Our weather has been beautiful, if a bit windy some days. The seventeen lambs are growing much quicker than they did last year. We will see how it works lambing this month later than our usual schedule. Scar is the last ewe left to lamb. She looks miserable, but not ready to lamb yet. All the sheep and goats are turned out to graze during the day and then locked back in the small pen with the barn in the evening. River is learning to be a good herder, though he still has the occasional episode of "chase the donkey." Last night Darla took exception to his herding and ended up chasing him all the way down to the Rice River.
The ducks and chicks continue to grow as well. I haven't planted anything in the gardens yet. It is still getting below freezing at night. My hope is to get onions and lettuce in yet today. Best be heading back outside, the pigs are looking for some fresh cool water on this warm, windy day.
Rice River Ramblings: Stories from the farm
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Lambing Continues & General Stuff
As of this moment we have 16 lambs. Annafleece and Scar have yet to lamb. Our lambing stats are as follows:
live
7 ewe lambs
9 ram lambs
lost two: one ewe lamb to electric fence, and Cooley's ram lamb, stillborn
The color breakdown is as follows (of 18 lambs):
8 black
3 moorit
4 white
3 black & white spotted
We turned all of them out on pasture last night for a few hours, and then I turned them out this morning. Yes, even poor recovering Cooley. She's still not out of the woods, but just wants to be with the rest of the flock. I've ceased her prevail shots, but I can tell she is still sore. Heck, my hands hurt for two days after that event.
Nate and I made the decision to avoid rotational grazing with the electronet fence for now, after losing the lamb last weekend to the fence. We will turn them out for the day, and then everyone will be locked back in the smaller pen by the barn for night. After losing two lambs last year to an owl/eagle, I am more cautious. Daisy and the three dairy goats (Nora, Brie, and Pippa) are in the field with the sheep this morning.
Last night was the first time I used River, the border collie we got this winter, with all the sheep. He does a great job herding the sheep, but we have to work on his donkey skills. River helped get all the sheep back to the barn last night, but instead of "turning off" he decided to chase the donkey a few rounds. Guess we need to work more on recall. After five minutes of laying still while I shut the gate he was back in his own head. Right now he can see all the sheep and goats from the great room window. It is driving him crazy. I know if I turned him outside he would spend the day walking the fence line.
It is a frosty morning, and I am still anxious to get to work on the gardens. The back porch again resembles a greenhouse, and my tomatoes are growing faster than ever. Nate is off enjoying the fishing opener and I have to wait until we till the gardens and put fence back up. My onion sets, lettuce, and peas are ready to go in the ground.
DIG, my new favorite beer. I love the artwork on the bottle too.
live
7 ewe lambs
9 ram lambs
lost two: one ewe lamb to electric fence, and Cooley's ram lamb, stillborn
The color breakdown is as follows (of 18 lambs):
8 black
3 moorit
4 white
3 black & white spotted
We turned all of them out on pasture last night for a few hours, and then I turned them out this morning. Yes, even poor recovering Cooley. She's still not out of the woods, but just wants to be with the rest of the flock. I've ceased her prevail shots, but I can tell she is still sore. Heck, my hands hurt for two days after that event.
Nate and I made the decision to avoid rotational grazing with the electronet fence for now, after losing the lamb last weekend to the fence. We will turn them out for the day, and then everyone will be locked back in the smaller pen by the barn for night. After losing two lambs last year to an owl/eagle, I am more cautious. Daisy and the three dairy goats (Nora, Brie, and Pippa) are in the field with the sheep this morning.
River, who likes to sleep in my closet, which can lead to some issues.
Last night was the first time I used River, the border collie we got this winter, with all the sheep. He does a great job herding the sheep, but we have to work on his donkey skills. River helped get all the sheep back to the barn last night, but instead of "turning off" he decided to chase the donkey a few rounds. Guess we need to work more on recall. After five minutes of laying still while I shut the gate he was back in his own head. Right now he can see all the sheep and goats from the great room window. It is driving him crazy. I know if I turned him outside he would spend the day walking the fence line.
This little ewe was Pamela's contribution this year. My sixth graders named her Portia. She is small, but vigorous. Pamela is a ewe that came with the rest of the shetland flock four years ago. She had a ram lamb at her side. She also had a case of a blocked teat, and a horrible looking udder that was quite large, hence the name Pamela. Pamela is one of our oldest ewes, and a horned ewe. However, this trait has never been passed on to any of her daughters. Last year she had a single ram lamb. Two years ago she gave us Cornelia and Marie, who are still part of the flock. When we sheared I was not impressed with Pamela's condition. She was much thinner than the rest of the flock. Wish that happened to me as I get older!
DIG, my new favorite beer. I love the artwork on the bottle too.
A quick Purry post. Purry is the cat that I brought home as a "door prize" from last falls Farmers Market Party. She is a very sweet kitty but had wanted to start going outside this spring. We had her fixed, since we have some feral cats around. For about four days we had been letting her outside during the day, and she would not venture much further than the front yard. Well, last Wednesday we came home to find her dragging herself across the front yard. She was paralyzed. The next day I ran her to the vet on my lunch break. X-rays and exam later, the vet believes she was hit by a vehicle. Her pelvis was crushed. So, we brought her home with pain meds and it's been a week of TLC. She has regained use of her left hind leg, and is able to move around the house. Slower than perfect Purry, but she's doing ok.
We live at the end of a dirt road. Not a lot of traffic. However, they are replacing our underground power lines, so there has been a lot of vehicles and equipment. That is probably what happened to our poor Purry. The power company has also annoyed me greatly with all the unscheduled power outages the new lines have caused. I have eggs in the incubator that are two days away from hatching. We'll see if they hatch or not!
Better head back out to check the sheep, Enjoy the beautiful weekend!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Cooley Update & New Lamb
After the barn drama of last night, I slept fitfully, worrying about Cooley. As I walked down to the barn this morning the first thing I see at the gate is Pamela, cleaning off a newborn lamb. What a peaceful, happy image to replace the birth trauma of last night. She is now in a jug with her beautiful moorit krunet ewe lamb (brown with white on her head, girl.)
In the jug next to her Cooley is still with us. Sore and swollen, I hope she makes it. She had another dose of Prevail and antibiotic this morning. She has passed the afterbirth, but still weak. Enough energy was present for her to stand up and stomp at me once when I went in to give her a shot. Time will tell.
That leaves five ewes still to lamb. Our current lamb count is at eleven. We lost Time's ewe lamb, Foxface, on Saturday in the electronet fence. First time we have ever lost a lamb to the fence, and we've been using it for six years. Nate, the boys, and I spent Saturday evening replacing the electronet fence with hog panels. Won't make my goal of twenty lambs this year. Hopefully everyone continues to be born healthy, and no more difficult births. Such is life on the farm.
In the jug next to her Cooley is still with us. Sore and swollen, I hope she makes it. She had another dose of Prevail and antibiotic this morning. She has passed the afterbirth, but still weak. Enough energy was present for her to stand up and stomp at me once when I went in to give her a shot. Time will tell.
That leaves five ewes still to lamb. Our current lamb count is at eleven. We lost Time's ewe lamb, Foxface, on Saturday in the electronet fence. First time we have ever lost a lamb to the fence, and we've been using it for six years. Nate, the boys, and I spent Saturday evening replacing the electronet fence with hog panels. Won't make my goal of twenty lambs this year. Hopefully everyone continues to be born healthy, and no more difficult births. Such is life on the farm.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Barn Bucket List: Activities hope NEVER to repeat
This is going to be quick, and definitely rambling, but I had to get the thoughts out of my head. With the hope of never repeating the experience.
WARNING: GRAPHIC, AND A BIT SAD, DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT A TRUE FARM EXPERIENCE.
Nate and I arrived home within minutes of each other this afternoon, and both headed to the barn to check on the sheep and lambs. We had seven ewes still to lamb, and ten busy little lambs bopping around. Cooley (2011 lamb Cocoa/Marshmallow) had evident signs of birthing soon by looking at her back end. I decided to jug her (put her in small lambing area) to keep her from everyone else bugging her. After 1/2 an hour I could only see one hoof, and she wasn't pushing too much, even though she had signs of having HAD a large water bag previously. A bit more watching and I decided there was a problem. She wasn't pushing in the typical style, more straining as if having a bowel movement, and not laying down and "getting to business". I investigated and found two large front hooves, but no head. A quick call up to the house for Nate's assistance and I attempted to find the lamb's head. It was way back, unable to be passed through Cooley's small pelvis. Not good. I tried every technique I could, even referencing my sheep handbook. It was a situation of impossibles. Big lamb, poor presentation (he kept turning his head back instead of between his front legs, which is "normal" presentation.)
Tears, frustration, hitting head against jug wall. We moved the whole operation to the main barn area, more room, more leverage. No good. Lots of iodine, lube, and things still weren't moving along. Poor Cooley was in so much pain and so tired. Finally I was able to get a rope around the lambs head and get that to move through the pelvis, only to have the legs slip back in. More invasive moves by me found one leg, and finally with Nate pulling the lamb, and me holding poor Cooley, we delivered the large black ram lamb.
As poor Cooley looked on in shocked relief we tried everything to get that baby breathing. Spinning, rubbing, straw, even mouth to mouth. After over five minutes we accepted that he wasn't ever to draw a breath. Gently we put Cooley in a jug with fresh hay, water, a shot of prevail (pain reliever) and some antibiotics, and a hope that she can pull through this traumatic experience. Traumatic for all involved. Including this shepherdess who would have looked at you in disbelief if you had told her she would be up to her forearm in the back end of a sheep, ten years ago when I was living in town, thinking that the stress of getting paperwork done was the end of the world.
It's an experience crossed off my bucket list. That means I don't have to repeat it, right?
WARNING: GRAPHIC, AND A BIT SAD, DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT A TRUE FARM EXPERIENCE.
Nate and I arrived home within minutes of each other this afternoon, and both headed to the barn to check on the sheep and lambs. We had seven ewes still to lamb, and ten busy little lambs bopping around. Cooley (2011 lamb Cocoa/Marshmallow) had evident signs of birthing soon by looking at her back end. I decided to jug her (put her in small lambing area) to keep her from everyone else bugging her. After 1/2 an hour I could only see one hoof, and she wasn't pushing too much, even though she had signs of having HAD a large water bag previously. A bit more watching and I decided there was a problem. She wasn't pushing in the typical style, more straining as if having a bowel movement, and not laying down and "getting to business". I investigated and found two large front hooves, but no head. A quick call up to the house for Nate's assistance and I attempted to find the lamb's head. It was way back, unable to be passed through Cooley's small pelvis. Not good. I tried every technique I could, even referencing my sheep handbook. It was a situation of impossibles. Big lamb, poor presentation (he kept turning his head back instead of between his front legs, which is "normal" presentation.)
Tears, frustration, hitting head against jug wall. We moved the whole operation to the main barn area, more room, more leverage. No good. Lots of iodine, lube, and things still weren't moving along. Poor Cooley was in so much pain and so tired. Finally I was able to get a rope around the lambs head and get that to move through the pelvis, only to have the legs slip back in. More invasive moves by me found one leg, and finally with Nate pulling the lamb, and me holding poor Cooley, we delivered the large black ram lamb.
As poor Cooley looked on in shocked relief we tried everything to get that baby breathing. Spinning, rubbing, straw, even mouth to mouth. After over five minutes we accepted that he wasn't ever to draw a breath. Gently we put Cooley in a jug with fresh hay, water, a shot of prevail (pain reliever) and some antibiotics, and a hope that she can pull through this traumatic experience. Traumatic for all involved. Including this shepherdess who would have looked at you in disbelief if you had told her she would be up to her forearm in the back end of a sheep, ten years ago when I was living in town, thinking that the stress of getting paperwork done was the end of the world.
It's an experience crossed off my bucket list. That means I don't have to repeat it, right?
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