Rams In At Wild Rose Farm

Three Dorset Ram Lambs

It's Thanksgiving weekend, so it's time to start the breeding schedule at Wild Rose Farm.  This post should have said "Ram In At Wild Rose Farm", but we ended up putting 3 ram lambs in with the 37 ewes to be bred this year.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but our wonderful Performance Tested Dorset Ram purchased in 2013 managed to kill himself this summer.   Best we can tell is that he broke his neck ramming the boards in the ram pen.  No sign of a struggle or flailing hooves, just laid out with a broken neck.  He was fine at 11AM and had only been dead a short while at 4PM chore time.  :(   A freak accident for sure, but of course it happens to the BEST animals. 
Anyhow, rather than purchase another ram, we decided to put 3 of his ram lambs in with the ewes this year ...
Amusingly, they are so happy to get out on grass, that they are hanging in a little group at the moment munching away.  I'm sure that will change by morning!

Fence Sitter Pumpkins Are Nice & Soft Now!

As I was walking back to the house, I noticed the pumpkins on the fence posts & realized that they were ready to heave in to the sheep!  I split them open to get them started. 

Ewe #47 Enjoying A Pumpkin!

YUM ... nothing like a soft, squishy pumpkin for Thanksgiving dessert ...

Rambouillet Ewe #404 - Any More Pumpkins?

You can also see the ewe's ear tag numbers painted on the right hip so we can identify who's been bred as the rams mark them.

Yep - Here's Another One To Share With Ewe #34 ...

Another interesting thing tonight ... I noticed that the sheep were munching on the dried, mature Chicory stems & seed heads.  We hadn't grazed this paddock for a while, so they'll end up carrying forage chicory seeds out to be spread with their manure. 


Ewe Clipping Off Chicory Stems & Seeds

Wild Rose Farm Pasture Salad!

Wild Rose Farm Ram Lamb Grazing

This is what we're grazing right now ... it's a pasture mix called "Drought Buster".  It was seeded on the hillside above the Loafing Shed after it was built in 2012.  The thought here in choosing a pasture mix was that the hillside would tend to be a drier spot because the rainfall would run downhill.  It's still spotty in some places, but doing quite well overall.

Red Clover, Ladino Clover, & Forage Chicory

Looks yummy, doesn't it?  It's interesting watching the grazing patterns of the animals.  The donkey tends to munch on the seed heads right now.  The llama also goes for the seed heads or sometimes nibbles at the extremely short weeds or annual grasses in the "traffic" areas.  The ewes munch it all, many times favoring the big leaves along weed stems or munching off the still tender stems of the chicory that is starting to bolt to seed.  The chicory can be reduced to a white smudge where they graze it completely down, but it has a taproot & will come back if not continually grazed.  The lambs?  That's another story - they are still learning what they like to eat & watching/following along with the ewe !  :)

Ram Lamb Circling Around - I Just Don't Know What To Eat First!

Upright Leaves of Forage Chicory, Alfalfa, Clovers - Yummy!

Once they finish grazing an area, we come behind and brush hog it down to knock off the grass seed heads & the weeds.  That promotes an even return of nice leafy growth for the next grazing rotation later in the summer.