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.