Category: Farm Life
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Butchering a Ram
I’m a bit late in writing this post, but I felt that it needed to be written. Last week, we butchered a ram that had broken a leg a long time ago. The leg was healing, but it was crooked, and he was never going to be a breeding ram. Because he was the only… Continue reading
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Fat Sheep
It’s warm and dry at the farm again. The pregnant ewes are looking rotund. We still have about six weeks to go before lambing is due to start. It looks like a lot will lamb to the AI, so up to 30 ewes will be due all at once. Continue reading
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Smart Sheep Aren’t Always Good
Having smart sheep isn’t always a good thing. This is the gate at the bottom of the corral, where the ewe yearlings are living. These brats have figured out how to unclip the chain and untie the baling twine. Now, we have to put enough separate ties on that we can check the gate and… 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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Fire Mitigation
Larry is back, and this time he’s trimming the back cedars pasture. It’s mostly junipers, but we’ve always called them cedars. The goal is to remove all of the low-hanging branches (ladder fuels) so a fire won’t easily reach the crowns of the trees. It’s a lot of work, but it can really make a… Continue reading
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Ram Health Issues
A while ago, we had a ram yearling die from what we thought were injuries caused by fighting. His bladder had burst. However, yesterday, we had another ram yearling start the same behaviors. One time is just bad luck. Two means you need to look at management to see if you can find a cause… Continue reading
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Snow, Finally!
We finally have some lovely, lovely snow! So far, we have about five inches, but it’s still coming down. Continue reading
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Wildlife
We had to make a trip today, and we saw two different herds of Pronghorn Antelope on the road. I couldn’t get a picture, but we did come home and see some bucks in the side yard. 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
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Hay Delivery and Warm Weather
Today was hay delivery day. We got five big square bales – over a ton of hay. The adult rams, ram yearlings, pregnant ewes, and horses all got fresh bales. Moving to big bales helps us make feeding simpler, but it now also means that the tractor is required. The pond is nearly thawed out… Continue reading