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!
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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! There are many different breeds of sheep and each one has its good and bad traits. Shetland sheep are very small when they are little and develop a bit slower than some other breeds. The little red ewe is so pretty and looks very Shetland, but she is a Barbados/Shetland/Icelandic cross actually. Barbados sheep are very small and primitive too, while the Icelandics are larger, though not large sheep. The little Cotswold ewes are quiet and docile compared to the Icelandics. The Jacob twins, both sets, are quite small as well, Jacobs being a small breed of sheep. Babydoll Southdowns are extra cute with their little smiling faces and small stature. The E'st a Laine/Costwold ewe lambs are the largest by far, but they are still so cute. One thing they all share in common is that they are adorable. It is hard to have a favourite, because the ewe lambs are sweet. Now that Minnie and Tasha are gone (the Berkshire pigs who ate the ducks and chickens), the chickens can range freely in the former pen where the pigs last were and glean the barley from the ground, without fear of being eaten. The lambs do no mind at all having the Ameraucanas visit. The chickens actually sit right on the lambs from time to time. I suppose with the weather a little cooler, the feel of a warm wooly coat under the toes is more comforting than the dirty ground. At least I would think so if I was a chicken. The other chickens, the bantams, do not intermingle with the Ameraucanas, but they soon will have to because it is getting too cold to roost in the trees. The Guinea fowl have take to tree sleeping too, so they will have to be taken down. Anyhow, isn't it lovely, the lambs and hens and roosters, together just relaxing? Yeah! It was an amazing year for lambs with most ewes twinning. Four lambs were lost to a predator, likely the pigs who lived in the pen next door. There was a small hole in one shed where the mothers would take their newborns, a hole big enough to drag a lamb out by a foot. I fixed the hole and no more lambs went missing. I wonder? The best meat cross is the E'st a Laine Merino and the Cotswold. One ewe had twin ewe lambs and the other a huge single, about ten pounds at birth. She was the only lamb I had to help be born. All others were managed by their mothers without intervention, but I was standing by, just in case. The lambs were born from March to July, with the last two at the end of June and first few days of July. For the longest time, I did not think the Barbados/Shetland ewe was bred, but finally she showed a belly and produced the tiniest little lamb with a reddish coat. I believe the Icelandic ram was the sire, because it looks nothing like a Cotswold, and the Icelandic was the clean up ram. Barbados and Shetlands are very small sheep and do not mature for two years. Two lambs were acquired for breeding purposes, an Icelandic from my Crystal whom I sold to a local farmer. He purchased a registered Icelandic ram and the offspring were very desirable. The other is a Finnsheep ewe lamb born in February and ready to breed this December. A Finnsheep ewe was also purchased. Their claim is lambs by the litter, or at least triplets, if not quads. The problem is that they cannot successfully raise four or five lambs so the little ones have to be supplemented by bottle. That is a good deal really, since mother ewe can take the night shift and the supplemental feedings can occur during the day hours. The Jacob ewes both had twin ewe lambs too! And of course, there are the six Babydoll Southdown lambs that joined the farm in the early part of the year. They will be bred this winter too. There are lots of Icelandics. The five ewes had 9 lambs between them, and the three ewe lambs from the E'st a Laine Merinos and Walter, the Cotswold. Walter also sired two sets of twin Karakul/Cotswolds and three purebred Cotswolds. There were some other crosses from the ewe lambs retained last year. I am interested in the wool from those crosses, but as of yet, have not found a way to keep the fleece free of vegetative matter. Maybe coats for the sheep? Sadly, the males are destined to be lamb chops though. Hopefully, one or two of the Icelandic ram lambs will be scooped up for breeding, but otherwise, the boys will be food. I must say, farm raised lamb has been one of the big hits at the bed and breakfast, since we are now licensed to serve all meals. I am grateful for the sheep, the ewes and their gifts of their babies and the rams and their procreation. I am thankful I have the opportunity to be more sustainable and raise these animals with love and care. They are beautiful and each is precious to me and our Creator. Indeed, we are all connected. The sheep have eaten the available pasture. There is a lot more, but to set up the electric net fence would not be easy in those areas. The perimeter of an electric net fence must be mowed so no vegetation comes in contact with the wires. Where there is heavy shrubbery, this is not possible, so the sheep are eating some very excellent hay and getting fat at this time. The lambs are mostly ready to wean, too. The males that are in tact will have to go the bachelor pen with the other boys and the wethers can stay with the girls for three weeks or so, until the mothers' milk has dried up and they are no longer lactating. Then the lambs that are being kept for breeding will be returned to the flock, the wethers will be kept and fed for spring lamb and the males will be offered for sale. The males were selected for good quality conformation and hopefully will make excellent rams. There were three rams last year for breeding: the Jacob to the Jacob ewes, the Icelandic to the Icelandic ewes and two randoms and the Cotswold to the Cotswold ewes, E'st a Laine Merinos and a few other random ewes. Most sheep had twins and there were no triplets this year. Four lambs were lost to a predator of some sort within a day of birth. The Icelandic sheep, despite their hardiness, worm resistance and excellent ability to forage, plus their superior wool, are offered for sale. That will be a total of 12 sheep less over winter. Some of the other lambs and two ewes will also be offered for sale or taken to the organic farm for meat. The Southdown Babydoll lambs will join the adults by the end of summer as well, adding to the large number of overwintering sheep. Currently one big round bale only lasts about 10 days at 50 dollars a bale. It is more economical to sell some sheep that to continue to feed them hay. They will have an opportunity to go back out on pasture when it grows in enough again, but once September rolls around the quality of the grass begins to decline and the nutrients are sent to the roots readying for winter, at which time, the rich spring hay is a much better feed option. The sheep are the mainstay of the farm, though at this time, I am still experimenting with options for fleece and breeds to determine which, if any, are profitable. In the meantime, the ewes love the rich alfalfa and timothy hay they are being given and are getting nice and fat for winter. Yum!
The second set of pure Jacob twin ewe lambs born today!
The second Jacob ewe had twin girls today. So, from two ewes and two rams, the Jacob flock is now six ewes and the two rams. Jacob wool is sought after by hand spinners. It is soft and has excellent crimp, plus the colour can be mostly white or mostly black or a mix of spots in between. Some of the Jacobs are tinted more on the dusky side and are lilac. The Jacobs at the Fat Ewe Farm are black and white. The two little girls born today had a hard time of it. There was meconium in the amniotic fluid. I had the ewes out on pasture for a few hours in the late afternoon and the ewe likely would have birthed earlier, but hung on until back to safety to do so. This resulted in the babies a little stressed. The ewe was a first time mother and cried out in pain birthing the little ones, especially the second. I gave her a hand drying off the girls, checked them over and presented them to mom to do the rest. She did not move for some time, so I encouraged her t o get up. This helps pass the placenta too. When I checked on her about 20 minutes later, the babies were nursing and the mom was still cleaning them by licking. The mothers will have to be wormed in a few days and in a few weeks the babies will be vaccinated. Their tails will be docked by elastic band tomorrow. The Icelandic rams will be left in tact, since they are naturally short tailed and grow faster if not castrated. The Icelandics will all be sold, except for Jennifer. She will be kept for milk and fleece, since she is so friendly. The Jacobs get to stay for now too. It is hard to decide whom to keep and whom to sell. I would like to keep them all, but that is not the right decision economically or time wise. In the meantime, I get to hug the babies every day and that all makes it worthwhile. Lynn, the Icelandic sheep do not flock or work with dogs, so out on the pasture they scatter and go in the bush. One lost her twin lambs this year, maybe to a fox or the raven. The other sheep are easier to manage. If I had proper fencing, I would keep the Icelandics because they are hardy and self sufficient. Without proper fencing, that self sufficiency becomes a hindrance for management. I am keeping the Jacobs, Babydoll Southdowns and a couple of the ewe lambs from the E'st a Laine Merino and Cotswold mating. There are 4 Jacob ewe lambs this year, along with the two ewes and two rams, 6 Babydoll Southdowns and 3 Cotswold/E'st a Laine Merino cross ewe lambs. Most likely I will keep the Karakuls unless I find excellent homes for them, since they were my very first sheep and I am sentimentally attached to them. Thanks for asking.
Oh boy, what a big day for the Fat Ewe Farm. It is amazing how things work in the universe. The shearers were here a few weeks ago and declined to shear because things were not set up properly, only I did not know what properly was until they explained it to me. Last year, it was a different shearer and she wanted things set up properly too, only her properly. So, with new instructions, the two farm hands who often help me out, set up the holding pen, catch pen and shearing area inside the barn. We then brought the rams over and put them in a separate area ready for their turns first. The sheep are turned to sit on their rumps and are most comfortable when they have empty stomachs and bladders. They were not fed, but there was hay on the pen floor, so many of them ate fairly well and that made it difficult for them and the shearers, while others were fairly emptied out and were easier. Then there are the wild sheep, the Barbados, Painted Desert and Shetland crosses and the Icelandics, who were not easy to shear. Some of the sheep had little bugs biting into their skin, like tics, only they are flies without wings, called keds. Because they will be exposed to below freezing temperatures tonight, the keds should drop off of the sheep and freeze. The shearers also recommended keeping the chickens with the sheep, since the chickens will eat the keds. That was the plan anyhow, but now it is confirmed. Shearing is a real art and to me, it seems it is very hard on the shearer. Manone got kicked in the lip, giving her a fat and bleeding pout with a dirty hoof. The wrangling of a large sheep weighing several hundred pounds is not easy. Hands get sore too and it is not feasible to wear gloves. Even though the shearers wore harnesses, the harness only takes some stress off the back, but still they must lean over and bend down to do the work. Plus, squeezing the hoof trimmers on some hooves is very difficult. Different breeds and different sheep have varying degrees of hardness to their hooves. I did not ask how it occurred, but Rod is missing the tip of one of his fingers. Manone has various degrees of cuts and scratches and Rod wears a bandaid on another digit. This is hard work and the couple is not as young as they once were. They work about six months of the year, moving from farm to farm and staying in hotels or stranger's beds, eating victuals prepared by farm wives or often catching something on the run not as healthy as they would prefer.
I tried shearing last year, three sheep, and found it excruciating. Mind you, I had no idea what I was doing and nicked and cut the sheep in a few places. I am better at trimming their hooves than shearing. The shearers are staying at the bed and breakfast, and after preparing a simple supper of bacon and omelets and perogies, I joined them. We chatted at length, laughed and I genuinely enjoyed their company. What great folk they are. They retired and I quickly tidied the kitchen and got the dishwasher going, then off to my little farmhouse I trotted. What a very busy day it was and I will be so grateful to sink into my organic mattress where I am surrounded by a wool mattress pad and wool comforter. ZZZZZZZ. |
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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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