Why We Go Out At 1AM ...

 

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #571 & Twin Ewe Lambs

This is why the pasture checks continue around the clock!  Rambouillet ewe #571 has lambed for the first time and has a nice set of twin ewe lambs. She's standing over the first lamb that has already nursed and is curled up resting. The second lamb is right in position - isn't instinct amazing?  She's trying to nurse and this "first time" ewe is standing still for her.  She's not in a panic when I approach & then stop to get a picture.  For the curious folks out there, Snow White is cushed about 50 feet away in the dark & the temperature is 48 degrees.  The chance of light rain is 40% by 6am and this group will be dry in the barn. 

Previous "Midnight" Pasture Check - Ewes Resting

 Yesterday the scene was similar, but nothing was happening. None of the ewes were in labor, so by 5am, the shepherd knows that things cannot have gone too far astray. 

Snow White Was Just Out of the Picture!

The same as this morning, Snow White was just out of the picture watching over the flock!  You can see the barn lit up in the background on the hill.  Ok, time to get some sleep now.  

Lambing Season & Changing Weather

 

Snow White Watches Ewe & Newborn Twins!

Even though it's much warmer now for lambing than in February, the weather changes by the hour.  Our Dorset ewe #119 had a set of twin ewe lambs just as the wind picked up and a misty rain started.  Snow White stayed nearby and we saw her go up and greet the lambs!  Time to go out and bring the new group up to the barn. Snow White is relieved of her duties as she sees someone coming and she heads back to the rest of the flock.  

Wild Rose Farm Dorset Ewe #119 & Twin Ewe Lambs
Dried Off & Warmer in the Barn ...

This is the second time that #119 has lambed and she followed right along up to the barn and into the pen like an old pro.  After having their navels dipped in iodine, it doesn't take long for the newborn lambs to start nursing!  Two hours later, the sun came back out for the rest of the day ... 

Reunited With Her Sheeps!

Snow White Sees Her Ewes Again!

After 4 months penned up with six ewe lambs in the barn, Snow White was delighted to see her flock of ewes!  Even something as simple as having a long "sight line" is wonderful for a llama. Watchful guard animals love to be able to "watch".

Wild Rose Farm  - Are you my Sheep?

First, some mixing in the hospital pen before we head out to the Back 40. We pulled the two rams out from the breeding ewe group and mixed in Snow White with her 6 yearling ewe lambs.

Sheltering In Place

Wild Rose Farm - Snow White & Ewe Lambs 

Sheltering In Place!

One thing about living on a farm … you generally have supplies on hand. We just went to the feed mill in Rogers, Ohio this morning to pick up shelled corn & the 17% protein feed that we use as a supplement to hay feeding for the pregnant ewes. Farm supply stores are still open as necessary businesses, but still, we minimize our trips. BTW, gasoline was $1.69 in Rogers.
Interestingly & totally randomly, about a month ago we were grocery shopping & I thought "hmmm, I should probably pick up a box of alcohol pads for upcoming lambing season supplies".  You guessed it …  I got THE LAST BOX on the Walmart shelf!  That was way before things went really crazy.
In other news, various fiber festivals are cancelling and possibly rescheduling.  Stay tuned for information on the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival scheduled for the 3rd weekend in May.
No need to rush the decision at this point - most vendors wouldn't be anywhere else that weekend, right? - but stay tuned for a decision in the next couple of weeks.
And stay home … it's time to be safe and work on fiber projects!

Fall Chores ...

Wild Rose Farm Ewes on the Move!

With the shorter & cooler days of fall, the sheep are always nice & frisky!  Here they are rushing past on their way in to graze down the hospital pen. We're sorting through the ewes and planning the breeding groups for this season. We'll have a group of Rambouillet ewes with a Rambouillet ram and the Dorset & crossbred ewes with a young Dorset ram. That smaller sheep in the picture above is a crossbred ewe lamb. She was born late and we just separated her off of her dam last week. She's been running with the ewes all summer … it just seemed easier to leave her out there and she did quite well!
We've had some folks looking at lambs lately & we have some really nice crossbred ewe lambs for sale + 2 commercial Dorset ram lambs & several Rambouillet ram lambs.  We were skewed towards rams this year and ended up with only 5 Rambouillet ewe lambs - we sold one and are keeping the other 4 for ourselves. They're all twins and one is a triplet. :)

Off To A New Home!

Dorset Ram - You Say New Ewes Are Waiting For Me? 

Three sheep left this week for a new home. Our Dorset ram is off to new pastures where he'll be turned in with a new flock of ewes. We trimmed his hooves and put fresh raddle paint on his chest as an added bonus, lol.

Wild Rose Farm - Dorset Ewe Lamb

Two Dorset ewe lambs were selected and went along too. They are twin siblings born on May 11th out of our ewe Wild Rose Farm #117. We're keeping one Dorset ewe lamb & seven Rambouillet ewe lamb replacements for ourselves this year. Now all of the breeding ewes are in one group again with the Rambouillet ram. He'll stay out with them until some time in March. He's happier outside in a group and we don't have to take hay and water buckets to him every day in the barn pen.

Wild Rose Farm - Twin Ewe Lambs Loaded Up & Ready To Roll!

Lambs Ready To Go!

Wild Rose Farm - Sorting Ewe Lambs 

It's time & the lambs are ready to start leaving the farm now! Here we were above, sorting through some of the ewe lambs at the beginning of August. We have Dorset/Rambouillet crossbred ewe lambs and several Dorset ewe lambs sired by our performance tested Dorset ram available, as well as one registered Dorset ram lamb. We're planning to keep several of the registered Rambouillet ewe lambs for our own flock, but we do have a couple of registered Rambouillet ewe lambs and and ram lambs for sale.
We had good weather last week for the local Hookstown Fair and now it's back to focusing on the chores here … we have a routine farm visit from the veterinarian scheduled this week. Glenda & Snow White get their annual shots and a check-up, plus we review the lambs for sale in case health papers are needed to sell across the state line. Unfortunately, it looks like a hot week with temperatures in the 90's … yikes!

Watching & Checking For Lambs!

Wild Rose Farm Snow White Isn't The Only One Watching!

The one constant thing about lambing season here at Wild Rose Farm is the watching and regular checking for ewes in labor.  Or ewes with newborn lambs since the last time we checked.  Or a white plastic bag that blew into the pasture and looked like a lamb left behind by an errant ewe under the pine trees ... yikes!  Yes, that happened yesterday to Mr. WRF & he was not happy ... "luckily" it was a bag.  But look at the picture above and enlarge it to see another watcher.  This was taken at 6:30AM today when I thought I heard a noise coming from up above. Yes I did!
Closely scan the skyline and you'll see either Otis or Lotus - one of our goat neighbors - watching from atop the Goat Mahal Annex!

Dorset Ewe #117 With Newborn Ewe Lambs

 Here's another reason to keep a close check on the ewes. Today our Dorset ewe #117 had a set of twin lambs under the pine trees. When we went out to pick them up, one of them had crawled or rolled around and was head first partially in a groundhog hole!  If several more hours had passed, that would have been a disaster. As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say, "it just goes to show you, it's always something!".  She and her lambs are safely in the barn now.

More Lambs Coming!

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #332 & Twin Ram Lambs

We've been busy the last few days with grazing moves & new lambs coming.  Here are a few pictures of what's been going on in the barn as we bring the newborn lambs in from the pasture!

Wild Rose Farm X-bred #127 & Twin Ewe Lambs

Dorset Ewe #118 came up to the barn with #127 and her twins ... she really wanted to steal one of them!  As expected, she delivered her own single ewe lamb about 5 hours later ...

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #333 & First of Twin Ewe Lambs

Next Up - Twins!

Wild Rose Farm - 6:30AM Pasture Scene

The picture above is what it looks like when a "granny ewe" is hanging out with another ewe and her newborn lambs --- enlarge the pic & see them off to the far right?  Sure enough, Dorset ewe #116 had a set of twins and Rambouillet ewe #407 was hoping that they were hers!  She followed right along when they were brought up to the barn.

Wild Rose Farm - Granny Ewe Following Lambs Up To Barn!

In this case, #116 is an older, experienced ewe who's raised triplets in the past, so she isn't about to be run off from her lambs by another ewe. She is on the right in the picture and the plump #407 is coming along on the other side of Mr. Wild Rose Farm. We had to put the lambs down in the chute & close the gate behind them and #116 to physically separate them.

Ewe #407 Doesn't Want To Leave ...

It's mostly a case of hormones in an older ewe near lambing time - she wants a lamb! We sent her back out to the pasture & will continue to keep an eye on her.

Twin Ram & Ewe Lambs - Settled In Comfortably With Mom!

Nothing else as of 8:30 PM ...

Come See Us This Weekend!

Wild Rose Farm Will Be At Old Economy Village!

Wild Rose Farm will be set up at Old Economy Village in Ambridge, PA this weekend. It looks like we will be in the Feast Hall on the 2nd floor. Come and visit with us. The grounds of Old Economy Village are lovely with candle lanterns lighting the walk ways outside. We'll have our new farm yarn made from our Rambouillet wool and other wool items. We'll also bring vintage woolen sweaters, hats, scarves, & blankets.  Come on down!

Snow White in the Barn With the Ewe Lambs

Breeding season started on the 25th, so Snow White is pulled out of the ewe flock and moved indoors with the ewe lambs. Here she is with the lambs. She does some humming for the first day or two as she settles in ... she misses the ewes and has to adapt to the lambs that she hasn't seen since July.

Rambouillet Ram (center) & Rambouillet Ewes

We have the sheep split up into two groups this year. The Dorset ram is in with 22 Dorset & crossbred ewes and a young Rambouillet ram is in with 10 Rambouillet ewes.  His dam is in a separate pen with another unrelated young Rambouillet ram ... we've got to keep things straight for registration!

Ewe Lamb Leaves For New Home!

Wild Rose Farm Crossbred Ewe Lamb Loaded Up!

Another of our nice Dorset x Rambouillet ewe lambs left the farm this afternoon. She was a twin ewe lamb born on April 28th ... out of the first ewe to have lambs this spring. She had been chosen several weeks ago and was waiting for pick-up. We were working on the ewes in preparation for breeding season and her new owner stopped in on his day off from work. We trimmed her hooves, loaded her up, and away she went ...

Rambouillet Ewe Lamb #561 - A Keeper!

We had a lot more ram lambs than ewe lambs born this spring for "whatever" reason. All of our Rambouillet ewe lambs were born as twins, but their twins were ram lambs!  The #561 Rambouillet ewe lamb above is shown in the handling chute with several of the crossbred ewe lambs that we have for sale. What a beautiful day to be working outside with the ewes & lambs!  We'll be putting the rams in over the weekend to kick off the breeding season here.

Off To New Pastures!

Wild Rose Farm Ewe Lamb #0641 Ready To Travel

Who Opened That Gate?

Three nice ewe lambs left the farm yesterday for a new home. Their new owner is a fiber artist. We picked over the ewe lambs, looking closely at their fleeces to select the type she preferred to add to her flock. Twins out of our #142 ewe were selected and a twin from our 20 micron #98 ewe rounded out the little group. All were sired by a Rambouillet ram, so they are all at least 75% fine wool Rambouillet.
The lambs were delighted to find some nice second cut hay waiting for them in the trailer.  Much tastier than the 1st cutting they've been eating!

Two Wild Rose Farm Ewe Lambs Loaded Up  

What's For Supper?

Wild Rose Farm  Ewes Around Loafing Shed Door

After working with the ewes at the barn on Sunday, they trailed back over to the Loafing Shed.  Of course they know that their grain ration comes out of the front door and they attempted to get inside ... "I knew you kept the goodies in there!", they seemed to say.  You'd think they hadn't eaten for days.

On The Way To The Feed Bunks ...

The fall color here has been fleeting & slightly drab. A lot of the maple leaves went from brown tipped and yellow to "gone". Some are still turning orange & red, but not nearly as colorful as usual due to the dry & hot weather that we've had. See how dry it is in the woods around the water tank?

Wild Rose Farm Ewes Enjoying Spring Water

BTW, now is the time to come out and look at ewe lambs if you'd like to start a flock! We also have several Rambouillet ram lambs left & they'd be great to breed a small flock this fall.

New Career For Ewe Lambs!

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe Lambs Leaving

Couldn't Get Anyone To Pose For The Picture!

With so much natural dyeing going on (I mean really?), we forgot to mention that 3 Rambouillet ewe lambs left this week! They are happily embarking on a new show & breeding career for a dedicated young lady. Her show experience includes sheep, market hogs, and various types of poultry ... and that's just what we gleaned in 2 visits with her. :)

Can't wait to see how they do for her next year!

2017 Beaver County Self-Guided Farm Tour

Here's another clipping from Lancaster Farming - stop by if you're in the area! 

Lambs For Sale

Wild Rose Farm Ewes In August

It's August and we've got ewe lambs & ram lambs for sale. All of the ewes have been separated off from the lambs and they've been grazing with Snow White ... see her in the upper right of the picture? Of course, they have been walking back & forth and she sees no need to follow them each time. Smart llama!
And why are they walking back & forth? We weaned the last 3 ewe lambs from their mothers the evening before this picture was taken. Those 3 ewes keep walking back to the gate to call for their lambs.  Occasionally, the rest of the flock follows them.  The 3 lambs are in the barn (penned up with the older lambs) and they keep bleating for their mothers. It takes about 2 days for them to settle down on both sides. Then it's peaceful & quiet again ...

Three Wild Rose Farm Ewes - Where Are Our Lambs?

Aside from working with the sheep, we were at the Hookstown Fair for several days. Here is the 1st Place wool hooked rug ... very nice entry again from this lady!

2017 Hookstown Fair - 1st Place Hooked Wool Rug 

Take a look at this massive heavy weight team from the Saturday morning draft horse pulling contest. They are from Florida and were on their way to somewhere north of here ... just "pull'in through" as they say!

2017 Hookstown Fair - Unhitching Heavy Weight Draft Horse Team From Florida

2017 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival

2017 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest

It's time for the 14th Annual Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest this weekend, May 20th & 21st! We're all tagging and packing up our "stuff".  We've got a great group of vendors this year - it just keeps getting better.  New this year is a Maker's Space on Sunday manned by the Washington County Spinners & Weavers Guild in Building #10 --- come join in! 
Wild Rose Farm will be bringing our new Rambouillet 2-ply Bulky Art Yarn.   Be sure to check it out ... it's so soft.  Thanks to Ruth & the crew at The Mill At Meadowlands! 
We're wrapping up the lambing and the grazing is good. The picture below shows the dwindling group of ewes waiting to lamb grazing with Snow White and the 7 yearling ewe lambs.  We've been brush hogging daily to try and keep up as we graze each section.

Grazing Background, Mowed Foreground

Wild Rose Farm - Snow White & Her Charges In A Sea Of Grass!

Getting Ready For Lambing Season!

Backing Out of the Barn at Wild Rose Farm ...

Lambing season is due to start in the next week, so we took advantage of some sunny & dry weather to clean out our barn. The ewe lambs and Snow White spent the winter sheltered here munching on round bales of hay. That nice bedding pack gets to go out to be composted before we spread it on the fields in the fall.  This is the non-glamorous side of the sheep business! Now we're setting up the pens for the ewes & their lambs when we bring them in from pasture.
Later when we went to get feed at the Rogers Feed Mill, we found them starting on a months long renovation project.  The area that has been torn down contained the offices and apparently was once a church building ... concrete floors, a warehouse, & indoor plumbing are coming, hopefully by the end of summer!

Rogers, Ohio - Rogers Feed Mill -Demolition & Construction Underway!

Shearing Done For Another Year!

Getting Set Up For Shearing @ 7AM

If you have sheep, you know what a relief it is to have the shearing done for another year. This year, our long time shearer of 20 years retired from the business. With his own flock of ~175 sheep, give or take, it was time to back off.  We were fortunate to find Luke, a tri-state area native who has sheared in several areas out west, including South Dakota & Wyoming. The good news with that is he has experience with fine wool sheep and has done quite a few Rambouillets.

Luke Shearing - Note the back support.

We had 45 ewes to shear and we got started at 7:25AM on Saturday morning.  It was damp & cloudy, but the temperature seemed to be just right. Seven of the ewes are yearlings, so I took the 2" square side samples of wool from them for their individual micron test. The samples will be shipped to Yocum-McColl Testing Labs in Denver for testing as soon as we get the ewe registrations back ... and I get the time to fill out the forms, lol!

In Action With X-bred Ewe #136

  Things went pretty well - we're always trying to "perfect" the system of penning/catching the ewes, getting them set up for shearing, and bagging each fleece complete with a label & notes in the Wild Rose Farm flock barn book. 

Now For The Clean-up!

Shearing was done by 11:55 ... a great job with steady, quick work, & minimal second cuts. Next up is the skirting process in the barn once we get some warmer weather.

Snow White Surrounded By Yearling Ewe Lambs

After spending all winter in the barn with Snow White, the 7 ewe lambs stick pretty close to her once we turn everyone out together. They'll all spend the next week or so in the barn to keep them out of the rain ...  

Ewe Lambs Head To New Pastures!

Wild Rose Farm Ewe Lambs Travel In Style!

The pick up of the 2 ewe lambs was changed from Saturday to Sunday, so off they went yesterday to their new home.  Rambouillet ewe lambs #551 & #552 headed down the road in style. They were happy to leave in the back of an SUV standing in their individual Rubbermaid tubs!  Actually it works out quite nicely once you get the back hatch closed down ... they are content to be looking out the window and as far away from the driver & front seat passenger as possible. :)
We got this quick picture as they pulled away in air conditioned comfort ... see you at the fair!