Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

We went up to Carthage, TN today to pick up our new ewe. She is a two year old that had a single lamb last year. This year she looks to definitely be carrying twins. The farm we got her from has some large sheep and she is bigger than even our biggest. We haven't been in a situation yet to weigh her but guessing she is 160-175 pounds.

I will post a picture of her tomorrow. She wan't wanting to be messed with tonight and we will let her get over all of the stress.

I did have one picture on the camera of the gravel we put down the other day. Believe it or not there is about 6" of rock at the far end tapering down to a small amount to even it all out. Teresa was finishing up Maisy escape proofing the gate with hot wire in the picture.

I started the mower up this afternoon to cut some grass for the new ewe and the sheep came hauling it to the gate looking for their fresh grass. I guess from their perspective it tastes the same and is a whole lot less effort than grazing.

 

[CntryBoy777]

When I opened up the back area of the goat pen, I went in and cut the fence...it took them 3days to cross it...
Hope your new girl settles in for ya before long....and all stays Good thru the lambing, too.

 

[Mike CHS]

Thanks Fred. We are finding out that people that don't do herd dogs have wilder sheep. It took 4 of us an hour to catch this ewe and she makes our Wild Thing look like a pet (though she is now). We didn't plan well enough and moved all of the sheep to the new pen and didn't leave any to stay with the ewe. We will fix that tomorrow.

 

[Mike CHS]

I cooked a bunch of eggs for the dogs this morning along with their kibble. We have been moving Maisy's food to another area since the sheep will eat it and she will let them. We were wanting to catch one of the lambs that has been weaned to put in with the new ewe so I just wanted to get the feeding out of the way and get it done. We are planning on taking it easy today to get rested or at least that is the plan. This ewe is bigger than any of our other sheep and looks to probably be carrying twins. We need to catch the lamb to do hooves and weigh him but I'm guessing he is over 70 pounds.

 

[NH homesteader]

Your new ewe is very pretty! Look at your once skittish sheep, not so anymore! You must be thrilled with how everything is coming together. I hope you get a chance to rest today!

 

[CntryBoy777]

The new addition sure stands out from the crowd. Things are really looking good over there. That rock really sets things off too....like a frame on a picture. I could sure use some around here too. I bet the dogs loved those eggs.

 

[Bruce]

The new girl is the black (and white) sheep of the family

I see Maisy gets her loving

What are the white things on the hotwire crossing the H-brace?

The alpacas took a day or two before they were willing to venture out into the newly fenced area way back in December. I guess it is somewhat natural for prey animals to stick to the known area.

 

[Mike CHS]

Bruce - those are wire tighteners.

 

[Bruce]

Hmmm, haven't seen that type. I just got some of these from Premier1. I was going to get springs but these seem more adjustable. Of course you need to be near the center of a run to get both "ends" equally (or nearly so) tight.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/round-in-line-strainer-handle

You can either run wire through them, like a ratchet strainer, or there is a slot on the side for existing wire so you don't need to cut it.

 

[Mike CHS]

Of course we installed them when running the wire and did so at both the start and near the end of a run. We have one run that is over 300' and it is as tight as the shorter runs. We had never used them before but I like them.