New lambs

We have a pair of black Easter ram twins! These guys were born yesterday around 830pm and came out healthy and kicking. The both stood and ate and the ewe (Jackie) was PHENOMINAL. She lost her lamb last year (still born) so she was a first time mama to live babies. She cleaned them both and got them both up and was so patient in getting them to eat. 

She is young and I have no doubt she will be one of my champion ewes around here.

Both babies will be up for sale either as rams or wethers. Ellie has already claimed them so I imagine they will be the tamest little critters on the place!

Life

Dusty sent this to me this morning and I know there are so many homesteading women out there who are dedicated to their families, the land, and their animals.

(This morning medicating the sheep... It's been 15days and it feels like an eternity sometimes!)

The Wife

I’ve never met a rancher’s wife
Whose toiletries aren’t filled with strife
Cause when they want to take a bath
They have to move the newborn calf

Whose washing machine has quit again
And the clothes are hanging in the rain
I guess that machine just ain’t able
To digest the fencing staple

She must be able to drive a truck
Winch it out when it gets stuck
Grease the tractor and auger the grain
And in the morning, do it all again

It’s nice if she can charm the banker
Ride out that colt who’s a little ranker
And fix a meal for the harvest crew
Who comes in when it’s falling dew

Raise the kids and raise the chickens
And not be too hard on the little dickens
And not have a fit when the land payment’s due
But just count your blessings she’s in love with you

Cause poems are written and songs are sung
About the men and the West they won…
But none of them would be worth a damn
Without the women who gave them a hand

Unknown

 

T minus 14 days

We are less than two weeks away before night checks are back in the "to-do" list! Dusty surprised me with a gift to get ready for lambing.

That IS NOT an ultrasound. 

But it is a wireless camera system for the barn. It over looks the eons and I can check the ewes on my IPAD!!!! I am sure I will still have to walk to the barn at night but I am really hoping it works well and saves me a few trips!

Working relationship with the Vet

I consider myself VERY fortunate to have my vet as my neighbour! (And as an added bonus to the convenience.... He is actually really good too!)

We have seen him quite a bit over the past few weeks but he popped over again and gave the thumbs up on Clifford's eye. All the drops 4x/day apparently is paying off and it looks like we saved it.

(The below is a picture from yesterday)

Being the one all up in his grill, I honestly couldn't tell if it was better or worse. I am really glad that it's {slowly} getting better!

Now to keep that in mind while I am out droppering his eye for the next week in March's spring storms!

Sheep wrangling

Most of the time when something happens in this joint, I am flying solo. We are on day 5 of drops and shots and Clifford's eye hasn't shown dramatic improvement. I texted our vet this morning and told him I would try to get some pictures of the eye....

Yes, his head is IN the feeder. I roped him (which I am terrible at), straddled him, put him in a headlock and tried my best to get a decent sheep selfie. 

You may think that this should be easy considering they are MINATURE but it is not. He can carry me around like nothing and often in a headlock he will pull me down over top of him. Finally I put his head in the feeder and got the above.

Hopefully this eye heals quick and I can retire from wrestling with his 4 times a day!

Some days

Last Tuesday Clifford's (our black ram) eye was weaping. We watched it and Thursday night we noticed it was swollen and cloudy so I phoned our neighbourhood vet and he had us give the ram a shot of antibiotics. Friday morning he came out and gave him some anti-inflamitories and some eye drops to administer 4x/day. 

So at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm we go out and dropper his eye. 

He wasn't the friendliest ram we had so if something good is coming out of this, it would be that his temperament has improved slightly. 

Dusty has been home for the first three days of treatment but now I am on my own. This morning wasn't too bad dealing with him BUT as I was out doing morning chores.....

Gimpy (our favorite female Peking) was looking a little worse for wear. Poor girl!

Zola

For the past few months, Dusty and I have been contemplating how to downsize some of the creatures on our place. Our pastures need a break and we needed to refocus what we wanted our little farm to do. 

We have been fortunate enough to own a few really nice horses and Zola is one of them. She doesn't get used enough around here. We take her on trail rides but that's about it so when our neighbours expressed interest in her we agreed to show her. 

We ended up selling her to them. She will have a wonderful life of big grazing pastures and light trail riding.