Apr
2009
New ram is here!
April 1st, 2009 at 08:20 pm by Shari Thomas in SheepYesterday we brought “Tom”, a Suffolk ram from the neighbor’s to our girls. He’s the one that we all believe bred all of the neighbor’s ewes, not the fancy-dancy dud Merino from the big sheep ranch.
He did some “pickin’ and grinnin’” while the girls peed for him. All they really did was tease the living daylights out of him.
We’ve been having pretty cold, brisk northeast winds, so the ewes prefer to lay around when they’re not eating, conserving heat, as if they could possibly be cold under their very full fleeces.
Our girls our very friendly as long as we’re on the other side of the fence. They love to have their chins scratched, their ears rubbed, and if you’re lucky, you can bury your and into the fleece on the top of their back.
I’m hoping Tom settles in to start working tomorrow. I froze my butt out there for about 30 minutes observing the flock today. Not a single ewe was willing to stand for him.
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Mar
2009
We think that ram was a dud… and here’s why
March 30th, 2009 at 06:59 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, SheepAfter very careful thought, and looking back at a lot of clues… we think the ram was a dud. Not a dude… a dud. Further, if the guy who supposedly went to a breeder and bought that ram gets the same results we’re getting… he’s gonna be on unhappy sheep rancher.
read more clues
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Mar
2009
Barnyard cuteness! Lambs, ewes and horses
March 8th, 2009 at 04:24 pm by Shari Thomas in Horses, SheepAs promised yesterday, here are some pics from our neighbors lamb pen.
We were over there today a couple times. The second time we were there, another ewe gave birth to one very big lamb.
One little lamb has been rejected by it’s mother, which is just fine with the neighbor’s granddaughter, who is now the surrogate mama. Of course that means feeding every 2 to 4 hours around the clock.
One of the very pregnant ewes
Nothing like a swift lick to the butt!
My name is Bandit! My mama is a Jacob sheep.
You're one strange looking friend!
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Mar
2009
The joys of lambing season!
March 7th, 2009 at 09:33 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Sheep, WeatherThis afternoon, the wind let up, the sun came out, the dusting of snow melted, so we headed to the neighbor’s to check out their lamb crop.
So far, six of their 20 remaining ewes have given birth.
There are white lambs, black lambs, spotted lambs, mottled looking lambs, and black and white lambs.
All of these are less than a week old, and some of them are only a few hours old.
Tomorrow, after I download a decent image gallery, I’ll upload some really cute pictures. Next week it’s our turn as our first ewe’s are due any time now. The first expected date is Friday the 13th, but like humans… nature has her way over our calendars.
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Mar
2009
We’re unofficially on “lamb watch”
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:11 am by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Sheep, WeatherThe neighbor’s first ewe is due today. She’s been experiencing “water belly” so has been on the sheep version of “bed rest” for the past three weeks.
Clyde and Amber were able to rig up a sling and move her from the pen to the shed and nice comfy straw bed. She’s been eating and drinking just fine… but can’t get up as her mid-section is just too heavy.
Most of the rest of their sheep are due within the next 10 days and our girls follow them.
What does lamb watch mean? read the full story
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Feb
2009
More snow… longing for spring
February 17th, 2009 at 09:22 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Chickens, WeatherWe went to bed with intermittent power outages, probably from the heavy snow laying branches on wires, or wires just snapping somewhere.
Over night we got three or four inches more of wet, heavy snow, right on top of a two inch layer of mud.
Yeah, it was pretty when we looked out. Feeding this morning was pretty easy as the ground was still frozen, but this evening… it was pretty sloppy, and by tomorrow, we’ll be back in the mud again.
Our little flock of chickens grew as we bought five new pullets from some folks in town. They’re Red Star and have just begun laying. Our old gals weren’t real thrilled with the newcomers, but I’m sure they’ll get over it.
As soon as spring really gets here, we have the lumber ready to double the size of our coop and then order another batch of chicks. Mom’s loving this egg business…
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Jan
2009
Curious chickens, growing calf, pregnant sheep, muddy horses…
January 16th, 2009 at 07:12 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Chickens, Family Cow, Horses, Sheep, WeatherThe weather was nice enough this morning to spend some time constructing a photo journal of what it looks like in mid-January on the SW Utah desert. Yeah… we have winter.
Curious chickens
Buttercup's growing up
Aren't I cute?
Don't bother me, I'm eating!
Two pregnant yearlings
Dakota, the 3-yr-old filly
Dusty showing off his hay belly
Neche, our oldest gal
We’re still good as far as our hay supply is concerned.
No hay left here.
Nearly 4 tons left for the horses
Over 4 tons left for the sheep.
About 3 tons left for the cows
There you have it. Our muddy little farm in the middle of winter, on the SW Utah desert. Those pregnant sheep will begin lambing in mid-March. Sure hope this mud is gone by then.
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Dec
2008
Can you spell W-I-N-T-E-R?
December 15th, 2008 at 06:44 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Chickens, Family Cow, Horses, Sheep, WeatherFor the past week, we’ve been securing stuff, and making sure all the animals have nice cushy shelters for the inevitable Utah high desert winter.
Here’s what things look like around here as of Friday (Dec 12) afternoon. I finally had time to take pictures.
The sheep have been without their “wind wall” all summer, as their little shelter gets too hot for them. So, we shoved it back in place. Don’t think it will get knocked around before we can tack it in place. There’s enough room for all seven ewes to get in, lay down, and keep each other warm. They’ve got enough head room, too.
Cushy cow digs.
Cows are pretty much okay with cold, and even snow, but wind is really hard on them. Sweetie Pie, the cow has a pretty short coat. Guess that’s part of her “Corriente” genes. Buttercup, the heifer calf is growing a beautiful winter coat. That’s the Herford genes in her.
Cindy and I cleaned the cow pen, shoveling all the manure into a pile for them to climb on. The pile (actually a compost pile) will generate a little heat, so the snow will melt off that area first.
Then, we provided a full bale of nice, soft straw, banking it up the north wall of their shelter. We also added a windbreak (some leftover paneling) that we tied into place. Gotta love the baling twine!
The chickens have always had the best shelter, with the horses having the second-best digs. Last week, Cindy and I got their stalls nice and clean, so they’ll have shelter. The only problem is that there is little to no southern protection for them. Their coats are pretty shaggy and we’ll give them extra alfalfa as it gets colder.
Back in while to show you what winter looks like around here… yes, it has arrived.
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Jul
2008
When you’re a ram, and you have an attitude…
July 11th, 2008 at 02:04 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, SheepYou go to auction!
Yeppers, after all my ruminations on what to do, I (all by myself) came to the conclusion that ram had to go.
And that was the least of my problems for a while…
Getting him to market was quite fortuitous, as our neighbor was sending his lambs to market and we could put both the mean ram and the ewe with the rupture on his trailer. That would save us having to borrow a trailer and drive nearly 100 miles round trip, spend many hours, and come home with less money than we spent.
So… How to break the news that I wanted to send the ram to market…
I got Cindy to agree with me, as she, too, had been butted around by him. She could see that he was dangerous and really didn’t want to have to put up with him.
However, Bev was the one who’d bought him to begin with. She’d made the deal, believing he was what we needed. After all, he came from a neighbor, was only two years old, looked awesome, and would be a good fit for our little flock. At that time, we had just two ewes (or so we thought).
I crossed an invisible barrier and simply announced to her that he was going to the auction based on his attitude, and his wool type. I didn’t seek her input… and that wasn’t good or right.
When Clyde arrived with the trailer, at first it was “No, he’s staying here!”.
On my way to the pen to get the ewe, I told Al (the ram), “He was one damned lucky boy”, believing he was staying.
By the time we’d loaded the ewe, Bev reluctantly changed her mind and agreed to send him.
So, Al… you’re off to a whole new world!
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Jul
2008
Uh-oh… fleece issues, with no expertise available
July 7th, 2008 at 02:49 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, SheepEver since we sheared the sheep, and I put up the “Our Fleeces” page, we’ve been struggling with negative feedback regarding the staple length. What’s a girl to do, ‘cept more research!
I called folks all over Utah, and finally found some nice “sheep people” in both Oregon and California who were able to provide detailed information on what kind of sheep we have, and what we’ll need to do to improve our little flock.
Now, I’m the one who is most adamant about our “hobbies” providing some kind of return whenever possible.
The chickens provide us eggs, which we sometimes sell. Of course, since that’s Mom’s hobby, she gets to keep any egg money for her own use.
The horses are strictly for our own enjoyment. Besides, I’ve met few horses that ever paid for their own keep, let alone their own feed.
The sheep, though… they’re a “cash crop” in my eyes. We breed them. They produce lambs to both increase our flock size and to sell for meat. I also expect them to provide some wool to sell… and that’s where we’re having an issue.
These sheep were represented as black “Merino” sheep by the person who sold them to us. I believe her as she was led to believe they were “Merino”. Only one small problem… their fleece isn’t as “fine feeling” as the Polypay, and that’s not right.
Shortly after I got here (Dec 2006) we bought a ram, who was represented as 3/4 Merino x 1/4 Suffolk. He’s a big boy and over the past winter, developed a rather nasty attitude.
After much searching around, I believe what we really have are a type (not sure of the breed) of sheep called “marker sheep”. They are the one’s large sheep stations use to help them count their sheep. By maintaining about 1 black sheep per 100 white ones, they can easily count the black one’s and know if they have the whole flock in sight.
What’s all this mean?
Well, it means the fleeces we have for sale, are no longer for sale to spinners, as there’s no way they can meet the quality standards. It also means the ram we have is not the right ram for us. He can’t improve the fleece, and with his attitude, he’s really too dangerous for we women.
Now, this has caused a bit of consternation around here, as I pretty much did the research, presented the “bad news”, and set forth to make corrections without much input from anyone else… not the best decision I’ve ever made.
I am making the fleece available for alternative uses.
For example, we use it to line our chicken nests. The girls love it! They snuggle down in it and when they lay eggs, they are so nice and clean. With the cost of straw, our fleece is very cost effective.
You can also use fleece (wool) as insulation, or even as a permanent mulch as it will “felt” in time.
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