Sunrise Pasture Check

Wild Rose Farm Morning Check ...

After the first set of twins were born, we start routine checking of the ewes several times a day.  Here they are in the morning as I approach to look everyone over ...  just standing around.  As I slowly edged closer, the cellar door slammed.  Look at the heads swiveled to watch the door!  It's about 600' away, but they have that eager, hopeful look that says "Is grain coming our way?".

Whoa!  We See The Shepherd Coming! 

Nope, no feed until the afternoon.  Sorry.  As it turns out, nothing is happening right now, so back to milling around. 



Wild Rose Farm - Nothing Happening Here!

WRF ewe #37 is a friendly one, so she followed me back to the gate.  It almost looks like she's checking things out herself.   Hmmm - nothing yet!   :) 

WRF Ewe #37
 

Tree Down On Perimeter Fence - Yikes!

Wild Cherry Tree Smashes Corner Brace & Fence

We had very high winds Monday night as a front moved through - we now assume that's when this happened.  We were busy with shearing at that time.  Mr. WRF spotted it in the afternoon yesterday when he was feeding the ewes over at the Loafing Shed.  Something looked amiss and he walked back to find this big tree down on the fence.
The second thicker upright post from the left is a true corner post.  Luckily, the wires loop around it from both directions and terminate back around on themselves with wire clamps.  Also, luckily, nothing is in our main pasture field right now. 

Cross Brace Knocked Out, But Electric Wires & Knife Switch OK!

You can see that the 2nd corner brace post in the line is pushed out and broken below ground level. 
That post will have to be pulled, dug out, and replaced.  This is a 10 strand High Tensile (HT) fence, so it requires double corner braces. 

Brace Pin Bent & Fence Wire Staples Popped Out

The beauty of an HT wire fence is that it takes this kind of abuse and the wire generally doesn't break.  The force popped the fence wire staples out of the post on the top 4 or 5 strands and stretched the wire to the ground.  The problem comes with clearing the tree (or car, truck, etc.) from the fence --- and that is a SAFETY issue.  The tensile strength of the wire can cause the tree to suddenly spring in an unexpected direction once some of the weight is released as the forces shift.  You also have to take into account the possibility of the wire snapping or springing back to position.  This is not a job for one person alone. 

Tree Cut Off - HT Wires Back In Position, Almost!

The cross brace will have to be replaced along with the broken post on the left.  This is the oldest fence on the property & was installed in 1995.  At that time we cleared this fenceline THROUGH a thicket of hawthorn, crabapple, & multi-flora rose just like you see on the backside of the fence in the 2nd picture above!  I'd forgotten how much fun that winter was --- yes, winter because there are no leaves, you can see, and the ground is frozen, not muddy.  Cut and drag, cut and drag, cut and drag ...    
We've had no problems with the "10 strand" other than a couple of trees falling on it.  The picture below shows the remains of the last tree to fall back in this corner.  We were lucky that time.  It just missed the cross brace! 

Mossy Remains of Fallen Tree Outside Pasture

 When we installed this fence, we didn't own the acreage on the other side.  Now we do & you can see through to a clearing across the creek.
So what surprise awaited you today?   :)

Lambing Starts At Wild Rose Farm ...

Taking Second Group Of Sheared Ewes Back To The Loafing Shed 

So ... on Tuesday afternoon, the second group of sheared ewes were walked back to the Loafing Shed where they met up with their waiting flockmates.   All was quiet & uneventful on Wednesday.
This morning around 10AM, my cell phone rang.  The tractor was parked just on the other side of the pine trees and I heard, "you'd better get over here, we have lambs!".  I could hear them bleating up a storm. 
When I got there, Mr. WRF had determined that the little twins obviously belonged to Rambouillet #422, a first time mother.  Unfortunately, ewe #407 and ewe #408 had decided that they wanted lambs too!  The ram lamb, who appeared to be 2nd born, was following them around as they pushed Mom & the twin ewe lamb around. 
While we caught up Mom, I held the twins and had two very angry ewes stamping their feet at me.  For those of you who don't know, you have to be careful around ewes with lambs.  Some of them will butt you and/or bowl you over to protect "their" lambs.
Long story short, we milked the ewe & added some colostrum from our frozen supply to ensure that the lambs were both fed.  Then we put the truck racks on our WRF wagon, loaded up #422, and I sat near her holding her lambs.  Ewe #407 followed us to the gate bleating the whole time.  Sheesh.
She needs some babies to mother!  :)
Here's the happy little group settled in the barn ... both lambs are nursing now and #422 is standing quietly.

Ewe Lamb Stands Up & Stretches

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet Ewe #422 With Twins - Tails Wiggling!


Everyone is settled in at the barn, so now it's off for the evening pasture check to see if anyone else is ready to lamb!



Passed These Old Fashioned Daffodils In The Pasture Tonight ... Wonder Who Planted Them?



Wild Rose Farm Shearing Done!

Wild Rose Farm - 2014 Shearing Finished

It's always a good thing when the sheep shearing is done for the year.  Now we're ready for lambing!  We're not a big farm, but we are careful with sorting & caring for our fleeces.  They're all stored in bags now waiting to be skirted.  Some of them are already marked to be sent to the wool pool & some are noted to be made into yarn. 
But ... here are two more really nice Rambouillet fleeces that will be available as hand spinning fleeces:

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #416 Being Sheared

  


Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #416 - Fleece Close-up!

Below is the fleece that I think Paula may want - (!) - another wonderful fleece from #329 - look at the crimp!  :)  Click on pics for a closer look.

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #329 - As Sheared Close-up!

25 Done, 17 Still To Shear ...

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #412 Being Sheared

We got a little over half of the ewes sheared yesterday.  Our shearer, Don, had some ewes lambing right now, so he finishes with morning chores before coming here to work on our sheep.  He left the shearing machine hanging here overnight and he'll pick up with the last 17.  We left the ram for today & usually all three of us participate in that since they're usually a little to large to just flip around like the ewes.  It's the "hold, shear, & roll" method!  :)

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet #332 - Another Nice Fleece!

I try to jump in and take a few pictures.  We bag each fleece individually with the ewe's ear tag number and I also pull off a 2" square side sample of the yearling fleeces.  Those samples are sent to Yocom-McColl Testing Laboratory for micron testing.  We micron test all of the sheep. 
So here we are ... part way through shearing!

Wild Rose Farm "U" Sheared With Friends!

Between The Storms

Wild Rose Farm Ewes Grazing - We Need To Be Sheared!

Between the blowing rain storms today, we're working the ewes over towards the barn.  The plan is to shear about half of them on Monday.  Ideally, we'll get some strong winds & some sun tomorrow.  Then we can pen part of the group in the barn to dry off for shearing on Monday.  These girls probably can't wait to get all of that wool off! 

One Paddock Away From The Barn ....

The picture below has not been retouched or squished!  We shouldn't have lambs before April 26th or so, but ol' WRF #37 looks like she's ready to go with twins for sure ... we'll have to wait & see.

Wild Rose Farm #37 - Lambs In There?

Another Sign of Spring .....

Turkey Vulture Warming To Fly .....

Yes, another sign of spring is the return of the turkey vultures to the area skies.  We know all about the important role that they play in the the clean up of carcasses & roadkill, but I'd rather not see them anywhere near the sheep.  This one was in the very front paddock along US Route 30 and it flew up to the guard rail to hop on something along the road .....  
The more aggressive black vultures are known to attack sheep & cattle while they're "down" and in labor.  We lost a ewe several years ago who was laying in the warm sun near a post like this.  We didn't see the actual bird closely, but I had the "impression" of a black shape taking off from the post ..... We had come home down the driveway & I saw "red" on a ewe standing behind the barn.  Since it was a week or two before the sheep were due, I thought I saw a dreaded prolapse and hurried out.  Not so.  She had been attacked as she was stretched out enjoying the sun and I suppose she couldn't get up on her feet quickly enough.  We had to put her down and we lost the twins that she was carrying.  It was too early to get their lungs to fill with air.  That was a very unpleasant experience.  In the blogs, I notice that farmers generally try to accent the positives, but sometimes you'll hear "the rest of the story".