Baymule
Herd Master
Are you still using Max or have you gotten another ram? Zero eggs, except for one, that is a count to be proud of. You and Teresa have worked hard and culled hard to achieve this.
Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
Max is the hitter for this breeding season. We planned the last lambing so the replacements we kept wouldn't be ready until fall to breed so we will have another ram by then.
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
Our hot weather has arrived but ours isn't as bad as many places since we almost always have a fair amount of wind. It has been dry but I intentionally haven't cut any of the pasture forage. I will run the cutter over several of the paddocks in the next couple of weeks just to knock the tops off and keep some shade on the low plants that the sheep like. I cut too much last year which resulted in having to feed hay way earlier than we had planned. We have enough paddocks in the rotation now for our number of sheep that we can have the equivalent of a couple hundred bales of hay in the field and still have a good rotation especially with the good cool season grasses that we have.
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
We are on day 18 with our 40 eggs in the incubator and removed the turner tonight so they hopefully will start hatching in the next couple of days. We have the brooder all set up out in the coop so we are anxious to see what we wind up with.
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
I wish the raccoons would move on but I guess they have gotten used to chicken dinner since we caught another one last night. The internet must have been off last night since the cameras didn't pick up any movement so we didn't know we had one in the trap until we went out to let the chickens out.
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
We brought the ewes in again to do hooves on 6 more of them and check their weights and give a dose of garlic to those that are worked. The black ewe that is one of the two that are sold is weighing in at 182 pounds (and the reason she is sold).
CntryBoy777
Herd Master
That is a Big girl!!....and I sure understand your decision... 
Bruce
Herd Master
Hopefully you are drastically reducing the coon population! Even if you get them all gone eventually a new one will move into the territory but at least the pressure and predation will be cut down.
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Mike CHS
Herd Master
They seem to have a revolving door but even when we don't have issues with them, we keep cameras running so we can then start baiting traps again. Like I said earlier, we got complacent from not having problems for so long that we got lax securing the chickens.
farmerjan
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Since they started on the road/drive for the access to the cell tower, it is wide open and I haven't seen any sign of the fox. Still not letting them out loose except for a little while when I go there and do feed and water fills. But the predators seem to just come out of nowhere. I am like you @Mike CHS , I got lax last year, no predators and they were pretty big so not easy to carry off either. Then this year I just never expected to have so many get taken so quick. The 15 left are growing good and seem pretty content. Tomorrow the other friends' birds go out, and he will call me in the morning and let me know how things look. One house had a virus and he said that any left there will be killed off as the house has to be sprayed down... but that the other house has done fine. So if there are any left that are decent he is going to call me. I told him that I would be at PT but then could come get them. We'll see.
