Lambs Out to Pasture!

Wild Rose Farm Lambs Race Out to Pasture!

Our first group of ewes and lambs have been moved out to pasture. We start in this smaller paddock near the barn so that the lambs get used to the routine of following the ewes. They also learn to wade through the high grass and get used to the electric net fence.

Mom Is Grazing & Doesn't Care About Us!

OK ... Now What Do We Do?

After a mad dash into the paddock, most of the lambs are milling around in a group, not sure of what to do next.  So it seems that if in doubt, let's butt heads ...

Lambs Square Off ...

Another Lamb Joins In!

Back Up & Charge!

No Harm, It's a Side Swipe! 

Lambing, Llama, & Pasture Scenes!

Wild Rose Farm at Dusk - Snow White in Position!

Here are a series of pictures from the last few weeks at Wild Rose Farm during our lambing season. Our llama Snow White is in the pasture with the ewes. The entire group grazes while surrounded by movable electric net fence within our permanent high tensile electric perimeter fencing. You can see in the picture above that Snow White has taken up a position by bedding down in front of the ewes at dusk. They settle in uphill behind her --- sheep usually bed down "uphill".

A Llama & Her Flock!

Wild Rose Farm #152 With Newborn Twins - Snow White Nearby!

One of our crossbred ewes, #152 is shown above with her set of newborn twins. This is her first time lambing and she did a great job! Look who is nearby … Snow White is alert … you can see her tail is held up a bit.

Wild Rose Farm #150 & Twins - 11:30 PM Pasture Check

Snow White is There!

Finally, here's a midnight pasture check & Snow White is there again … even when she's cushed, her swivel head is 3 feet high!  She's too smart to look at the LED light I'm holding, lol!  You can see the eyes of one of the other sheep behind her.

Early Grazing ...

Wild Rose Farm - Snow White & Ewes Grazing

The ewes are now out grazing for the better part of the day. We move the electric net fence every day to provide fresh grass & you can see the area in the foreground that was grazed the day before the picture was taken.  It was overcast and rainy a couple of days ago when we took the picture. 
Since then, the temperature went up and boy, did the grass jump! The leaves are coming out & filling in on the trees & now the dogwoods are in bloom. Can lambs be far away now? :~0
It's out to the barn today to get the first pens ready ...

Grazing & Waiting!

Putting Up Net Fencing Before Grazing

We're getting ready to start some light grazing at Wild Rose Farm. We usually wait until mid-April when the grass starts jumping to begin grazing. The electric net fence is up to guide the ewes up to the top pasture on the other side of the Loafing Shed. We'll graze this area first before bringing them to the pasture around the barn for lambing season ...
Meanwhile, here's a look at the 2-ply yarn that we were waiting for at The Mill At Meadowlands.

Rambouillet 2-Ply Bulky Yarn!

This batch is moving on to the skeining process ... Yay!

Other Work To Be Done ...

Mowing The Lambing Pasture

Of course, there's other work to be done in between the lambs and the raindrops. Here we are mowing the part of the pasture where we have been lambing. In grazing terms, we "set stock" the ewes on an area that gets larger as we move the electric net fencing forward to provide fresh forage. The open area behind provides enough room for ewes to separate off of the flock when they are ready to lamb. Yesterday we back-fenced this area and moved the ewes on to a new section of pasture to start the process again. The dew finally evaporated and the field was dry enough to mow this afternoon. This mowing cuts off the seed heads forming on the pasture grasses. It also cuts back seed heads developing on weeds. The regrowth will be mostly leafy instead of old and full of stems & seed heads.
You can see how fast the grass is growing - the point of grass in the middle right is grazed regrowth that was back-fenced 2 weeks ago. :)  The grass back behind the white electric net fence hasn't been grazed yet.

Wild Rose Farm - Ewe #98 & Newborn Twins

We had another set of twins today from one of our crossbred ewes, #98. As you can see, she had to get up close and personal when we dipped the lamb's navels in iodine. Mama doesn't want you to take her babies and stays REAL close!

What's So Interesting?

We were taking several rolls of electric net fencing over to where the sheep are grazing, so we took the truck.  After "shifting" the sheep to their new grazing cell, we set up the net fence for the next 2 days of grazing.  Then we headed back to jump in the truck & leave.  All of the sudden, one of the ewes spotted the truck parked outside of the gate. 
Whoa ...  This deserves to be investigated!  Then the llama spotted the ewe and started to look intently at the ewe and what she was staring at ...

Snow White Watching The Sheep Watching The Truck ...

The llama and several sheep make their way over to check out the truck.

Wow - Isn't This Interesting ?!?

Then, where one sheep goes, all sheep must go.  And in a hurry!  Baaaa, baaaa, baaaa!

The Flock Rushes Over - No One Can Be Left Behind!

Minutes after hastening to "whatever", the flock is bored and starts to turn back to the business at hand ... grazing.

Nevermind ... Nothing To See Here ...

As quickly as it started, it's over.  Everyone leaves the scene. 

Snow White - Yep, It's A Truck ...

Snow White heads back to join her less than brilliant companions ... and the beat goes on.

Calm Returns To Wild Rose Farm ...  :)

The Routine ...

Picking up hay ... that's the routine event on the farm.

Farmer Mike Moving Hay From His Bale Carrier To Our Trailer

Unloading hay ... another part of the routine this time of year.

Round Bales Going Into The Loafing Shed

Then there's the problem that is not routine.   We noticed that the electric fence charger sounded a little weak this morning, but we had rain, so that could have been the reason.  I walked out to "test" the fence.  Checking the fence hillbilly style means that you take a blade of grass, lay it on the electric wire, and slide the grass forward so that your grip gets closer to the wire.  Somewhere along the way you should start to get a pulse & good tingle in time with the sound of the fencer pulse .  Then you know it's working.  NO  pulse - NO tingle.   Hmmm.  Then a tentative touch of the wire with a finger.  Nothing.  A solid full grab of the wire.  Nothing.  Time to trouble shoot.  Turns out that the charger, although pulsing, was not sending out a charge.  We brought out the "spare" charger and the electricity is working now.  That means the sheep get a zap when they touch the electric net fence.  As a side note, electic net fence & the single strand fences that you see around dairy cow pastures work on the "fear factor" ... they are a psychological "pain" barrier, not a true physical barrier.

Dead Electric Fence Charger ...

Of course, we also rely on the electric fence to keep predators OUT as well as keeping the sheep in a grazing cell.  So --- that's why it's so important.  It seems that we got over 15 years out of this fence charger before needing to replace it. 

Spare Electric Fence Charger Installed

Now it's time to order another back-up - that will run about $120 - yep, that's routine maintenance on the farm, right?!?   BTW - here's a plug for my favorite fencing supply company, Premier 1 out of Iowa.  Order their fencing catalog - it's worth it if you're considering any kind of fencing (even keeping varmits out of your garden!). 

Lambs Learning ......

Wild Rose Farm Lambs Grazing

The Wild Rose Farm lambs were out in the "hospital pen" tonight grazing while the barn is being cleaned.  They haven't been around the electric net fence since we brought them in for weaning.  The dry weather kept them off of the pastures and on hay while we waited for rain ---- can't nub the pastures down & destroy them!   Well, first off, one of them managed to get itself under/between the high tensile fence strands before the fence was energized.  So, one lamb shadows the others, but a bit distressingly now, separated by the wires.  If you have sheep, you know this is a typical sheepy scenario.  But notice how the lambs are reaching under the bottom wire to graze ....... they were also nosing up to the net fence.  The picture below illustrates what happens when one or two of them get zapped.  They jump back and run away followed by other lambs who don't know why they're running, but sheep are flock animals!   :)

Ouch!  What Happened ?!?

It will happen over & over until the lambs learn their lesson.  This is how they are "trained" to respect electric fences and it doesn't take very long.  Within a few hours no one is touching the fence anymore and all is well! 


Back To Grazing!

P.S. - look closely near the barn in the top picture for the latest project in progress .......