Shearing and castrating...

DONE!

Saturday was sheep shearing day here at Outback Farm! We usually shear in March, but with pregnant ewes, we decided to wait til the lambs were all born. Kind of wish we hadn't waited. But these guys will not have any more lambs!

I had them all in the back yard, waiting, for 3 days. Saturday morning, I fed them, then put the cattle panel up to keep them in this little corner.

Matt decided to shear them right in there.

We got Amarillo first! I was SO glad to get her sheared. It had been 14 months for her. It took a good 5 hours to get all 8 sheep done. He trimmed hoofs and I wormed them all. They all had very pale eyes and gums. And it was so hot too. It really wore them all out.

When the ewes were all done, we started grabbing ram lambs to castrate them. One by one, we got all 7 of them castrated! But it sure was horrible. Those poor baby boys laid flat on the ground for a few hours. I was going to put them all out back right after, but I had to wait a few hours for the boys to recover. I held them and petted them for a long time. But they are all just fine now. I am so glad to have both these jobs done!

Not too long after I got them all out back, it looked like a big ole storm was coming. The sky got all black and grey. The wind started blowing really bad. I had milked the goats a little early and put them up front. They were being a little mean to the lambs. Then I got all the sheep and lambs and alpacas in the barn and shut the fence so they'd all stay in for the night.

Well, I thought they were all inside. Til I saw 3 lambs and a momma up on the hill. They didn't seem concerned at all. So I got them down the hill to the barn, opened the gate and they all went right in! And none of the others went out. I was amazed.

I was taking hay and water to all the animals and it was lightening and thundering all around me. It was scary! And stupid. But I have to take care of my animals, right?

We made it through that crazy storm. But the power flickered on and off for awhile. There were big trees down all over the place, from here to Tn. Real strong winds. And it was all over the country, apparently. Crazy weather. I hope everyone made it through ok.

Now on to some more projects...

Babies!

Sam and Rosie have 4 babies that I can see. There could be another on the other side. They had 5 last spring and they got so big that one of them fell out and was dinner to one of the cats. Poor baby. I love Barn Swallows! But my goodness, these birds and I are going to have a head on collision one day. Me going in the milk room and them flying out!

And today I was going to check my bee hives and saw a Mockingbird fly from the little tree beside the bee yard gate. There's been a nest in it but I thought it was an old one. I have always cut branches out of the tree and there's also a wild rose in it that I whack on all the time. Then the sheep are out there and they eat the leaves. The nest is only a few feet off the ground. But aren't these eggs beautiful? My favorite colors together. I hope they make it. I still have 2 old cats and I've seen a few strays cats around lately.

I also have a redbird couple nesting somewhere near. They come around in the morning when I feed the chickens. I gove them sunflower seeds too. Then of course all the sparrows.

And a few days ago I saw another favorite bird in the apple trees as I was leaving. The American Goldfinch. I LOVE them. So lots of birds around. And I am not planting a single flower this year. For the birds or the bees. And I see the hummers are back too. I need a new feeder for them. My old one had lost all the yellow filter things and honey bees were going up in the feeder and drowning.

Oh sheep!

I had planned on leaving the sheep in the side yard til Thursday morning, then putting them in the back yard, where they will stay till they get sheared Saturday morning, then out to the very back pasture.

Well, I should know better than to make any type of plans where sheep are in them.

Last evening, I was in the studio and I heard lambs whining. Lots of whining. I looked out the front door and saw sheep out in the front garden. And lambs NOT in the front garden, but running along the fence that separates the yard and garden.

So there went those plans.

Here is a picture of the fence that goes from the yard to the garden. This is what I have to do to keep it closed. There's probably 1 1/2 feet between the gate and the fence post, so I have to put that 4x4 landscape timber in between, then wrap the chain around all that, then put the shearing stand in front of all that. Fun, huh?

Well, the ewes decided to change my plans up. they all pushed the landscape timber out of the way (I think the stand had been moved and not put back) and went on it. They didn't tell the lambs though. And of course, lambs being lambs, were not paying attention and doing lamb stuff. When they realized mommas weren't around any more and on the other side of the fence, they all had a little lamb fit.

So here I go, the crazy shepherd, trying to get the lambs out there in the garden. Had to put up little fences and other things so they would only have one way to go. Got them all in the garden, finally.

This is the gate where they went out into the pasture our neighbor let us use for years. But not anymore. So I put some fence up and this piece of tin, and a board to prop it up. And there's a roll of fence that I'll use to corral the lambs to get them to go back out. Because they always seem to go the other way when I want to move them.

So this morning, I opened the gate to get the sheep to go to the back yard and it went pretty good. Had about 10 lambs that we had to herd. Then they all went to the back yard and that's where they will stay til they are sheared.

We will also castrate all the ram lambs  and get that job done.

I mowed the garden and side yard this morning. Then went out to where I want to put the stanchions and mowed it real good. We got our old refrigerator from our oldest daughter yesterday and put it in the milk room to hold all this milk I'm getting now. It takes up a lot of room in our fridge.

So slowly, we are getting more things done around here.If only the sheep would do what I want them to do! I really need a Border Collie to help me.

And the alpacas are out back with the goats. That way they'll be out of the way. And I will just about guarantee that Saturday morning, when we try to get the sheep in the corner where I hold them to be sheared, that every single little lamb will be right there with them. I'd be willing to bet money if I had any.