bethh Life on the Funny Farm

[Baymule]

I love my sheep. They don't seem to be as needy as goats. I agree that goats have tons of personality, but my sheep do too! LOL We recently culled half my ewes, 6 of them. It was a hard decision, I raised them, they had names, one was an original ewe, one of our first sheep. We are keeping 6 ewe lambs, plus starting to look for a few registered ewes. To upgrade, I had to let some go.

Animals can be a lot of work. If you are swarmed by life in general, the work that you put out on animals can just add to the overwhelming feelings. Taking a step back to regroup is a wise decision.

 

[bethh]

I love my sheep. They don't seem to be as needy as goats. I agree that goats have tons of personality, but my sheep do too! LOL We recently culled half my ewes, 6 of them. It was a hard decision, I raised them, they had names, one was an original ewe, one of our first sheep. We are keeping 6 ewe lambs, plus starting to look for a few registered ewes. To upgrade, I had to let some go.

Animals can be a lot of work. If you are swarmed by life in general, the work that you put out on animals can just add to the overwhelming feelings. Taking a step back to regroup is a wise decision.

It has been a hard decision but the last month has been overwhelming. This is supposed to be fun. I don’t mind hard work but the excessive stress is too much. We’ve learned a lot and will do things differently if we get more. Your lambs are super cute.

 

[Baymule]

I get it. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed myself. It's spring, that means garden, feeder pigs (3) and Cornish Cross meat chickens (85-ish?) thrown in on top. The chickens are extremely labor intensive from start to finish, I got 2 batches, just to string out the punishment. LOL LOL

For me, my sheep are my peaceful place. I sit in the barn, after the ewes eat, they come up for scratches and rubs. They are such sweet creatures. A few of them will lift a dainty hoof to paw me for more if I stop. LOL Even in pasture, some will come up to me for attention. They make me happy.

 

[bethh]

I get it. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed myself. It's spring, that means garden, feeder pigs (3) and Cornish Cross meat chickens (85-ish?) thrown in on top. The chickens are extremely labor intensive from start to finish, I got 2 batches, just to string out the punishment. LOL LOL

For me, my sheep are my peaceful place. I sit in the barn, after the ewes eat, they come up for scratches and rubs. They are such sweet creatures. A few of them will lift a dainty hoof to paw me for more if I stop. LOL Even in pasture, some will come up to me for attention. They make me happy.

I don’t know how you do it. I’ve been trying to plant my garden on top of everything else. I haven’t found that peaceful place recently.

 

[Baymule]

I have a lawn chair in the pasture, next to the sheep barn. I have a milk crate I sit on in the barn. The lower seating arrangement seems to work best for lambs, I'm not towering over them and scary. I sit in the chair for Sentry and Sheba, the Anatolians, so they can get their loving, rubs, and special attention. Any sheep in the pasture (8 ewe lambs ATM) can come up for ear scratches too.

Going to put the disc on the tractor today and disc the pipeline so I can sow giant bermuda grass seed. I'm making yet another attempt to grow grass there. Got to disc the garden, it got tilled in February, but is now so oevergrown with the most beautiful grass (WHY can't I have that on the pipeline? ) I'm behind the 8-ball on everything this spring. I got PVC fittings yesterday to start on 2 chicken tractors. Dirty birdies on the porch are getting stinky, despite daily cleanings and lots of pine shavings. I got so many irons in the fire, you'd think I'm a cattle rustler, changing brands.

 

[bethh]

I have a lawn chair in the pasture, next to the sheep barn. I have a milk crate I sit on in the barn. The lower seating arrangement seems to work best for lambs, I'm not towering over them and scary. I sit in the chair for Sentry and Sheba, the Anatolians, so they can get their loving, rubs, and special attention. Any sheep in the pasture (8 ewe lambs ATM) can come up for ear scratches too.

Going to put the disc on the tractor today and disc the pipeline so I can sow giant bermuda grass seed. I'm making yet another attempt to grow grass there. Got to disc the garden, it got tilled in February, but is now so oevergrown with the most beautiful grass (WHY can't I have that on the pipeline? ) I'm behind the 8-ball on everything this spring. I got PVC fittings yesterday to start on 2 chicken tractors. Dirty birdies on the porch are getting stinky, despite daily cleanings and lots of pine shavings. I got so many irons in the fire, you'd think I'm a cattle rustler, changing brands.

I sure understand. I have chicks that should have been sold by now. So busy with goats, that they haven’t been the center of my attention. Hubby moved them out of the brooder into the kidding pen we constructed on our patio. At this point, do I just keep them until I can sex them or offer them for ‘cheep’ to get them from under foot. Worked in the garden yesterday and got the transplants in but still want to start some seeds. We’ve decided to go from having goats to having no goats. We may have them in the future but have decided we need a break. We’ve learned lots so if we decide to do it again, hopefully it will be smarter.

 

[Baymule]

Do you want new layers? If so, keep the chicks until you know which are pullets. If not, sell them all. Animals take time and attention. If you are pulled in too many directions, you can't enjoy them and they just become a lot of extra work. I think you and your husband are facing reality and making a wise decision.

 

[GardnerHomestead]

Goats are alot of work, especially during kidding season, and if/when you end up with bottle babies. It completely consumes all your time for 8 weeks. Besides our bee hives, goats are our most labor intensive/complex animal. I love them to death but they also drive me crazy lol. I think its great you can step back and see that they dont fit into your life right now. I struggle to fit in everything as well and scale back as needed when necessary. Right now i only have 7 does and 3 bucklings, bucklings will go to their new home in just a couple weeks and then i need to focus more on my garden, because it doesnt holler at me constantly it is often the part of my life that gets neglected.

 

[bethh]

Goats are alot of work, especially during kidding season, and if/when you end up with bottle babies. It completely consumes all your time for 8 weeks. Besides our bee hives, goats are our most labor intensive/complex animal. I love them to death but they also drive me crazy lol. I think its great you can step back and see that they dont fit into your life right now. I struggle to fit in everything as well and scale back as needed when necessary. Right now i only have 7 does and 3 bucklings, bucklings will go to their new home in just a couple weeks and then i need to focus more on my garden, because it doesnt holler at me constantly it is often the part of my life that gets neglected.

Goats definitely scream loud enough for all to hear. I’ve never been so late getting my garden really established. I love the goats but I have a hard time releasing stress. This will be a good opportunity to see if we miss them so much that we have to get more. If not, I’m a wealth of knowledge for anyone who may have questions plus I will be able to say been there done that. I have to remind myself, I’m not a failure for saying this is more than I want to deal with. It would probably be easier if I lived where there were other people with livestock but we don’t. We are definitely an anomaly. Good luck with your garden!