May
2009
Cow needs to get bred… and the fun begins
May 2nd, 2009 at 08:04 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Family CowClyde and Amber came over last night and picked up their ram. We like to use their pickup truck as it sits lower to the ground than ours, and lifting a 250# woolly critter isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
Clyde mentioned he has a young “Beefmaster” bull at his place servicing his girls. Our plan has always been to get our “Sweetie Pie” cow over there… so now, just how is that gonna happen?
She’s pretty food oriented. Suppose we could walk her over with a lead rope and a grain bucket? It’s only half a mile. But wait… she’s pretty food oriented, not sure any of us want to RUN over there.
Oh, and she’s not lead trained, or even halter broken. We don’t even know if she’s ever been roped (since she grew up). She’s half Corriente (Mexican Range Cow) and half Jersey (according to her bill of sale).
Oh, and she has a pretty good set of horns, which she’s not the leat bit bashful about using. Even the baby has learned to get out of her way.
So, what about us sitting on the tailgate of the truck, shaking the grain bucket? Wonder how fast she can run… we could drive pretty fast, but the dirt road is pretty bumpy… not a good choice.
Guess we’ll have to break down and borrow a trailer. You’d think with three horses one of us would be able to “drive” her to the neighbors… but none of us have ever done that, either.
All we know is that we’ve got to get her over there soon.
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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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Jul
2008
More major projects time… building round pens!
July 19th, 2008 at 04:09 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, HorsesThis past week has been a very busy one, for sure.
First, we teamed up with “neighbor Clyde” again to dig 23 post holes. His old tractor and 12 inch auger got a real workout. The first two posts were done up front where we’re replacing a fence with a gate. More about that later.
The next major project was 21 post holes for our “desert-style” round pen.
We’re making this one with cedar posts and some kind of fencing. It is a 50′ pen, just like the “real cowboy type” steel pen. The major differences… it’s a lot cheaper, you can’t climb on it, and it’s not portable. A mere 2 hours 45 minutes later, with lot’s of sweat equity (literally) the holes were all dug.
Oh, we also bought our new steel round pen, having returned the borrowed one several months ago. At nearly $1300, that was a major expense for this year. Now we have plenty of room to work the horses.
The garden is coming along nicely. In fact just today, we harvested our first broccoli.
Shortly we’ll have onions and shallots. The rhubarb was cut a couple weeks ago, and has been a nice addition to our table.
This year, maybe… just maybe, we’ll have fresh tomatoes. By putting them in the greenhouse, we’ve been able to keep them alive, and even have gotten them to polinate.
We all make the habit of giving the little blossoms a shake-shake each time we water. Yes, there are many green tomatoes right now… time for them to start ripening!
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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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Jun
2008
Here’s how we shear sheep in SW Utah
June 18th, 2008 at 03:07 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, SheepI know, I made sure you knew about our fleeces before I showed you how we got from “on the sheep” to “off the sheep”.
Because we have a very small flock, and virtually no shade for the shearer, we agreed to move our flock to the neighbor’s, where there is shade and a little better “catch” facility.
Last Monday afternoon, Bev picked up a borrowed 4-horse trailer in preparation for the “mini-roundup” and move.
The plan was to simply park the truck and trailer next to the sheep pen gate, open the gate, and stand there with some panels. One of us (most likely me) would shake the corn can and get the girls to follow me up and into the trailer.
That worked with one ewe for about 30 seconds! No, there are no pictures as we are about to get VERY busy.
With the corn can bait not working, Cindy left her panel and went for some hay. That was before I could close the gate, and yeppers… first “Merino’ followed Cindy to the hay stack, and then two more… Not good news as we don’t have our acreage fenced.
For the next 30 minutes or so, we coaxed, herded, backed off, headed off, and tried every trick we could think of to get the girls back into their pen. Clyde, our neighbor showed up to help bring order to circus.
Finally, with all the girls back in the pen, we once again tried to load everyone. Now, the plan was to take the lambs along as we figured they’d run right into the trailer to be with their Mama’s.
Never, ever let anyone tell you sheep are dumb. They do think, and they think pretty fast. They’re also curious, can be fooled once, maybe twice, but after that, it’s “sheep 1 – humans 0″.
The girls finally found the hay in the trailer completely irresistible, but the lambs weren’t convinced. With only 3 of the 10 lambs in the trailer, we changed directions and removed the 3 lambs, leaving them home. As they’re 60 days old, the separation wasn’t as traumatic as we’d expected.
Off to Clyde’s, just a short 1/2 mile jaunt. Off loading was much less stressful, as all we had to do was convince the gals this was a good place to be. After all, one of the matriarch’s offspring from last year is here, as is our ram.
Bruno, the Boxer thinks he’s a sheep dog, and is trying to help with this herding process. A few months ago, we were feeding Clyde’s sheep and found one of his little lambs out. I’m sure that had it not been for Bruno’s herding ability, we’d still be chasing that lamb.
Phillip, or “Flip” as he’s known locally is our shearer. He also owns several pretty good-sized commercial flocks and runs the crew that does virtually all the commercial shearing in SW Utah and eastern Nevada.
Because there are only 21 sheep between us, Flip takes his time with each animal. He even takes time to comment on our quality and the difference between what our animals looked like last year, compared to this year. Rather than rip through the sheep at 2 minute intervals, he takes between 4 and 5 minutes per animal.
As each of our sheep are sheared, we load them back into the trailer for the short trip home. Even Algernon, our ram, is coming home. “Freezer” a yearling wether becomes payment for the shearing. Flip notes he can almost taste his chops!
With our flock done, we turn our attention to moving Clyde’s flock from their pasture to the catch pen. The plan this time is to move all the ewes and their lambs. We’ll shear the ewes, leaving them in the catch chute, and then drive them back to their pen, leaving the lambs in the catch pen.
Clyde’s girls seem to know the process and we need only worry about any of them wanting to take a side trip into the garden (tasty morsels there, ya’ know). Moving Clyde’s flock is a snap compared to our flock.
By about noon, we finish with the shearing, and get everyone back in their places. Yes, Clyde’s lambs are putting up a bit of a fuss, since they’re now permanently separated from their mothers. Our girls arrive home and you should see the lambs trying to figure out what happened. Without their huge fleeces, our ewes aren’t much bigger than some of their offspring, and they still have a month until weaning.
Oh, and just who is that great big guy behind that fence? The lambs meet their daddy for the first time through the fence.
We deliver “Freezer” to Flip’s “mutton pen” where he’s the only black sheep, take the trailer home and give a huge sigh of relief. That’s one job we won’t have to do again until next year.
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Apr
2008
Got Lambs? We do!
April 12th, 2008 at 09:39 pm by Shari Thomas in SheepAs I said earlier, since the first of the month, this has been a wild ride indeed.
Last fall, when it was time to breed, we put a harness and color marker on Al (our big ram). The idea is that you can see the marks on the ewe’s rumps, so you know if they’ve been bred.
I very carefully looked for the marks (they’re quite obvious), and then entered the breeding dates into our fancy “Ranch Manager” software. That gave us pure dates for lambing… that’s what you call it when the ewe’s have their babies.
According to our software, “Annie” and “Carolyn” were due April 6, with “Merino” right behind them on April 7. Due April 12 would be “Beulah”, with “Amy” due last on April 18.
Well… so much for plans and software. Someone forgot to tell the ewe’s.
Sunday, March 30, “Annie” went into labor. Now, we’re real rookies at this sheep business. I have 16 years of commercial rabbit production, and hung out with “sheep folks”, but I’ve never actually been through the lambing season, except for a couple days of observations at the neighboring sheep ranch last year.
Being rookies, all we really knew was that we were supposed to stand by and stay out of the way. We had a pretty fair idea she was in labor, as we could see the contractions, and she was separated from the rest of the flock, and was really uncomfortable.
What we didn’t realize until much later… the next morning, was that she had ruptured internally. We got to her in time, so she’s still with us, but will be put up for auction as she’s no longer capable of breeding, and carrying lambs successfully.
Cindy and I spent the entire night with the truck parked at the sheep pen. We made hourly, even 15 minute rounds to check on her. At one point, we could see a little hoof and nose… but were helpless to help her in the dark of night.
Oh, and it was one of those very rare foggy nights on the desert. No moon, no lights visible anywhere. We couldn’t even see the horse corral just 50 yards away.
By sunrise, we had determined we needed help… so, we got on the phone to our various neighbor/mentors. We got Clyde and Amber’s answering machine. Linda was on her way to work. Our last hope was the shepherd at the sheep ranch.
While Cindy and I captured Annie and prepared to pull the first lamb, Bev raced to the sheep ranch to get Pedro. Luckily, he had a few minutes, a new-born quadruplet to graft to the ewe, and understood how much he was needed.
First words out of his mouth… “You girls are no sheep herders!”
“Of course, Pedro. We’re rookies… and once upon a time, you were a rookie, too. We’ve pulled the first lamb, but there are more and we don’t know how to get to the rest.”
It was a sad sight. Annie had three dead lambs in her. We successfully grafted the little bummer (a ewe lamb) we named “Stormy”. All in all, while we felt very badly, we were also elated with the fact that we’d been able to save the ewe and the bummer.
On April 3, Bev was “on watch” and came in to announce that “Beulah” was in labor. Sure enough, she presented first a small black bundle. Cindy and I watched as she cleaned and nosed the little rascal, trying to get it to stand.
“Come on! Get up… I’ve got more coming and you have to be independent.”
Unfortunately, Beulah had to turn her attention the next little guy, leaving Cindy and me to pitch in and help. We had some colostrum ready. The little guy was brought into the house and given a nice soft warm bed as well as a good meal.
In the mean time, Beulah gave birth to three more little lambs. The second little guy was on his feet in just minutes, finding his way to “Mom’s teat”. The next little girl was quickly on her feet, too.
The last little bundle came out kicking. I was “on watch” at that time and marveled at how active the little guy was… but he was having a tough time standing up. Beulah hadn’t bothered to bite off the umbilical, and it was twisted around his back legs… No wonder he couldn’t stand up.
Cindy to the rescue!
Within a few hours, the little guy we rescued had died… another sad moment. But, he had weighed less than 5 pounds and his siblings were all over 8 pounds, so it wasn’t totally unexpected.
The April 6 and April 7 due dates passed with no activity.
Finally, Tuesday April 8, “Amy” dropped a pair of twins. These little gals tipped the scales at 10 and 12 pounds each. What beautiful little ewe lambs. We named the chocolate one “Mouton” in honor of one of my business partners. Her maiden name was “Mouton”, which means sheep in French, and her birthday was April 6. The other little gal is named “Dixie” in honor of our original mentor. These were all her sheep last year.
Thursday morning, I was greeted with two more little lambs, compliments of “Merino”. She had two little boys, who look like identical twins. These little guys were kind of small, and not on their feet for hours, so once again… it’s Cindy to the rescue with some nice warm colostrum.
We’ve gotten real good at milking sheep this week, as we’ve felt the need to make sure each ewe has had milk for the lambs. So far, no bottle babies, and that’s a very good sign.
The score? As of this entry, we have four little ewe lambs, “Stormy”, “Princess”, “Dixie” and “Mouton”. We have four little ram lambs, which we’ve already committed to sell to a neighboring Mexican family at weaning time. We’ll make a little, they’ll take them and feed them out, using some for food and sharing others with friends.
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Jan
2008
This winter sure isn’t like last winter
January 21st, 2008 at 04:21 pm by Shari Thomas in Around the Farm, Sheep, WeatherThis year, we’ve had a “January thaw”. Boy, really creates a mess, too.
This past summer, when we had to trench from the chicken water to lay the water line for the sheep, that meant disturbing a lot of the playa, the hard silica/sand crust that forms on the top of our soil.
We had snow at Christmas time, and I thought we’d be white until March, like last year. Well, that didn’t happen. We thawed.
You know what it’s like to trudge out twice a day in our boots? The mud is very slippery. The ground is frozen several inches down, so really, only the top couple inches of the playa have thawed.
For a while there was even standing water, thanks to a couple days of soaking rains. I felt so sorry for not only the horse, but the sheep and the chickens, too. When the dogs went out, they came in looking like little mud babies.
Sarah (my Finnish Spitz) hates the rain and the mud. She really doesn’t like getting her feet wet. She stands at the edge of the patio reaching out, but not quite touching the mud for a long time before finally getting desperate enough to brave the mud.
Now, Koda and Kiki just can’t wait for me to come in from the sheep pen. Not sure what the aroma is, but the taste is certainly irresistible. Their favorite time is when I settle into Bev’s big recliner and put my feet up, so they can reach my boots more easily.
Now, we’re awaiting another round of snow. This past week it’s been below freezing most of the time. We got that hay stack put down, but instead of rotating the hay, we just put the new stuff on the base of the old stack for now.
Then we moved a dozen bales up front for the sheep.
Our two boys, Algernon and Freezer (he’s really a wether) went to “ram camp” at the Davis farm today. Clyde and neighbor Bill came over to take charge of that operation. I horsed around with Freezer, trying to halter him, while Clyde lassoed and haltered Algernon.
With me in the back of the pick up, the guys lifted the two boys up into the pickup bed. Clyde joined us, and off we went, to Clyde’s farm. The boys are joining his young ram for summer camp. That gives both our ewe flocks peace and quiet for lambing.
Not to mention… no more having to carry a big stick when you go into the sheep pen. Even Cindy couldn’t stay clear of Algernon.
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Dec
2007
Time to catch you up on “winter in Beryl”
December 26th, 2007 at 03:39 pm by Shari Thomas in About Beryl, Around the Farm, Day off, Dogs, WeatherIt’s been a while since I posted pictures of life here in our little corner of the world.
One of our most prized possessions is our digital camera. It’s not real fancy, and we’ve had it for more than a couple of years… but we use it to record the good times and the bad. Even as relaxed as life is here… we use the camera a lot. It’s a huge memory helper!
The last photo journal was of all the “get ready for winter” projects; the wood is cut and stacked, the ewe’s are bred, the horses have new and expanded shelter, the hay is in and covered… and the chickens… well, they’re happy in their home, giving us nearly a dozen and a half eggs every day.
So, here goes… when it’s winter in Beryl, life slows down a lot…
The first week in December, just after getting the decorations up, we had snow in the late
evening. I was the only one still in my boots… so, here are two very quick pictures taken during the snow and wind. Later in the month, we had “thunder snow”, and twice we had to bundle up and hustle out to shore up the nativity scene and get the trees upright.
What an amazing site, to have the wind blowing better than 40 mph, snow coming down sideways, hearing thunder and seeing lightening within just a second as the storm passed directly over our house.
Sunrises are beautiful every morning… but some mornings they’re better than others. And yes… it’s really as cold as it looks.
We have time for more leisurely breakfasts, and with plenty of farm-fresh eggs, French Toast is a family favorite. Throughout the year, we most always have one meal together each day. On the weekends, it’s breakfast, generally on Saturday.
“Mom” always makes sure there’s enough for all five dogs, once we’ve had our fill. Now, the dogs… well, anytime we’re (make that “Mom”) are (is) at the table, once the serious cutting of food begins, it’s time to line up for “bites from the fork”.
This is December in Beryl. The first snow has come, and the very bright sunlight returned… time for some awesome picture-taking. About the only trees that grow well are the Chinese Elms. We have a row to the north of our driveway, and next year will plant a row on the south and then to the north west of the house to provide wind protection for the horses, and sheep.
The other day, Cindy heard a little noise outside her open bedroom window. Lo and behold here’s a little Screetch Owl, who’s obviously looking for a warm spot. He let me get as close as I wanted to get his picture. We’re not sure, but we think he’s probably the same little owl we found a week later in our driveway, cold and dead after yet another snow storm. Close inspection revealed a broken wing… was it a critter, or did he fly into the truck? We’ll probably never know.
Christmas in Beryl is fun… Bev plays Santa Claus (ok, so she’s not exactly “santa”) for the Senior Center. I thought this was a cute picture of “Mom” with Santa. Funny how their tops nearly match.
This year we got really lucky and “Santa” came to visit the dogs… boy, were they impressed. As long as Santa had treats, they thought that was pretty awesome, but pictures? Come on… as Coco put it… “You’ve got to be kidding!”
Kiki, Koda and Sarah figured Santa smelled familiar enough to hang around, especially since there were treats involved… the lunch mouths!
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