Spring (I Wish!) Cleaning

Lambing season is fast approaching.  Our first possible due date is March 22 (really the 24th, but I always build in a couple of days in case someone didn't read the book and decides to do the deed early) and a few "must do" tasks have to be tackled.  One big job is cleaning out the barn.  We normally get a January thaw and do it then but that didn't happen this year.  The bedding pack is dry and clean but it's getting ridiculously deep.  Walking in the pens is like being in a bouncy house and the bottoms of some gates are buried and they can't be swung.  Once lambs are on the ground it will be next to impossible to move groups around so the pens have to be cleaned now.

For this Herculean task we rely on the old Skidsteer (circa 1974) which is reasonably trusty so long as you pay attention to its quirks.  There is some pitchfork and scraper work too but the bulk of the job is done with hydraulics.  Breakdowns are problematic at any time but when a part fails on this machine it becomes an exercise in creativity to find a source of replacements and you can't be halfway through this job and have it quit.  Lately the rectifier (charges the battery while running)  has been failing and Andy started searching for a new one.  The local parts dealer couldn't even locate the necessary book to look in at first and had to call us back.  He found a part number of what we need but said he couldn't get it.  That wasn't totally unexpected but it was worth a try.  On the next call to an engine repair place we know got a laugh and the guy said he hadn't worked on Wisconsin engines in at least 6 years, but knew someone who might.  So we called that person - a Mennonite fellow in PA - and not only did he know what we needed, he knew that the part number we were given was wrong - that number is for a newer version of the part we need.  Andy said he could pay by credit card to hurry the transaction along but the man said "we don't mess with that plastic #*%&# " and the bill would come in the mail with the part - just send a check.  It does give you the warm fuzzies to know that there are good, honest people out there who expect that you too are good and honest.  And they do seem to be farm people......

We penned all the sheep in the other half of the barn.  They were a little crowded but it wasn't going to be for long.  You can see evidence of another job that needs doing asap - changing coats up to the next sizes.

The lambs in particular were very interested in watching Andy go back and forth from the barn to the bunk.

The older sheep weren't much interested as they've seen it plenty of times.

Pickles

Pretty

Crumbles

Bunny.  "I could tell you a thing or two about what goes on.  You don't get to be 12 without seeing stuff."

Remember Bunny, what happens in the barn stays in the barn!

Wet Wednesday

After the very frosty Sunday morning the temperature has crept up into the upper 70s yesterday and the still-repectable 60s today.  Although there was some awful looking stuff on the radar we were missed by most of it and only had periods of light showers.  We had left the gate to the bunk open in case the sheep - especially the shorn lambs - wanted to come in but they didn't so by mid-afternoon I shut it anyway. 

It was a gray day.  The kind of afternoon that's nice to spend being lazy, or so I've heard ;-)

The flock was very mellow - standing around staring into space or lying down resting.  A few were grazing but more out of unconscious habit, like someone eating a bag of Doritos while watching TV.

"Doritos?  What are them?  Are them tasty?  We would eat them!!"

The sky kept looking ominous.

Peanut wasn't worried and worked along the fenceline nibbling what she could reach.  Some days it pays to have a small pointy head.

Right about 6 PM the sheep began to queue up at the gate.





Fuzz, in the middle - "C'mon, already!  Don't just stand there, let us in!"

Peanut:  "If you're not going to let us in, will you pet me?"

Pretty is three quarters Cotswold and the rain really freshened up her curls.



"I've managed to get rid of that dorky ear tag but I know you know who I am."

CocoPuff is swimming against the current.  Typical of the little fuzzball.

Young Brick, across the road, is growing into a handsome lad with a lovely fleece.  I don't plan to use him this year but I'm going to hang onto him.  He ought to be a very good ram.







Coconut:  "Oh my gosh, what's a ram?"

You don't have to worry about that until next year.





All Together Now

It worked well to keep the non-breeding group separated from the ewes with lambs for most of the summer.  We were able to utilize some pasture to better advantage and it was just easier to eyeball two smaller groups daily instead of one giant enormous big flock.  Both pastures reached their limit at the same time so we combined the two groups and sent them to the farthest pasture which they haven't had access to all year. 

They were pretty happy to go since the previous pastures weren't yummy anymore.  Plus the trek doesn't seem so far since it's downhill ;-)  They spend most of the morning ranging to the farthest corners and then work their way back.  I can see that the hillside is looking alarmingly like early fall.  Yikes!  :-0

When they do get back up the hill to the barn they get a drink from the water tub and then hang out under the locust trees.  It's been so freakishly cool this summer that the sheep are comfortable almost anywhere but the little bugs are less annoying in the shade.

Salsa, Madeline, Nora, Nancy and Snubby

 

Drambui, Fuzz and Madeline

 

Ashes, Madeline and Nancy

 

Pretty..... who has been rubbing her head on the red snow fence.  Sigh.

"I know I'm Pretty - my ear tag says so.  Plus I have a beauty mark on my muzzle like that famous human woman Cynthia Crawdad or whatever her name is."

 

A cute Cotwold ewe lamb

 

"Mom?  Are you coming?  Everybody's going!"

 

"Yes, we're coming.  You wait for me!  Don't go by yourself."

 

And she went with her mom and sister back down the hill.

 



 

Ivan was enjoying the fair weather too.  He came out the side barn door with me and was poking around in the grass.  He's on the thin side but feeling well and has a happy attitude.

 

"You know, I think I should go sit in the sun today."

 



"Oh yes, much better! "

 

Earlier this week the sun was out for two whole days in a row and I was able to give our stone sheep a new coat of paint.

 

 

Remember that super moon we had a few nights ago?  I wasn't able to get a good picture of it at night but the next morning it was still showing just above the trees to the west.  I sure wish I could remember what setting I used :-/

 



 

Natasha says.....

 



"I love a full moon!  All the better to see them mouses by!"

 

 



Off to a New Home

The lambs are growing fast and plenty old enough to leave mom.  These three youngsters are going to a great home where they'll be doted on and grow lovely fiber for their new mom.  Names have already been selected - Wendell, Knuckles and Delilah.  The boys were neutered here a couple of weeks ago and are healing up well. They left in style, in the back of a SUV fitted with a snazzy pet barrier.  This is meant for use with dogs but I like it very much for the lambs.  Smooth but sturdy, nothing to get caught on.  They were looking out the hatchback at the barn for the last time.

Bye, little guys.  Have a good life.

Wendell, looking a little yellow due to the tinted window.

 

Later I went out to check the water tub in the pasture the non-breeding group is in.  They have the area behind the barn which includes a nice stand of locust trees which provide great shade.  The slope is troublesome in very wet weather but today it was a nice place to rest.  They don't have to be crowded together but apparently the very best spot to stand in is at the corner of the barn where the breeze comes from two directions.  I think all the fleece types are represented here - white Cotswold, gray Cotswold, and crossbreds in white, gray, black and moorit.

 

 

Pearl's daughter Pretty has been rubbing her forehead on the snowfence.  It's coated in iron oxide paint which is thankfully non-toxic and does wear off quickly when it gets on wool. FYI, if you're looking for good old fashioned wood slat snow fence it's not called snow fence any more - it's 'erosion control fencing'.  I would never have thought of that if I was searching a catalog or website. 

 

"Whatever you call them, a fence is a nuisance.  Take 'em down, I say."

 

Pretty's fleece is really showing her Cotswold heritage.

 



 

I sure wish I could keep them all as clean until next year as they are right now!

 

 

 



Sunday Stills - White!

So for this week its another colour challenge and I do believe we have never done white before and since its winter here in the northern hemisphere I figured why not??

A ewe named Pretty, squinting in the bright sun.  She's Pearl's last daughter.

Elderly Bunny, against the snow.  She'll be eleven in April.

"I'm white....really."

 

The fleece on one of the Cotswold ewes.

Cleo, trying to find a little warmth from the sun.  It was two degrees in the barn Friday morning.

 

Holly, out surveying her domain behind the barn while we did chores.

 



For more Sunday Stills.....