Small Farm, Permaculture and Farm Store

Time to Separate the Rams Again

1/31/2014

The rams have been with their breeding groups for 2 months now. The ewes cycle every 18 days, so they should have cycled at least twice, if not thrice, in the time the rams were with them. I see no evidence of the rams' interest in the ewes anymore, so it is natural to assume they are now bred.

The older ewes have two rams with them. It was not meant to be that way. I can only hope that Walter did his job and the ewes cycled before the fence got busted and Eric joined him. There is a little Southdown Babydoll ram with the ewe lambs. The Babydolls are old enough to breed this year, and a few of the earlier born larger ewes may have also been bred. The Blue Faced Leicesters joined the ewe lamb pen a little while ago, and the ram was interested in some of the larger ewes that the Babydoll ram would have had trouble mounting, since they were twice his size. As long as the Babydolls were bred Babydoll, the rest is just a bonus.

The two bucks in with the goats will stay there now and actually the buckling from last year will join them until the does give birth. The goats do better with other goats, rather than sheep, but it is difficult to keep them apart entirely on their own, so they live with the boy sheep. For the next three months, they will get to live with the goats instead and enjoy the like company.

The rams will return to the ram pen. Walter was just wormed so he is ready to go back now. His babies from last year were wonderful, especially the E'st a Laine Merinos. Unfortunately, not all the offspring can be kept, so there will be a huge sale this year, with ewes and ewes lambs and lambs from this breeding all being sold. Now that I have experience with some of the different breeds of sheep and have discovered more about the actual market for them, the three breeds being kept will be the Jacobs, Blue Faced Leicesters and the Southdown Babydolls. As much as I love the others, I do not need fifty sheep!

So, the rams can go back to retirement and the ewes will continue on with their pregnancies. The grass hay has been set for the rams and the does and ewes and ewe lambs will get the premium dairy hay with alfalfa to support their additional nutritional needs. Farming is a delight when all is well, it really is.

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Jade and Smokey

1/30/2014

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Smokey the cat was born here in the summer. He is the only kitten left from the litter. His brothers were killed, one by the skid steer when he ran under the wheel and the other ?.

Smokey comes when he is called because when he was small, if I caught a mouse, I would give it to him and call his name. Jade, one of the Maremma sisters, does not really like cats much. None of the dogs do, but they tolerate them because they belong to the farm. Smokey likes Jade though and sometimes follows her. When the hay was delivered, it gave the dogs a new height from which to survey their kingdom. Smokey followed Jade up the bales and tried to snuggle with her. Jade was tolerant of the situation, though it did not look as though she having much to do with that cat. He was just there and so was she. Aren't they cute together though?

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Tail Docking

1/30/2014

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The new lamb is a male, Dominique and his tail and boy parts are whole. He is nearing a week old and if the tail docking and castration are going to take place, they should be done tomorrow.

It is customary to dock the tails of long tailed sheep. Some more primitive sheep, like the Finnsheep, Icelandics and Romanovs, have short tails. These tails evolved over time and it is interesting to note that the breeds are old unimproved breeds from cold climates generally.
Other breeds have long wooly tails and it has become standard practice to dock the tails very short. The rationale behind this is that the animal stays cleaner without feces or urine clinging to the tail wool and breeding for ewes is easier without a long wooly tail to get in the way.

But, tails are there for a reason and yes, fly strike is awful and can be deadly, but tails can be swished to keep the animals more comfortable around biting insects and the tails protect the delicate tissues from sunburn and animal bites. When showing Jacob sheep, a very old unimproved breed, the tails are allowed to be left on and whole and no points are taken off for natural tails. Most other breeds, especially commercial breeds, suffer the cruelty of removing almost the entire tails. Usually the tail is banded with a tiny elastic band shortly after birth, certainly within the first week of life, and often at the same time as the testicles are banded. The little lambs cry and dance. I am sure any male would if a very tight band that cut the blood flow to his most private parts was installed. Ouch!!!! The tail bands are nearly as uncomfortable.

There are long tailed, fat tailed and short rat tailed sheep at The Fat Ewe Farm. Some have docked tails and only a few are castrated via the elastic bands. Most ram lambs are left in tact and kept in a ram pen. Their fate is usually for meat anyhow and they grow faster with everything in tact. There is no reason to put them through the terrible pain and discomfort of castration.

As far as the tails go, at this point, some are docked, but the leaning is to leaving the tails on as well. There have been on issues for breeding except with Dora, the very fat tailed Karakul sheep. Either she is infertile or her tail presents too much of a problem to non Karakul rams. So far, there has not been a case of fly strike. The first year, I actually hosed down and clipped the tail area on several sheep that feces encrusted wool. Now shearing later seems to make a difference and shearing the tail also helps. The long tails let the sheep swat at bugs and keep the exposed parts out of the sun and not exposed, if you get that picture. What do you think about tail docking? yes or no?

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Ram in Rut

1/28/2014

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A rutting ram means he is in the mood to breed his ewes. The rams can be quite determined and even dangerous. They do not want anyone to come between them and the females. This ram, Walter, a pure bred Cotswold ram, is very tame and quiet normally and in rut, he is approachable and pettable, though I would not turn my back to him unwittingly, just in case. A ram is a ram, after all.

Walter has been with the girls for almost two months now. Eric, the Icelandic ram broke the fence down and he and the two Icelandic ewes joined Walter's flock 4 weeks after Walter was introduced. This could have resulted in absolute disaster with rams fighting to the death, but these two are gentle and calm and did not fight at all, thank goodness. I did not repair the fence quickly enough to separate the rams, so there might be some cross breeding that is unwanted. Eric is a small Icelandic and although he has a beautiful coat, Icelandic lambs are small and slower growing than the big meat lambs. Cotswolds were bred for meat and a large sheep, but they also have sought after wool. It is a luster wool without kemp, and falls in ringlet curls. Crafters love Cotswold wool for projects such as Santa beards and doll's hair. The Cotswold cross lambs from last year are much larger than the Icelandics and since we are in meat country, they would bring a premium dollar when sold. The Icelandics will take 2 years to mature and even then, they will never be as large as a meat sheep, however; their hardiness, parasite resistance and lovely wool give them an edge for a specialized market.

We won't know until May and June which ram bred the ewes. Hopefully Walter will have done his job before Eric broke down the fence. Wait and see.

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A Cozy Place to Stay

1/27/2014

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The old dog lies by the fire in the old farm house. He is content and quiet, enjoying the moment and at peace with the world. In the distance the raven calls, but his ears have turned inward now, somewhere between dreamland and the sound of his heart beating. The old house groans under the strain of the frozen air outside, frost threatening to creep into the bones of the ancient wood. Still it stands, loved and welcoming to all who enter. The dog knows. He rests while outside the others do the work. There is a quiet ticking of the hot fire heating the cast iron and in silence two gyro fans rotate from the rising warmth, sending it outwards in the pretty living room. Some nails have started to pop through the well trodden wooden floor, telling of years gone by and better days. Still, the quaintness of the home permeates the atmosphere and the hearts of all the guests, four legged and two. It is a cozy place to stay on a cold and frosty day.

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New Stuff!

1/26/2014

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Hemp Body Butter on the left and the rich golden Body Cream on the right. Two new products from The Sexy Farmer!

I love being creative. I have wanted to invent a new body cream, not quite a butter, and not a lotion, but creamier than thick, so it spreads evenly. As I age, and because I am outside in all weather for hours every day, my skin requires different products than it did in the city.

Of course, this is too good to keep to myself. My good friend is staying with me for a holiday (I know! who holidays in northeastern Alberta??? in winter?????) She is a similar age and is testing out the two new products.

Product number one is a hemp body butter made from hemp oil, hyrdrogenated vegetable oil and essential oils of vanilla and geranium. Geranium is very soothing to skin, especially kind to reddened skin and few are allergic or react to it. Vanilla is calming to the skin and can aid in the reduction of blood flow in tiny capillaries, so for acne rosacea it is very beneficial. Now, do not get panicked about hydrogenated vegetable oil being used for the skin. It will not clog your arteries! That only happens when it is ingested. For a body butter, it is smooth and hydrating. Hemp oil is the driest oil of all carrier oils, meaning it is quickly and fully absorbed in the skin, providing the wonderful glowing finish that a good product should.

Product number two is the body cream. This rich deep golden cream derives its colour from the sea buckthorn berry fruit oil. Sea Buckthorn, a native shrub to the cold climate of Siberia and the Himilayan mountains, grows well most anywhere. The berries a born along the branches in riotous clusters, but are soft, like high bush cranberries and hard to pick because the branches have huge thorns. In commercial production, the branches are cut off with the berries in tact, then frozen and harvested by thrashing the frozen berries from the branches. The berries are pressed with the seeds in them or pressed and the seeds then separated. The seed oil is rich in emollients and antioxidants. The juice from the berries is more nutritious than almost any other fruits on the planet and is similar to gogi or acai berries for its health benefits.

The oil from the berries comes from the seeds and the skin. Since the berries are bright, bright orange, the oil is orange as well. If it is used full strength, it can create an orangey pseudo tan. The body cream, which is great for the eyes and face as well as the entire body, also contains Meadowfoam oil, the oil with the longest fatty acid chains. This is extremely conditioning for the skin. There is also raw, organic shea butter, not heated, so no chemical changes have occurred and the best of the butter is still there. Cocoa butter is in there too, to add a barrier to the cream which protects all day long. A little grapeseed oil for quick absorbtion, Perilla seed oil for smoothing wrinkles and lines and Lavender essential oil for relaxing the skin are in the ingredients list.

The tins sell for $25 and the jars for $12. There are only small jars of the Body Cream. Samples in a small vial can be ordered for $2, plus postage. The body cream and the body butter will be sold in the farm store, and for now will be included in the sale items at the bed and breakfast. Happy Buttering!

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Winter Fleece

1/25/2014

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Karakul, coarse carpet wool, excellent for rugs, mats and horse blankets. Felts well

The Fat Ewe Farm has exotic rare breeds of sheep, for the most part. These sheep were selected for their fleece and meat is a by product. Hence they are not the largest sheep, but they do have beautiful fleece. For the past 2 years, different methods of feeding the ewes have been tried with the aim to keep the hay out of the fleece. Feeding low to the ground would be the best option, but the sheep are so tame, that as soon as they see me they stand there waiting for the hay. To really keep their coats clean, they would need to be removed for feeding or fed in a long low trough that extends for quite a distance. Another option would be to remove the sheep to a different pen, place the hay and then bring them back in. That is a lot of trouble in the dead of winter at 50 below though. The best system is not yet found. Next year, some of the sheep will wear coats, but they need up to 6 different sizes during the wool growth so it remains light and lofty and does not compact and felt. That, also is a lot of work.

To produce excellent wool, the sheep need good food. This year's hay is superior and their coats are beautiful. The wool would be bring a premium price from hand spinners IF it was free of vegetative matter, which it is not. Still, it will make for some lovely projects. The sheep are bred and due in late May or early June, so do not need to be sheared until April. They will go out to pasture as soon as the grass allows it, lambs in tow. Hopefully one of the livestock guardian dogs will accompany them this year. Mike seems the best prospect for that.

The photos of the wool coats in the sunshine are nowhere doing the fiber justice. It is thick and lush and soft this year, very pretty. Take a peek...

white Karakul in the background, Cotswold left, E'st a Laine Merino middle and Icelandic

Shetland

White Finnsheep. There is a coloured Finn too

White St. Croix cross

White Icelandic ewe lamb foreground, Suffolk rear

Superior Cotswold

center, brown Finnsheep

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Raising Geese

1/24/2014

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Before coming to this farm, I had never really been around any geese. My father loved roast goose best of all, or at least up there with roast moose. Goose - moose - maybe there was something to that.

My first geese were 5 Embden goslings a few weeks old. When I picked them up, I asked why they looked different and the seller told me that she did have a Tufted Toulouse gander too. Hence, the babies were half Toulouse and half Embden. Embden geese are noted for their unfriendly temperaments and watchdog like behaviour. They would just as soon hiss and bite and flap than be friendly, and even though they were lovingly raised by hand, they simply never did become tame. At least, though, they never attempted to bite me, well, until mating that was and then it was only the one big gander.

There were two males and three females of that group and the females made lovely nests and fought over them. Eventually they moved their nests and then fought over whose those were too. I had also acquired two female American Buff geese. One never did nest, but the other nested, stayed on her nest, did not mess with the Embden girls and hatched five lovely babies. The Embden nests grew stale and the eggs rotted due to constant moving of the eggs, and they were abandoned when the other goose hatched her brood. Then the entire flock cared for and protected those little ones. They quickly grew and by the summer's end were indistinguishable from their parents, more or less. The two American Buff geese mated with a lanky, skinny gander and he stayed with them, but the offspring were most likely the big gander's. All the geese but the Buffs and that gander went to the processor and came home wrapped and frozen.

Then last fall, a gander and two geese joined the three remaining ones on the farm. These are Pomeranian Saddlebacks, noted for their quieter natures. The skinny, lanky gander filled out nicely by winter and became a very handsome dude with lovely grey and white mottled feathers and a tuft on his noggin. He and his two ladies have stayed bonded and the Pomeranians have also bonded. This spring then, it should be relatively easy to separate them for breeding, the Buffs with the pretty cross gander and the Pomeranians together.

Although I have read over and again that geese are strictly vegetarian, their behaviour evidences something different. They love raw meat. When the chickens are given bones to pick, the geese are the first to strip the tender bits off. Winter feeding is harder. They do get oats, wheat and barley, alfalfa and grass hay and grit and shells, plus the occasional vegetable scraps. But in the summer, they hardly eat any grain, instead feeding on grass and bugs, worms, mice, and whatever else is in the grass, plus dirt. I imagine they get their minerals from the dirt, plus the grit, because they eat quite a bit, especially in certain pockets in the yard. A waterfowl pool is on the agenda for this summer. All that has to happen is to locate some clay, and there is building going on locally, so that might be easy. It will line the natural pond.

I really enjoy the geese, especially watching them bathe. They will stick their heads in a bucket of water to clean their eyes and come out frozen and if given a chance for a bath, they will enter the water, which freezes to their feathers and then preen for an hour following. They are graceful and flap their wings to move the water down their feathers.

And, I must say, the geese from the summer are most delicious. Thank you to the Creator for making geese and to the geese for the honour of their lives.

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Fluffy the Farmer and Her Friend

1/23/2014

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Oh what a day today, it was. So warm, plus 4, sunny and glorious. The wind was warm and the animals were frisky and happy. I was frisky and happy outside too, thinking what a change it was from the day before at minus 25, plus a huge windchill factor. Brrr, it was ccccold.

Today the goat feeding area had to be modified. Sarah, the Alpine and tiny little Raven, the Pygmy buckling, decided the hay was definitely better on the other side of their fence. Sarah had a habit of jumping into the feeder too. Finally, Jenna, had had enough of this vagrant behaviour and policed those goats seriously, sending them scrambling back to the flock each time they breached their pen. It was cute to watch her. Jenna hung back a little and waiting. As soon as the goat jumped the fence, she ran forward and glared to give the goat the message. Livestock guardian dogs take their jobs very seriously and have a sense of order. Things that in their places are fine, but things that not, need to be reordered and kept in line, so Jenna assumed the task. Finally, the feeder was modified and Sarah can no longer jump into it and Raven can no longer fit through the hole in the fence because that too was fixed. Now Jenna will be happy again with the regular status quo.

My good friend, who is visiting from my lifelong home town, White Rock, was out today for a long while too. She helped with the watering, took the eggs in, brought the wood in and busted the ice from the water buckets. What a good farmer she is! and what a fabulous all round day!

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Cold Sunny Day

1/22/2014

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Sandy, a red sandy Flemish Giant on the left and Cindy Lop Ear, a French Lop on the right. They have carved a den out of two straw bales and are warm and cozy inside when they want to snuggle down.

Wow, what is the weather doing? It was 5 above and then today, 25 below. Brrrr, it was the sort of day that the cold penetrated to the bones. This morning the animals were in their shelters huddled together for warmth. The new born lamb was curled in a ball and surprisingly warm. I am glad he is gaining strength.

Even the dogs were in their houses for a while. Usually they sleep outside, pulling the hay down from the big round bales and curling into it with their backs to the winds. The problem was that the air was damp from the previously warm days when the melting snow also permeated the air with moisture. Moist frozen air chills to the bone. After chores it took a while by the wood stove to get warm. My son came in from working on a car and stayed in his insulated coveralls by the fire until he finally felt like he was thawing out a bit, a good hour inside.

The next few days are going to be equally as cold, but at least the sun is shining and no more babies are due until summer now. The animals at Fat Ewe Farm are bred for the easiest birthing possible, when they do not have to fight the elements and the babies have the best chance of survival and best of all, the farmer does not have to stay up all night freezing, waiting for the new arrivals, watching so they do not freeze.

At least the bunnies enjoyed the sun, but they too were mostly in their sideways Rubbermaid tote, keeping out of the wind. Soon, they will visit the daddy bunny and in the early spring, little bunnies will be born. So cute. Can't wait.

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Time to Separate the Rams Again

Jade and Smokey

Tail Docking

Ram in Rut

A Cozy Place to Stay

New Stuff!

Winter Fleece

Raising Geese

Fluffy the Farmer and Her Friend

Cold Sunny Day

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