Gathered around

Summer is slowing down for me, the garden is almost gone, kids and lambs are weaned, for the most part, I leave the doe kids and ewe lambs with their mama a little longer than the males. They will eventually dry up and wean them without all the fuss. Time for shearing again, the fleeces on the does and kids will have to be skirted and picked through since they spent most of the summer in the barn in front of fans trying to keep cool. Time to move the sheep back to their winter pasture where they will have enough grass to eat all winter, hopefuly without hay. If we get enough rain out of this hurricane it could really help the grass grow when the cooler weather gets here. Feed prices go up every week so I am hoping there will be grass for fall and winter grazing. Sheep can make it on good grass but goats will need grain to keep them going. Sheep are like menopausal women, they have a slower metabolism, goats are like teenagers, eat all the time and stay skinny.

perfect weather for everything

Perfect weather for dyeing wool and mohair. Got many pots of a new colorway dyed and the drying racks are loaded. Have 5 fleeces skirted and soaked in water over night. Now that the weather is cooler it is time to start shearing the kids and lambs. The goats and sheep are feeling completely different, kicking up their heels and head butting. After feeling drained from working in the humidity all summer, I was afraid I was loosing interest in what I believe in. After a couple of days of cooler weather I am charged and ready to go.

Monday morning meeting

Sheep are enjoying the cooler and wetter weather and decided to have the Monday morning meeting at the water tank. I hope they are making plans to grow long beautiful fleeces to be shorn next spring. And keep them clean and healthy and irresistable so they sell easily. I have bred sheep for many characteristics over the years. Since introducing BFL in the flock I am close to my goal of a dog killing sheep. My BFL's hate dogs, good or bad dogs. The poor maremma puppy in charge of taking care of them is a bit confused at times. My next goal is to breed a sheep that will spin, knit or weave their own fleece, it irritates me that they sleep in the shade all day while I am skirting, washing, dyeing, carding, and whatever to earn enough money to keep them.

Young guns for hire

These kid bucks are ready for fall breeding. Just Friday they decided it was time. The cooler nights, the wind blowing, who knows, but they are ready for action. Twenty five in this herd to choose from, except for the 4 already chosen and a few will remain here to grow and will be evaluated for breeding next fall. A few unlucky ones, or maybe they are the lucky ones, will become wethers for fiber pets. I have two of them myself that I keep with a band of does, lots, I say lots of incredible fiber and they make great leader goats. There are also two proven two year old bucks looking for a new herd, great fiber and sweet personalities. They can also be delivered to SAFF in October or come to the farm for a look.

Today

Today was a perfect day. A cool morning rain gave way to a sunny cool afternoon that the sheep loved. This is Sunshine's lamb, when the weather is this cool you can see them growing. It is hard for an animal to grow and put on weight when the summers get so hot. And a ewe cannot make milk when she is panting all day trying to catch her breath. Then the parasites take hold and they loose what weight they have put on. It is a full time job raising lambs and kids in the hot, humid south. An experienced eye must look over each animal everyday and just see if anything is off. If there is something odd, time to act. Keep on schedule of worming, vaccinating and feeding, check a limping foot, why are those flies buzzing around that one. Like pieces of a puzzle, there are clues to the problem if you know how to see them.

The welcoming committee

They are always happy to see me. Probably because they know I am the one with the feed bucket, but I don't feed this herd in the warmer months. They don't need grain, just heats them up, and they have grass, what sheep are made to eat. Most of them like to be petted or scratched, but all of them come to see me. When I come around the curve in the road they somehow know it's my truck and run to the gate. I have a new truck and at first I could sneak up on them, it took about a week and they recognized the sound of it. There is a lot of traffic on that road, but they know the sound of their shepherd's truck.

Bring um home Kay

Got this band of goats moved to the pond pasture and the horses back to the sheep bottom pasture. There are lots of trees and weeds that the horses don't eat and the goats relish. Kay is as happy as the goats are about moving to fresh pasture. She spotted a chipmunk in a brush pile and swallowed it. While the dogs were away all the wildlife has been multiplying, Kay will get them back in order. Kay and Wolf are a brother and sister team that guard this group, they have been working for me about 11 years, they have been excellent guards and love their goats.  Sad to say they are getting old and Wolf is not able to put weight on his back leg. I was going to leave him in the bottoms with another group of goats but he managed to make the move with his band. Both of these dogs would give their life for these goats. I have been fortunate to have some really good guard dogs over the years allowing me to sleep at night knowing the flock is safe.