Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

So glad that everyone survived although badly hurt. Surviving is usually preferable. People walking miles for help after an accident from shock certainly happens. It could have had bad consequences with that broken neck though. DS2 is sore, but luckily ok. Going back to work tomorrow.

He was not driving fast and said he woke up when he hit the tree.

For some reason we are having Santa Ana winds right now. Weather is very hot. Not good since it will dry out the forage and cause a bad fire season. Sheep are eating steadily, but we will probably have to cut. I don't think we will get any more rain. Severe change in weather can cause summer pneumonia so will have to watch sheep. 0439 already marked by Lewis. She still has her 85 lb. January on her and I didn't expect her to breed just yet. I have decided to pull the 2 smaller ewe lambs from the Field of Love and wait a couple months to breed them. They are a little on the light side yet.

Spending the day working on my sheep records. Transferring breeding and lambing info, weights, medical, maintenance records onto individual forms. Lots of repetition in records, but it will make record keeping easier. Also got a new lamb customer yesterday. Taking the 3 wethers to the butcher tomorrow. Have to go sew some stupid masks.

 

[thistlebloom]

You have my sympathy on the Santa Ana winds. I sure don't miss those. I hope you don't have a bad fire season. Don't miss those either.

 

[Bruce]

and said he woke up when he hit the tree.

I suggest he get a different style of alarm clock Amazing he went back to work today. I think a few more days of rest would be good.

 

[Ridgetop]

DS2 decided he would go back on Monday since no weekend jobs scheduled. His wrist was sprained so glad he is taking extra time. Line work is heavy work. No use messing up his wrist and having to be off work longer.

 

[Ridgetop]

SURPRISE!

This am DH got up early and on the way through to the bathroom looked out the window into the sheep pen. He called me to the window (dressing area and bathroom windows give a good view of the sheep pen. So does the bedroom window but you have to climb onto the bed to look out. ). Anyway, he claimed to see 2 little white spots on the ground inside the shelter which he thought might be lambs. Although I used my binoculars (they live on the bathroom windowsill for spotting lambs born in the night fold) to try to see the spots, no go. The fence was in the way, or I may not have had my eyes open yet since I had been asleep when he called me to have a look. zzzzzzz. We both got dressed and went out to the fold where there were indeed 2 newborn lambs. They were small, haven’t weighed them yet, but smaller than the huge lambs my ewes have been producing. Thus, my discussion with Mike CHS about light feeding during the last month of pregnancy.

A flurry of activity ensued with DS1 coming out to assist in removing the ewe and lambs down to the open jug in the barn. Bubba, until now, quietly observing became very protective. Josie the Mule, around whom all 3 dogs give a wide berth, was standing at the corral side curiously watching. Bubba went after her barking and growling and driving her back. JTM was shocked but obediently backed away.

Lewis needed a new crayon so he went in the sorting box. Bubba went in the adjacent pen to avoid tripping over him on the way to the barn. Then DH and I each carrying a lamb proceeded slowly to the barn followed by mama. Unfortunately, DH walked a bit faster and she got confused since there was only my lamb being held in front of her. She ran back to scour the night fold for the forgotten lamb. Reappearing with the other lamb quieted her and she proceeded into the jug where she immediately calmed down with her lambs. After feeding and watering the ewe, DS1 and I went back to replace Lewis' crayon with another color . He has already marked 4 or 5 of the ewes and one shocked wether. However, 2 of the marking are very faint. I wrote them down with a question mark to indicate uncertainty since he might just be affectionate. We replaced the mild weather crayon with a hot weather crayon since our temps soared into the high 90’s after turning him out last week. When that happens the mild weather crayons don’t last. The blue mild crayon was nearly worn off. We replaced it with a green hot temp crayon. Since 2 of the ewes he marked were the 6 and 7 month old ewe lambs, they might not take the first time.

The 2 delightful little surprise lambs are twin ewes. Naturally I want to keep them to further my breeding flock, especially since their mother GLD7041 is one of my favorite and best ewes. Keeping good records with a marking harness is essential, but we could not remember her being exposed to a ram after her lambing in September. Now what? Who was the father? One of the September born ram lambs? The would have been 2 months old, technically able. This was not a good thing. I could keep them and breed them to a registered ram and register their progeny as half bloods, but I paid good money for registered sheep. Registering them like that would set me bak 3 years. Sending 2 ewe lambs our of one of my best ewes for meat was an unpleasant thought.

Just as essential as a ram marking harness are good written records. I jot everything down on my calendar and keep my old calendars each year in a file. I have found that thinking you can rely on your memory is a hideous trap into the mire of confusion and despair! Consequently, I have kept all my livestock notes on calendars for any years. The earliest calendars I have are in the appropriate 4-H boxes belonging to my children along with their record books.

This obsession with keeping written records of livestock doings has proven to be fortuitous. The 2 new lambs are twin ewes. Who is the sire? I have 3 rams. Did one escape? We couldn’t remember turning 7041 out with a ram in November. Lewis was the clean up ram we used on everyone 2 months after removing the other rams from their ewes. Lewis’ lambs arrived between February and March. We had pulled him out of the flock and he had been with his buddies on the Field of Celibacy for months. Could these lambs have been sired by one of 7041’s 2 month old ram lambs? That would be bad.

Going back through my calendars, I found the note where we had castrated the early ram lambs at 6 weeks. I also found a notation that GLD8040 had been marked the end of November by Lewis. This proved that Lewis was still in with the entire flock until December. We did not remove him until the September and October ewe lambs were 3 months old (to avoid unfortunate pregnancies in too young ewe lambs!). RELIEF! I also found the notation where we replaced the fencing for the pen that is attached to the creep pen. That would account for me thinking that those ewes had been in a separate pen. At that time there was only the field, since the fence dividing the pens was down. Lewis was turned in as a clean up ram with the entire flock. We figured with 1 and 2 month old lambs on them the ewes would not breed right away. Wrong! Apparently after covering all the open ewes he had a last fling with 7041.

Mystery solved! The newborns can now be registered! They are not fatherless waifs, but the daughters of my beautiful Lewis, that sly dog! Just yesterday I had noticed GLD7041’s huge girth, and wondered at her improbable rotundity. Was she distended with a huge worm infestation? I was planning to reworm her 2 months after Lewis finishes covering the ewes. I did not think she had worms since she had gained 27 lbs. in 3 months, and her body condition score was 3.0. Anything is possible with livestock though, so I ordered some Ivermectrin, planning a second round of worming about 2-3 months into their gestations. Now I need to do it asap since lambing usually causes an explosion of worms in the gut.

DS1 said that Lewis must think himself quite a stud! He only had to glance at GLD7041 and she gave birth a week later!

Now we just have to watch the other ewes in case they cycled with 2-3 month old lambs at side. Only GLD7088 and 7041 had 3 month old lambs, the others had lambs around 2 months old. GLD7088 gained 49 lbs. Lewis marked her on April 25. I will keep an eye on her and on GLD8040 who was marked the end of last December, as well as on April 27.

Dorpers are incredibly fertile. 7041 last lambed September 16. That was just 7 ½ months ago. She had twin rams then and has now produced twin ewe lambs. Her first lambing was a single ewe lamb. She turned 3 January 17, 2020. Her first lamb was produced in November 2018. She was 10 ½ months old. In the past 2 ½ years she has produced 5 lambs. Apparently she has decided to practice accelerated lambing on her own!

This summer my 12 year old grandson wants to learn how to use his microscope identifying worm eggs. Thanks to Bay we can have family bonding over worm eggs. We are both excited. However, when I suggested a Science Fair project he might like to use his experience categorizing worm eggs and write an accompanying paper on the life cycle of worms and the financial damage they can cause to livestock raisers, he declined. He stated his next science project would probably be on some form of robotics or computer aspects. Disappointing.
Here are the newest girls. Healthy and happy with their suddenly slimmer mama.

 

[Ridgetop]

I have been having trouble writing in the reply box. I tend to write long book length postings which might be the problem since after about 3 paragraphs the machine slows down, sometimes stopping altogether. I have solved that problem by typing everything in my word files, then cutting and pasting. I type 100 wpm and it interrupts my train of thought when it slows down to 5 wpm pacing the word on the screen! LOL

 

[SA Farm]

He has already marked 4 or 5 of the ewes and one shocked wether.

Sorry, but that made me literally laugh out loud - poor shocked wether

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Miss @Ridgetop,

Yesterday I stumbled across a YouTube channel I had not seen before and I immediately thought of you. IIRC, you and your husband are planning to move to Texas sometime next year. If so, then this YouTube channel is for you, as it will help you understand and maybe even speak like the other women in Texas and elsewhere in the South. The name of the channel is "Southern Women Channel" Here is a link to their latest video:

Also, while I was there visiting the channel, I ran across a video that I think you, Miss @B&B Happy goats, would appreciate:

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Baymule]

Congrats on the lambs, further congratulations on figuring out the baby daddy. Yep, those ewes will breed with practically newborns at their side. I have one poor ewe that I have allowed that to happen not once, but twice! Shame on me, shame on her for being a wanton hussy. She bred back at SIX WEEKS postpartum. Not this time! She is under forced time off!

 

[farmerjan]

Thank you @Senile_Texas_Aggie for a barrel of laughs...... never saw those videos before but sure got a kick out of them.