|
|
|
||
|
2008 PHOTOS (Click to view 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 , 2007, 2009 photos) |
|||
|
Photo
of the |
December
17, 2008 Fall
was long and gorgeous this year which meant lots of
horseback riding and outdoor projects. Since winter
arrived though, yikes it's been cold! Today we had
a break from single-digit temperatures and got snow
instead. In this view from the house deck, horses
Rosie and Jewel, Lightning the black ram, and
Sparky the Buff Orpington rooster hang out amiably
at their hay feeder. These
days, almost every time I glance out the
kitchen window I see the rams frozen in this
position - staring intently at the ewes in a
distant pasture. Normally the rams couldn't care
less about anything but food, water, and a
comfortable place to while away their days, but
fall is another story. Breeding season is nearly
upon us and the boys are eager to get to work
making babies! (left to right: Lightning, Andy,
Jack, and Bruno.) In
preparation for breeding, I always treat the
sheep for internal parasites. Here, my friend
Andrea doses the ewe Nora with a drench of garlic
and molasses. I've been using nature's miracle herb
garlic instead of chemical wormers since 1992 with
great success (and some of the sheep have even come
to like it!) See this website's Management
Practices pages for full details on my organic
approach to sheep health care. When
the rams and ewes get together for breeding,
the lambs have to move to their own pasture. In
this pic, some of the 2008 ewe lambs hang out with
their Great Pyreenees guardian dog Stella. Most of
these beautiful girls will join the SkyLines
breeding group next fall. Beloved
Farmcollie Dixie, my right hand man (er, girl)
is never far away when I'm outside working. Here
she keeps an eye on the four-wheeler while we're
busy garlicking sheep. The
ewes and lambs have just moved into last year's
lambing yard for a few days of grazing down the
lush green grass. So
near and yet so far. In the foreground is my
veggie garden, newly tilled and partially planted.
Though it's barely visible, a 5-strand portable
electric fence keeps the sheep securely in their
pasture while the garden flourishes right across
the fenceline. This
seemingly wimpy little fence has been totally
effective for the past 10 gardening seasons, as I
continue to expand the garden every year and move
the fence back a few feet each time. One of these
years I may come to my senses, quit expanding the
garden, and build a real fence but in the meantime
- yay for portable electric fencing! It
was an incredibly long and snowy winter this year,
followed by a long, cold, late spring.
Everybody's happy to get out and feast on fresh
green grass at last. Here, a mom and her twin black
lambs relax in the midst of plenty while a chubby
white lamb gets a good scratch on a tree
trunk. New
Romney ewe Sweetie and her first lamb - a colorful
boy. This
young ewe is also enjoying a tree trunk
scratch. (Left to
right) Sabrina and her white twins and
Sweetie and her lamb have just returned from a
trip to the water tank. Each SkyLines pasture opens
onto this central runway, which the sheep use daily
to access water and free-choice
minerals. As on
many sheep farms, the four SkyLines rams live
apart from the ewes for most of the year, joining
the girls only for the 4-6 week fall breeding
season. Here, well-fed Romney ram Andy is wallowing
in the knee-high rich grass that flourishes in the
yard surrounding the old red barn. Sheep
heaven!
March 5,
2008 This cutie has
just enjoyed a morning snack. SkyLines
lambing season apprentice Addie Rose enjoys a
moment Virginia and
her look-alike ram lamb.
March 1,
2008 Participants
in this year's Lambing School started the day . . . and some
more cuddling . . . Then we moved
on to hands-on experience with inserting ear
tags and banding tails. Vera the Great
Pyrenees guardian dog graciously allowed us to
spend the morning Later in the
day the shepherdess prepares to demonstrate February
22, 2008 Last night,
a first-time ewe delivered a pair of slightly
premature twin lambs and then promptly forgot about
them. We found the black and white twins in the
barn cold, wet, and in dire need of mothering.
So into the house
they came, for a bath, a hot meal, and a night
beside the wood stove . . . Great Pyrenees
Angus (the only one of the Pyr dogs ever
allowed in the house) isn't much for mothering
lambs, but he certainly enjoys their
attentions. Farmcollie
Dixie, on the other hand, loves the opportunity
to play surrogate mom. Here she meticulously cleans
each lamb, which removes the birth fluids and also
helps stimulate the lamb's nervous system.
After cleaning,
each lamb will be bottle fed 4 ounces of warm
colostrum. This is the ewe's rich first milk,
loaded with nutrients and the all-important
antibodies that protect the lambs in their first
few weeks of life. After a little
shepherdess cuddle time, the lambs will spend the
night in a big cardboard box next to the wood
stove. The cushy life is only temporary though.
Lest they grow up thinking they're house pets,
these kids will go back out to the barn as soon as
possible, probably within a day or so. The next
morning, clean, warm, dry and rested, the lambs
get another drink from apprentice Addie Rose in
their temporary home, the barricaded kitchen. Dixie
supervises to make sure "her kids" are well fed . .
.
February
19, 2008 Mary
Jane is one of the first ewes to deliver a lamb
this year. Her 3-day-old lamb isn't venturing too
far from mom for now, but that'll change
soon! February
2, 2008 Professional
shearers Martin Dibble (foreground) and his son
Arman (background) shear the white sheep first,
then the natural-colored sheep. Though we always
sweep the shearing platform after each sheep is
shorn, this is just extra insurance that little
bits of stray white wool don't contaminate the
natural-colored fleeces, and vice-versa. Here,
a white ewe lamb isn't too happy about getting her
first haircut. (It gets easier, dear, next year
will be much better!) Some
of the freshly shorn ewes relax in the
holding area as another group takes their turn in
the shearing pen. These girls aren't in a big hurry
to get outside. We're still in serious winter mode
and it's not even 30 degrees today. For a
newly-naked sheep that's pretty cold! To
help the freshly shorn sheep deal with the cold
weather, I give them free access to the warm,
well-bedded barn 24/7. I also supplement their
daily hay and barley ration with rolled corn for a
few weeks. They don't receive corn any other time
of year but corn is an excellent source of calories
and helps keep the ewes toasty warm after shearing.
Then,
and this always amazes me . . . within just a
couple of weeks of shearing the sheep have regrown
1/2" or so of wool and, with winter coats on again,
they're perfectly comfortable being outside. The
shearing crew came well-dressed for the cold,
and were glad they did! We were short-handed this
year due to major snow and terrible road
conditions, but these intrepid folks made their way
out to the farm for shearing day anyhow. Good job,
folks, and thanks again for your hard work!
Left
to right, back: Shearers Arman and Martin, Dragger
Lon, front: Skirters Karen, Mary Frances, Addie,
and Greg. (Not shown is skirter Andrea).
|
||||||||
