The first babies arrived today around 10 am. Red, an Icelandic ewe, bred to an Icelandic ram, gave us two beautiful little girls, a solid black one and a coloured one just like herself, only a little lighter. Red is a fantastic mother. I saw that she was looking for a spot yesterday and the babies had dropped to the birth position. She was ready, but waited until this morning. It was a balmy 7 degrees and in no time, she had the little ewes cleaned off and up nursing. I brought Red some water and delicious alfalfa hay. She did have a few mouthfuls and some sips of water, but currently is more concerned with tending to her babies. The livestock guardian dog, Joe, has stayed near the birthing shack all day. He poked his nose in the doorway and Red quickly sent him out. I know the instinct of the dogs to protect is powerful, but they also have been known to kill lambs when they are playing. I will try to keep a close eye on the dogs, as this is their first experience with lambing and they are only nine months old themselves. Thank you Creator for the gift of life and thank you Red, for your beautiful baby girls!
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It is a big day tomorrow. The sheep, Angora goats, llamas and alpacas will all be sheared. This time I am trying the Hutterite colony. They are experienced with shearing and have won awards for their wool (not sure where, just that is what they told me), so I am willing to give them a go. I did have to call them because they did not show up the first time booked. Nat, the man in charge, said he lost my number. Anyhow, tomorrow is the big day. I spent a few hours preparing the barn, sweeping the floor, putting down two sheets of plywood, making a holding pen and a release pen with livestock panels and installing power via two long extension cords. I likely will have to come up with a second extension line, because I believe there are two shearers and two helpers. I won't have time to skirt the wool, only to fold and pack it and then tomorrow I can lay it out and take my time cleaning and skirting, which is removing the manure tags and very dirty wool. It is supposed to be just above zero, so it will be cold again. They do not think they will take a whole hour to shear 50 sheep, 3 llamas and 2 alpacas, plus the 6 Angora goats. The cost is $7 per animal, plus so much a kilometer to drive here, calculated at around $130 dollars. All in all, it is estimated to cost $450 or so dollars. I did not ask if they trimmed hooves, but I will when he calls tomorrow to say they are on their way. It is going to be a big day! 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. 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... Sheep and goats break their horns when they are young. Sheep seem to be worse than the goats, but both do it. I am sure it must hurt, since there are many blood vessels and nerves in the horn, particularly close to the skull. This little fellow has only just started getting his horns. He was born late in June and is developing very slowly, being by far the tiniest of all the lambs this year. He is very cute and friendly, and looked so sad and forlorn with the blood all down his face. There is not much to be done for a broken horn. Some feel that a tetanus shot and antibiotics are protocol, however, on the Fat Ewe Farm, we tend to be more natural. Unless the animal shows symptoms of illness or infection, nature is allowed to take its course and the healing will be spontaneous. I am surprised at the ability of an animal to heal itself without intervention. Perhaps we should use this method for humans a little more often as well, instead of running to the doctor for treatments that actually prolong healing and hinder the body from producing its own natural defenses. Anyhow, the little ram lamb will be fine. By the end of the day, he will hardly remember his broken horn and is currently carrying on as though nothing has happened. Good boy! Primitive sheep, that is sheep breeds which have not been improved by man, are my favourites. They are not so easy to handle, not in the least docile, think and are very personable. Sheep are often thought of as dumb. I think alpacas take the cake on that one. Some sheep breeds I have kept have not been the brightest, like the East Friesians. They also needed the most intervention from the shepherd, being more susceptible to parasites than the primitives, such as the Jacobs, and needed help lambing, which the primitives definitely do not. The lambs for the old unimproved sheep breeds are smaller than commercial ones, because that is the way nature intended them to be. An average size Jacob twin would be maybe four or five pounds, while the average commercial lamb is double that, even in twins. Understandably, commercial sheep are all about the mighty dollar. Large lambs mean they can be slaughtered at a good weight or bred sooner than smaller lambs. Although primitive sheep are easier in some ways, they do not sell as well as meat sheep, unless it is to a buyer who also appreciates their hardiness. Many of the old breeds have excellent wool, like the Icelandics. Their wool has short and long fibers which can be separated and spun independently or spun together for lopi wool, a warm, weather resistant wool. When it comes to doing things with the primitives, though, they are not so easily managed. They can be wild and crazy and excellent jumpers. I have set a 5 foot gate up only to have a Barbados ewe clear it and take off when I cornered her for examination. I no longer have any Barbados. The Shetland sheep were very small, with wonderful fleece, but little market. The lambs grow quickly even though they are tiny at birth, but they cannot ever catch up to the commercial sheep. Sold by the pound on the hoof, they only would bring half of what a commercial lamb would. Also they are best bred after a year to give the lambs time to grow, so the extra time means less frequent lambing. Still, there are some who work within these boundaries and love the sheep. I no longer have an Shetlands. Ideally the best sheep would be a primitive breed that is large, produces large lambs that can be bred in year 1 and also has great fleece. Cotswolds almost fit that description, but like Angora goats, have been bred for fiber overly much, and are no longer the hardy animals they once were. The hunt is still on for that type of sheep. In the meantime, this little lamb, an Icelandic, Shetland, Karakul cross, is thinking out of the box. He is cute as a button, though tiny compared to the others without Shetland genes. And he is having some fun! This is day three of minus 30 weather and the animals are starting to feel it. One of the Blue Faced Leicester lambs that just arrived has pneumonia and is shivering. I know what it is like to have a fever and feel cold, but when it is minus 30, it must be awful. I gave her a shot of antibiotics today and will give her another tomorrow. Hopefully she will recover without too much discomfort and the other two with her won't get it. The little ewe lambs are faring quite well. They have never been fed grain except a few kernels as a treat for training purposes, so the grass hay is managing to keep them warm, that and their wool of course. The two Cotswold ewes do not have the same thick wool coats and they feel the cold much more. All of the ewe lambs have been spending more time in their shelter to stay warm. The two baby goats in the ram lamb pen have their own little shelter and they do use it, but today, one of the Icelandic lambs was inside. He was shivering a little too. Once he lays down and gets warm, he will be fine. Icelandics have a long wool and a short downy wool to keep them warm. The llamas are shivering too, and have only come out to eat a little, then retreat to their shelter. It is hard to stay warm when there is no reprieve in the frigid temperature. The weak succumb and simply cannot continue. So far, only Captain Morgan, the chicken whose feet froze last winter, has died. The other chickens are able to roost and they put their downy bellies over their feet. Numbers together also help them stay warm, but I did notice a few spots of frostbite on one of the little rooster's combs. He will be fine though, as it was very little. The ducks and geese are possibly they least cold, with their down covering under the feathers, but even they are tucking their feet up under their wings and sleeping more. After the chores today, even though I had more layers on than usual, I could not warm up. It felt as though the cold had permeated my being, but when I was outside working, I did not feel cold. It took several hours to feel normal again. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as cold. I am thankful we do not have to deal with this weather all winter long and that it only comes for a few days and then it is much warmer. Brrrr. Snowy duck, this Muscovy has had a bath and instantly the water froze to her feathers. She will spend quite a bit of time preening now and that will help spread the oil from her glands through her feathers, which in turn helps to keep the ducks warm. The Muscovy ducks are from South America and do not do as well as the North American ducks in winter.
Winter is a bitterly cold season in northeastern Alberta. Although the pristine landscapes offer vistas of sparkling white snow atop evergreen trees, with the golden sun highlighting the diamonds on each bow, it is also a time for survival. Sheep have adapted better than most livestock and are experts at making the most of winter. Their warm woolen blanket shields them from the elements and the wool fat, or lanolin, provides water and wind proofing amidst those tender fibers. This insulation keeps the sheep warm in winter, so much so, that the long wooled breeds, such as the Icelandic and Karakuls, do not seek shelter except in the worst blizzards. High winds will also send them looking for refuge, as will heavy downpours of rain. But, for the most part, the sheep snuggle themselves into a depression and sleep with the downy flakes falling on the downy wool that covers them. In the morning, they wake up and shake off the snow, leaving an imprint and the telltale dung passed during the night. The snow further blankets their wool and does not melt, since their body heat is kept well away from the exterior of the covering. Some breeds of sheep, not the more recent man bred ones, but especially the primitives, also eat the snow to acquire their water. When fresh water is offered, they are not interested, since their thirst has been quenched by the consumption of the snow. While the poor shepherd must dress in layers, hopefully some of them constructed from the precious wool from the sheep, to keep warm, the sheep are simply themselves. Nature is amazing and so are the wooly creatures on the Fat Ewe Farm. It is the season to send the rams to the breeding ewes. They do not know it yet, because they are relatively isolated from the rest of the farm, but I see that a few of them are becoming interested in each other, so the hormones are running high. The little Babydoll ram, the white one, will be put in with the ewe lambs. There are four Babydoll ewe lambs, ready to breed and two or three others that likely will take, but the rest are a bit young. The advantage of using the tiny ram is, of course, tiny babies. On the other hand, Walter, the Cotswold ram, is the largest boy on the farm after Winston, the Suffolk who used to be a boy. Steven, the two horned Jacob will breed the single Jacob ewe and two others and Eric will have the privilege of breeding the two Icelandic ewes and the new ewe Icelandic ewe lamb. Then Walter will just have to do all the others, poor guy. That will leave him about ten ladies, all to himself. Walter is a good natured, good looking purebred Cotswold ram that is positive for colour, though he is white. If he breeds a ewe positive for colour, then coloured babies may result. Last year's lambs were vigorous, healthy and strong, sired by Walter, Eric and Steven. I am hoping for another excellent healthy crop this year. Here's to you, boys! Most of the sheep are rare breeds, heritage sheep with long wool. There are a few with dense wool, the E'st a Laine Merinos and Southdown Babydolls, but more with long wool like the Karakuls, Icelandics and Cotswolds. Dense wool tends to shed vegetative matter, while long wool attracts and holds debris like burrs and hay. It is almost impossible to keep the hay off the sheep. The first year I made a feeder by tying a livestock panel against the fence, that is a heavy gauge wire panel, 52 inches high and 16 feet long, with gradient spaces from 2 inches at the bottom to 8 inches at the top. The sheep stuck their heads through the panel to eat and that worked for most except the horned sheep. I tried making it more vertical but had to restock it too often. So the hay ruined the fleece that year. Last year I built a feeder out of wood, which improved the falling hay somewhat, except the very tame fat ewes ran to where I was loading the feeder and inadvertently got hay on their backs. The smaller sheep stood under the larger sheep to eat lower and the large sheep pulled the hay out and it fell onto the small sheep. It seemed a no win situation. I researched how to keep fleece free of vegetative matter and there were many versions of the two feeders I had already tried which did not work for my sheep. Feeding on the ground results in great waste, so that option was out. It seemed sheep coats were the only answer. I found a type of feeder made from what appeared to be livestock panels that were 4 feet by 52 inches, without the gradient increments of openings. It was latched together around a large round bale which stood upright. I cut two of the long panels with an angle grinder and used twine and a few stainless clips that were around to put it together. The sheep were put in the adjacent pen for the construction and importation of the bale and let in when it was complete. It seems to keep the hay from their backs. The sheep with large horns will still have to work harder to eat, since they cannot stick their heads very far in the openings. I noted that the commercial version of this feeder has four larger openings cut in, so I will try that with the next model for the rams. I do not like using the angle grinder to cut the metal though. What a horrible job with sparks flying everywhere. Gross. Now the new feeder is on trial. So far so good. There is quite a bit of waste though. I was hoping for none. It seems sheep are bad that way. If this functions well, I will make one for the ewe lambs and one for the goats as well. Then I can spend the time I would normally be forking hay over petting the sheep instead. Fingers are crossed! |
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AuthorFluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. Archives
October 2020
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