Purplequeenvt - New Journal

[purplequeenvt]

Idea for making some money - calendar pix.

Covid strain is getting less severe - more like a long running cold in some cases or flu in others. Not the killer it was. Normal lessening of severity in virus is to be expected, since to survive the virus can't kill off the host. Viruses are always changing. Most people have some natural immunity built up now. Hopefully you will not feel any effects. Did you dose them with Ivermectin? It works.

My dad did the whole ivermectin thing the first time he had Covid. I’m not sure if it made any difference for him or not.

My theory as to how I’ve avoided getting sick so far is that I work at a hospital and I’m exposed in small doses every day. Of course I may wake up feeling like I got hit by a truck tomorrow.

 

[purplequeenvt]

I never did get the round of Christmas Covid. I guess I’m too mean to get sick.

We’re starting a stretch of unpleasantly cold weather. I got my duck coop wrapped in plastic earlier this week and now the ducks are being stupid about going back in at night. They’ll figure it out eventually. Probably.

I killed 30 male ducks on Wednesday. 25 were Indian Runners from my sister. She’s been trying to get rid of them all summer, but she couldn’t even give them away. I processed a little over half of them. I saved the breast meat for me and the rest of the skinned carcass was chopped up for the dogs. I saved organ meat to make dog treats. I also dehydrated the feet and tracheas.

Before dehydration


After


Hazel was definitely not excited about her snack.


The ducks I didn’t process, I’m feeding to Oskar.

Speaking of Oskar, my biggest struggle with him has been how he views the sheep as friends/playmates. He has never injured them, but there is a lot of chasing. Anytime he’s bored or excited, off he goes.

The main problem is that my sheep are irrationally terrified of dogs and none of them would stand up to him. He starts bouncing around when he’s excited, they run because they are afraid and stupid, and then he runs after them because he thinks it’s a game. It’s been frustrating.

He lives with the rams during the winter and I noticed last week that he suddenly was being a lot more respectful of their space and wasn’t chasing when I came out to do chores. Turns out his buddy, Banff the black Border Leicester ram, who used to let him flail all over him, decided he’s had enough and has started to butt Oskar when he’s acting up. I also saw him correct Oskar when he started to annoy another ram a few days ago.

He’s a good dog, but young and he needed someone who could “hurt” him back to tell him off. He’s been more respectful of my space too.



It was dumping rain yesterday. Oskar and the big boys got kicked out of the barn so Bruno and Stanley could eat their breakfast. They weren’t pleased about it.

 

[Baymule]

How old is Oskar? Hopefully he will grow out of it soon.

 

[purplequeenvt]

How old is Oskar? Hopefully he will grow out of it soon.

He’ll be 2 in March so really he’s still a baby.

He’s got a lot of good in him that generally outweighs the bad/juvenile/obnoxious. He stays in fences (he’ll climb over a feeder though), he loves people, and he is very attached to his sheep.

I think his chasing problem is because he’s the only LGD in a flock of sheep that are afraid of him. He just wants a friend. I almost wish that I had gotten 2 puppies from his litter, but at the time I wasn’t convinced I was ready to deal with 1 LGD, let only 2. I think if there were 2 dogs, he’d play with his canine friend instead of the sheep and if the sheep hadn’t been so afraid of him, someone would have put him in his place as a puppy.

There’s no way I will trust him with little lambs though until he is much more mature.

 

[Baymule]

I have 3 Anatolians now. It sure is easier when there are several. Harder with just 1. You might think about getting a female puppy. Male/female pairs work the best. People run packs of dogs in high predator pressure. I don’t know how they do it without dog fights. I have 2 intact males and 1 spayed female. I keep waiting for the day that Buford figures he’s bigger than Sentry. But for now it’s working and they really do work good together.

 

[purplequeenvt]

I rescanned the 3 questionable ewes this afternoon. Isla scanned positive and the other 2 are still scanning as open.

One of them, Jura, did not breed last year. She’s a weird, jumpy sheep. I’ve only kept her as long as I have because she’s my only gray ewe out on my only girl Minnie. Jura’s twin sister, Hirta (white), is the complete opposite of her sister. She’s not my friendliest ewe, but she doesn’t panic every time I move around the barn and she will come up for attention. She also produced one of the nicest white ewe lambs last year.

The other ewe, Elsa, did breed last year, but she bred really late after cycling several times. She had a single white ewe lamb who might have been the ugliest Border Leicester lamb I’ve ever seen. The lamb never improved in looks and never grew while despite being fed the same as everyone else and not having a parasite issue.

Isla will be lambing significantly later than everyone else which isn’t ideal, but I can live with that. The other 2 will need to go.

It’s still chilly, but it’s starting to warm up. I thankfully didn’t have issues with water during the worst of the cold snap. I have black tanks and they’re at the south end of the barn where the wind is nicely blocked and the sun comes pouring down, even on bitter cold days. I filled the tanks before the cold hit and I only had to dump the last bit of ice and water out yesterday.

I’ve started the ewes on grain in preparation for lambing next month. I’ve got to do CD&T and finish shearing some time soon. Maybe after it warms up though.

 

[Baymule]

Will you be lambing in February or March?

 

[purplequeenvt]

Will you be lambing in February or March?

Starting middle/end of February.

 

[Baymule]

Do you lamb in the barn or out in the field? Cold should be on its way out unless WINTER throws a last minute party.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Do you lamb in the barn or out in the field? Cold should be on its way out unless WINTER throws a last minute party.

In the barn. We are supposed to be back to high 40s next week.

I wouldn’t have an issue lambing in this weeks temps though. The barn stays warm and we used lamb in much colder temps in VT.