Catching Up ...

Annual Vaccinations Before Lambing Season

Wow ... where have we been? Lots of activities going on and since the sheep routine is "so routine" at this time of winter, I just fell out of the habit of posting. Unseasonably warm weather has given us the opportunity to do some brush clearing in the pasture and pruning in the yard. Boring stuff!
We took several of what I refer to as "tail-ender" lambs to the auction this week just ahead of the Easter market.  These are ram lambs that were just too small to be picked out by buyers in the fall holiday season ... Now the only lambs left here are the 7 ewe lambs that we are retaining for our own flock. Of course, that means that the barn is ready to be cleaned out in anticipation of shearing and lambing. This weekend we vaccinated the ewes (and the llama - hey, she was just standing around anyway!) with their annual CDT booster. We're mostly concerned with the "T" portion - tetanus - resistance in the ewes being passed on to the new lambs.  The picture above shows the barn book where we record everything about the sheep, alcohol pads to clean the injection site, the vaccine bottle, & the spray marking paint.  We learned a long time ago to mark the sheep as they are being processed ... "in case" something goes awry and they get scrambled up again, they can easily be sorted without reading ear tags. :~0
Every time we go out to work with the sheep, this tackle box with scissors, hoof trimmers, alcohol pads, assorted sheepy first aid stuff, and the barn book goes out with us!

Daffodils Blooming ... Ewes Heading Back To The Loafing Shed

We also sent Snow White out with the ewes now that the ram is no longer with them. She was delighted to leave the lambs behind and join the ewes for a bit of nibbling on the grass on the way over to the Loafing Shed.

A Quick Snack ...