Margali's Griffin Wood Ranch

[Mini Horses]

I've been wondering what it is

 

[Baymule]

I've been wondering what it is

A chin up bar for sheep and goats?

 

[Ridgetop]

It is not MY brush! It is the scratching bar Wes Patton made for his sheep! LOL

My brush roller brush is the black horizontal thing in the middle of the picture between the bar of the corral just to the right of the sheep. Seems to be the only view I have since it is always out of picture in all other shots. LOL It is a large round brush with very stiff bristles about 18" tall when laying on the ground, and 4-5' long. I can't believe in the 1000 pix I have taken of my sheep and field that it doesn't show up in any of them except this one!

 

[Margali]

By Jove, I think they've got it! Four days in a row now of using sorting gate when letting sheep into pen for dinner. They are no longer terrified and have figured out it queezzing their neck means backup.

Mocha is getting black sunflower seeds morning and night as well as a breakfast grain ration. Hopefully, she will put weight back on fairly quickly. I want to show her in October and January. Her condition sucks right now due to being such a good mama to Oreo.

 

[Baymule]

I think the heat is getting to our mamas. I have several that look like that. I didn’t even check fecals, I wormed them, waited 2 weeks and wormed again. Plus started giving them more feed. They are looking a little better, but lambs are pulling them down. I’ve never had ewes look this bad, so now I’m blaming the heat.

 

[Mini Horses]

It IS the heat. They are stressed, dehydrating, producing milk...it's all that!! Chickens barely laying. Goat milk production is down. We know how it feels out there after an hr an no kids dragging on us.
Its 94 & feel like of 106 -- right here, right now. HOT!!

 

[Baymule]

I do not have a nice cool barn for my sheep. They have shelters, but inadequate for this kind of heat. I spray the dirt in their shelters with water, they act like it’s acid, and run for their lives. But later I see them laying on the cool earth. I stretched some small tarps for shade and they like that. I water them 3-4 times a day. I move the Anatolians to the front yard so they can escape the heat by going under the porch. Sentry spends the day in the house, in a crate. He doesn’t move, probably for fear I’ll put him outside.

My poor ewes, some of them look so bad. I’ve never lambed this time of year before, don’t think I will again. The past 2 years have been a mess, my sheep certainly felt it. Breeding has been hit and Miss, mostly miss. We are home now and we’ll get back on track.

 

[SageHill]

@Baymule -- I may have a barn - but it isn't cool at all. Don't let the sheep know it could be cool or the people's group that starts with a p will require ac in the barn.
I do have shade cloth over part of the coral.

 

[Ridgetop]

A cool barn won't help much. The heat sucks the moisture out of them, their lambs suck the milk out. In this sort of heat, milk production always drops. Too hot to eat as much as they normally do since rumen digestion makes body heat. That is why we increase feed for dogs, horses, and livestock in winter - the digestion raises body temperatures. Our appetite drops in this heat too, all we want is liquid.

If you can put up misters around the goat/sheep barn like you use around the rabbit barn, you can drop the temp several degrees and with a couple box fans it may help. Probably wont see much dweight gain in nursing ewes until the heat breaks.

 

[Margali]

I'm working on setting up the horse corral as Mr. Snicker's winter quarters. I want to pull him soon so I don't have babies in February in case we have an icy winter again.