Ram Tough

I was gone for a week to a dog trial. I had ewe about to lamb that I didn't want to leave home with the critter caretaker, so I took her up to my friend Karen in Ramona. She raises lambs too, and has been shepherding her small flock successfully for some time. I knew my first-lambing yearling would be in good hands.

This little guy is the result. Isn't he handsome? He should be. His mother is a well bred Border Cheviot crossed onto a strapping Wensleydale/Blue-Faced Leicester Ram . He has his father's ears, his mother's intelligent face, and I've been looking forward to this cross every since I bought the ewes and my ram as weanlings last year.

Karen said he was born the day after I dropped him at her place. I knew I was cutting it close. My friend came out the next morning, and there he was. Mother had cleaned him, he was up and nursing. Cheviots are known for easy lambing and superior mothering instincts. As you can see, the milk bar is full, and her baby is nursing vigorously. This pair is all I hoped for.

I haven't decided whether I'll castrate him, or leave him as a ram. I'll wait a bit and see how he develops in the next couple weeks. Of course, I would rather have had a ewe lamb to increase my breeding flock, but like human babies, I'm less concerned with the sex than I am with the baby's health. Look at him! He's healthy...and gorgeous.

Mother was happy to get home today. Turned out with her sisters, she introduced her new babe allowing the others to give him a sniff. Eventually, she would have no part of the other ewes touching her baby and gave a strong shove to anyone coming close. They got the message. The rules of engagement have been set.

Going Green

My beautiful Blue Face Leicester ram, Jethro, just loves the pulp that comes from my juicer. 

Jethro chowing down

But the nectar produced from juicing the veggies...now that I love. Seriously...I love it.

A little slice of heaven

This mix-shashimi consists of endive, red cabbage, spinach, sweet pepper, wedge of ginger, a carrot, and celery stalk, sprig of mint, a couple strawberries, and the special ingredient that makes it all taste amazing...1 half of a pear. This is as close as I come to cooking...

The goods

Jethro comes running when he sees me with the Tupperware container. He recognizes it now from a distance.

Detritus

If it weren't for the fence between us, my otherwise well-mannered Jethro would knock me down like a foxtail getting weed whacked. In the interest of personal safety, I fill his bucket from the outside and drop it over.

Enjoy big guy!

Shearing Day 2012!

Hold still!

It's that time of year already. Today my yearling ewes were shorn, and it's always so nice to see them with a year's growth of wool gone. I don't jacket my sheep, my pasture isn't weed free, and the big field where I train my dogs has all kinds of weeds and seeds, so these fleeces are far from clean. The staple length is good though, 5" to 8" depending on Cheviot or Leicester, and I take care with my livestock, so the wool is strong, and consistent.

Nope...does't like it!

My regular shearer couldn't make it this year, but referred me to another, which was handy. In my part of the world, shearers are scarce. Not a lot of sheep raising going on in Southern California. The kid they sent did a respectable job, but second cuts were abundant. A second cut occurs when the shearer makes a first pass, then passes the clipper blades over the same area a 2nd time, causing short fiber to get mixed in with the longer 1st cuts. He was efficient though, and didn't nick anybody, so no medicine was necessary.

Leicester yearling ewe

The body condition of my yearlings wasn't what I hoped for. They were a little light, but framey, meaning they should pick up well when I begin feeding again this summer. Now I only supplement their grass pasture with a bit of hay pellets. During the summer and fall, the grass is long gone, they're on hay and pellets and they will gain.

A bred Cheviot yearling

I didn't breed all my sheep this year, and only a couple of the Cheviots were put to the ram. I decided to hold most of them back and breed them next year when they're older and stronger. I was trying to avoid lambing problems. Here's hoping for twin ewe lambs! I have a few fans who love my lambs for holidays, birthdays, and celebrations, and that's where the wethers go. I love to see the lambs come and I love to see 'em sold.

Like a shiny new penney

I look forward to shearing day...mainly because I don't have to do it myself. It's a tough job. Dirt, lanolin and a pungent sheep odor permeates everything by the time you're done, and it's notoriously hard on your body. I did it a few years ago, and my body ached for days afterwards. My shearer, Zane, is young and strong, and made the job look easy. Although compared to the halter-broke 4H lambs he did before me, my girlz gave him a run for his money...but I tipped him!

Peace on Earth

Hot Girlz

There are some really Hot Girlz to be found in the world, if you know what I mean. You might see them at the grocery store, striding majestically with head, and everything else held high, proud for all the world to see in their push-up bras and low-cut blouses. Maybe they're slinking through the mall, in tight jeans, strappy sandals, the latest fashion accessories tied and slung on various body parts, makeup perfectly applied with the obligatory tatt peaking out from somewhere. God knows you'll see them at the beach, near the beach, and lounging in the sand, bathing suits barely there, slathered from head to toe in whatever, plugged into a Nano and perusing Cosmopolitan. Yup, there are lots of Hot Girlz out there all right, and most of them have variously a dopey love slave, or a macho gunslinger guy attached to them somehow, or lurking about trying to do and be...something for these ladies.

Those Hot Girlz are not that of which I speak, however. I'm talking about this type of hot girl:

And more...

These are the newest addition to my flock, five 3 month old Border Cheviot ewe lambs, which you will occasionally read me refer to as kittehs, because of their flighty demeanor. They are just as edgy and kewl as any vixen to be found at the Hard Rock on Saturday night, and every bit as wily. More wily in fact...definitely more wyly. They don't need fingernails that shine like justice, and would simply trot off from a dirty martini. No spandex, no Louis Vuitton, no D & B for them. Oh no! They make wool look sexy.

OK, so not everybody will share my view of these hot girls. But those that don't are from group A. The ones who stand in my livingroom and look aghast at the hunting mounts on my walls, the sheep fleece on my couch, the horse manure in the door yard. The ones who ask me where I'm going on vacation, and stand silent, head's tilted with that "huh?" expression when I tell them Porterville.

Group B is all about the sheep. They own a stomach tube, an emasculator, and write "Niiiccce" under my Facebook announcement of the hot girls arrival. They're the ones who immediately understand when I say BFL/Wens x, and they don't mind that ruminant smell on my jeans. Honestly? They like it, and so do I.

So, I picked up 5 Hot Girlz yesterday...I mean hot girls, and they are grand. Right now they're out working, picking their way around the pasture, bulking up with muscle and fat, growing into bred ewes this Fall, ewes and lambs by Spring.

I mean really? Who needs Yves Saint Laurent when you have cloven hooves?

Stupidity Cure?

So, here's my normal routine. Each night before I get ready for work, I feed my animals and bring the ewes up from their pasture to an overnight pen secure from coyotes. Last night I was not normal, forgot the secure portion of that routine, and stupidly got a ewe lamb killed with 2 more severely injured.

No, it's not the coyotes fault, and as much as I want to be, I can't even be mad at them.

Of the 2 still standing, this little girl got the worst of it

 I love my sheep, and I work hard at keeping them healthy and happy. I don't name them, and I don't consider them pets, but I have a great deal of respect for them, bordering on admiration, for their tenacity, toughness, utility and stoicism. Yes, they're stoic. They just take what life dishes and continue to thrive. So, when something like this happens, and not only was it completely my fault, but 100% avoidable, I plummet to the depths of deep emotional sadness, which is what I'm feeling right now.

A deep bite wound all stitched up

I just want to bring them in the house, wrap them up in a blanket, put their heads on pillows and help them heal. Of course they're much too reserved for that, and are far more comfortable out with their friends, lying in the shade.

Prefering to doctor my self, I rarely call the vet. Today I called. I couldn't stand to see them so miserable. And I knew, if nothing else, he would have the really good drugs, ketamine and 6-day antibiotic. Not just the banamine and acepromazyn in my humble medicine cabinet, but the good stuff they deserve. Plus, they both needed stitches in deep wounds that, in the worst of the two, left bone exposed.  I can stitch, but not layer upon layer.

Not only did the coyotes kill a ewe lamb, but my best lamb, of course. The very lamb that was to begin my transition from a meat flock to one of fiber and meat production. You see, I keep sheep to work the dogs, so I might as well diversify their income potential. Meat production will remain, but with the addition of long-wool fiber animals, there's more opportunity. Today, though, there is one less...

Stitched up with a drain hole

Coyotes are magnificantly evolved for killing. They hunt in packs, and the sheep in the picture above demonstrates their method beautifully. With several puncture wounds around her neck, 1 gaping hole in her butt, and teeth marks on her belly, you can visualize the order of things. A coyote stops her in front, while another drags her down by the haunch. The next step is to rip out her belly, and let the feast begin. The dead lamb's carcass showed the process from start to finish, and there wasn't much left.

Today's routine is still far from normal, and with some serious nursing in my future, abnormal will be around for a while. Firstly, it will take my wallet some time to recover, and sheepdog lessons will remain on hold until everybody has recovered sufficiently.  Before paying Dr. Walker's bill, I asked for the same ketamine injection he had given the sheep. What I really should have asked for was a cure for stupid!

Makin' Changes

I bought 3 ewe lambs a week or so ago, and picked them up today. 2 are Blue Faced Leicester, one is a Blue Faced Leicester/Wensleydale cross, and all 3 are lovely. The ram pictured here sired 2 of them. Very handsome, don't you think? 

This Blue Faced Leicester ewe is mother to one, and I love her intelligent eyes and bright expression. That's a jacketed black Wensleydale behind her. His fleece is being protected for hand-spinning.

This is the mother of the other Blue Faced Leicester lamb and is standing in front of a Blue Faced Leicester/Wensleydale cross wether. He was a triplet, and I have his full brother standing in my pen. He was never castrated, and I plan to use him, not only on my Cheviot ewes in the Fall, but on the new BFL ewe lambs as well.

And here are the new arrivals. The 2 lambs in front are the Blue Faced Leicester lambs, and the one behind is the BFL/Wensleydale cross. I have segregated them for now to ensure they're good health and that they settle nicely. Eventually, I'll have them out with all the ewes grazing tall grass in the big field.

For me, sheep are a bit like crayons in a box. When I was a kid, I always had a favorite color or two, and that would change to something different over time. I have gone through many breeds of sheep trying to find the right combination of what works in my climate, what works for dog training, and any other utility that I can incorporate. Leicesters and Cheviots are my favorites for adaptability and dog work, but I am getting more and more interested in fiber production, so I'm making some changes. It's a process...