Archive for the ‘Animals – Sheep’ Category
December 19, 2009 – Tank and Friends
It’s now time for hay feeding of the animals (it has been for about two weeks now).
In the foreground is Tank, our favorite Katahdin ewe – she’s just solid, chunky, and robust – we call her Tank.
one year ago…”Gift Boxes Sold Out”
November 15, 2009 – Mixing Winter Grain Ration
It’s a big mixing weekend. The bred ewes eat mostly hay over the winter, but we give a little grain supplement for the pregnant and nursing ewes.
First step is to grind up some corn – ground corn is better than shell corn as it is better to digest. Here Martin watches the electric grinder and Ora the black kitten perches on the apple tree high above to watch!
Again, there are many possible combinations of grain mixtures, here’s what we’re trying this winter – steamed rolled barley, steam crimped oats, and linseed meal.
The final bit of the feed mix is a little bit of probiotics. Probiotics have many good effects on health, but are especially good for good rumen health.
Martin with the buckets ready for the first group to be mixed. Here’s this winter’s recipe:
2 parts cracked corn
1 part steam-rolled barley
1 part steamed crimped oats
1 part linseed meal
1 oz probiotics per 125 lb mix
one year ago…”Home-Made Cider Press Info”
October 14, 2009 – Pasture Reconfiguration
It is time for a pasture reconfiguration. The area broadly outlined in white shows where the new temporary fence went up.
This fence allows the animals to get into an area they haven’t yet grazed this season. It includes the ornamental willow nursery – now that the majority of the growing season is over, they can eat the willows since they will be cut down to the ground next spring to keep ornamental size. Our fences are mainly cattle panels and metal fenceposts, so it is easy to move things around.
one year ago…”Toothless Martin”
September 15, 2009 – Mulberry Feast
It doesn’t take long for a mulberry tree to get away from you. This one was growing in the fenceline south of the raspberries. It was overdue to take out. One of those things that’s on “the list” for a long time.
The tractor sure made the job easy – instead of cutting it up into pieces and hauling it away – I just had to drop it with the chainsaw, wrap a chain around it and drag it into the pasture. I wanted to do it before the leaves dropped.
In the pasture it became well appreciated browse for the goats and sheep.
August 10, 2009 – Mulberry Forage
Mulberry is excellent forage – comparing favorably to alfalfa in protein content. There is so shortage of mulberry around here, so the goats and sheep have been getting a small daily ration of trees cut out of fencelines and other places I don’t want them going.
When the pastures start to fade in late summer, it’s a good boost for the animals.
March 16, 2009 – New Electric Fence
Although it’s a bit hard to see in this photo, I finally got the electric fence across the cement pad outside the barn.
This will give us much more flexibility to segregate animals as needed. Because the fence was on cement, I needed to make the fence have alternate hot and ground wires so animals can complete the circuit (the cement acts as an insulator and they don’t create the circuit to ground through the cement.
one year ago…”Happy St. Urho’s Day!”
February 28, 2009 – Sheep Bling
Today the lambs got their bling – new earrings. Only one stud for both boys and girls. Ear tagging is a new process for us and it seemed to go well.
Here’s Linda with number 16.
And me with number 17. I went into the local farm store (Theisens) earlier in the week to get the tags and thought they were a bit pricey at $28.00 for 20 sheep/goat tags along with $26 for the applicator tool. I didn’t get them and checked our favorite fencing supply store, Premiere Fencing and was able to get 40 tags for $8 and the applicator tool for $9.00. So, what I would have paid $82 at Theisen’s, I got for $17 at Premiere.
February 20, 2009 – Hangin’ with the Ewes
All the ewes and lambs are together now that moms and babies know who each other are. Everybody got their tetanus shots and one boy was banded – the two others will have to wait a few more days as they are not quite old enough yet.
I can’t wait for it to green up and get these folks out on the pasture! The lambs are frolicking and jumping like good little lambs do!
February 16, 2009 – Tank’s a Mommy
Tank finally had her lambs. She had triplets – each of them seems very vigourous. The previous triplet birth last week, we eventually lost the runt of the batch, but we’re hopeful about these three.
These seem to have perhaps a Romanoff or other Daddy ram as they have more curly fur than their barnmates. After a few more days alone, we’ll finally get all the ewes and lambs together in one spot.
one year ago…”Thinking Ahead to Spring”
February 13, 2009 – Katahdin Birth
We’ve never been able to witness the birth on any mammals on our farm until this Katahdin. I must admit it seemed much easier and quicker than the three off-farm births I witnessed (Claire, Emma, and Martin).
The head and legs first popped out and hung around for probably a couple of minutes before the whole body plopped out.
Mommy did a good job of stimulating the lamb and cleaning it up by thorough lickings. The ewe made the most tender low muttering sounds to the lamb after birth – reminiscent of a soft lullaby.
The lamb wanted to get up and move in the worst way – after about five minutes of false attempts and struggling, it got up on its legs for the first time. He has a strong instinct to nurse, again, taking about five minutes to find the teat, first sucking on the back legs and many other false starts before finding the food source.
Then, the process was repeated when another lamb came out – only the next one came out tail first. It was a bit funny to see the body half out of the ewe with the of the lamb wagging away.
one year ago…”Looking for a Wife? (I’m not)”
February 7, 2009 – New Hay Feeder
Another accoutrement that we now need is a hay feeder. Now that the weather has warmed to the upper 40′s, it’s possible to get outside and do stuff.
I copied this design from a photo in a sheep raising book, except I added the hardware cloth bottom and wheels, and made it a bit taller than designed, hoping goats wouldn’t jump on top of it. I much prefer rolling heavy items than lifting them. I made the framing out of AC2 lumber, but used cedar for the slats on the bottom and top, not wanting the hay to have that much contact with the chemically treated boards.
We used a design feature suggested by Martin. I was trying to figure out a quick and dirty way to keep the hinged lid open when loading hay and Martin suggested a small block that’s attached with a wire that goes in the hinge to keep it open.
one year ago…”Thingamajig #106″
February 5, 2008 – First Lambs Arrive!
The first lambs arrived today! Linda found them probably about a half-hour after they were born – what looks like triplet ewe-lambs!
Two of them are good-sized, but one is small.
“Baby,” the smallest one, took a turn downhill about an hour after birth. She looked dead. We brought her into the house, put her on a heating pad, tubed her (put a tube down her throat to get some milk in her to get her kick-started).
A short while later, she showed signs of wanting to live again, and once she was strong enough to stand up, she’s better off with Mom, to get the important colostrum, so she headed back out to the barn. Thank goodness the cold weather broke and the night is only supposed to get down into the 20′s and in the 40′s most of the next 5 days.
February 1, 2009 – Katahdin Sheep at High Hopes!
We’ve had our eyes on Katahdin sheep for some time. We found out about a fire sale on bred Katahdin ewes just a few days ago and went out and got some after consulting with people who know more about sheep than we do. These four ladies are bred and should lamb in a couple of weeks or less. We’ve got room in the barn, have enough hay, and were able to get the ladies for less than the price of two feeder lambs.
We hope we’ll like these because they birth easily, have hair instead of wool, which means they don’t need to be sheared, their tails commonly aren’t docked, and they are a meat breed and do well on pasture (some studies also indicate they are more resistant to parasites as well). Stay tuned as the ewes give birth in the upcoming days!
one year ago…”Musings from Tomorrow”
May 17, 2008 – First 80 Degree Day in 6 Months
Today it reached 80 degrees for the first time in about six months. The first 80 degree day is usually in mid-April, not mid-May. It was like a blast furnace, along with a 30 mph wind – clothes on the line dried in about 15 minutes, much faster than the dryer.
We got six lambs today – here’s three of them, appreciative of the lush grass, so appreciative that the one on the right is leaving a fertilizer deposit!
The starts look good – they are outside hardening off before getting planted – here is a flat of celosia.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #72″
