"Why do you dock the lamb's tail?"
"We have always done it. It is cleaner and less hassle."

The truth is, docking tails of sheep or dogs, both common practices, have large effects on the animals. Docking hurts, no matter how it is done. The tail is banded with a strong elastic and must be done in the first week of life or is inhumane. I have put that elastic on the babies and watched them run, jump, cry, sit, stand, basically do anything to stop the hurting. I have castrated newborn lambs and goats the same way and again witnessed that basic behaviour to quit the pain. I cannot imagine how it must feel. And yes, in a day or sometimes only hours, it hurts less and the lamb may appear normal, but if you closely observe, there is still a tendency to find a way to get the pain gone. Eventually the banded tail or scrotum falls off due to loss of blood supply. Eventually? Yes. It takes days or sometimes a week. Ouch! 

Many shepherds will tell me that they dock tails because it is cleaner and the risk of fly strike is much less. I have long wooled sheep with tails to the ground, sheep dragging their tails behind them, so to speak, and they have the cleanest britches in the flock. I have a Romney ewe with no tail at all, docked way too short exposing her vulva and rectum to biting insects, the sun, and all other elements, only she has copious amounts of fleece. The heavy wool eventually covers her butt and then the real problem starts. She soils her wool every time she defecates or urinates. It runs down her legs and causes urine scald if left there. She is the most prone to fly strike since she is always covered in feces and that is what attracts the blowfly, a fly that lays eggs in the manure tags, but whose larvae feed on the flesh of the sheep. If she had kept her tail, she would have been able to lift it when needing to. The sheep with long tails do not suffer this same problem. They lift their tails and there is little to no soiling of the rectal area. There is evidence that tails that are too short change cell behaviour and allow cancer to take hold and that ewes with short tails simply do not have the muscle tone to keep the babies in. 

I was hunting for some sort of evidence via the form or a study about tail docking and finally found what I was looking for. Tail docking, especially too short, which can cause rectal prolapse. Wouldn't you know it, feeding sheep grain causes sticky stools, which are the worst for the back end. Sheep have more than one stomach to digest cellulose from grass and weeds. Grain causes many more problems than it helps, except the quick fattening aspect to get dollars to the wallet. So, eliminating grain is one place to start managing long tails. 

This excerpt cites two studies that support leaving tails long: Other researchers found that the complete removal of the tail actually increased the incidence fly strike compared with lambs that were docked but had some tail remaining (Watts and Marchant 1977; Watts and Luff 1978). This mirrors earlier work from Australia, as reviewed in Fisher et al (2004), which reports that up to 55–60% of no-tail and short docked sheep showed signs of fly strike, compared to up to 32% of medium tail docked sheep. The same review reports that cancer of the perineal region – usually the vulva – and tail infection were far higher in short tail docked sheep and almost nonexistent in medium or long docked sheep. It is thought that the ability of a lamb to shake its (undocked) tail can help minimize fly strike by deterring flies from landing, while also helping to spread and scatter its feces. (http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/animalwelfare/TAFS-2-Management-to-Avoid-Tail-Docking-Sheep-9-22-09.pdf)

The Fat Ewe Farm neither docks tails nor castrates male babies. Both practices need to be studied and reviewed. There are short tailed breeds of sheep with rat tails that evolved naturally. Cross breeding with these sheep often brings a short tail to the crossbred babies. That might be an answer for those who must have short tails. Keeping the back end clean is necessary for any sheep or goats though. Even the best husbandry practices may result in the occasional bout of diarrhea which will adhere to fleece. Heavy fleeced animals will have that problem despite have short or no tails, though and need to be monitored during fly season. 

The only true benefit is for the shearer. I want to please my shearer so he will return the next year, but not at the cost of causing pain to the animals. I hope you understand. I value the shearer so much. Getting a shearer here in the north is not that easy so when one is willing and able to come, keeping him happy is paramount. But, still, I am not going to dock tails on my babies. Nature intended them to have those tails and they are keeping them. 

We are a throw away society here in North America. Nowhere else in the world is the situation as ludicrous as it is here. In poorer countries, people cannot afford to throw things away and that is a good sign in a roundabout way. 

I read an article this morning about microfibres polluting our world at an alarming rate. Fleece, that soft, fluffy, cozy, material is BAD! very BAD! I knew that long ago. Over a decade ago, I opened an organic lifestyle store and advocated for natural fabrics and fibres only. There are more reasons to use only natural fibres, such as the chemicals used to produce synthetics, and even fibres from recycled plastic bottles purported to be warmer and better than organic ones, are not a solution. For one, plastic bottles pollute and use exorbitant amounts of water in production and a second time in the making of fleece from the recycled bottles. That solution is simple. No plastic bottles. The transition needs to happen for the sake of our children and grandchildren. 

It seems that microfibres from fleece depart from the fabric with every wash and as the fabric is aging, even more fibres dislocate. That is why fleece clothing is very fluffy when purchased and after repeated washing, loses its volume. But where do the fibres go? 

Well, they go into the water, because they are being dislodged in the washing machine. Large amounts of the fibres are concentrated where city water supplies are discharged. Aquatic life there is changing rapidly, mutating, dying, and becoming smaller, mostly because the fibres lodge in the digestive tract and impair the ability to absorb nutrients, but also, they emit poisons from the slowly decaying particles that affect the physiology of the fish and the animals who eat the fish (humans, too). 

So, the answer to the crisis is reeducation and sheep. Sheep, wool sheep, provide a fabric that is soft, warm or cooling as it is an insulator, and is long lasting. It is freely given up by shearing the sheep, which can be a food source and a milk source. There are many ways to use the wool from sheep, from cleaning, spinning and knitting garments, to making batts to stuff sleeping bags and blankets with. The batts can be refluffed when they mat down, so essentially the years of use is phenomenal compared to synthetics, which have a short life and then are discarded. Landfills are chock full of plastics in the form of fleece, being comforter stuffing, toy stuffing, or fabric for the clothing we wear. It does not biodegrade readily and thousands of years from now, there will still be poly fibres floating around old landfill sites. Wool, on the other hand, returns to the elements from which it is made, the elements of the Earth, and even provides fertilizer for the growing things on the planet. I use fleece that is too heavily contaminated with hay and other vegetative matter as a mulch in my flower beds and a liner for hanging baskets and in between garden rows. It takes quite a while to biodegrade, but does eventually and returns to the carbon elements of the soil, with a host of other beneficial nutrients. 

In long years past, baby items were woolen and they were painstakingly made, from the raw wool to the spun and knitted garments and blankets, and then they were passed on to the next generations. Small holes were darned and the use was continuous for many generations. Finally, when there were more repairs than original garment, the item was used for a floor rug or other, until it was composted at the end of a long and loved life. Today, parents do not want to be bothered with wool. It cannot be washed and dried in the machines as readily as fleece and requires more care, which in turn means time, and they do not think they have that time. Turn off the television and find those minutes! 

Seriously, our world is in big trouble. We have a lot of people to feed and our stupidity and lack of concern is making many very ill in our own country. Diabetes, MS, obesity and such are related to autoimmune diseases and we know now, we ARE what we eat. Well, it seems, we are also becoming very contaminated with plastic molecules, fibres and beads as well, and we ARE the only ones who can change that. I urge you to find your voice and request wool clothing and blankets and to take the time to look after them for the next generation and the next. I sleep under a wool filled duvet, and on a wool filled mattress pad. I will tell you that in my entire life, I have never been so comfortable in all weather. I try to wear wool clothing and incorporate wool in my life, but then I am a sheep farmer. If we stopped eating beef, we could raise at least 7 sheep for each cow and that in turn would give us a huge supply of wool for our daily needs. See? 

We know about the harm microbeads in cosmetics cause and many countries have made laws to ban them. Now that we know about the microfibres, we need to make our cries heard. Wool and sheep, solving the crisis four legs at a time. Backyard sheep anyone?

I don't like it, but then, I grew up NOT on a farm or in a rural area. It has taken me a while to learn the vocabulary used by the rural farming community, particularly surrounding sheep and goats. 

These terms are in no particular order, just as they come to mind. 

The female sheep is called a ewe and the male a ram. The female goats are does and the males, bucks. The female lambs are ewe lambs and the boys are ram lambs, and the male baby boy goats are bucklings and the females doelings. But, I have heard any referred to as anything else and sometimes have to decode what is actually meant. People often say ram for a male goat. They refer to the female as a nanny and the buck as a billy, which is hillbilly talk for the goats, though even I got that. 

When a female is in gestation, the farmers say all sorts of funny things. They refer to the udder as the "bag" and when the udder is filling prior to birth, the term they use is "baggin' up". Up is used a lot actually, not sure why. When the male goat or sheep is breeding, it is sometimes referred to as 'marking' which may come from the actual marking harness worn in some flocks and herds, a contraption with a coloured crayon that leaves colour on the ewes that were bred. I dunno about that one either. 
Chewing can either be up or down and sorting is always out. Lambing is always out, as in lambing out or lamb out. Heading is  out or in. 

Castrating is banding, or ringing. A ram's testicles are the 'sack'. 

A ewe ready to give birth is put in a jug, which is a small compartment or stall, and the aim is to give her privacy to bond with her lamb(s). I don't know how they did it without the farmers all these centuries. 

When giving instructions, they always give ownership. An example, is, " Take your lamb bucket and mix your replacer with your water." Never mind trying to figure out why, but that is how it is. 

When a lamb is retained for breeding, it is referred to as kept back. 

Flushing refers to feeding ewes richly, hoping they will produce more eggs and fertilization will occur, thereby producing multiples. 

The country expression is 'waiting on', not waiting for, as city folk would say. 

I am sure there are many more expressions that I have not included here, but I am slowly learning this new language. I am not likely every to adopt it, however; I do know now what is being referred to, so have made pretty significant progress. 

Oh, and the penis of an animal is a pizzle! 

The goats still have at least 4 weeks left before the babies come, but this year they are huge. The hay was particularly great, with everything the goats love to eat, except the grass. It was chock full of weeds, dandelions, thistles, strawberries, clovers, wild flowers and herbs. The hay came from Lac La Biche, about an hour and a half from Elk Point, from a farm that has not used any sprays in a long time or possibly never. The farmer was thinking of tilling the fields over and planting hay. Oh, goodness, that is the worst thing he could do. The minerals and nutrients in the weedy hay far will surpass any monocrop of modern hay he could ever plant. Weeds dig down deep with roots that can draw all that the plant needs, whereas modern grasses just do not compare. With poor feed, comes lack of parasite resistance too. The animals immune systems are compromised because they are struggling to stay well nourished. My sheep and goats have hardly touched their minerals this whole winter because they are well supplied from the beautiful weedy hay. 

But, that means multiples and big babies, since the does can send lots of goodness to the developing fetuses. Poor Daphne, well, she looks like a beached whale already and has another month to go. She may deliver a week early if the babies get too large for her to manage. I will take time off work then and try to be available round the clock in case of complications. I have been very selective over the years and my goat herd is amazing! The does kid without problems, have the babies cleaned up and nursing within minutes, and Daphne can handle her quads, though I usually take two from her to ensure she is not depleted too badly. She is already 6 and in the prime of her life. She has given me beautiful goats that carry her amazing strengths. The buck, Stevie Wonder, is also excellent quality, hardy and naturally able to fight off pests that weaker goats succumb to. The babies should be incredible! Daphne has brown eyes and Stevie has blue, so at least some of the babies will have blue eyes. There are two of Daphne's daughters in the goat herd as well. 

I had another incredible goat, Cecelia, who was the herd boss, but I sold her with her quads one year back, though kept two of her doelings. I did not have Stevie then and it will be interesting to see how the babies turn out. Already the does are very pregnant, so I am guessing they will have twins and triplets at least. 

There are some new goats that came to the farm just a couple of months ago. I am positive that the mother is purebred Nigerian Dwarf, but cannot attest to the lineage of her daughter and three granddaughters. The previous owners really did not have much of a clue as to the parentage. All five of the newbies are blue eyed though. 

There is also Wimpy, the Nubian buck. He is really small for a Nubian, but he is purebred. I am hoping he will breed some of my Nigerians this fall and a new buck is coming as well, a Nubian/Nigerian cross, or mini Nubian. There are two beautiful princesses, Lena and Leah, who will marry him then. As much as I absolutely love the Nigerian Dwarf goats, Lena and Leah have really stolen my heart. I hope they will be my future milk goats, along with their daughters. Since downsizing is in order for the farm as I am getting older, I will be parting with many of my current herd members too. There are 22 goats currently and I would like to cut that down to maybe 8 or 10 for next winter. 

But, babies are coming and although it is a stressful time, it is my favourite time of the farm. Stay with me for lots of photos and the frolicking antics of the new goaties. 

Sometimes tears well up in my eyes and spill over onto my cheeks. I feel helpless and hopeless and there is nothing I can do to change the plight of the world. It does not matter so much for myself anymore, because I am entering the sunset of my life, but I have a baby granddaughter, new to the world, and I sometimes feel as though it is the worst time of any time to bring children into the world, yet I love her with my heart and soul and am so happy she is here. I want to help. 

Humans are being controlled and poisoned. I have no idea who is behind the scheme to enslave the human race, but I see evidence of it daily and my heart sinks because I feel powerless. We work longer hours and more days just to make ends meet and the cost of living continues to rise. But the food we are able to procure is tainted and it is making our children and indeed ourselves, very sick. I sometimes teach school as a substitute in the area, and since I began my career teaching in 1977, the numbers of kids who cannot function has risen to the point where in some areas it is half the class. Why? And diseases like autism, which were not even heard of way back then, are so prevalent today, especially in boys. Why? 

There is plenty of evidence out there to prove that we are what we eat and unfortunately, the food offered in the stores, is so full of chemicals that it is unfit for consumption. We feed animals GMO crops that are heavily coated with glyphosate and many other chemicals and then we eat that meat. The latest trend is to eat grass fed meat, but that is not easy to find and when one does find it, the cost is triple so it is not affordable. Dairy products are unfit as well. Where I used to live, near Vancouver, one farm converted their pasture land to a sod farm. The sod was heavily sprayed with many chemicals to provide green weed free lawns for consumers, but the grass clippings were fed to the cows in the dairy. Do you see?

I have arthritis and it is flaring much more than I would like it to. I did partake in pizza a few times this month. It is what is offered as the hot lunch at school. I bought some organic salad and found when I opened the plastic container, that the greens were already bad. This has happened many, many times. I put the salad back in the fridge, telling myself I will return it. After all, it costs more than five dollars, but I live rurally and I am not going to make a trip to town to return a box of salad greens. The fuel would be more than five dollars there and back. So, by the time I do go, the salad is just green mush and I do not know where I put the receipt and the greens are composted. Even organic greens and produce are permitted to contain things I do not want. Tetracycline to treat apples is one of those things. I am terribly allergic to tetracycline and although the quantity of exposure is minimal, there is intolerance and build up and who knows if that contributes to the auto immune condition of arthritis even more. NO pizza allowed, peel organic fruit, gosh, what is there to eat?

But for my baby granddaughter, where are the answers? Vaccines are deadly, containing a host of poisons that have rendered countless children and adults blithering idiots. That new documentary, Vaxxed, is trying to show that the rise of autism, which is 800%, is directly linked to vaccinations. Why? What is behind this and is it in every country or just North America? We cannot eat grain here because it is poisoned with the gross amounts of chemicals and suddenly, those chemicals have caused holes in our guts, which then have secondary issues of thyroid problems and even mental illness. It is all related. We know that now. And we cannot fix it easily. I won't be around when it is fixed, and I am hoping somehow I can shield my granddaughter from the ill effects of all this food related tragedy. And then I just collapse in a chair and think that this is so much beyond anything I can do at all, that I cry. Even though I have a grass fed farm, procuring organic grain is impossible here. The best I can do is find someone who only sprays once prior to planting and not again until the next year. That is better, but not the solution. My birds do eat grain, but not the sheep or goats. The piggies do too, so I am not going to keep them and will just not eat pork. I am happy with lamb and beef and eggs from my birds and will grow a bigger garden this year and preserve more food. I ferment a lot too, and there is always something on the go bubbling away. Great! for me and I am still compromised with arthritis, so what about everyone else who has to eat what comes from the store? I am so sad for the world. So sad. 
 

Winter is a great time to do things one enjoys. The nights are long and there is always time for crafts and hobbies. I have been crocheting and knitting, along with making soap and creams. The thing is I never use patterns and hardly use recipes, except for soap, which must have a recipe to ensure the lye is properly calculated. The days of lye soap that will leave holes in your clothes are long gone. 

Knitting is hard on my arthritic hands for some reason, so I only do a little at a time. Crochet is not so bad, and I find I can easily crochet for an hour and sometimes longer. Using a thick handled crochet hook is supposed to be helpful. Before I invest in some of those, I am going to wrap one with some batting and see if it makes a difference for pain and tolerance. 

My granddaughter is turning one in April. I pondered over purchasing a gift, but I far prefer handmade items. I did make some baby soap for her, and a cream in case shes needs it, but a toy is much more fun. First I made a basket from the wool from the sheep here at the Fat Ewe Farm. The wool is East Friesian and it was processed professionally, coming back as batting and roving, which is loose ropes of wool. My friend, Kara, of Spin Heart Spin, is a master spinner, and we traded some soap for the roving being spun into a chunky yarn. That is the wool the basket was made from. At the suggestion of a mom who has a toddler, I am going to add a handle to the basket. I had thought of it, but did not. Now I will.

The bunny is from my noggin - no pattern. I wanted something she could cart around, since she is already walking and that was durable, soft and safe. The bunny was made in pieces: tail, head, body, arms, legs, ears, ruffles and bow and then the face was embroidered on. It is a simple bunny and the look I hoped to achieve was imperfection. One ear not quite like the other, a little tilted down and one arm up while the other is resting. She has a tuft of hair tied in the bow atop her head. The bunny is stuffed with the roving wool that the yarn for the basket was made from, but the bunny yarn is cotton made in Canada.

In a week or so, a friend and I will be driving down to Calgary, well she to Carstairs and then my son will pick me to go on to Calgary. Then I will present the bunny in a basket to my little girl. Oh yeah, I  am going to make a little blanket for the bunny too! Then she can put her to bed in the basket. I hope she likes the gift. I certainly enjoyed making it for her and I am sure it will only be one of many she receives from my heart in her lifetime. What do you think? 

One of my best livestock guardian dogs was missing for 5 days. It was very unlike him to be gone anywhere for any length of time. Although he is an excellent guardian, once he has done his job, he was always home, sleeping at the door. He is as much my guardian as he is for the many animals here at the Fat Ewe Farm and he is very loved by my female (spayed) Maremma, Jade and best friends with the old boy, Harley. 

The dogs work as a pack and on occasion, even though I do not encourage it, the border collie joins in the predator work. That is why, when Harley was home and Charka was not, I began to worry. Harley had a gash and bite on his leg, quiet severe and a few bites on his back, so I knew they had all been fighting for real, not just barking and chasing. I treated Harley with antibiotics, but his old arthritic bones were sore and tired and that wound was nasty. It has been two weeks and is primarily healed. 

But where was my Charka? 

Charka was not home when I went out to do chores in the morning, but when I went out at noon, there he was, wagging that big shaggy tail and looking at me with those adorable brown eyes. I hugged him and then he followed me around doing the chores, and curled up in the hay to have a sleep, relaxed in the sun. That is when I checked him over thoroughly. I saw bites and scratches and lots of chunks of fur missing, but he was fine overall, so I thought. 

Only in the next few days, the wound on his neck began to open and I saw his throat was slit deeply, then that the wound encircled his neck. He began to stink and I called the vet. I would have to bring him in as soon as possible. Getting Charka to do what he does not want to do is not easy. He would not go into the truck , nor a livestock trailer we had. He can get aggressive when he feels threatened, so we do not try to make him do things for everyone's safety, yet 99.9 % of the time, he is the biggest, sweetest teddy bear ever. 

The wound kept opening until I was aghast. I could not believe the extent of it and the deep cut. There was a second cut closer to the top of his head. I called my hunter friend and was told he was likely caught in a wire snare trap. One kind of trap will allow the animal out if he is lucky. Charka is lucky, but it cost him a lot of pain. He also was very thin from not eating for 5 days. Finally, in desperation, I got the Vermillion vet clinic to send two technicians out to sedate Charka and take him in. 

We discussed options once he was shaved and they reviewed the injury. It was very deep under his throat and less deep at the top of his head. It was infected, even though I had administered antibiotics (good thing). The vet said his idea treatment would be to surgically clean the cut, removing skin from both sides and then stitching it together. The total cost of treatment, fetching him, medications and pain killers would be estimated at $2500 or so. I asked if he would make it without the surgery. Yes, he would, with a slower recovery and he would require much more care, being kept inside for at least a couple of weeks and taken out on a leash. They did put a halter on him since he cannot wear a collar. 

So, Charka is home. He is sleeping in the porch. I will gladly keep him in and take him out on a leash to keep the wound from opening. He is on the mend and will be OK. 

But what about the snare traps? Charka is my friend, my dog, my family. A coyote or wolf is not, but they do not deserve to suffer from these horrendous traps either. Snare traps are easy for the trappers, but they are not at all humane. The poor critter cannot move and could easily slit the throat seriously enough to bleed to death. That would be a blessing. Most often, that does not happen , and the poor, helpless animal suffers, dying a slow death in excruciating pain, starving to death and dehydrating too. Sick. Do what you can to speak to anyone you know who sets these traps. Tell them to quit. No living thing should be made to suffer in this way. 

I am grateful for the outcome for Charka. Your kind thoughts and prayers were most welcome. Charka will survive and be around to chase more critters, greet you at the farm gate and bark at the bad things in the bush. But the coyotes and wolves will not be so lucky. Can you please help ban snare traps?