2020 Lambing Season Starts!

Wild Rose Farm - Dorset #118 & Twin Ewe Lamb

Once again, the sheep have not consulted the calendar before starting their lambing season!  My schedule said that lambing should start around April 20-21, but our #118 Dorset ewe kicked off the season on April 16th. Here she is nuzzling her ewe lamb after we brought them up to the barn.
As of today, we are waiting for more ewes to join the party. Several pens are ready and you can see that we are doing our nightly pasture checks …  

... IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT !!!

Live From Hookstown, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!!!

Just back in from the nightly pasture check. Nothing happening right now, but Snow White is in her accustomed place, guarding the flock. You can see her behind in the background. She is cushed and facing the "wilderness".  The sheep will bed down up above her closer to the barn where I'm standing.
She looks like the Loch Ness Monster down there … watching.
Here's the same view from the afternoon today.  Everyone is enclosed in electric net fencing inside the permanent pasture perimeter fencing during the lambing/grazing season.

Wild Rose Farm - Snow White & Flock Waiting for Lambs! 

Before Shearing

Wild Rose Farm Snow White in a Sea of Wool!

We brought Snow White and the ewes up to the barn from the Back 40 on Easter morning. They are scheduled to be sheared and it's essential that they be dry. It's raining outside as this is being written.

You can see lots of wool fleeces out there ready to come off!

Snow White is particularly "white" today. We had a t-storm and very high winds two days after we sent them out back to graze.
Check out the big elm tree that blew out in the pasture field overnight. No one was hurt and the tree formed a triangle over the high tensile fence.  Nothing like a fence to attract a falling tree!

Wild Rose Farm - Elm Tree Blowout Over Fence!

Scene Greeting Us in the Morning ...

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!

Random Pictures ...

Lambs on the Loose @ Wild Rose Farm!

We were out shopping and had just come down the driveway … Hey! What are those sheep doing under the cherry trees?!?  Mr. Wild Rose Farm walked up & into the barn to get some feed while I stayed out here to head off anyone who might break in this direction.  I needn't have worried.  The lambs scampered back in through their gate into the pen.  It's where they were safe & where they get fed!  By the time I got my cell phone out to take a picture, you can see the last lamb just outside of the gate heading in to safety … Whew.  We've had the donkey loose on the lawn before, but never any sheep. And of course, the donkey thinks it's a game, high steps, and kicks her heels when you try to catch her, lol.

Rambouillet Ram Lamb Turned in With Breeding Ewes

Breeding season started here on November 26th. We turned a young Dorset ram in with the Dorset & crossbred ewes. We also turned in this triplet registered Rambouillet ram in with a separate group of  Rambouillet ewes.  The ewes know where to go and had headed down the runway, but the ram turned back around to look at me … not sure of what was up!  You can just see the green marking paint on his chest. As of today about 1/2 to 2/3rds of all the ewes are marked.

Wild Rose Farm Rambouillets - Ram Looking Back

Super Sheep?!?

Wild Rose Farm Ewe #141

We had just moved the sheep back over to the Loafing Shed after replacing a couple of ear tags, when this ewe caught my eye.  Hmmm, who is this somewhat short legged, chunky little ewe?  I had to creep up on her quietly to see that she was #141. She's a Dorset x Rambouillet cross and her records show that she's had 4 sets of twins. We'd already made the decision to retain her ewe lamb this year based on her growth - she's the only x-bred ewe lamb that we're keeping. It's tough since we're keeping 5 ewe lambs (3 Rambouillet, 1 Dorset) & we could only keep one more.
I'll try to get a picture of her one of these days ...
We have some really nice twin x-bred ewe lambs for sale that would really be nice to keep. We've sold a Dorset ram lamb & a horned Rambouillet ram lamb in the last couple of weeks and it would be great if some of the ewe lambs went to a new farm!