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The Old Ram-Australia
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Hi Bay, its about 40 k m's "as the crow flies"to the fires, so i think we are "pretty safe"...T.O.R.
A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM
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Baymule
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The fires have made the news here. There is a film clip of a woman taking her shirt off to smother out flames on a koala and wrapping him up. He later died. Sad.
Hope the fires stay far far away from you.
Hope the fires stay far far away from you.
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The Old Ram-Australia
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G'day folks, a large fire had started away to the west of our farm several days ago in a National park,but yesterday afternoon it came out of the forest and started in open country.By sunset we could see it from the house it was about 30 kms from the farm and about 10 pm a small fire started about 10 k ms from us and about midnight we drove in towards Braidwood to access, but it had been contained (thank heavens)...From reports the fire is under control and no longer a "threat", it has burnt about 50,000 acs to date....We are expecting a wind change today along with the chance of some rain ,but next week will be "hot and windy " they say......The other day i rang a neighbor and said if he was in the path of a fire from the East he should move all his stock about the 2 kms to our place in "park" them in a pretty safe paddock of ours,which although there is not much feed the water will last about a week.....T.O.R.
Baymule
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Fires are terrible things. Fires take everything and leave nothing. I pray that you and Jenny stay safe and that the fires don't come near your farm.
Thanks for keeping us updated.
Thanks for keeping us updated.
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The Old Ram-Australia
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G'day folks,the fires continue to "ravage" the areas surrounding us.The largest one to the east of our farm now covers 250.000 acs,early in the piece it was coming towards us but a 3 day wind change has turned it back on itself and it will now not stop until it reaches the ocean.The fire to the west is now moving south away from us ,but is out of control and several friends of ours are in its path....We were alerted to two small fires which were quickly controlled over the last couple of days and the only" saving grace" is the fact that on the farms that surround us there is little left to burn because the livestock have consumed everything .....There is however a large patch of bushy lands near to the east which we must keep an eye on.
The flock is now condensed into two groups which we feed hay out to every morning ,but the need to cart water has ceased as both groups have access to dams with water in them.We are lucky that the weather has been cool ,but this is about to change we move through the weekend.The worst thing is, is the "bloody flies"who as soon as you walk out the door swarm all over you...Til the next update hope you are all doing OK as you approach your winter.T.O.R.
The flock is now condensed into two groups which we feed hay out to every morning ,but the need to cart water has ceased as both groups have access to dams with water in them.We are lucky that the weather has been cool ,but this is about to change we move through the weekend.The worst thing is, is the "bloody flies"who as soon as you walk out the door swarm all over you...Til the next update hope you are all doing OK as you approach your winter.T.O.R.
Baymule
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I'm sorry, but the "bloody flies" made me laugh. We have the delightful "bloody mosquitoes" 
Bruce
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I hope the fire can be kept away from people's homes and other structures!
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The Old Ram-Australia
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G'day gang,i have posted the following on our FB page and thought you all may have a view on the subject.Hope you find the ideas of interest.....T.O.R.
EARLY WEANING:Yes or No?
Many farmers i am sure are looking to this option at the moment,but here is my take in our current situation.As many of you are aware we are "transitioning" from a seasonal breed to a non-seasonal type,so here is my take on the situation. Previously we had a "window" for joining and if the ewes were not forward enough it impacted the lambing % and so removing the lambs early had merit so the ewes were forward enough for the next mating......I expect with the "new" breeds that they will not cycle until we get a break(point yet to be proven).Our future breeders are drawn from the top 25% of our ewe lamb drop and apart from the joining period the replacement ewe lambs are run right up to and including the arrival of the next lamb drop,so the following year when their own lambs arrive it is not a" surprise"....There is held within a "mixed age" breeding flock of ewes a vast array of flock knowledge and this is passed down from one generation to the next and so it would be natural to assume if the replacement ewe lambs lose contact with their mothers and the flock this new group will have to start from"scratch" to learn the lie of the land......If you draw a comparison between a 4/7 year old human child,which is suddenly taken away from their parents and deposited in a completely strange environmental what the social and emotional impacts are? So why would it not be different for livestock?......At present all the lambs are running with there mothers,Rams are in the two groups but next years lambing will be a bit" hit and miss" with regard to the planned outcomes i had in mind......So this is the plan going forward,we expect to be feeding the flock until the end of Feb at a rate of about 1000 kg of hay per week,(currently is better than average Vetch coming from South Australia) and this seems to be holding them "condition wise" OK.When we come out of this we will "cull " 20% of the breeders which may have struggled with the conditions and as usual the top 25% of the ewe lambs will be retained....I look forward to comments on the ideas and views expressed above and "don't" be afraid to put forward an opposing view.
EARLY WEANING:Yes or No?
Many farmers i am sure are looking to this option at the moment,but here is my take in our current situation.As many of you are aware we are "transitioning" from a seasonal breed to a non-seasonal type,so here is my take on the situation. Previously we had a "window" for joining and if the ewes were not forward enough it impacted the lambing % and so removing the lambs early had merit so the ewes were forward enough for the next mating......I expect with the "new" breeds that they will not cycle until we get a break(point yet to be proven).Our future breeders are drawn from the top 25% of our ewe lamb drop and apart from the joining period the replacement ewe lambs are run right up to and including the arrival of the next lamb drop,so the following year when their own lambs arrive it is not a" surprise"....There is held within a "mixed age" breeding flock of ewes a vast array of flock knowledge and this is passed down from one generation to the next and so it would be natural to assume if the replacement ewe lambs lose contact with their mothers and the flock this new group will have to start from"scratch" to learn the lie of the land......If you draw a comparison between a 4/7 year old human child,which is suddenly taken away from their parents and deposited in a completely strange environmental what the social and emotional impacts are? So why would it not be different for livestock?......At present all the lambs are running with there mothers,Rams are in the two groups but next years lambing will be a bit" hit and miss" with regard to the planned outcomes i had in mind......So this is the plan going forward,we expect to be feeding the flock until the end of Feb at a rate of about 1000 kg of hay per week,(currently is better than average Vetch coming from South Australia) and this seems to be holding them "condition wise" OK.When we come out of this we will "cull " 20% of the breeders which may have struggled with the conditions and as usual the top 25% of the ewe lambs will be retained....I look forward to comments on the ideas and views expressed above and "don't" be afraid to put forward an opposing view.
Bruce
Herd Master
How are the fires Old Ram? Heard this morning the one approaching Sidney is massive.
Baymule
Herd Master
I like the idea of running the ewe lambs with the ewe flock, even when the ewes are lambing. I do pretty much the same thing. I separate lambs at 3-4 months to wean them and let their moms get back in condition for breeding. If I put the ewe lambs back with the flock after weaning, I take them back out before I put the ram in so they don't get bred too young.
I castrate ram lambs because it is easier. If not castrated, I have to wean at 2 months old, then keep the ram lambs separate from the ewe lambs because at 2 months old, the ram lambs can and will breed. The little stinkers will stick their noses up in the ewes lady business at 28 days old!
I never thought about the ewe lambs learning by watching the older ewes lamb. That makes sense. What age do you breed the ewe lambs?
I castrate ram lambs because it is easier. If not castrated, I have to wean at 2 months old, then keep the ram lambs separate from the ewe lambs because at 2 months old, the ram lambs can and will breed. The little stinkers will stick their noses up in the ewes lady business at 28 days old!
I never thought about the ewe lambs learning by watching the older ewes lamb. That makes sense. What age do you breed the ewe lambs?
