It is that time of the year again, the time that the ewes and does and their offspring need to be readied for winter. This entails checking for worm loads via the Famacha system, hoof trimming, ear tagging and separating the ram lambs who have not already been separated. Fortunately, I had two excellent helpers, the Mormon Missionaries stationed in the St. Paul area. They choose to serve anywhere in the world and are sent to places where the host families can support them. After six months, they are moved to a new location and finally after two years, they return home either to enter the workforce or to go on to higher education. One of the young men grew up on a very large dairy farm in the USA and was very comfortable and knowledgeable with the animals. It helps that the two volunteers are strong young men too! We managed to get through all the sheep and goats, except for the rams, which we will tackle next Monday.
I had noticed some lice on a few of the goats. Darn! I am not sure where they come from, but I did get several new to the farm young animals this year, included two young goats. All the goats were treated with Ivermectin for lice, regardless if I was able to see any on them or not, but only the sheep that showed signs of anemia were treated, and that was for worms. Not many sheep had to be treated, thank goodness. I am keeping track of the sheep who repeatedly require treatments and will move them out of the flock, keeping only those who manage their parasites on their own.
One sheep, Tatiana, the purebred Romanov ewe with twins, has been quiet and strange for the last few days. Today I discovered the reason. She is dangerously anemic and very weak, so finally I could catch her. We brought her out from the pasture in a wheelbarrow (hey, whatever works!) and put her and her twin ewe lambs in the little goat pen where I can observe her often. She will be given 5 shots of a vitamin complex for the next 5 days, and she was dewormed for both tapeworms and barber pole worms today. Because she is so anemic she cannot manufacture enough of the vitamin B complex she will need to recover, hence the need for the daily shots. I said a prayer and shed a tear for her and am rooting for her. I picked some green oats for her and gave her some premium hay and she was eating well. She will need to continue to feed in order to keep her rumen functioning. Tomorrow I will give her some apple cider vinegar for the priobiotics too. My heart is hopeful.
The goat pen still needs to be cleaned, but today, the last boxes of brought to the sea can were removed and the sea can is empty. It housed furniture and stored items after the flood and has been here 9 months! Last night I worked in the bed and breakfast house until midnight and was there most of the day along with 3 house cleaners who helped do the work that would have taken me another three days. The boxes that were brought in today will be unpacked very soon and then the house will be ready for photos. The grand reopening is October 1st, only 4 months behind schedule. Somewhere in there I have to fit in cleaning the goat pen...somewhere.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel finally. Things are coming together and life is crazy busy, but wonderful. I hope you can come to the grand reopening of Moose Hills Inn. Love to see you there!
I had noticed some lice on a few of the goats. Darn! I am not sure where they come from, but I did get several new to the farm young animals this year, included two young goats. All the goats were treated with Ivermectin for lice, regardless if I was able to see any on them or not, but only the sheep that showed signs of anemia were treated, and that was for worms. Not many sheep had to be treated, thank goodness. I am keeping track of the sheep who repeatedly require treatments and will move them out of the flock, keeping only those who manage their parasites on their own.
One sheep, Tatiana, the purebred Romanov ewe with twins, has been quiet and strange for the last few days. Today I discovered the reason. She is dangerously anemic and very weak, so finally I could catch her. We brought her out from the pasture in a wheelbarrow (hey, whatever works!) and put her and her twin ewe lambs in the little goat pen where I can observe her often. She will be given 5 shots of a vitamin complex for the next 5 days, and she was dewormed for both tapeworms and barber pole worms today. Because she is so anemic she cannot manufacture enough of the vitamin B complex she will need to recover, hence the need for the daily shots. I said a prayer and shed a tear for her and am rooting for her. I picked some green oats for her and gave her some premium hay and she was eating well. She will need to continue to feed in order to keep her rumen functioning. Tomorrow I will give her some apple cider vinegar for the priobiotics too. My heart is hopeful.
The goat pen still needs to be cleaned, but today, the last boxes of brought to the sea can were removed and the sea can is empty. It housed furniture and stored items after the flood and has been here 9 months! Last night I worked in the bed and breakfast house until midnight and was there most of the day along with 3 house cleaners who helped do the work that would have taken me another three days. The boxes that were brought in today will be unpacked very soon and then the house will be ready for photos. The grand reopening is October 1st, only 4 months behind schedule. Somewhere in there I have to fit in cleaning the goat pen...somewhere.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel finally. Things are coming together and life is crazy busy, but wonderful. I hope you can come to the grand reopening of Moose Hills Inn. Love to see you there!
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