Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[frustratedearthmother]

Love the way a man's chest swells with pride when he is able to do something for his woman. I bat my eyes and fawn over him.

The things we do for THEIR self-esteem, lol!

 

[Ridgetop]

The things we do for THEIR self-esteem, lol!

They are so cute!

No lambs in the pen this morning. Fed the horses and rams, then came back through the jugs to open the gate and let the ewes out. A ewe, 8189, was already out and at the hay roll. What?! How did she get out, usually the sheep are in the pasture and get into other areas. Went over and she had a new lamb cuddled up in the fallen hay!

Apparently, she didn't come in last night and stayed out to have her lamb. She must have been way back in the far pasture. Last night the dogs were raising a ruckus back there an I could hear coyotes howling. Shows the value of a good LGD! Anyway, it is a nice ewe lamb. Put her in a jug, then got on with the feeding.

I am considering buying some square bales of hay since peeling hay off the round bales is very time consuming. Also I have a lot of Honey Locust thorny branches in the bales so I have to pick through the hay and remove them. When the men get back I will talk to DH about buying some square bales and also moving the 6-8 alfalfa bales into the side barn so I can feed the lactating ewes. I have to hang a gate on that opening to keep the sheep escapees out.

I walked among the flock today and wrote down tag numbers to compare with paperwork. I seem to have more ewe lambs from the 2024 lambing than I thought. Some of them are a very good size so they may stay or I can put them into starter flocks to offer for sale with some of the new ram lambs.

Next year I will have to flush the ewes since many of them singled this year. Some of them are very thin while others are well coonditioned. Another thing to make ntes on since they are the ones that parasites probably have not hit as hard. When the men return I will worm the ewes that have lambed and the open yearlings. Also want to shear some of them when the weather is more stable. Some have big bath mats of wool hanging off them. Most have lost their wool, but some are horrible looking. LOL When I can I grab trailing clumps of wool and yank on it, but some of the mats are too large and won't come off.

I found some x-pen fencing from when I showed dogs that will do to fence off the trailer from wire lambs. I have 4 sets - each one is 16' so enough to do 2 sides of the trailer and use the garden panels or pieces of stock panel on the ends.

DH called and they are heading back today.

 

[Baymule]

I know you will be excited for your HEROES to return!

Congratulations on the contrary ewe, glad the LGDs kept the coyotes away!

 

[Ridgetop]

Went out today and no new lambs in barn. I fed the rams and horses. Opened the gate to the pasture but the sheep did not want to go out immediately. I started unpeeling hay from the bale to fill the jug feeders and finally they all went out to the far field. I continued going back and forth with loads of hay filing feeders. I heard galloping and saw the hirse galloping acrss the field filowed by Josie. So pretty. Then looked over to see Ozel driving the sheep back to the barn! What?! Scolded Ozel and continued unrolling hay into the wheelbarrow to move into the barn. I want to have plenty inside in case of rain. I lose a jug, but will have hay under cover. The sheep gradually went back out to the far field and I kept peeling hay, packing it into the wheelbarrow and coughing from the dust. The sheep came running back again with Oze driving them! I stssrtd to ye at her then thught abut it and decided she must have a reason. I had seen about 5 or 6 Black Mexican Buzards circling overhead so maybe they had found the ewe's carcass and were coming in t bther the flock. Once the sheep were back inthe barn she sat outside the gate. I was debating calling Erick for advice about this sheepherding/chasing behavior but decided to wait until I went inside. Since we usualy chat for an hur I wanted to be comfortable. LOL I started watering the jugs. This entails pouring water from the full 5 gaalln buckets into other buckets so I can carry them in and top off the ewes' buckets. I noticed a ewe laying by one of the hay rolls in the pen acting suspiciously. Yes she was in labor. I started filling the grain buckets for the jugs, checking on the ewe intermittently. Then I decided to get another jug ready for her. The only empty jugs were the ones in the side barn. One was filled with hay and the ther was n the open side where the rain blows in. I need to put up the tarp to prevent rain and wind before I can use it. Instead I filled a hay feeder and water bucket in one of the jugs in the big barn. The ewe had progressed now to where the head was hanging out and she was still pushing. Ozel was up close and personal but not interfering. After 5 minutes more of no progress, I decided to go check. I could tell that the lamb was pretty large. Just as I got close enough to put a halter on the ewe, she noticed me, jumped up and proceeded to rodeo around the pen with the entire flock in attendance. The lamb was hanging out with one leg out but the other trapped.
FYI: A sheep halter is not made to rope a fleeing ewe. Now I know why cowboy's ropes are so stiff. They need to be stiff to hold the loop open when throwing the rope over the animal's head. The halter rope is soft and just collapsed. I went back into the barn and set up a catch pen by the jugs. Then after unsuccessfully trying to move her into the catch pen, I went and got a scoop of grain. The entire flock proceeded to jostle their way to the trough pushing the catch pen closed at the same time. . I decided to pull more hay off the roll outside and watch until she calmed down. After moving two more wheelbarrows of hay into the storage jug, I walked over to her causing her to stand up and move away while the lamb slithered out. I cleared the nose and mouth and Ozel started licking the lamb. I walked back into the barn and the mother returned and started nosing at the lamb. It was shaking its head and was alive so I went back to unpeeling hay and filling the hay jug. A the ewes trailed after me so I shut the gate. After another 10 minutes The lamb was up and nursing so I let it have a feed then went over and picked him (yes, another ram lamb) and moved mama and son into the jug and iodined the cord. Her hay and water were already in there so I brought her grain bucket in and tied the bucket to the bars. Then I poured the 40 lb sack of grain into the troughs in the barn and let the sheep back in. I started to go inside BUT about then half a dozen sheep appeared from nowhere and went into the barn. Another 20 minutes of rounding up and moving them into the pen without all the others escaping. Luckiy the rest were making sure that the grain troughs were empty. It is possible that the electric netting is down somewhere. We got extra step in posts at lowes for $2 each. Much cheaper than Premier!

My men got home as I was finishing with the sheep. They drove non-stop from california alternating driving with DS1 driving all night and DH all day. The car is unoaded and waiting for me to put everything away. DH noticed a puddle/wet spot under truck and asked what I did to the truck to cause a leak. ???? I drove it once on one of the warmest days. Following DH's instructions I waited forn theOglow plugs to inform me I could start the engine, idled it for 5 minutes to warm up the diesel engine and drove 2 miles to Yantis post office to pick up our mail. Then drove 15 miles to Sulphur Springs to pick up my prescriptions at Walgreen. On the way back I stopped at Atwoods for sheep grain. Backed into the carport so I didn't have to unload immediately. DS1 said it might have lost a freeze plug if it froze. DH is going to take it into the shop tomorrow to check.

My new grain buckets arrived from Valley Vet. I didn't have enough grain buckets for all the jugs (thus having to feed in random buckets and tie them to the bars). I use the Fortiflex hookover buckets. They are the 12 quart size I used to give a vinegar and psyllium mash to the horses. They are actually too large for the amount of grain for the sheep, but are easy to hook on and off the jugs and I already have them. I wanted to get some more of them but the cheapest I found were at Atwoods for $19.95 and I needed another 10. $$$$$$ Even on line the prices were all over the place ranging from $19.95 to $39.95!

However, I found some 8 quart buckets at Valley Vet for $7.49 if you bought 6 or more. 8 quarts was plenty large enough so I ordered 12. My TX Ag was on file so no tax, but the shipping was $38.00! I ordered 4 tubes of horse wormer as well (on sale), and even with the shipping cost the price only went to $10.49 per bucket so about half of the 12 quart buckets at Atwoods. And they arrived today! If anyone else lambs tomorrow I would have been out of grain containers so Yay!

Tomorrow DS1 and DH said they will remove Moyboy and tractor him to the "sheep graveyard". DH said he thought I had already moved him! Duh! I couldn't move the ewe myself. DSIL2 stopped to move the ewe on his way to Arkansas and Tennessee so when could I have removed him?! I just hope Moyboy doesn't fall apart or explode from decomp when we try to pull him out of the shelter.

Anyway I fed everyone - we were going to have steak but the little BBQ wasn't working properly. Flames were not coming out of the burner but rather from the connection to the on/off for the propane. Decided not to take a chance. We'll have to pick up another tabletop grill tomorrow. I made Cream of Mushroom soup with green onions and mushrooms and biscuits. Take it or leave it Boys! Actually, DS1 offered to drive back into town and pick up fried chicken but I didn't want him to do that after making the long drive home.

So lots to do tomorrow. I need to find some square bales of hay, need more sheep feed next week, have to take the truck to the shop, need to run the electrical lines to the barn and side barn, etc. etc.

At least DH and DS1 are home.

 

[Baymule]

Your HEROES have returned! There goes your peace and quiet! LOL isn’t it wonderful! Y’all have lots to do to get ready for the oncoming storm. Your sheep and lambs will be fine. They have the barn to get in and they are a lot tougher than you think. Plenty of hay and some extra feed. Maybe roll out a roll for them to lay on?