Glenda & An Afternoon Snack

Wild Rose Farm Donkey Glenda Hears The Call!

Here's a little peek into the routine at Wild Rose Farm.  It starts with a call ...
GLEN - DAAAAAAA !!!!!   HERE GLEN - DAAA !!!!!  C'MON GLENDA !!!!!
You never know from which direction she'll come - that's her value as a guardian, I suppose.  Then after scanning the horizon for a few minutes, I detect motion.   There she is, coming up from the bottom of the field.  It takes a while for her to amble up & sometimes she'll stop to bray.
Meanwhile, the sweet corn is peeled & the husks become a delightful donkey treat. 


Glenda Paws At The Husks

So ... no sweet corn is microwaved or grilled in the husk here at this farm!  :)

Glenda - Those Ears Are Always Swiveling!

Any Leftovers?

Ewes Cleaning Up Leftover Corn

We dumped a little leftover shelled corn into the feeder and the ewes closest to the feeder gobbled it right up.   It was a "you snooze, you lose" kind of moment.   We had called the sheep over just to get a routine look at them ...
When we went back to pick up the bucket, this little gal walked over calmly as if to say, "any chance that there's a little bit in there for me?".

Dorset Ewe Lamb - Any Leftovers In There For Me?

We put 3 ewe lambs that we are retaining out with the ewes.  That way they aren't mixed in with the lambs that are for sale.  We'll move them back to the barn just before breeding season once our lamb numbers are down.  They're fine getting their share when we actually feed - we use 3 feeders, so everyone can get in with room to spare. 

Routine Upkeep

Snow White Is Suspicious!

We had gathered the flock up at the back of the Loafing Shed in preparation to give Snow White and one of the ewes a deworming.   Though she is tame, has been shown, and can be led around in a halter, Snow White won't be caught in the "open".  And naturally, she will be the last one into the barn or pen.  You can see that she is casting a wary eye on me as I hold them up near the building waiting for the feed to entice them.

Oh Look - Here Comes A Bucket Of Grain!

 Once the flock spotted the grain bucket, they followed it into the shed.  Guess who put aside the camera, ran up, and closed the gate behind?  :)
Llama haltered.   Llama dewormed.   Mission accomplished.   As you were ...

Whew - Glad That's Over!

A Wild Rose Farm Fall Harvest!

Wild Rose Farm Snow White Leads The Way!

The sheep have been confined to a smaller area around the Loafing Shed this week and are now eating round bales of hay.  We have been grazing since spring (what a long green season this summer!), but now we are allowing the pastures to accumulate for late fall. 
We will "flush" the ewes before breeding season.  To do that, you want to spike up their nutrition level.  Switching from hay to grass and adding a ration of shelled corn will do that ... the idea is to increase their lambing percentage.
Yesterday, we found dropped apples from an old apple orchard tree and I called the sheep over for a treat.  They responded and came streaming over with Snow White in the lead.
The tree is on the other side of the electric net fence, so I had lobbed a bunch of apples over to them.

OK, We're Here, Now What?

Mobbed by the sheep ... but they didn't know why they were called over.  I tossed a couple of apples in the air and the sound of them dropping triggered the older ewes to look on the ground & start munching. 

Smart Older Ewes Are Happily Munching!

This is where experience counts!  Most of the sheep wandered away, but about a dozen ewes stayed & cleaned up the apples.  I waited until they were done, on the slight chance that an apple would get stuck & cause choking ... something to keep in mind if livestock have access to dropped fruit.  And yes, they can also get tipsy if they eat enough fermented fruit & peels.  :~0


And There They Go ...

Another day on the farm ...

What Are They Looking At?

Wild Rose Farm Glenda Sneaking Up On The Water Bottle

It seems that everyone was looking at something this afternoon at Wild Rose Farm.  First I caught Glenda making a move toward the water bottle ... hmmm, what is that?
When I went into the barn, the lambs were staring & watching our 2 new kittens.

Kittens Scampering Near Lamb Pen

This ram lamb was just fascinated by the kittens scuffling in the hay.

Ram Lamb Watching Kittens Play

Finally, one of the kittens noticed the lamb overhead watching them.

Kitten Watching The Lamb!

So here they are, the two kittens, Smokey & Diamond.  This summer we lost Morris our adopted stray longhaired orange cat (sick?) and Stripe finally passed away quietly of old age.   Now Kitty & Mountain Lion - the orange & white siblings - have 2 new little friends.  Someday.  The little guys are still scared and hissing right now!  :~0

Wild Rose Farm Smokey

Wild Rose Farm Diamond