldest.  She was the last, smallest triplet from Shasta this year and needed to be in the house for about 2 days to gain some strength.  Mom almost took her back but then decided that the two she had was plenty.  Daisy is Miss Independent.... which is why I have no good picture of her yet.  She is always wandering ahead by herself looking for the best grass.  Here she's between Fortune and Snubby.

Then there are the three sisters - triplets from a mom with one functional teat and a case of mastitis.  Poof - you are bottle lambs.

Nugget, the solid tank who likes to have her chest scratched.

Fawn, with pretty dark ears and a delicate face, who is quiet but very alert to where you are....and if you might call for her to come.

 

And Snubby, (AKA Snubby-wub or Snubby-luv) who was born with a bit of a squashed face.  It's as though her nose was pressed up against something hard while she was developing, but it's more likely a bit of a genetic goof rather than a mechanical effect.  Her mouth is a little odd, but doesn't seem to impair her ability to eat, thank goodness.

She is the sweetest of the three siblings and loves to be petted and talked to.  Her expression is really quite endearing.  She perpetually looks like she's thinking, "Well, hmph.  I just don't know about that."

And then there's Flopsy, named by That Andy because of her ears.  She is the youngest by a couple of weeks.  Born to an old ewe, she was very weak and in the house for several days before being strong enough to go to the barn. 

She is still a Very Baby Lamb who wants a bottle and her momma and attention. right. now!  She loves to be petted also, and after being Abandoned! this morning she was especially clingy and stuck to my legs like velcro.

Eventually her shattered nerves quieted enough that she could nibble some grass with Snubby.

Eventually the sheep started to work their way back up toward the barn for the mid-morning drink and sit-down.

The lambs stayed grouped together so Flopsy had a definate 'family' to stay with.

I stepped back a bit and off to the side, then back some more and could finally climb over the fence into the next pasture and slink back up to the barn unnoticed.

IF there weren't so much to do I really could have stayed out there in the sun all day.