First Lambs Have Arrived!

Rambouillet #328 With Twins In Pasture

The 10PM pasture check found the first lambs of the season!  Wild Rose Farm #328 - a registered Rambouillet ewe - had delivered a set of twins.  One ram lamb & one ewe lamb.  We brought them up to the barn & the ewe followed right along ..... a very good mother. 

In The Barn & Ready To Nurse

Now the first pen is occupied and the threesome will settle in for the night.  Things are going to get busy around here now!

Still Waiting .........

Dorset Ewe & X-bred Ewe

The Wild Rose Farm ewes are definitely bred and due any time now!  The ram was put in on 11/28 - the same day as we did in 2010 - and last spring, our 1st lambs were born on April 26th.  No one has gone into labor yet.  This was a young ram, so he may have taken a few days to get into the swing of things .... or, no one was in season as soon as he was put in. 

Feeding Time

  So the feeding, grazing, & back-fencing continues.  At least they're moving towards the barn!

Pulling The Electric Net Fence Up To Backfence Behind The Ewes

In the barn, pens are set up and the waiting continues!  We like to bring ewes and their lambs into the barn after lambing to make sure that they're bonded & protected from cold or heat for at least a few days. 

Lambing Pens Ready & Waiting!

Bound For Basset Blast!

We've All Seen These Signs Before!

Here's something a little different for today .....  While heading home yesterday from a business trip in the Cincinnati area, I came across a van in a rest stop parking lot.  The doors were open & a very nice couple was unloading the first 3 Basset Hounds for a walk and some water.  Turns out that I had stumbled upon a group of 9 rescued Basset Hounds headed from the Tennessee/Georgia area to New York. 

Basset Rescue Van

The group is ABC Basset Hound Rescue from Upstate New York.  Little did I know that Spring Basset Blast 2012 was scheduled for today - April 28th - in Henrietta, NY.

Six of the Bassets Heading For New Homes!

It sounded like all of these guys were spoken for. They were doing the typical happy Basset barking and tail wagging. The handlers told me that the lighter colored Basset below was rescued after being thrown out of a car. Incredible what some people do, but we've seen animals dropped off out around our farm and know that it happens. 

Spring Basset Blast 2012 or Bust!  

  Hope everyone had fun at Spring Basset Blast 2012!   Check out their blog here!

Shearing Done For Another Year!

Everyone Out On Front Pastures

One of the best feelings during the year on a sheep farm is when the shearing is done!  At Wild Rose Farm, that is second only to when the lambing season is over ..... 
We had a cool rainy day for shearing and we've kept the newly shorn sheep in the barn.  We needed the rain & it should really help the grass grow.  The next chore will be setting up the barn and getting ready for lambing.  We ordered a bag a lamb milk replacer from Hookstown Feed & Supply this morning.  It's better to be prepared & hope that you don't need it than to be running around looking for it when all of the farm stores are out of inventory.

Munching After Shearing!

One of the best feelings for the sheep has to be being able to eat after having no feed since the night before shearing ..... shearing is done on an empty stomach to make it more comfortable for the sheep.  The ewes all have dirty noses & faces right now.  They were in the "Back 40" where we were doing more clearing & burning.  Something about the burn piles & the ashes -minerals?- makes them come in an nose around ..... happens everytime we burn.

Sheep Shearing Tomorrow!

First Group Of Ewes Sheared ......

We'll be finishing off the shearing at Wild Rose Farm tomorrow.  Wouldn't you just know that we're supposed to have rain & cooler weather?  What's that we hear about the "S" word for Monday?!?  After all of this warmer weather, that won't be any fun .......
The second group to shear is mostly the yearlings, but also the ram & the less "bagged up" ewes.  They're in the barn tonight staying nice & dry for shearing.  We'll be taking fleece samples from the yearlings for micron tests from Yocom-McColl Testing Labs.  We do micron test all of our sheep as yearlings at their first shearing.

Go Fly A Kite!

Starting To Dive!

We had a sunny & windy day here at Wild Rose Farm ....... a perfect spring day for kite flying!  I got the kite last spring and never did get a good day to fly it.  I noticed one of the streamers peeking out from our storage spot and took it out in the pasture field this afternoon.  It took a couple of attempts to really get it up there ...... the first picture is familiar to everyone.  It just wasn't going to stay up there!   Lisa & Glenda were not happy with this little scenario.  After several tries and finding the right spot to launch the kite, it got way up there for good!

On The Way Up!

I'm sure the folks driving by on Route 30 were able to see this one.  My brother-in-law stopped over while this was going on .... I didn't get a chance to talk to him & if he thought that this was a little goofy, he didn't say anything.  My guess is he'll go get a kite & take his 2 grandchildren out for some kite flying!  :)

Whoo - Hoo!  All Of The String Is Played Out!

When we were little kids, my parents sent away for a Jolly Green Giant kite, probably with box tops.   It was white plastic with the Jolly Green Giant on it.  It was the traditional kite shape with plastic cross pieces.  It seemed HUGE, but looking back, it was probably 3-4 feet tall.   It caught so much wind & flew so well that we tied a rock to the tail to hold it down.  That made for some interesting crashes!  Anyway, we were flying it waaayyyyyy out there at my grandfathers farm one windy day and the string broke!  We never did find it again & I don't think we could have ever pulled it in if we had tried.  The little paper kites were just no comparison to the Jolly Green Giant! 

 

First Pasture Outing

Lisa The Llama Out On Pasture

After the sheep shearing, Wild Rose Farm Lisa experienced her first outing on pasture.  She has been in the barn & paddock since we got her late last fall.  She isn't a tame llama, meaning that she hasn't been handled.  At some time we plan to shear her, but of course we are trying to let her get used to being close to people .... one of these days.  She was also used to being in a much smaller pasture paddock, so she really doesn't know where to go.  She's been hanging out pretty much in the same area all week.

Happy Easter From Wild Rose Farm!

Happy Easter!

We had beautiful weather yesterday for the sheep shearing and I took this on the way back in to the house.
Looks like we've got several days of this sunshine coming up!  More shearing day activities below!

Frank - Without a Pup Biting His Ear ......

Frank - Wearing Redbone Puppy Kate!

Shearing Part I .....

Waiting To Be Sheared!

Our sheep shearer Don got started around 11AM this morning.  He comes from his own farm - somewhere around 200 of his own sheep - and gets here after his chores are done.  Lambing season at Wild Rose Farm should start around April 25th, so we got most of the bred ewes sheared today.  The ram, the yearlings, and a few ewes who aren't "bagging up" yet can wait for him to come back in 2 weeks. 

2 Yearlings - What's Going On Here?

The sheep pretty much stand back as far as they can from the action, but these two Rambouillet yearling ewe lambs can't seem to believe what they're seeing!   We finished around 4:30PM and turned everyone out to the pasture.  It won't be very cold tonight, but we'll bring them into the barn if there's a cold rain in the next 7 to 10 days. 

Almost Done!

Picture Download Successful!

Ewe & Lamb - Tunis ????

After trying some troubleshooting from internet postings, we went the old fashioned way & bought an inexpensive card reader today.  Not sure what happened, but now the pictures are coming straight off of the disc. 
So ....... This picture came from a drive last Sunday.  I passed an old farmstead with a dozen or so sheep in the pasture.  You couldn't tell it from the distance, but looking closely at this ewe & her lambs, they look like Tunis ..... see the reddish face & legs?   Won't be long before lambing season starts at Wild Rose Farm!

Sheep Shearing Tomorrow

Our sheep shearer is coming to Wild Rose Farm tomorrow, so we're getting ready.  The sheep are all in the barn now to make sure that they are dry.  It's a beautiful sunny day, so hopefully the weather will be good for tomorrow.  I'm not sure if we'll have pictures since my camera just chose this week to become an "unrecognized USB device"!  Re-installation of the USB driver has not helped.  Acckkkk.  :(

Waiting For Dinner

Morris, Kitty, & Moutain Lion Waiting For Dinner!

I just happened to notice 3 of our 4 Wild Rose Farm barn cats waiting for the afternoon feeding.  This is the "moist food" serving that they get each day.  One small can of cat food split 4 ways.  It's enough to make sure we get to check on them every day. I'd imagine that the grey striped tabby, Stripe, is waiting in the barn.  He's the oldest & doesn't take any guff from the other cats or our pups when they get too close. 
 Just look at the grass greening up ..... it's been cut 3 times since March 19th!