So Goes Another Week

Hen Party
(That is Sue on the left, for those that remember the Eddie & Sue story)

Summer is clicking along. The weather has been pretty decent, except for the awful humidity. It seems like we have had overcast and rain everyday for a spell. The rain usually comes in about a 1/4 inch at a time, but it adds up. Everything needed a good drink.

Last night I moved Blue and Lanny Wilson over to their second 'pocket pasture' (as Michelle calls them). They were thrilled to pieces and looked very self satisfied by nightfall. This is the same pasture that the ewes ransacked a week or so ago when they went through the chicken pen. The ewes were very displeased to see Lanny and Blue over there. So much so that they set up a ruckus that made me run out, expecting another break out. I also might add that they had just come in off their evening pasture, which still has some good grass on it. I've been doing quite a bit of limb trimming over the past week and always give Blue and Lanny a pile of limbs in the evening. With them moved over on grass for a few weeks, I'm going to stack the leftover limb pieces on the leftover hay stack (that I've been forcing them to eat all summer) and try to burn the whole thing. Then we can move another big bale out for them for the rest of the summer.

Cockleburrs.....I'm pretty sure I hate them more than thistles. At least with thistles they don't (unless the infestation is severe) trash the fleeces. Two winters ago I had some hay with cockleburrs in it. This was good hay from my good hay supplier, so it came as quite a shock. It wasn't all that way, but there was enough to cause hardship with the fleeces and now the aftereffects on the farm. From that bit of hay, almost every one of my little pastures has some cockleburrs coming up. I'm being very vigilant, but if I miss even one, it will reseed and compound the problem. I'm worried the neighbors field will get infested and if it does...it'll be the thistle nightmare all over again. The only good thing about them is that they are easy to pull up. It's just in some places there are so many. The sheep don't seem to want to eat them either, even when the plants are small. So I've been cockleburr plant pulling in between other projects.

If all goes well, both Conway (ram lamb) and Marty (wether lamb) will be going to their new home in Kansas tomorrow. I will be meeting Kim somewhere along the route. First I will swing by the vet's office to get their health papers since they are crossing into another state. Earlier in the week I got their ear tags in. I'm really going to miss little Marty, but have been assured he will gets lots of loving. Conway is pretty standoffish and I'm glad he is heading out this weekend, as he needs to be separated out from the ewes anyway. Last year Kim bought a couple of ewe lambs, so she was ready for a ram to add to the flock this summer. We think that Conway will be a good fit and give a nice variety of color paired with these girls. They should produce some nice spots too. I'm very thrilled Conway is going to a breeding flock as he is a pretty nice fellow. I still have two spotted 2008 rams if anyone would like a nice ram. They need to be moved out before fall, so I'm willing to deal on them. I'm happy though that all my 2009 rams/wethers are sold and moved on to new homes, except Jackdaw, my little black and white flecket that I'm holding on to for a bit.

Fleece sales and interest has been pretty good the last month. I've not really advertised much, since I was trying to get them all updated on the website before I did. So it's been a pleasant surprise to have a consistent interest. I have two fleeces left skirt! Two! Yippee. Both are white Dorset/Merino's so they should go pretty fast. Then I can rake up all the bits of wool from the pavement and put away the panel I've been skirting on and call it done for another year.

What?..no..I wasn't sleeping...just resting my eyes...

Boone's talent as a watchdog has been revealed and I must say he is sadly lacking in that area. I knew he was a deep sleeper, but I had no idea how deep. Evidently, Ariel, as deaf as she was getting to be, was the one that alerted him to cars in the driveway, people coming up to the house and me coming home. Last night he scared me to death. I came home, stopped opened/shut gates, pulled up by the garage, unloaded some cans, and still no Boone at the fence. I was getting concerned. As I walked around the side where he was, I could see him stretched out against the gate. My heart dropped and I was yelling, oh no, Boone! Boone! I was sure he was dead. About two seconds after I yelled at him, he raised his head up all groggy, looking around like whaaaa? Then he saw it was me and hopped up and started acting all goofy like he hadn't been caught asleep. I've been thinking that maybe he can't hear, but he seems to hear fine when he is awake! He can hear the neighbors when they are outside and barks, but once he conks out, the world spins without him, I guess.

Couple pictures of my crowing hen....She is around ten years old, and was one of the hens that had bumblefoot a month or so ago. She is walking just fine now.

I started this post during the week, and am just now finishing it up. The weather has turned uncommonly cool and delightful! It's amazing for July to be this cool and pleasant. We got another hard half inch of rain, and everything is growing like crazy. Conway and Marty are in their new home since yesterday. I miss little Marty's sweet friendly face, but I know he will be loved on and spoiled at his new home. Someone has (most likely) dumped a sweet little white/calico cat in town. She is at my Mom's barn now, but not sure what we are going to do. She had a flea collar on, so there is a distant hope she belongs to someone. I'm going to put a 'found' ad in the paper. Most likely though, she won't be claimed, since she is very close to having kittens. People just suck sometimes. Probably will set up the two story kitty condo and put her in it, in my garage so that the kittens will be born there. We sure don't need any wild kittens around. The momma is very sweet and friendly. And so it goes.....anyone want dibs on a kitten??

Sheep Enthusiasm

The word is out--the shepherd is opening the gate!

Wait? We have to wait while you do a head count?!! But we are starving and the flies are eating us alive!

Sheep get pretty excited about eating. New grass is a big thrill. Just going into a new pasture is enough to cause mob scenes. It doesn't matter if they are hungry or not, they just love the excitement of new scenery, a whole new buffet to sample! Their philosphy seems to be, that the first one through the gate will get all the good stuff. No matter that there is several acres of good stuff. They take this so far as to literally have four or five sheep try and squeeze through the gate opening at once. Since it's set up for one to two sheep at the most, this can get ugly. I have actually seen three sheep wedged firmly, all three still trying their best to be the first through. I try my best to funnel the sheep in so there isn't a pile up, but it doesn't always work. With the bigger gates, it isn't an issue, but it can still be tricky getting out of the way!

Last one through is SUCH a loser!

Chopping Thistles And Other Fun Things...

The Upper Pasture has some regrowth on it, so it's time to rotate the sheepies back up there. All the rain has been a blessing for the pastures. I think this field will hold the sheep for at least three more weeks, so it looks like I might make it to September before I have to start feeding hay. Yeah!Whenever I've had the sheep off a field for 4 weeks or better, I always go through the pasture before turning them back on.

I check fences, and look for things like wild cherry that might poison them. I also take my chopping tool and whack down any thistles. Once in awhile, the thistles will get ahead of me, and one or two will make blooms. I try and dig them up by the roots, so they won't come back, but I know a few of them still survive. I'm not even sure what kind of thistles they are. They seem to bloom later than the musk thistles and have a much smaller seed head.

Mullein Gone to Seed

There are many weeds and the wild flowers abound. The sheep will eat many of these things and enjoy them, so I don't worry so much about the 'weeds taking over'. I do look for the dreaded 'beggar-lice', also called 'stick-tights', as they can trash a fleece pretty quick. I found a few bunches that I pulled up and disposed of. Evidently I didn't get them all, as I noticed several of the sheep had them around their neck tonight. Hopefully that will be it--as long as they don't get it into the body of the fleece it usually works out okay, although it isn't pretty to look at.

As usual I had plenty of 'help' as I inspected the pasture and chopped thistles. The dogs enjoyed sniffing about and checking out the field. Boone waded in the muddy pond (of course since he just got a bath!). I think I picked up a few chiggers, even though I sprayed before hand. At least with the weather moderated, even chopping thistles has a certain satisfaction and peacefulness to it.

Ariel all tuckered out after her field inspection.

(But look how clean and shiny she is!! :-)

Boone stops to smell the roses, um, wildflowers

Peaceful Pastures

Lovely little Luna

Shetlands at Sea

After a long, hot, dry summer, the skies suddenly opened up and we've gotten several major rains in the past few weeks. Where there was hardly a blade of grass is now lush and growing rapidly. In the shepherd's world, this translates into happy sheep and no hay feeding! I've been letting the lower pasture 'rest' since July, and am working on getting the girls out on it this week. Right now they are enjoying it in the evenings but will be out on it all day by the weekend.

I thought you might enjoy some pictures of the sheep, lost in a sea of grass! Crabgrass maybe, but its still grass!Coming in for the night.

For the rest of the week, I'll be busy gathering, pricing and getting things ready for a garage sale this weekend, that I'm going in with my parents on. Its a big deal as I have so much junk that I think must be rare jewels, so that its painful to part with! Hoping for clear weather this weekend. :-)Home for the night, or, what's for supper??

Rotating Pasture

From the top: Jeffery --enjoying the grass and wearing a grape vine,
The three Shetland boys, Drake, sampling the goods and lastly Blue and Lanny--the big 'pony' sheep.

The boys are happy today. Each of the two ram pen's got rotated onto fresh grass. We are very, very dry here and in desperate need of rain. If we do not get any soon, I will be feeding hay within the next two weeks. The ewes have two large pastures that I switch them back and forth on. The lower pasture is shot since its so dry and they will likely start needing supplementation on the upper pasture in another week---two weeks if I'm lucky and we get rain.

Blue and Lanny, the Merino ram and his wethered son have three small pens that I switch them through. The pen in the picture is rather small and the grass was pretty well shot last year. Due to several years of neglect and chicken abuse (dust baths) the pen was full of rank weeds. This year I managed to seed it to clover, lespedeza and fescue. Many of the weeds took over again, but down near the ground the other varieties are thriving. I will likely only keep the boys on there a week, then mow it and see how it looks. I'd like to make it a thriving patch of ground again.

The Shetland rams, Jeff & Drake and the wether Callum have four small areas I can rotate them between and that will soon be five. I'm still in the stages of getting things set up, so this year I have unfortunately let them overgraze their pastures, as I couldn't get them moved in a timely manner. Hopefully things will be smoother as I continue to work out a system. Today they went into an area that hasn't been grazed since late spring. I noticed a good deal of the lespedeza I seeded has thrived! The boys were very thrilled to be out where the pickings were plentiful again.

When you first turn sheep out on a new pasture, they will dash about, sampling this and that.. much like people at a salad bar! They are excited and sure that something better is in the next patch of grass. I still have lots of weeds and sprouts in most of my pastures, and the sheep will enjoy eating them as well. I really get a kick out of watching the sheep on new pasture.

The girls were quite put out that everyone was getting new pasture but them! I'm hoping to have at least one of their pastures cross fenced by next spring and keep them rotated in a more beneficial manner. The end goal is to cross fence both pastures and have a total of four smaller pastures to move them through. I would love to be able to offer them new grass every week, and I know the pastures, sheep and shepherd would benefit from it.

Have a good weekend.