Shari’s Gone Country

Yeah! Buttercup is 30 days old today.

Last night she was so full of piss and vinegar, she couldn’t even stay on her feet. I was topping off the water bucket as I watched her running and bucking in the pen. Mama was watching from a distance as if to say… you play, I’m too tired and would rather just chew my cud.

She made a dash into the shelter area, around that and back out, quickly cutting to the left only to slip and skid, all four feet flying out from under her. When she got up to look around, she had a really silly look on her face, as if to say… Yeah, I’m too fast for anyone… you stupid sheep aren’t supposed to trip me like that!

I’ve been working to get my hands on her more reliably, but haven’t really gotten her full attention. I can rub Sweetie Pie’s forehead and nose, being very careful to stay clear of her horns. Darn those flies! She goes to chase them off her withers, and if my hands are in the way… oh well… that’s gonna leave a mark!

I love this time of year!

It’s that time when we take a minute (or an hour) to just sit and watch the sheep, the cow, the chickens we’re now letting truly free-range, and all the other wildlife.

Our little garden patches yielded goodies this year for the first time in three years. We’ve been enjoying ripe tomatoes, fresh potatoes, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, onions and garlic. Our corn may not make it in time, and the eggplant is questionable.

Once again, we planted winter squash (spaghetti, acorn and butternut) in hopes we’ll get not only enough for ourselves, but also enough to take to market.

Ever the optimist, Cindy planted watermelon, the small seedless variety in hopes of getting at least one ripe melon. We’ve been covering them, as well as the squash, every night since our first frost Sept 1.

Over Labor Day weekend, we rented a tractor (they call them skip loaders in this area) with a bucket and a grading box so we could rearrange some of our sand and clean out part of the sheep pen. We had to go to St George to pick it up on Friday afternoon, but were able to keep it until the following Tuesday morning. For the weekend, we could use it 8 hours. Additional hours cost extra… no problem!

What follows is a snapshot of what was and now, what is.

We smoothed off a lot of “dunes and tumbleweeds” around the horse corral as well as made “homes” for each stack of hay (72 bale stacks… that’s a little over 4 tons per stack).

Before…

After…

Like I said, our little boys had been sent to the holding pens awaiting their turn in the auction ring. Considering how they’d acted since being taken from their cushy surroundings, God only knew what they’d do in the ring.

Sheep and goats auctioned earlier would run around the ring. Some posed, as if to say… “I’m worth more money!” Others acted frightened, wanting only to escape through the rails, or out the wrong door. Most, however, seem to know “you go in this door, and out that door”, only pausing for about 30 seconds in the ring.

Our sheep refused to come into the ring voluntarily. They had to be pushed and prodded. Once there, the three of them huddled together for security as if to say… “If I hide my head, maybe all this stuff will quit happening.”

Picture this…

All the other sheep have been the classic Polypay or Suffolk breed raised around here. They’re all pastured and self-confident. Sure, there were a few “old gals” who looked pretty scruffy. There was also a small flock of lambs that looked as though they were closer to yearlings than lambs.

On the other hand, our “little” guys had been raised in a pen, with lots of personal attention. They weren’t bottle babies, but we spend a lot of time taming our animals to make them somewhat easier to catch and handle.

They were all black, and still had their gonads, two things that are considered major mark-downs at auction. Considering the prices for the other sheep were going in the neighborhood of 78 to 83 dollars per hundred weight, and knowing the mark-down (as much as $25/cwt), we figured if we got $50-60 per animal, we’d be doing well.

The first comments I heard from the old men behind us were… “4-H sheep!”…”I didn’t know anyone raised black on purpose!”. From a woman who manages a 1500 head sheep ranch… “You’re gonna lose $25 a head to price on them.”

And the bidding continued… 88, bid-a-bid-a-bid 89, 90, 91… 92, sold!

The buyer? The largest wholesaler at the auction, who had also purchased our ram (their daddy) a couple months earlier.

At $92/cwt, that was the highest price paid for any lambs since the day we took our ram to market. On that day, our neighbor got $99/cwt for his lamb crop.

With that, the ringmen shoved, pushed and otherwise pleaded with our boys to go through the “out” door. As for the old men… they were speechless.

Besides struggling to get this update working, we took our lambs to market last Thursday.

One little guy was sold to a private party, so we delivered him to the “custom butcher”. Our goal is to eventually sell all our lambs that way.

Now, on to the REAL shocker!

Our little guys still had their gonads, as that was the way our Mexican neighbors had asked for them. When time came to buy them, our neighbors plans changed, as “Grandma” had returned to Mexico and the boys weren’t “lamb eaters”.

That’s when we began offering them at the Farmers’ Market in Cedar City. We used a flyer with their pictures in the pen and provided all the details. We sold one little guy that way.

The other three would have to go to the local auction.

Since it’s such a long trip (90 miles round trip), we also offered to take the neighbor’s steers to auction. After all, we are able to borrow a 4-horse bumper pull trailer. So, the night before, we loaded the steers, giving them the run of the trailer until morning.

At daybreak, we went to load the lambs. Wouldn’t you know it, they had other ideas, including a couple escaping under the door for a walkabout. Some 40 minutes later, Cindy and I physically picked the boys up and loaded them one-by-one into the trailer.

At the custom butcher site, the guy there wanted us to put the truck and trailer into a spot that was about a foot too narrow, so “plan b” for off-loading the first lamb. “There’s a big one, and a little one… pick from the other two, please.” With that, the butcher guy grabbed the first available hind leg and jumped down from the trailer. He then wrestled, pushed, pulled and otherwise worked his way to the holding pen. We left.

Off to the auction…

The last time at the auction was “horse day”. Cindy and I were trying to explain to Bev about the congestion in the parking lot/loading area. That day you couldn’t move for horses, trailers, kids, farmers, etc.

We pulled in this time and wondered if there was even going to be an auction… no one around, ‘cept the tenders down by the cattle drop-off.

Bev found a guy (one of the workers) who kindly agreed to help us with the lambs. You have to back into the off-load chute and then herd your own animals into a holding pen. She’s not real comfortable backing a borrowed trailer into a chute, so he did that chore for us.

Time to off-load, and wouldn’t ya’ know it… our boys wanted no part of process. They did their best to stay ON the trailer. We wrestled, pulled, pushed and nearly carried them to the holding pen. I stayed to sign for them while Bev and Cindy drove off to unload Amber’s steers.

Now, the last time we were there, we were nearly attacked by the “sign in girl” as there were folks trying to “make deals” to buy the sheep right off the trailer (before the auction). This morning, she was no where around.

I waited and waited, until she finally showed up.

When she got there, she found sheep that had been “checked in”… that meant the guy ahead of us had filled out the auction papers, loaded his sheep into a pen, and left. I didn’t know we were supposed to fill in our own paperwork. She picked up his stuff, looked at his animals and left me standing there, dazed and confused. Finally I did the paperwork, and went to find Cindy and Bev.

Off-loading cattle is a whole different story. They’ve got this neat “drive-through” and plenty of help off-loading the cattle. One guy opens the “drive-in” gate and closes it behind you. The next guy opens your trailer gate (that blocks the drive out side) and the cattle are happy to get out of the trailer. They quickly herd them through a series of gates as your paperwork catches up. Once into the holding pens, they are then driven by horseback to the proper order for the auction.

By now, it was nearly 9 AM. But wait… the auction didn’t start until 11 AM. What an excuse for a leisurely farm breakfast at the local restaurant attached to the auction yard.

Yes, I know, my images aren’t showing!

Over the weekend, I chose to upgrade from WP 2.3 to WP 2.6.1 and something got all screwed up in the process.

You can still view my photos here.

What I now need to know is if you can see the posts better (as in no denim background in your way).

IF you are a pro with Gallery2 and WPG, I’d appreciate some assistance. I have posted to the Gallery2 forum and am awaiting help from there (could be hours or even days, though).

IF  you are not a pro, bear with me and I’ll get the pictures going again ASAP.