Category: Hay and Forage
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The End of Lambing Season
It’s now June, and we’ve reached the end of lambing season. We had 49 lambs born to 29 ewes, plus 5 stillborns. The other lambs and ewes are all happy and healthy. In the meantime, we’ve been working on retrofitting our chute system. Part of that is to test new scale integrations with AnimalTrakker®, and… Continue reading
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Checking the Hay
We went out to check on the hay at Juniper Gulch today. It’s ready to bale, so it’s a good thing we took a look. It should be done and baled by this evening. We’re taking bets on how many big round bales there will be. Last year, our first cutting resulted in 24 bales.… Continue reading
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Hungry Sheep
Our pastures are now functioning as exercise lots. There’s no feed to speak of in them, so we’re putting hay bales out for the sheep to eat. We’ve done this before during droughts, and the increased fertilizer from the sheep eating in a concentrated area has improved the soil for the next few years. It’s… Continue reading
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Hay Is Arriving
It’s a bad year for hay with the drought, so we’re getting what we can get, when we can get it. This is a nice batch of grass/alfalfa mix hay that we’ll use to flush the ewes for breeding this winter. Our goal is to go into winter with the barn full. We’ve stored hay… Continue reading
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Hay Is Arriving
Our first batch of hay for the season has arrived. We were expecting to get about seven tons, but the cutting was smaller than expected, so we only got 3.5 tons. At least it’s in the barn now, and the sheep will be fed over winter. Continue reading
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Ewes Out on Pasture
We finally got the ewes out onto one of the pastures. There isn’t much grass, but we need them to start moving so they’re in good shape for lambing. They sure like to go out and find the tasty bits! They’re moving in and out a lot, and that will help aid their condition after… Continue reading
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Moving Sheep
We are well into our managed grazing segment of the year. Currently, we’re running four separate groups of sheep: ewes with lambs, pregnant ewes, yearling ewes, and all of the rams. The yearlings are being used as lawnmowers all around the house. The pregnant ewes are being moved behind the house so they’re close at… Continue reading
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Finally, Shorn Sheep on Pasture
We finally got all the sheep shorn, and the pregnant ewes are now out on pasture. Just in time! Lambing is due to start on April 25th. Continue reading
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Delivering Hay
Time for morning chores! On a typical day, we first move the ewes out of the pen and close up the gate. Ken then drives a bale in and places it under the hay shed row roof. Finally, we put the hay feeder panels back around the bale, take the twines off, and let the… Continue reading
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Dry and Delivering Hay
Our dry weather continues. While the East Coast is getting bombarded with snow, we remain in a drought. Without snow, we have no irrigation water, so the lack of decent winter storms is worrying. Meanwhile, we’re continuing to feed out hay. We move the sheep from pen to pen so we can get in with… Continue reading
