Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

Some of the experiences shared here remind me of James Herriot's books, starting with All Creatures Great and Small.

I love the stories about the younger brother puling a calf - he moans and acts like he is in agony and exhausted from the experience and the farmer makes him tea with brandy! LOL

Got the side panels of the barn pen removed. Then dug out, moved around, and reattached, adding 120 sf (10' x 12') to the sheep pen area. I might need some of that area to put extra jugs in. At least it gives them more room to move around and sleep. DH and I also unloaded the 20 bags of sheep and horse grain we bought. Told DH he needs to go back and buy the rest of the horse grain since it is a 70% savings. I will need more sheep grain too since I am using a full bag a day. Tomorrow I am going to make a small pen in the barn for Moyboy. He has lost weight and looks pulled down. I want to give him extra feed and get him back into shape before bad winter weather hits in January and February.

I also started putting up the jugs in the side barn. I put some of the small 36"w x 32"t panels together and they will work for jugs. I need to decide how to use them - either 3' x 7' pens, 6' x 5' pens, etc. depedg b hiw I attach the together. I wanted to buy more standard gates, but didn't get down to the company and now have run out of money.

I know that no one else knows what havng no money is like.

I am cobbling jugs together from different sizes of panels and will have to use 1x4's zip tied to them to stabilize them the sections so they don't fold up. I can make this work. I will have to hang up tarps at each end of the side barn to keep the rain and wind off the jugs. Cold won't hurt the lambs but wet and wind will.

Hopefully, I can use the barnyard where we park the 5th wheel as a mama & baby nursery field off the side barn for the new moms and their lambs once they have bonded in the jugs. When DS1 gets back we have to turn Junior in with the other ewes since several don't look bred. That would give me lambs in June but better than open ewes for another year. I also have to sort out the ear tags that DS1 removed from the lambs and ewes that died while I was in California, count how many we lost, and remove their registration papers from my book. Then I can sort ut which lambs if any I will keep. I probably won't keep any ram lambs except the black headed Dorper. I do see one or two ewe lambs that look good although they are sort of small.

DH did a burn pile today. While he took the 5th wheel battery to be checked and charged, I made sure that al the wood was in the middle. Those burn piles have a tendency to let the larger logs roll off when the pile starts to smolder. The 5th wheel marine batteries are good and he will take the other in tomorrow. This way I can turn on the propane generator in the trailer and attach an extension cord for light in the barn. And maybe sleep in the trailer too if I need to be close to the barn.

After a full day of heavy physical labor, I came in and finished up 3 loads of laundry, made dinner and finaly watched the Notre Dame game with DH. When I was in 4th grade I went to Catholic school and my teacher was a nun. Sr. Patrick Joseph was a major Notre Dame fan. She made our class kneel down every Friday and say the rosary to ensure Notre Dame would win their game. If they lost, she sadly said we didn't pray hard enough. If they won we all got extra credit. At 9 years oId I wasn't sure what football even was, but figured I would go to hell if Notre Dame lost their "season" because of my poor praying. I got worried during the final half but Notre Dame pulled it off.

 

[Baymule]

How many ewes are expecting? It sounds like you are gonna be very busy!

 

[Finnie]

Hopefully, I can use the barnyard where we park the 5th wheel as a mama & baby nursery field off the side barn for the new moms and their lambs

Will they chew wires on the 5th wheel like @Baymule ‘s did to her son’s trailer?

 

[Baymule]

Will they chew wires on the 5th wheel like @Baymule ‘s did to her son’s trailer?

They probably would!

 

[Ridgetop]

I have almost 40 that were exposed to the rams. They are all due between mid January and end of February. Some have bagged, others are just getting huge, others don't look pregnant (but my ewes are sly and sneaky). Went out and built more jugs today, then took them apart and rebuilt them in a different configuration. Now I am reconfiguring design again. The panels are all different sizes so I have to figure out how to put them together for themost jugs in the space. I might also put a couple in the barn pen. I still have to install the 12' gate across the side barn. I found 6 additional heavy 5' panels, so I will be able to make a lot of 5' x 5' jugs. Problem will be protecting them from rain blowing into side barn. I will have to get out the big ladder and install screw in hooks on the overhead beam at the opening. Then I can hang a tarp and lace it down to the bottom of the fencing to keep water out. I have several pallets that I can put at the ends of the pens and tarp as well.

We need a couple more bales of hay set out for the ewes and also for the rams. DH said to have Payton put the bales behind the barn instead of in the sheep pen. Some of the hay bales have sticks and honey locust brambles in the middle of them. The chain came off the chainsaw so I will have to read the instructions to put it back on. I will have to use it to cut into the hay bales to get hay to feed in the jugs.

DH couldn't get the battery pwer on to thetrailer. Then he switched the cables andthe lights worked but the batteries started sparking. DS1 said he will take a look when he gets back mid January. I will charge up all my battery lanterns for lambing in the dark. Had hoped the guys would have had the electric from the new box already hooked up in the barn before lambing but they ran out of time.

Took all the Christmas ornaments and the tree down yesterday and today. So sad when all the cheerful decorations are put away. DH hates it when Christmas season is over. However, now I can start putting out some of my good stuff which has been shoved in a cabinet since being unpacked. Also have to finish hanging up more pictures.

So much still to do.

 

[Baymule]

40 ewes lambing? You’re gonna be busy! I keep tac lights for the house when power goes out. Harbor Freight has them, around $4, takes AA batteries. They have a handy handle that you could hang on a nail.