Hmmmm...

it's a rainy Friday here in Ga. All the sheep, alpacas and goats are in this barn. They have hay and I put a bucket of fresh water with ACV in it so they won't have to go out in the rain.

When I went to my studio this morning, I saw this. Olga is getting the rain water as it's coming off the roof. Must be so much better than the city water right next to her.

Goats...

Emmy's adventure

This is Emmy. In the front seat of my husband's truck this morning. Ready for her new adventure. She was going to live with Frodo, Tom and Pippin at my friend Lori's farm.

I also had the back of the truck full of pallets for my friend Cara for a little shelter  when she got her sheep, and a gallon of goat milk to deliver to another friend. Then I had to go interview a potential caregiver for Mrs. T at 12:30.

The pallets and milk were on the way to Lori's and I was going to drop them off first. But then, Emmy was in the front seat of my husband's truck. And I was so afraid she might pee.

I did decide to drop the milk off. I ran in and ran back out in less than 3 minutes. And she had pooped. It stunk bad. She didn't pee though. So hurried as fast as I could to Lori's so I could get her out of the truck.

We got there without anything else happening. Got her out and found the boys and let her go with them. They have a great big yard full of grass and good things for lambs to eat. Lori wants to keep her to breed later for more meat sheep.

Went to the interview. There were 2 of the caretakers there at the time Jean came, so we all just loved her! Mrs. T did too. I think she will be a great fit for us. Mrs. T's daughter will be here next week and will meet her and Jean will work with another of the caregivers and stay the night, to see how things are done there. Then if she's hired, she will start working!! I so hope this works. We've been looking for someone for a few months now. Hard to find good caretakers.

Then went and dropped off the pallets. Cara was coming to get more sheep! She got 2 ram lambs, Legolas and Bilbo, plus Bilbo's mother Cameron, and Eryn, one of Buttercup's triplets. Emmy is another of the triplets  and I'm keeping Ella. So the boys will be butchered and she will keep the ewes for starting a flock of meat sheep. She'll breed them with a Katahdin ram.

It turned out Cara couldn't get all 4 of the sheep in the back part of her van, so I ended up taking Cameron and Bilbo in my Trooper. Oh my goodness, it was a mess of poop and pee by the time I got there. And it's only like 10 miles away! Then we had to put the other 2 lambs in to get them to where their new pen was. It was SO gross!

So I have sold 7 lambs and a ewe. Cameron was my only black ewe, but her wool wasn't really that good. So I decided to sell her. And Bilbo is such a momma's boy. He's as big as her.

I have 14 sheep now. It feels good. I've kept 2 boys, so if their wool isn't very good, they'll be butchered later.

Less and less.

Yesterday 3 lambs left the farm. Frodo, Tom Bombadil and Pippin. My friend Sarah got Frodo and Lori got the other 2. They will stay at Lori's place. Lori already said she's falling in love with them all. I can believe that! They are certainly addictive. Lori's husband want s a ewe lamb too, so I think Emmy would be a good one.

I went out last night and just watched them. They really are calming. When they're being good!

I am so glad I have my 2 alpacas. They love their sheep. And they really are good guard animals, no matter what people say. If they see something strange, they make the loudest screech ever and the sheep run to the barn, as fast as they can! The boys will stay until all danger is past.

This is Elin. She's staying. She's Adalaide's ewe lamb. Her brother Legolas might be sold.

I want to keep her just to see if her wool is going to be good. Adalaide has the most kinky wool for a Finn. I have not spun it yet. Most of it will be made into dryer balls, unless if I take it to a mill, they can make roving with it. I do hope Elin's will be better. It's a creamy very light reddish color.

My friend who bought all my doe kids told me she might like to get some lambs for meat and to start a flock. I told her I would sell Cameron and her son Bilbo, Legolas and Eryn. So she'd have 2 ewes to start a flock of meat sheep. She can breed with a Katahdin and have really good sized lambs and good meat.

So if she gets those 4 and Lori gets another lamb, that'll leave me with 14. I think I might be able to handle that.

If you can't find any eggs...

just look in the big round bale of hay. In the middle, where the sheep made a perfectly good sized hole. Just for the hens to lay all their eggs in.

Freya is getting better!

This is her udder this morning. The right side is full of milk now! The cats and chickens are getting it. I'll try it in about a week. She had a lot of antibiotics and other things. The left side is getting smaller and less hard. I am trying to get as much out of it as I can. It's real thin and brown. I'm rubbing comfrey salve on the udder twice a day.It's looking so much better.

This is her 3 weeks ago. Can't even see the right side.

I sure do hope this clears up and her udder is ok.

240

Ugh, this is not going as well as last time. I have only lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks. I guess the bread has got to go too.

My grand daughter Coryn took all these pictures. She saw my camera one day and asked to use it. She has takes several hundred pictures so far. And I think they are all so good.

This is Coryn. She's 15 and the middle child. Like me. She cut her hair and did the bangs. I love her.

Mommas gone wild!

So that lasted til about 10 oclock last night.

My husband asked me if there were supposed to be any sheep next door in the yard. No, they were supposed to be out back with the goats. Well, there are sheep in the yard next door.

So I got dressed again, in my dirty ole farm clothes, ran outside, and sure enough, there'a all the crazy momma sheep, standing at the little gate that leads to the pasture where all the screaming lambs were.

So went ahead and put the darm mommas back over there with their poor little lambs. Who, by the way, were doing just FINE earlier!

Don't they all look so happy together?????

We went out back to see what happened. So this gate was just laying flat on the ground. They had picked it up and thrown it down on the ground...

and got to this cattle panel, that I had just like this. And proceeded to move it to the middle of the yard.

So now, they are all back together again, after a very loud stressful day (for me!). I am putting a sign out front in a few minutes. I have them on Craig's list in Chattanooga, Atlanta, Knoxville and Nashville. Plus on face book. I just might have to take them to a sale barn. And I really do not want to do that.

Just TOO many sheep!!

Time to wean.

So yesterday, I decided I would separate the lambs from the moms today. I called my friend Craig for some extra hands. He came. I got everyone in the stall with feed. Then I handed each lamb to Craig and he went to the other stall. My husband opened the door for him. And Kansas was supposed to be inside with the lambs to keep them from going out when the door opened. Well, it worked til the 3rd lamb came in. One lamb got out! So we left her til we got them all in. We had to take the wire off the top half of the door so he wouldn't have to open it, just put them in through the top. So when we got them all in and just the one lamb was still out, we started trying to round her up. Well, she went right through a hole in the side of the wall that I had there for the chickens to get in when I had the door shut. It was just big enough for her to get in with the other lambs!!!! So that went better than I anticipated. It's REALLY hard to catch just 1 lamb!

Got the mommas out and into the very back pasture, where the goats are. Kind of far enough away but they can still hear the lambs. I left the boys with the lambs to take care of.

Amarillo and Annabelle will not leave the fence here. They are just making it worse for their babies. I told them they'd thank me later. All the others are in the barn, where it's cool, just laying there taking it easy. Like moms without kids do!

I hope this won't take to awfully long for them to get used to the idea that this is a good thing! The poor mommas are so worn down right now. There are a few of them that keep getting sick with barber pole worms. So I hope this will help them to get better. The lambs are 3 months old now. I've never done this before, but I thought I better do it now, so they ewes will start looking better. 

Sheep and lamb sale!

 These lambs have got to go! They are 3 months old. I have no room to separate them for weaning. And the poor ewes are wearing down.

I have 14 lambs. 7 ewes and 7 castrated ram lambs. I might keep a few of the lambs, but really don't need to.

They are all so cute. And I named all the rams after hobbits and elves. How stupid of me! I really want to keep Bilbo. He's the biggest boy and so funny! He's Cameron's.

Then there's Darla's boys, Frodo and Sam. I might keep Sam too.

Then Amarillo's boys, Merry and Pippin. I love their faces. I might keep Merry.

Then Campbelle had twins, a boy and girl. His name is Tom Bombadill.

And Adalaide also had boy-girl twins. Named him Legolas.

Then all the girls. I want to keep Galadriel, Elanor, Elin and Ella.

But then, I really have too many sheep. I have 8 ewes. So if I kept 6 lambs, that's 14. Still too many. UGH!

They are all SO cute. And sweet.. But they do need to go.

This is Cameron. Last night, she busted through the fence to the garden, down below the big garden. There were about 6 sheep in there. And, my husband had taken the fence down by the road a few days ago. I just about had a fit when I saw them down there. I didn't care that they were in the garden. But there was no fence to keep them from the road! So I finally got them all back across the the driveway to the North pasture. Where they will stay for awhile.

I might end up selling her too. But she's Bilbo's mother.

So, if there are any readers close by me, or know anyone looking for nice wool and meat sheep, please let them know. I really have too many sheep! If I had known last year that I wasn't going to be able to use the pasture next door anymore, I would never have bred these ewes.