Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

I just got back from feeding him and was going to bring him home this morning but I want to give him a couple of good medicinal sprays on the area that was infected so will probably leave him through the day anyway. I have a feeling that once he gets back in his fields I won't be getting any more spray on him.

We have a rain/snow mix going on now but we are still going to be out in it for most of the morning at least. We need to band several of the ram lambs and I need to get a tire fixed on the live stock trailer so I can set it up for the cows to get used to.

 

[Baymule]

Haha, yeah I can picture him running from the spray bottle. I bet he was glad to see you!

I’ve taken Sentry out 3 times this morning, he is walking better each day. I can’t take him with me to do chores, the ewes would butt him, can’t have that. Have to keep him on a leash and he wants to chase trucks at the front fence, can’t have that. I’m taking away all his fun.

Snow and ice? Wimpy me has been out in the wet cold and I come in, nose running like a river. Yuck. Nice and warm in the house. Warming up leftover jalapeño poppers for brunch.

 

[Mike CHS]

We got caught up on ear tags this morning with the set of twins that was born yesterday afternoon and another set of twins this morning. Every time I'm able to walk up and pick up lambs without the dams freaking out makes me appreciate sheep that are trusting. The ewe on the right always looks poor no matter how much feed she gets but she makes pretty lambs.

 

[Baymule]

I have a ewe that always looks bad when she has lambs. She puts it all in the milk bag. Pretty lambs Mike, Maxwell is doing his job!

 

[Bruce]

Snow and ice? Wimpy me has been out in the wet cold and I come in, nose running like a river.

It made it up to 9°F today. I went out only to put out the trash and recycle barrels and every 2 to 2.5 hours to check for eggs. Supposed to be below 0°F in the morning but make it up to high teens later. That makes me a wimp too!

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Sorry to read that Mel had a skin issue, ....we were just talking about him...please give that boy a big hug and smooch from us he is such a good boy

 

[Mike CHS]

Sorry to read that Mel had a skin issue, ....we were just talking about him...please give that boy a big hug and smooch from us he is such a good boy

He actually seems to be enjoying it. Before his third bath, he even walked back to where the water was and sat down for us. He has been all cleared up since Monday but with the weather we are having, I thought it better to leave him there through the temps that are getting down in the teens. His hair is growing back fast but I don't want him getting frost bite since he prefers being in the open instead of the shelters.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

He actually seems to be enjoying it. Before his third bath, he even walked back to where the water was and sat down for us. He has been all cleared up since Monday but with the weather we are having, I thought it better to leave him there through the temps that are getting down in the teens. His hair is growing back fast but I don't want him getting frost bite since he prefers being in the open instead of the shelters.

I completely understand, but you must be wanting him back out with you again, maybe Maisy misses him , lol..absence makes the heart grow fonder ☺

 

[Ridgetop]

Finally tracked down Mike & Theresa's Journal! Hooray!

You are having a terrific lambing season with the multiples and lots of ewe lambs. They are just as tasty as rams but you have the option of picking and choosing among them for replacements which you can't do when you don't have enough ewe lambs. Our first Dorset ram was a great big long ram than made nice lambs, but only ram lambs. In the 3 years we used him he only ever produced 1 ewe lambs! Granted our total flock number only 6 ewes at the time, but only 1 ewe our of all the rest rams? Our next ram produced more ewe lambs, thank heaven. The last year he produced for us we got mostly ewe lambs out of all twins and 1 set of triplets. Most of them went to slaughter, and then of course, we lost a lot of sheep, and our lamb crop the following year with the fires. That is when we switched over to White Dorpers! LOL It was a good time to do it since we had to restock anyway.

Love the easy lambing you are having and the spots make them easy to identify. Easier at a distance than ear tags!

Have you given any more thought to going to the big Katahdin show this summer? I overheard DH telling someone on the phone that we were going to "the big sheep show" in Tennessee this summer - I thought we would have to discuss it but apparently he likes stock shows as much as I do. Or maybe he figures it will be safe to go to the Katahdin show since this is not our breed so I won't be bidding on anything!

I was sorry to hear about Mel's skin problem. He must have had a bad allergic reaction to the skunk spray. Last year Bubba was chewing his feet and legs and the vet put him on some sort of pills. They helped but did not clear it up entirely. I was not sure why he was gnawing on himself, the vet thought it was some sort of nervous thing. He did not have any fleas - we kept checking and using the monthly flea stuff. This year DS1 was looking at the label and noticed that he was supposed to get 1 pill am and 1 pill pm. We had just been giving him 1 in his dinner! OOPS! I had to double my prescription order through Chewy but he seems to be doing better now that he is on the correct dose. Bubba is also going on a diet. When we had him at the vet last month for his eye check up, he weighed 170 lbs! I think that is a bit too heavy although he is not fat. I want to take some of the weight off him - just enough to feel his rear ribs. Too much weight isn't good. Angel weighed in at 110 lbs. She is only 1 year old and not filled out yet. She will be larger than Rika who is only 125 lbs. at 7 years old, and who we keep a weight check on. Rika is also shorter than Angel. The coyotes are bad here always. They sing all around the house every night.

It looks like your parasite eradication breeding program is really working well. With the number of ewe lambs born from parasite resistant mamas this year, you should have a range of good replacement ewelings to choose from.

 

[Mike CHS]

We still aren't sure about the show this year but we would like to.

We are finding that the biggest thing that has helped our parasite program was and is culling the weakest of our sheep. We have more than enough land to do a good rotation when the grass is growing but that of course changes as soon as we get a freeze. We are into the 4th generation of sheep that we have done heavy testing on and the lines that were the weakest to start with still are if that makes sense. We only have two left of those that showed the least immunity and those two are showing signs of Bottle Jaw in the last week. Both have been treated and if they make it, they and their lambs will be going to market.