norseofcourse's journal - spring and show update

[norseofcourse]

@Pearce Pastures - I can't imagine getting a milk jug clean enough to re-use.

You'll have to report on the cream thing---it never seems to really separate out for us.

I sure will! I was getting a little cream separating this summer, but not enough to do anything with - first, I wasn't letting milk sit in the fridge for more than a day or two before freezing it, and second - you don't get much cream in 6 ounces of milk LOL

The sheep have been getting out of my fences... . It's mostly the lambs, but Brosa's been going with them lately, too. Some of the fencing isn't spaced closely enough, or the spacing varies because I've used step-in posts in a few places, or it's stretched a bit and needs retightened. So I've started redoing my fences, adding a strand or two of polywire and spacing them closer. I got one section done today and it looks really nice. I'll continue till the sheep's pasture is done, then I won't let the sheep into the horse's pasture till it's done (and no hurry on that, there isn't much there for them to browse on this time of year anyway).

I've been getting 4 eggs a day steadily from the 4 quail. I'm waiting till the 15th before I eat any again, due to the antibiotics they were on. I washed a bunch of them today, tomorrow I'll try blowing out the contents.

I got some pictures of the lambs today. It's interesting seeing how they've grown. One of Gracie's twin ram lambs is more muscular than the other (and he was the smaller at birth). Brosa's lamb is of course smaller, being 6 weeks younger, but not by all that much, and he seems to be kind of in between the twins as far as build. I'll upload the pictures soon.

 

[norseofcourse]

I didn't get very many pictures last week, and only one really came close to showing what I was trying to show. Here are the three wether lambs - I call it their 'butt shot'

From the left we have: Brosa's lamb, who is about 6 weeks younger than the other two; and Gracie's twins, her firstborn on the right, and her secondborn in the middle (he was so dark when he was born I thought he was black). It's hard to see because their wool is growing back, but to my eyes the lamb in the middle has the best hindquarter muscling. Of the other two, it's hard to tell which is better.

I have an appointment to take the wether lambs in to the processor in January. I didn't realize I should have called sooner - one place wasn't taking anything till February! Live and learn for next year. So, I've got the boys for a couple more months. Six strands of electric rope still failed to keep the lambs from going through, so I spent this past weekend putting up a barrier of 3' silt fence all around the sheep's pasture - the least expensive way I could figure out to keep them from going through the electric rope strands. So far it's working

One of my neighbors wants to buy one of the wethers. I'm not sure what to ask for it. She'd be paying the processor's fee on top of what I would charge.

I had a huge scare on Saturday. I'd been putting up the fencing, and the adult sheep were hanging around watching. I took a break and pulled down a few branches of climbing bittersweet for them. They've eaten it many times with no problem. I left them to eat on that, and went over to get them some rose hips, too (yes, I spoil my sheep lol). Gracie comes to eat rose hips, and Brosa comes over too, but doesn't eat the rose hips - something's wrong, this girl doesn't refuse food. She is acting like she's trying to bring cud up to chew, then she shakes her head, gives a couple jumps and tries again. She finally seems ok - then I look over at the others, and something is very wrong with Rose!

I run over, and Rose is drooling like mad, with saliva and green stuff coming out of her mouth like crazy, and she's shaking her head and flinging stuff all over (I did have the presence of mind to stand back a little...). I panicked, wondering if my sheep are all just gonna keel over and die - I gathered up the bittersweet vines they hadn't eaten yet and tossed them over the fence, then I called a friend of mine who has sheep. I guess I was thinking, it's Saturday evening, even if I do get through to a vet, by the time they'd get here it would probably be too late. As I'm on the phone, Rose stops salivating so much and spewing green, and starts acting normally again. My friend was concerned about toxicity, checking the internet, but at this point I'm starting to think it was something else. I came in and did some searches, and Rose's symptoms exactly matched with choking in sheep. I've seen choke in horses, but this was very different, and thankfully resolved on its own.

Elding's been acting stupid again for the last few days, so I'm thinking someone may be coming into heat. He has been following Brosa and the ewe lamb around more. I feed the sheep pellets and some corn by putting it in the trough part of their hay feeder, and they all come in for that, but after the pellets have been eaten Elding's been chasing the wether lambs out of the run-in area, only letting 'his girls' remain in to eat the hay. I don't know if the wethers eventually do get in there and eat hay or not, so tonight I put a flake of hay outside the barn for them.

Winter has slammed into northeast Ohio - and lots of other areas. I woke up this morning to about 4 inches of wet, heavy snow covering everything - even building up on the electric rope. I am so glad I switched over to the heated water tub for the ponies last week. The sheep don't have that luxury, but their water in the run-in area of the barn is less likely to freeze, and I switch it out for a fresh bucket if it does. The lows for the next few nights are in the teens or single digits, with wind chills below zero. At least we don't expect much more snow here. I wish we had less wind, though. And I sure hope this isn't a preview of the entire winter...

Every day is one day closer to spring, I keep telling myself that!

 

[norseofcourse]

Elding's been acting stupid the last few days, so either someone's coming into/going out of heat, or he's just frustrated that he's only got four ewes to breed... He had been ok with me, but last night he was just being obnoxious, and kept alternating between wanting attention, and making moves like he was trying to get me out of the run-in area (he'd already chased the wether lambs out). He finally made one too many rushes at me, and even though he never actually connected, I decided I had to revisit our lessons from last year, and pin him to the ground.

So, I took ahold of his head and flank, and expertly lowered him to the ground and held him there.... well, not exactly. I got ahold of his head and flank, and we kind of went around in circles for awhile, as I tried to get enough leverage to get him off his feet. He wasn't struggling, he just wasn't going down. I tried different holds and different ways of turning his head. I finally took a breather, still holding onto him, then tried again and with a really determined effort - we both crashed to the ground! He came down on top of me, but I was able to keep him down as I got to my feet. Quite glad I was not within sight of anyone... lol

I held him down for several minutes, and he didn't struggle so I'm hoping he remembered this from last year. When I let him go he just walked quietly away from me. He was doing some more chasing of the wether lambs as I left, hopefully he gets over his mood soon. Rose's ewe lamb may be the only one he has left to breed, she's the one he's been more interested in lately.

The silt fencing has been working well, no sheep have gone through the fence since I've put it up. And it's held through the 5 or so inches of snow we've had, and days of gusty winds. Today it's finally warmed up into the 40's! I don't remember ever having a stretch of weather this cold, this early in the winter. I am glad I really stocked up on hay this fall.

All the sheep come into the run-in area for pellets/corn twice a day, but then Elding runs the wether lambs out. I don't know if he lets them back in at some point, or not, so I've been putting a flake of hay outside for them, but then I saw Elding eating that hay, too - and of course a lot of it gets wasted instead of eaten. So I've been thinking about setting up a 'lamb pen' inside the run-in area, to put the wether lambs in for the nights, where they'd have access to half the hay feeder, and Elding and the ewes would still have access to the other half. I have them for two more months, I have to do something so I know they're eating.

Well, I have to eat my words - just went out to feed for the evening, and one of the wether lambs had gotten out of their pasture - not sure how, but at least he didn't take the other two with him. I'll check the fencing better tomorrow when I have daylight. I don't want to pen these guys for the remainder of their time here, but I also don't want to spend a ton of money on fencing for lambs who will only be here for two more months. sigh.

Everyone else is doing well, and we're currently in a warmup for a few days (which means mud, but it's nice to have a break from the cold). I've seen very few deer, but plenty of tracks in the snow in my yard. I bet the deer are already wishing for spring, too!

 

[norseofcourse]

Only one wether lamb is still escaping out of the sheep's pasture, Brosa's lamb. Figures, since his mom regularly got out of the sheep's pasture and into the horse's pasture when she was a lamb. For several days in a row, I let him back in, in the evening when I fed. Then one evening everyone was in the pasture looking innocent - but a neighbor had called not a half hour before, to let me know one of the lambs was in her pasture. Innocent indeed! lol. At least he doesn't seem to be going very far without his buddies.

I've been blowing the contents out of the quail eggs. I discovered how to empty them with only one little hole in one end. I am breaking fewer of them, too! I haven't sold any yet, but I only have them listed on Craigslist so far.

Yesterday I noticed that one of the quail is getting pecked on by the others, she has a small bare area on her head. I put a couple of cardboard 'quail shelters' in with them, and some handfulls of hay, and I'm watching her. I'll have to pull her if they continue, but they seem to be doing ok today.

I keep thinking of all kinds of things to write in my journal here, and then when I get inside I forget them... things like how nice and peaceful it is in the sheep's run-in area, when they're eating their pellets or munching hay, even when it's cold and windy and snowing outside. Or how I'm doing with my knitting - I've finished three hats now, and I'm working on the sleeves of a knitted shirt. I'm going longer now between dropping stitches or otherwise snarling something up. I usually take it to someone who can fix it for me, but the other day I actually managed to pick up a dropped stitch by myself! I also knit the stitch marker into the sleeve... lol

109 days till my first possible lambing date, doesn't sound like a lot, does it? And December 14 is just 17 days away. That's the day that we start adding a bit of daylight again in the evenings

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[BrownSheep]

Hey, I don't know if it is available in your area but I've used a "No Peck" goop which effectively ended the pecking in my flock.
The added daylight made me so happy! Way to focus on the positive!
Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[norseofcourse]

@BrownSheep - thanks, TSC probably has it too. They seem to have stopped picking on her for now.

Elding was acting stupid again today. I took some stuff out to the barn, and stayed in the run-in with them for a bit. Elding wanted attention, so I finally petted him, then I got the brush and brushed him. He stood totally still for that, he loves it.

Then he started chasing some of the ewes around, then he kept coming back to me as I walked toward the pasture gate. Partway there, I stopped by a large wooden spool I put out for the lambs to climb on, and he started coming at me again, so I went around the spool... so did he... I was hoping he would give up but he didn't, he was turning it into a game of 'chase', and I needed to put a stop to it. So, I got ahold of him, just like last time, to get him down on the ground and hold him there.

This time it went much easier - I kept hold of his head and held one front foot up, and just waited till he laid down, and I kept him there. I reminded him of a few things, like 'I am in charge' and 'I could eat you'. He kicked some with his back legs, then he kicked a lot, then he calmed down. I let him up, and he didn't try to come at me again.

I came in and checked the calender - I put him down on the ground on November 21 - exactly 16 days ago! So I'm pretty sure his attitude change is due to someone coming into heat. Ewes aren't obvious about being in season like goats are - but Elding is not as subtle!

(wrote this last night, there's more to add but I'll do that in another post soon)

 

[norseofcourse]

This past weekend I got some more neat stuff off Craigslist - a sheep chair and a lamb creep feeder gate! Both in good condition, and originally from Premier1. I've never used a sheep chair, but I think it'll really come in handy. I'll try and get some pictures when I use it.

I hope to set up the lamb creep feeder gate soon. I'm hoping the wether lambs will be small enough to still fit through, without the adult sheep being able to. One wether lamb is bigger than the others, so I may be able to set it for just the two smaller ones, which is ok. If I can set up a small pen that only they can access, I can make sure they're getting plenty of hay and pellets, without Elding running them out. My only concern is Brosa - she's the only one with horns, and I worry that she might try and get through the creep gate and get her horns stuck. If I can't make it safe for her I won't feel safe using it.

The current project for the weaver's guild that I'm in, is a tartan pattern woven on a tabletop loom. We dyed the yarn earlier this year, then a couple months ago we teamed up and measured off the warp and warped up the looms. Then we each weave a yard and pass the loom to the next person. I'm nearly done with my yard.

It's pretty cool! I've learned a lot, which will really help when I start weaving on the bigger loom I got off Craigslist last year.

The sheep and ponies are doing well, just getting through winter. It's dark now in the morning when I go out to feed. And about dark when I get home. Just five more days until sunset starts getting later again - slowly at first, but it will be very welcome. Mornings will keep getting darker until January though. But every day is one day closer to spring, and lambing season!

 

[BrownSheep]

That is beautiful!
I've just recently found the Handweaver's Guild in my area and am trying to decide when to join. They have an upcoming weaving intensive workshop in January but as a complete beginner I think I might want to hold off until I know the basics.

Do you start lambing in Jan. or later?

 

[norseofcourse]

@BrownSheep - thanks!

Lambing in January - brrrrrrr! Not for me. I put Elding in for a first lambing date of March 16, after crossing my fingers for an early spring. I forgot we often get a snowstorm right around St. Patrick's Day...

 

[norseofcourse]

My advice....if he comes at you again, grab him, flip him over onto his side, and hold him there until he stops struggling, then let him up. No yelling, no hitting. Do this every time he tries to butt you. Eventually he should get the message that you are the boss and he shouldn't even consider messing with you
...
He may need a refresher course every once in a while, but if he's smart, he'll figure out what's up and be respectful.

I'm quoting an older post from purplequeenvt because I went back and read our posts from that time (last year). I had been having some situations with Elding, my ram, that I wanted to deal with before they got out of hand.

So, I guess right now we're on a 'refresher course'. If I go in and feed and water and leave, Elding is fine. But if I stay longer, either just to watch the sheep or to bring extra water or something, Elding has been making little rushes at me. He's never actually connected, but I'm dealing with it now because I don't want it to progress.

After I let the sheep in their run-in area to eat pellets and corn, Elding chases the wether lambs out of the run-in. He doesn't bother "his" girls (except to check and see if any want to breed, tho most if not all are bred by now). If I stay, he sometimes comes over to me with that look in his eyes, but he realizes I'm not a ewe. He must figure that since I'm not one of his ewes, I need to be chased out, too. I may be short, and wear a fuzzy brown jacket, but Elding, I Am Not A Sheep!

Maybe that sheep chair could get some use as a Naughty Chair...