So, my husband is away, which means a change in routines. I didn't trust the tie-ups for the dogs when someone isn't home to make noise and remind them of their duty to stay tied and to not bite sheep, so I tied them up and left the sheep in the barn. It seems criminal today, this beautiful, rare sunny day, but with 60% of the flock under the age of three months, I didn't want to risk any kind of problems.
Ellie and her offspring are still in the lamb jug, minus the little ram lamb who didn't make it, he was just too little. I think all three of them are a bit early - none of them had teeth. The two little ewes are strong, though, and Ellie seems to be doing a decent job of mothering - at least in the jug. I am not ready to let them out, because they are so small they can actually fit through the drainage passage in the sheep paddock. They are nowhere near ready to go out into the big pasture, either.
I will be heading home early today to check on everyone and give the sheep a couple of hours out in the pasture, but I am going to stop on the way home and buy strong dog chains and carabiner clips to attach them to our run line.
This is the last of the lambs for several months, but next year ought to be a bumper crop - of the 8 babies born in the last three months, 5 of them were ewes. The Fall of 2013 should be quite an interesting time - I'll be happy if it's all twins, though - triplets are just that little bit more stressful.
4 comments:
That is a great ewe to ram ratio, congratulations!
I would be a nervous wreck it the dogs that lived here couldn't be trusted around the lambs, chicks, or kids.
Oddly, the chickens can walk ON the dogs, and they leave them alone - although this has not always been the case.
I am not sure why last September they decided sheep were delicious - we hadn't had any problem for the whole previous year, but since they discovered what they can do, we tie them when the sheep are out.
If only there were a way to put those zapper-collars on the dogs, set to activate at a 10 or 15 foot radius from the sheep [drat, the sheep would need to wear their own transmitters, and who do you think would be in charge of recharging batteries..... scratch that idea!].
Maybe Cesar the Dog Whisperer would need some vaycay in Hawaii!
As for yhe micro-mini climates, I know how that is, being in a sunny calm dry front yard, and walking around to the back, hat blown off by thw wind, and soaking wet from the rain! I'm on a quarter-acre postage stamp plot.
Before I forget, someone told me to try a 50-50 mix of white vinegar and water to kill off the moss on your deck. It's like chicken soup, it couldn't hoyt.
Yup, Barry, vinegar and water works great - I had the kids scrubbing the siding with a solution of that a few weeks ago. This moss would need a bit more elbow grease, though. I have thought about the electronic collars and burying a line, but it would be an awful lot of line!
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