Friendly help

Of course I didn't have my camera the other day when I was at the barn. Cute and funny things always happen when my camera is in the house.

I was walking by the pregnant ewe corral and saw one of the Muscovy ducks close to a ewe's mouth. The ewe had bits of grain on her chin and the duck was gently reaching up to clean them off (and eat them). The ewe seemed perfectly content to have the duck do this and so the duck continued until she felt the task was finished.

I've seen chickens get rides on the backs of ewes but that was the first time I've seen one of the feathered friends do something like that.

 

North Country Chevior Mules

We bought a Blue Faced Leicester ram a year ago and bred him to ten NCC ewe lambs.   The rest of our new acquired ewe lambs were still too small to breed but the ten were over 120 lbs so we felt they were okay for breeding.

When they lambed in May I was amazed at the size of the lambs.  They were lovely, very vigorous lambs and in minutes were up and nursing.  In no time they were bounding around.  They went out to the pasture sooner than the Clun Forest lambs mainly due to the fact we had the NCC lamb 6 weeks later so the weather was much warmer.

Spring Babies

On May 7th we had our first baby pigs born here at Wind 'n' Woolly.  I always said I wouldn't have pigs but after going to Ranfurly Farm in Chase B.C. to pick up a BFL ram I changed my mind.  they have Berkshire pigs and I saw them roto-tilling their market garden plot.  This plot is about half an acre and is surrounded with electric wire.  The pigs were busy rooting around and had the ground totally worked up beautifully.  So next thing I knew I had phoned a fellow and ordered three weaned piglets.  Two gilts and one boar.  They came home in dog kennels and when they got here were quite impressed with their new digs...literally digs.  Since then my husband, Worker Boy, has built them lovely pig pens and we even had a water hydrant installed so I don't have to haul water from the barn.

     We weren't sure when the girls were due to deliver so moved them into the barn in plenty of time and set up an area with heat lamps for the babies to get under.  I was amazed to go out to the barn one night and find my husband (I had woken up and he was gone and after a quick search realized he was at the barn) standing by Bess's stall watching her with her babies.  They were all wandering back and forth across her belly looking for "their spot" and it was quite frustrating for me to see one that had no sense of direction.  Finally they all had their fill and headed under the heat lamps.  I can't believe how fast they have grown.  Once the weather is nicer they will go out to the pen with lots more room for them to run around and play tag.

Three Little Pigs

We got three pigs last summer (Winston is not shown) and they are quite happy here. They are very tidy animals and keep their sleeping area very clean. Next time someone tells you your room looks like a pig sty take it as a compliment. Pigs are very clean and keep their bathroom area seperate from their sleeping area.

Chirk Castle, Wales

This little ewe was quite lonely with no friends to visit with. She was part of the "make your own nativity" at the Chirk Castel Winter Fair. Baskets of clothing and props were available for children to use to dress up be part of the play. There were no children in the stable when Garry and I were there so we visited with this little ewe for a while.

Chirk Castle, Wales

Garry and I spent most of a day at Chirk Castle in Wales. There was a Christmas Fair on and we enjoyed the entertainment, the food (Garry was pleased there were gluten free buns available), walking around the castle grounds and going to the stable to visit a sheep and two donkeys.

Way up on the hillside there were sheep grazing but too far for us to walk on that day. Isn't it lovely and green there?

Shropshire, England

Garry and I travelled to England in December 2011. We had hoped to find a farm with Clun Forest sheep but were not successful. We went to Oswestry, which is close to Wales, and asked several people if there were any sheep farms nearby. We got the same answer. No sheep around here. We were quite dissappointed. If we couldn't see Clun Forest sheep at least we'd like to see sheep, any sheep.

We took a long walk one afternoon and found ourselves on this narrow road. At one point I asked Garry if he thought any cars would come along and next thing you knew a car was approaching us. This road is so narrow that Garry and I had to squish against the hedge on the side.

We continued on and the road actually dwindled out to a path. Still could see tire tracks but it was even more narrow that the paved portion. As we went along we saw the hedges had sheep wire or farm fence on the back. I then saw wool on several strands of the wire. Where there's wool there's sheep. Continued upn a hill and saw a sign that pointed across a pasture noting a public path. Next thing we saw was sheep. Of course we knew we would. There was a stile to climb over and I was very pleased to find one on our walk. I have read in many James Herriot books about his climbing over styles and now I know what he was talking about.

Ducks and rain

We have had more rain this month than the last five years put together. Many parts of the province are in bad shape with farms and homes being totally under water. Here we are getting enough to keep everything muddy in the corral and lovely and green in the pastures.

Yesterday when "the guy" was driving by he called to tell me that our duck with babies was down by the slough. I thought that odd because I had seen her waddling about when I was last outside. Emma and I walked down to the slough to investigate and found a big white bird in the water but it was definately not our duck Tilly.

Miles and Maisy

We finished lambing in April. All our ewes lambed within 17 days which was the first time for us to have them all lamb in one cycle. Of course we have some very adorable lambs. Our three Cotswold ewes were bred to a Clun Forest ram and I must say they are about the most adorable lambs of the bunch.

Arlo the rooster

A friend gave me a beautiful Auracana rooster named Arlo. He is truly beautiful but not the passive, calm fellow I was led to believe. To go into the chicken area one needs to be armed with a broom or a big stick. Anything to help ward off Arlo's attacks. He will back away and pretend he is afraid but once turned away he charges forward and jumps in the air in order to get a good position for his spurs to dig in to the back of legs. It is not only painful it is also quite intimidating. I have taken to walking sideways to make sure I can see his advances. Several times I have forgotten to carry a stick and was armed with only a feed bucket which I have flung at him in hopes of scaring him off. It does help but he doesn't seem to have much of a memory so it happens again and again.

This morning I went to check on feed and water in all the chicken areas. I checked on the week old layer pullets and they are doing well. Then checked on the buff Orpington hens with their lovely, and truly passive, rooster. After that went in to see my dear little banty hen who hatched out seven lovely Auracana chicks. Arlo is good for something.

When leaving I got almost to the gate when Arlo came charging. I kicked towards him but missed. Drat! He quickly re-grouped and came at me again but I wasn't ready to kick so flung the bucket I was carrying at him. It isn't a big bucket, only about four litres so I didn't think I'd make contact and if I did it wouldn't hurt him that much. But wonder of wonders, I made contact. That will teach him I thought. Unfortunately I hit him harder than I thought I would. He shook, he trembled, he shuddered, and then laid down and sort of convulsed and then looked as if he was gasping for breath a few times and then dropped...dead. Good Grief, I killed him! I had only meant to keep him from attacking me and now...I'm a rooster killer. I felt bad but then though...well, I guess I don't have to worry about him anymore. I felt rather shaken up so came in the house for a cup of tea.

I had my tea and then got a few things done and then decided I had better go out and pick up Arlo's body, light a fire and cremate him. I got to the chicken yard, looked where I had seen him drop dead and there was no rooster. I wondered if a hawk had swooped down and taken him away to feed her family. I looked around and saw him laying in a heap about twenty yards from where he had been bucket beaten. I wondered how in the world he had gotten over there as I walked towards his body. As I approached him a very subdued and obviously nervous Arlo cautiously lifted his head and opened one eye. I couldn't believe it...he was alive. I think pretty shaken up but other than that he seemed to be making a rapid recovery. I will be interesting to see if he has acquired a new found respect for me or at least for buckets.

Shearing Day 2

This old gal shown here is ten years old and is in really good condition. I have several older ewes kept seperate so I can keep a close eye on them and feed them extra. I wasn't sure if this gal was bred or not but after she was shorn it was pretty obvious. She looks pretty good doesn't she.

Shearing Day

A yearling ewe enjoys the sun after she was shorn. The night turned very cold and we had to make sure they were all in under cover. Two days later we had a horrible blizzard so all the sheep were given extra grain. Then yesterday it was above zero. I hope this means March will go out like a lamb.

Preparing for shearing

We were getting ready for shearing day and setting up wind breaks and putting out hay bales. Emma helps hold this bale in place while we go and get the bale panels that go around it. She takes her work very seriously as you can see.

When we were finished the sheep were let back in and they dashed around checking the hay bales, the wind breaks, and clean straw bedding. They all seemed to be pleased with what we had done. what a relief.

Winter on the farm

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Fencing Day

Throughout April my Worker Boy seemed to be given the task of pulling me out of the mud. I got stuck going through the pasture, stuck on one of the grid roads that I didn't realize would be so muddy, stuck with the quad when I got too close to the slough. He'd get home and ask what was new and I would say "nothing, same old same old...I'm stuck again."



So you can imagine my delight when we were fencing and he got the tractor stuck. Well, not really delight be it was nice to know that I wasn't the only person who could get stuck in the mud. At least I'm not a stick in the mud as my Auntie Stel used to say.



Worker Boy had to call on our neighbour to bring over his big Alice Chamers (not sure if the spelling is correct) to lend some aid to the situation. Thanks Cal.



After the fence work was done I got into our truck to head back to the house and guess what...I got stuck.

Joshua and Fiona

Today we had three extra worker boys at the farm to help with fencing and other farm chores. Here Joshua was feeding little Fiona. Fiona is a Suffolk/Clun Forest cross. Her mother doesn't have enough milk for Fiona's big brother and herself so she lets me help out with a bottle a day. Fiona must be getting enough to eat because she doesn't finish all of her bottle now. Joshua was quite perturbed that Fiona didn't want to finish her bottle. He enjoyed helping feed her.

After he finished feeding Fiona Joshua headed for the hen building and collected the eggs. I think he counted twenty-seven eggs. We have Auracana hens and other breeds and Joshua seemed to enjoy picking up the green/blue eggs the best.

We had two fellows here from Bethany College, following a fabulous concert, and before I took them to town to get on the bus I fed them....green eggs and ham. Great thing is one of the boy's name is Sam and the other boy, Benjamin seemed quite happy to recite the Dr. Suess book Green Eggs and Ham as they ate. It was quite fun.

It's always nice to get the barn yard all cleaned up and mowed and what better way to get this done than hiring some help. We have several Clun Forest ewes with their lambs meandering around getting those hard to reach places the mower just can't get at. In no time they will have it all neat and tidy and we'll move them on to another spot that needs mowing.

We will also set up fencing around the house so the sheep can mow the grass down. Saves on fuel and also helps the grass with nature's Weed and Feed.

Ducklets

Mother Muscovey Duck hatched our her babies starting Monday May 10 and by Tuesday evening she felt she was done with it. She left three eggs un hatched so she must know they are duds. She took her seven babies around to the fenced in area on a little walk-about / farm yard orientation tour. She was smart enough to move them to an area that is fenced off from dogs, sheep, goats, where they will be safe.

Spring??

April 25th, 2010

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