Weaning

One of the saddest {and loudest} days on our farm.

We fence wean our lambs so it's not so cut and dry.

At first there is lots of bleating and running

but

soon the ewes relax

and 

EVENTUALLY 

the lambs start to settle in.

It also means that in 2 weeks our little lambs leave our house

to their new homes.

So far every lamb has found a home and we couldn't be more thrilled in where they are going!

Butchering Roosters

We had some MASSIVE Cochin roosters that were occupying part of our barn.
It was time to butcher them
{something we had been avoiding doing}
I have helped people CLEAN chickens during butchering
but
I have never done the deed from start to finish.

There is an amazing amount of information available from people's blogs or pinterest
on the process of butchering chickens.
It is amazing.

My dad hunts. I remember hunting with him.
He hunts everything but bird hunting was a very valuable experience
in regards to my decisions about chicken butchering.

{As you can tell from the title this post won't be for the faint of heart}

We decided against the ax or throat splitting.
I really wanted to do bloodless butchering.
My children have been exposed to blood and animal carcasses
but
{in my mind}
there is something different about seeing an animal die and then having lots of blood to go with it.

We decided to ring their necks.
I highly recommend leather gloves and a thick long sleeve shirt.
I didn't ring the neck.
My dad did.
It was over within a few seconds.
Our youngest daughter watched
{our older daughters were in school}
and she was fine.

The next step was removal of meat.
We have lots of scavengers where we live and because we were doing roosters we decided to take the breasts and legs.
There was
No plucking
No guts
No blood
No smell

You start by laying them down on their backs.
You then pinch their skin {not just feathers}
and make a slit to get your fingers or thumbs hooked in.
Then your rip all the way up and expose the meat.
It looks like you unzipped a jacket
a big puffy feather jacket!
You then take a sharp knife and slice down the breast bone.
Be careful not to cut to deep or you'll puncture the chest cavity and then you will get some blood.
You continue down until you have removed the breast.
I put it in a bucket of cold water.
You do that to both sides and then you move on to the leg.
Take a pinch of skin and make a slit and remove the skin and feathers off the leg.
Once exposed you can dislocate the hip joint then take a large sharp knife and cut through at the joint.
The leg will then be removed.
Take a saw and take the feet off.
Do this to the other side.

And that's it.
I then take it in the house and clean it really well then soak it in some salt water
(this helps take the blood out)

Out to Greener Pastures

Part of our journey into sheep has been fencing. In fact, it's been a huge part of the process! We have three small pens (probably about 2- 1 acre pastures and then a coral at our barn) that we put in the first couple of years. As we have grown we have NEEDED to figure out how to accommodate the growing flock and the dynamics of keeping ewes and rams separated.
The initial cost for wire fencing was $300.00. This year we committed ourselves to sheep fencing around another 4 acre parcel- the cost $700.00. On top of this we had to purchase an electric fence (well truth be told my parents purchased it and we are "borrowing" it) and that was another $300.00.
This will not be the end of fencing. We have only begun.

We are not technically a farm. There are no write-offs. If someone were to look at our sheep "books" they would think we were on a 1 track route to coo-coo- town. We are.

We wanted to have and raise sheep. We wanted a heritage breed that were easy to handle and had great mothering instincts. We were committed to this for the long haul. (and it will take a long haul to break even).

Things to think about...

Sorrows of a Shepherd- Lamb Death

"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way."

Mark Twain 

There are experiences you gain living on a farm that would be hard to learn in their entirety any other way. The above quote from Mark Twain I used to describe how I felt after a lesson learned in the fall about eye care with sheep (which I will post here another day).
Let me take you back to last fall....
We put our ram in with our ewes in October and so we separated out the yearlings and put them in a different pen with a shared fence line. Well, of course, they got in with the ram. We thought perhaps we caught them in time before all the frisky business commenced. Thought....
I don't preg test our sheep. It didn't even cross my mind after the fence crawling escapade.

Last night at about 4 am I got woken up by a sheep bleating and bleating. Our little lambs sometimes wander. I laid in bed and contemplated getting up but it seemed to subside and I chalked it up to either a wandering lamb or Buttons (she is a very noisy ewe).  I went back to sleep.

This morning I sent our 5 year old to check to make sure all the lambs were in. She came back and reported that all was fine. She said that Jackie (a yearling) was "baaing" lots. I thought it was odd since she's typically quiet. I continued to cook breakfast. After breakfast and girls got off to school I decided to run out quick. Our baby is teething and he bumped himself so I spent a good amount of time rocking him until he settled enough for me to put him in his crib for a morning sleep.

Finally at 1030am I made it out to water everything and that's when I saw a little black lamb. Jackie was laying down beside him. I walked over- knowing before I even got close- that this little guy didn't make it. I didn't miss it by much. His little body was cool to the touch but he was still soft and hadn't even been fully cleaned. I looked for Jackie- who was a little perturbed but had gone down to eat. I scooped up the lamb and took him out thinking she had figured out that he was dead.

Do you want to know what one of the worst sounds on the planet is?

A mother who has lost her baby. Any mother of any baby.

My afternoon has consisted of the echoing bleats from the field and my own guilt/self-reflection (if we want to give guilt a positive spin)

It is inevitable that there is loss of life on a farm. I know that. Anyone who raises and takes care of any animal knows that. I feel so honored and humbled to watch (and help sometimes) a little life come into this world. I also feel the pain and humility when dealing with a loss.

I should of gone to check at 4am. I should of gone to check at 630. I should of just taken the baby out and gone to check at 830. It looks like it was still born but part of the sorrow of the shepherd is that I don't know 100%. I don't know if I could of helped. Will I lose sleep over this? Most likely. Will I go out and check at 4 am next time? Most likely. This changes me. This is an experience that I wish I didn't have but because of it I will be better for next time because there will be a next time.

Lovely Lambs Growing Up

Our warm April has given us lots of opportunity to spend time with all our creatures.

My oldest and youngest love hanging out with the sheep and if given the pick of chores the sheep will always be their choice.

 It is hard to believe that round 1 of lambs will be going home in only a few short weeks!

These are Bella's twins. 

She is a very cautious ewe and so most of the time her lambs are pretty cautious.

These guys are a bit flighty by themselves but together they think they are invincible!

This little girl on the left- her name is Bonnie and the little guy on the right- he is sold

to a great family.

This lovely little grey ewe is the sweetest little girl!

She will come right up to you and always has to check everything out!

She is always the first responder.

If another lamb lets out a bleat she comes trotting over to check out the commotion!

She gets to go home with a lovely couple and Scotty.

 

This guys name is Scotty and he is the bruiser of the bunch.

A couple weeks older than everyone he knows he

has weight behind whatever he says!

He isn't afraid of much and will walk right up to the dog and lick her!

The dog isn't a huge fan!

Rosie's labor and Lamb

We caught Rosie in late labor 

It was nice to get it on video

She was classic.

Uncomfortable in early labor

Not eating.

Swollen back end.

You could see contractions.

She didn't care about all the spectators.

She did great

and

had a very healthy little ewe lamb.

She was sold before she was even born.

The girls love her to bits

She is such a sweet gentle lamb!

and GREY!

Bella's Ram Lamb 2015

Our sweet Bella gave us twins at midnight on Friday! They are both doing great so far but this little guy was first out and totally ready for the world!