Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

Mike CHS

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I want to do another soil test but the lime I put out last month is already showing some results. The small paddock in the picture was pretty bare up until a couple of years ago when I started adjusting the ph. I moved the main herd on to it this morning and also opened the gate where the bottle lambs stay. Maisy was in with them for awhile and when she headed out to be with the sheep, the lambs followed her on out. The lambs have spent some time with the herd in a small pen but they seem comfortable today being with the rest.

The senior ewes whose lambs we pulled last month seem to be drying up finally so we should be able to move their lambs back with the main bunch soon.

I cut the paddock in the upper right yesterday since the rye grass was getting woody enough the sheep wouldn't eat it. I'm going to over seed some of the crab grass on it after the grass dries out a bit and then run the harrow over it. There is a good stand of Fescue on part of it and I'll leave that along.

Main herd 14 May 2019.JPG
 

CntryBoy777

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Looks pretty good to me!!....I enjoyed sowing and growing stuff for the goats, chickens, and ducks....even tho I grew way more than we had animals to eat it and I had to cut it more...but, always liked the smells of the different things blended together....especially when it starts waving in the breezes.....:)
 

Ridgetop

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Love the smell of cut hay. Alfalfa is best, but any grass after that.

There is a good stand of Fescue on part of it and I'll leave that along.

Do your sheep like the tall fescue? I read somewhere (Ulf Kintzel?) that his sheep don't like the fescue and won't eat it until it dries out. Hos article also said that dried forage was higher in nutrition that green growing pasture. Apparently the green growing stuff has more water in it which diminishes the amount of nutrient that the sheep can take in - lb. for lb. The dried grass, pasture or forage has a lot less water so the nutritional value increases. I might not be saying it correctly, but hopefully it makes sense.
 

Mike CHS

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I'll have to check out Sir Percival for his registration name if we do register him.

Fescue isn't the favorite for our sheep but it keeps a good winter stand here so it has it's place. The only hay that they eat well is orchard grass but they waste more hay of all kinds than they eat.
 

Baymule

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If you ever watched the movie, The Green Mile, there was a squirrely wacko named Percy in it. Maybe that's why Teresa doesn't like the name.

Sir Percival sounds much better-he was one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

BJ grew up with Percy Sledge. He was working as a janitor because his record label wasn't doing anything with him. BJ introduced him to another label when his contract was up, and his career took off. He was taken advantage of, he sold his music rights for one million dollars. For someone raised as poor as Percy Sledge was, that was a huge fortune. Sadly, his music catalog is worth much, much more than that and would have paid his heirs for a long, long time. In his later years, Percy Sledge did small venues, night clubs and such, playing his music to make a living.
 

Mike CHS

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We have the bottle lambs cut down to about 16 ounces twice a day and they have spent most of today in with the herd. Maisy follows them around and stays close to them so there hasn't been any bullying going on from the older ewes.

Just before dark it was time for their last feeding and Teresa went out and just said in normal voice "Princess" and the Ma started as they came galloping back into the yard. We are leaving the gate open between the yard and the pasture so they can go whichever way they want to go. We were a bit concerned about them being accepted but it appears Maisy is taking care of that end. I don't know how "Dog to sheep" communication works but her following the lambs around has let the rest know that the lambs are off limits.
 

Mike CHS

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I had to go out and do a final check since this is the first time we have left the kennel gate open but I did plug in the heat lamp since that is what they are used to. The bottle lambs didn't bed down with the herd but came back into the yard. Maisy is staying in a position where she can see them and the herd which bedded down just below the yard.
 

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