norseofcourse's journal - spring and show update

[norseofcourse]

woohoo more progress! This is the second day with the neckrope, and Gracie came into the pen first and I got her up on the stand and put the neckrope on her. She fidgeted and kicked some, and then - wow, she stood still! Just totally still! I had one hand on each teat, and it was so nice to have her hold still as I milked her. Well.... as I tried to milk her. My left hand had a hard time getting the hand motions down, and I wasn't getting much milk with my right hand, either - I don't know how long it had been since the twins nursed, she wasn't completely empty but she wasn't full, either.

And then there was my aim... lol. There isn't much room at the end of the milk stand to put a bucket behind her, so I had the bucket on the ground behind it. Easy target, right? LOL I saw a couple squirts overshoot the bucket. I know at one point I hit my leg.... One squirt found its mark and did go in the bucket... and by then, it was so humid that my glasses were fogging up and I couldn't tell where I was aiming! But I was so proud of how well Gracie did, and I gave her a few more pellets as I took the neckrope off her

Then it took a bit of time to get Brosa in the pen. Part of the problem was Gracie kept wanting back in... Brosa just kept going over to the hay feeder (I feed their pellets in the trough part) to wait for the feed there. I finally got her in, and got her on the stand and the neckrope on without any trouble. This is day two for her to have a neckrope on, and she wasn't any more happy about it than she was yesterday. I managed to keep my hands on her udder most of the time, as she stomped and fidgeted and twisted and tried to turn around, but she stayed on the stand, and she eventually settled enough for me to get a little milking in. I didn't even bother with the bucket, I just tried to hit the ground... lol. I got a few squirts out of each side, and once she was relatively still, I stopped and fed her a bit of grain as I took her neckrope off. She still isn't behaving very well yet - but - this time she didn't poop on the stand!! So I'm considering that good progress for her

I know I'd have more success getting milk if I could separate the lambs from the moms for awhile. Doing that would be difficult. I do know the twins 'escape' from the sheep's pasture during part of the day, into the ponies pasture to eat. If I could get to Gracie when the twins have been gone for awhile, she should have a bit more milk. Another option is getting up early enough in the morning that they're not up and the lambs haven't nursed yet. I am *not* much of a morning person though, but I may make myself try that one weekend and see how it goes.

My other thought is whether I should try to train Rose to the milkstand. She's the most stand-offish of my ewes, but considering that Brosa is the most friendly and is giving me the most trouble, it's a thought. And Rose only has a single lamb, and she looks to have a nice large udder. Still thinking on it.

So, definite progress, just have to work more on my technique now!

 

[norseofcourse]

It was really hot and humid today, the only good thing was a nice breeze all day. At this evening's milking session, I started with Brosa. It wasn't too hard to get her into the pen, but I had to help boost her onto the stand (she wanted the grain, just not quite enough to hop up). She was perhaps slightly better than yesterday, and I got several squirts of milk out of each teat, stopping when she stood still for me to do so. Since this is really only day three of serious milk training, I'll keep working with her and hope she improves.

Then it was Gracie's turn, and she came right in and hopped up. She still fidgeted and kicked some at first, but then she stood still like she had yesterday . There was barely enough room to put the bucket behind her on the stand (I should have made it about a foot longer), but I managed to keep it there, and aim into it most of the time lol. It was nice to see the milk going into the bucket, collecting enough to really make it look like I was getting something! My hand motions are improving, too. I'm not quite sure how to tell when they're 'empty'. Gracie probably still had milk, but it was such a warm day, and she had stood still for maybe five minutes, so I decided to stop. I took the milk right in and poured it into a jar and set it in the fridge. I didn't get much - maybe a bit more than a tablespoon - but that little bit of milk is finally proof of some success

I'm sure with practice, I'll be able to milk faster and get more milk. At least, that's the plan!

 

[norseofcourse]

It's been busy here as usual. Last week we had several storms, one of which caused half of a large old apple tree to come down across a fence. It turned out to be (slightly) easier to re-route the fence, than it would have been to remove the tree. So I did that - finishing just as another storm hit, drenching me as I ran to the barn to take cover for nearly an hour, as monsoon-like rains came down, amid lots of thunder and lightning. From where I was, I could see two ponies calmly standing out in the storm, and I could also see most, if not all the sheep, clustered around the downed apple tree, eating all the apple leaves and green apples that they could.

I've been letting the sheep into the horse's pasture nearly every day - after work during the week, most of the day on weekends. Most evenings, I've continued the milking. Results so far have been mixed.

Gracie is standing better, but still kicking for awhile at first. I'm getting some milk off her, but not much yet. Not quite sure if its me not being experienced enough yet, or the twins having nursed too recently, or she's not letting her milk down much (and yes, I am 'pushing' at her udder like the lambs do, although not nearly as hard as I've seen them!). I'm getting a bit more milk out of her left side than her right.

Brosa is... coming along. She gets up on the stand nicely, no trouble putting the neckrope on her, but she's still kicking, stomping, and moving around when I put my hands on her udder and teats. It has lessened, some (she isn't acting like the rope is choking her to death anymore), and I'm now able to get a bit of milk from her. Her teats are small but when she's still, she's not hard to get milk from. I keep at it till I get several pulls in a row from each teat, with her standing still for it, then I stop. Each day I get a bit more, but it's still slow going.

I decided to train Rose to the milkstand. She sure couldn't give me much more trouble than Brosa... so a few days ago I started. First was getting her into the pen and up onto the milkstand. The first couple days, she got her front legs onto the stand to eat out of the feed pan, the third day I boosted her bodily up onto the stand, and let her stand there and eat a few pellets. A couple days later, she got all the way on the stand on her own. I gave her some more pellets, as I clipped her old wool off (the stuff she hadn't yet rubbed off on her own). The next day, she got on the stand again, and I clipped the neckrope on her - she wasn't happy being tied, especially when I put a hand on her udder, but she didn't throw as bad a hissyfit as I thought she would. I waited till she was standing facing forward, and not kicking, and gave her a few more pellets and unhooked her.

Tonight was day 7 for Rose. She again wasn't happy with the neckrope - she got her back feet off the stand a couple times, and I had to boost her back up. Once, she laid down, I put my hands under her and got her back up again. She wasn't happy with me putting my hands on her udder - but surprisingly, all of a sudden she was standing fairly well! I tried a test pull - and it might have been the shape of her teats, or maybe she was just more full of milk than the others, but she had loads of milk, and it was easy to get! She was standing still enough to put the bucket behind her, and I got several pulls of beautiful, plentiful milk!! The only bad part was that all of Brosa's antics had gotten a few bits of 'stuff' in the bucket, so I decided I wasn't keeping this milk. Tomorrow I'll use a separate pail just for Rose - I am looking forward to seeing if she behaves well tomorrow, and how much milk she will give.

The lambs are growing so well, and looking so pretty. Little Boy might be getting processed in the next month or so - that will be my first test, will I really be able to go through with it. He's not as cute as a lamb anymore, but it's still going to be hard for me.

 

[norseofcourse]

Today was a good day! Not only is it Friday, but milking went well. Most of it...

I let the sheep into the ponies pasture when I got home from work, and I went out about 8:15pm to call them into their pasture, to give them grain/pellets and to milk. Not all of them wanted to come... I ended up getting Rose and Gracie, but not Brosa. There's just too much out there for them to munch on - even the lure of pellets and corn wasn't enough. So, tonight I only milked two.

I started with Gracie, she is still kicking but she did less of that tonight. I got some milk from her, but she just doesn't seem like she has much - but she does have the twins on her, so I only milked a little bit. I'm happy if she improves her milkstand manners, even if I don't get much.

Then I got Rose into the pen, and she got on the stand for pellets, and I put the neckrope on her. She doesn't kick quite as much as Gracie, but she moves around a fair bit. A couple times she got her hind feet off the stand, but she got back on without too much pushing. I wouldn't call her milkstand manners good yet, but she stood still enough for the most part for this novice milker to get more milk from her than I've gotten from anyone! It's amazing how much difference a fuller udder, and larger and better-shaped teats, can make. I didn't milk her empty, but I got quite a bit from her, and I stopped at a point when she was standing still. I came inside and strained it, and I got nearly six and a half ounces!!! That's over triple what I've ever gotten before (I did add Gracie's milk to the bucket, but it was maybe a tablespoon worth - the vast part was Rose's). So the sheep that I wasn't even going to milk, is now my best milker.

I know I want to save up enough for cheese, but I have a fudge recipe that only needs 1.5 cups of milk - it's so tempting to make that my first sheep's milk project

 

[frustratedearthmother]

FUDGE! You've gotta do it - and then tell us all about it! Congratulations on this finally getting a little easier for you. You've had the patience of a saint!

 

[norseofcourse]

So, a few days ago I took scissors to Rose and cut off most of the wool that she's been shedding, but it hadn't got rubbed off yet. I got it off fairly intact, a section mostly from her sides, and part of her back. It was drenched from rain, and I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I hated to just throw it away. I put in on the floor in the garage, where for a couple of days it looked like a dead possum lying there.

By this morning it had dried out. I've got a lot of poison ivy in my pastures, so I knew if I wanted to do anything with it myself, I'd have to wash it first. My earlier attempts to wash my own wool didn't turn out so well, but I figured I didn't have much to lose with this stuff (it may already be too felted to card and spin anyway), so I filled a bucket with water from the hose, dumped in a generous amount of Dawn, and stuffed the wool in. Now it looks like I have a drowned possum in a bucket...

I'll probably do one more 'washing' bucket of water and Dawn, before the fun of trying to rinse it. I'm pretty sensitive to poison ivy, and I want to make sure it's all out of that wool. It will be interesting to see if this works...

 

[norseofcourse]

Well, I did make the fudge, and it turned out very well! I took some to a spinner's get-together, and everyone loved it. I didn't take all of it though, and I'm trying to make it last...

Rose is the only sheep that I'm getting any appreciable amount of milk from now. I'm getting from 3 to 7 ounces each evening. Her manners on the stand are quite good now, but she's still reluctant to get into the pen. I'm hoping that the routine of it, and her getting extra grain/pellets, will help with that.

Gracie has her twins, so I'm getting her on the stand but only working on manners, taking a small pull or two from each side and that's it. She's behaving well, so I'm pretty sure that she'd do well if either a lamb gets sold, or they get weaned, or if she has a single next time.

Brosa's got milk, but I'm concentrating more on manners with her, too, and making the milkstand a positive place for her. I may do some limited milking with her this year, but I'll look forward to next year, when her udder and teats should be larger.

The wool I got off Rose has been through two washings, and a couple changes of rinsewater so far. Another rinse or two and once the water is clear, I'll hang it up to dry. Then I'll find out if I have more fiber to play with, or one big hunk-o-felt!

 

[norseofcourse]

I ate the last of the sheep's milk fudge tonight. It's so tempting to make more, but I want to save up milk for cheesemaking.

Rose is doing well. She's still somewhat reluctant to come into the pen where the milkstand is (although she was better tonight), and reluctant to hop up onto the milkstand (although again, slightly better tonight). She still fidgets a little, but overall I'd say she's doing pretty well with being milked, especially with both of us being new at this.

Gracie's doing fine, I'm not really milking her, but having her get on the milkstand for practice. And it gives me a chance to give her some extra grain/pellets, since she's feeding twins.

I think Brosa's figured out that if she doesn't come in with the others, she misses out on the grain and pellets! Today she was the first one at the gate She came right in the pen and jumped on the milkstand, and I clipped the neckrope on and petted her, then massaged her udder - she wasn't real happy about that, but she behaved better than she had before, and I even got a pull or two out of her teats with her standing relatively still.

Rose gave less milk the last couple days, I think because it was so hot and humid. It wasn't as bad tonight, and she gave 6 ounces. It's enough to freeze my second cup of milk, on my way towards having a gallon or so for making cheese!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We'll be calling you the sheep whisperer before long!

 

[norseofcourse]

We'll be calling you the sheep whisperer before long!

LOL I doubt it - I'm just muddling along finding out what works for me.

I now have 3 cups of milk frozen. Rose was slightly better last night about getting into the pen and onto the milkstand. And Brosa did a little better, too.

When I let the sheep into the larger pasture this morning, I noticed that Gracie had bottlejaw . Her eyelids were a pale pink. I've been checking eyelids at random, but I can't remember if I'd checked hers recently. I'd like to think I would have noticed the bottlejaw, so I hope it only just happened. I wormed her with Valbazen, since I have it on hand. Finding a milk withdrawl time for Valbazen is mixed - apparently there's nothing official from the manufacturer, but I've found university papers giving withdrawl times for goats, one said 7 days. I may not use her milk anymore at all this year, which is ok, as I wasn't taking more than a few squirts anyway, just for training.

I'll be checking everyone when I bring them in this evening.