Mike CHS
Herd Master
We are under an hour south of Nashville but the vertical solid rock landscape north of us will make it hard for developers.
Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
- Thread starter Ridgetop
- Start date
Coolbreeze89
Loving the herd life
No worries. I did escape the city after working/living in Houston for 20 years... I don’t have “country credibility” yet, but I have great respect for what is required to live a rural, ag life. I’m humbled often, but I am thankful to learn each day (both from personal experience and from people here at BYH/BYC, etc).
Bruce
Herd Master
They can blast anything. However that sort of terrain wouldn't be the first choice for development.
- Thread starter
- #54
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Bruce: Actually, there are days that I wouldn't mind having a food generator. After working side by side with the family, for instance, when we finally finish some back breaking task and everyone goes in to take a shower and they all turn to me and ask "So Mom, what's for dinner?" 
Anyway, the water pipe have nit been breached yet. One of our triple digit heat spells hit the San Fernando Valley where we live. Burbank had record breaking temps of 114 degrees. The car shoed temp was 116 driving home, climbing to 118 by the time we got home! Temps stayed in the 90's for the past 2 nights, although they usually drop when the sun goes down. Normally I open all the windows after dark and turn off the AC but last night decided to leave it on. DS thought I forgot so turned it off and during the night everyone woke up from the heat!
They have dug out around the pipe but it is so hot outside they don't want to work in it until the heat breaks. It was 100 degrees by 9 am today.
So I checked on the questions I was supposed to answer - here is more about us.
We have been married 47 years, and have 4 children of our own. Oldest is a girl, then 3 boys. DH and I started breeding rabbits for meat at our old house where we had great soil for a huge garden and fruit trees. I canned all summer. We also had chickens. We loved our old 1920 house and had spent 15 years rebuilding it. The glass panes fell out of the upstairs window frames as we were moving in. But although it had been across from a dairy when my grandparents bought it in the early 20s, the zoning had changed to apartments and we were a little 1/3 acre island in traffic central. DD wanted a pony, every girl's dream, so we moved to our current home on 1 1/2 acres in Shadow Hills in 1988. Ages of children then were 11, 8, 4, and 2. All had ponies and horses, were in 4-H, sports, school activities, etc. Normal round of life for a family with active kids and animals. Crazy and fun!
Originally we raised rabbits for meat but DH really got into rabbits, and we ended up running a semi commercial 100 hole rabbitry with show stock and meat sales for some years. We built a 24 x 36' pole barn for the rabbit. We just had a couple of Nubian milkers that were high productions (milk stars) for household milk, and our chickens. The garden and fruit trees I planted on the acreage died since the heavy clay and shale soil had a ph factor of 9! It took years of amending the soil to get it to grow anything and is still not productive. As the children got older, we added more horses, and they started exhibiting their goats as well as market animals. Our Fair allowed the kids to exhibit 1 animal of every species so of course, our children did! Ponies and pigs escaped their pens and invaded our house, baby goats were brought in to cuddle while watching cartoons and abandoned on the sofa when the children ran out to the pool! Chaos!
However everything settled into a routine as more animals were added to our flocks and herds. Baby goats in the numbers of 20-30 are no longer cuddly on the couch, but fun to turn out onto the field and run with. Market lambs must be halter broken and pigs taught to follow the prompting of pig canes. Christmas was easy since everyone got animal equipment that would have to be purchased anyway. Our lives revolved around milking every 2 hours, kidding and lambing schedules, 4-H Field Days, and activities, meetings, and Fairs. Record Books took weeks to get ready to turn in with their photo stories, etc. Those record books are still the things I rush to get when we have an evacuation - they have the children's lives in them. Shopping for those darn white jeans for the kids to show in for 4-H showmanship became a dreaded experience and if I ever saw any I grabbed them no matter what size since eventually they would fit someone! Gradually as we needed more space for the larger animals the rabbits were pushed to a smaller area. 2 dog attacks before we got our LGDs had pretty much destroyed DH's breeding program. He had been one of the top winning So Cal NZW breeders and had people buying breeding stock from all over So Cal. Losing 10 years of breeding broke his heart.
Underlying all of the livestock and horse stuff was the continual renovations to our house. The day after we moved in the kitchen cupboard doors fell off. We had bought it to renovate and remodel. The house as 1200 feet smaller than our old house but had the requisite number of bedrooms and enough space for us, plus it had a real garage! 30 years later we are still improving , repairing, renovating, it never ends.
In 2009 my cousin died leaving a 14 year old adopted daughter who we took to raise - 5th child and DD2. Sadly, by then 4-H as dead in our area. We still had horses and she learned to ride. She had her own story which was really sad and not for sharing here. Suffice it to say, that after mega counseling she has overcome many of her challenges and is currently going to college.
She is thrilled to be getting A's since she has some learning disabilities and never thought she could make it in college classes.
So, DD1 and DS1 were gone, DS2 had started college and DS3 was a senior in high school. DS2 came home from college to go to the County Fair and announced that he had decided that he could nit continue showing his goats in the open classes because he would be too busy with college. At the time we were milking about 24 goats. DS2 was the designated milker, while DS3 did the feeding, etc. I handled the kidding since I arranged to be home during those times. At the fair he put up a sign for herd dispersal sale. His goats were well know since he had been showing all over So Cal since he was 9, he was really into his bloodlines and breeding, and his herd had improved from a couple LaManchas to a huge herd of beautiful winning animals. He sold the entire herd to a breeder in Yolokern. When they picked them up (in 2 trailers) we were amazed that we had over 100 animals, counting the bucks, and kids. It had been a kid year. Anyway, DS3 announced that he was not going to bother showing anymore if his brother was not going to be with him. They were 1 year apart and did everything together. DS3 had ben much more only for fun with his small herd of Nubians while DS2 took it very seriously. The sheep flock - registered Dorsets, Hamps, and market crosses had been sold several years previous when the younger 2 boys decided to focus on their dairy goats.
Suddenly, we were stunned by the silence from the barn. We were no longer going through 1 ton of hay per week! We had been buying it by the field and bringing it in as we needed it. I was going to the mill 50 miles away once a month, buying loose grain by the truck load, bringing it home and the boys would shovel it into metal drums for storage. All of a sudden I didn't have 3 pasteurizers running 2 loads of milk all morning. I wasn't fixing milk buckets for 50 kids each morning! Talk about empty nest syndrome - more like empty barn syndrome!
Ok that is all for now - next installment - return to our roots - how we got more sheep!
Anyway, the water pipe have nit been breached yet. One of our triple digit heat spells hit the San Fernando Valley where we live. Burbank had record breaking temps of 114 degrees. The car shoed temp was 116 driving home, climbing to 118 by the time we got home! Temps stayed in the 90's for the past 2 nights, although they usually drop when the sun goes down. Normally I open all the windows after dark and turn off the AC but last night decided to leave it on. DS thought I forgot so turned it off and during the night everyone woke up from the heat!
They have dug out around the pipe but it is so hot outside they don't want to work in it until the heat breaks. It was 100 degrees by 9 am today.
So I checked on the questions I was supposed to answer - here is more about us.
We have been married 47 years, and have 4 children of our own. Oldest is a girl, then 3 boys. DH and I started breeding rabbits for meat at our old house where we had great soil for a huge garden and fruit trees. I canned all summer. We also had chickens. We loved our old 1920 house and had spent 15 years rebuilding it. The glass panes fell out of the upstairs window frames as we were moving in. But although it had been across from a dairy when my grandparents bought it in the early 20s, the zoning had changed to apartments and we were a little 1/3 acre island in traffic central. DD wanted a pony, every girl's dream, so we moved to our current home on 1 1/2 acres in Shadow Hills in 1988. Ages of children then were 11, 8, 4, and 2. All had ponies and horses, were in 4-H, sports, school activities, etc. Normal round of life for a family with active kids and animals. Crazy and fun!
Originally we raised rabbits for meat but DH really got into rabbits, and we ended up running a semi commercial 100 hole rabbitry with show stock and meat sales for some years. We built a 24 x 36' pole barn for the rabbit. We just had a couple of Nubian milkers that were high productions (milk stars) for household milk, and our chickens. The garden and fruit trees I planted on the acreage died since the heavy clay and shale soil had a ph factor of 9! It took years of amending the soil to get it to grow anything and is still not productive. As the children got older, we added more horses, and they started exhibiting their goats as well as market animals. Our Fair allowed the kids to exhibit 1 animal of every species so of course, our children did! Ponies and pigs escaped their pens and invaded our house, baby goats were brought in to cuddle while watching cartoons and abandoned on the sofa when the children ran out to the pool! Chaos!
However everything settled into a routine as more animals were added to our flocks and herds. Baby goats in the numbers of 20-30 are no longer cuddly on the couch, but fun to turn out onto the field and run with. Market lambs must be halter broken and pigs taught to follow the prompting of pig canes. Christmas was easy since everyone got animal equipment that would have to be purchased anyway. Our lives revolved around milking every 2 hours, kidding and lambing schedules, 4-H Field Days, and activities, meetings, and Fairs. Record Books took weeks to get ready to turn in with their photo stories, etc. Those record books are still the things I rush to get when we have an evacuation - they have the children's lives in them. Shopping for those darn white jeans for the kids to show in for 4-H showmanship became a dreaded experience and if I ever saw any I grabbed them no matter what size since eventually they would fit someone! Gradually as we needed more space for the larger animals the rabbits were pushed to a smaller area. 2 dog attacks before we got our LGDs had pretty much destroyed DH's breeding program. He had been one of the top winning So Cal NZW breeders and had people buying breeding stock from all over So Cal. Losing 10 years of breeding broke his heart.
Underlying all of the livestock and horse stuff was the continual renovations to our house. The day after we moved in the kitchen cupboard doors fell off. We had bought it to renovate and remodel. The house as 1200 feet smaller than our old house but had the requisite number of bedrooms and enough space for us, plus it had a real garage! 30 years later we are still improving , repairing, renovating, it never ends.
In 2009 my cousin died leaving a 14 year old adopted daughter who we took to raise - 5th child and DD2. Sadly, by then 4-H as dead in our area. We still had horses and she learned to ride. She had her own story which was really sad and not for sharing here. Suffice it to say, that after mega counseling she has overcome many of her challenges and is currently going to college.
She is thrilled to be getting A's since she has some learning disabilities and never thought she could make it in college classes.So, DD1 and DS1 were gone, DS2 had started college and DS3 was a senior in high school. DS2 came home from college to go to the County Fair and announced that he had decided that he could nit continue showing his goats in the open classes because he would be too busy with college. At the time we were milking about 24 goats. DS2 was the designated milker, while DS3 did the feeding, etc. I handled the kidding since I arranged to be home during those times. At the fair he put up a sign for herd dispersal sale. His goats were well know since he had been showing all over So Cal since he was 9, he was really into his bloodlines and breeding, and his herd had improved from a couple LaManchas to a huge herd of beautiful winning animals. He sold the entire herd to a breeder in Yolokern. When they picked them up (in 2 trailers) we were amazed that we had over 100 animals, counting the bucks, and kids. It had been a kid year. Anyway, DS3 announced that he was not going to bother showing anymore if his brother was not going to be with him. They were 1 year apart and did everything together. DS3 had ben much more only for fun with his small herd of Nubians while DS2 took it very seriously. The sheep flock - registered Dorsets, Hamps, and market crosses had been sold several years previous when the younger 2 boys decided to focus on their dairy goats.
Suddenly, we were stunned by the silence from the barn. We were no longer going through 1 ton of hay per week! We had been buying it by the field and bringing it in as we needed it. I was going to the mill 50 miles away once a month, buying loose grain by the truck load, bringing it home and the boys would shovel it into metal drums for storage. All of a sudden I didn't have 3 pasteurizers running 2 loads of milk all morning. I wasn't fixing milk buckets for 50 kids each morning! Talk about empty nest syndrome - more like empty barn syndrome!
Ok that is all for now - next installment - return to our roots - how we got more sheep!
Bruce
Herd Master
Similar here only it is "Dad, what's for dinner". And there isn't a lot of side by side working, not much volunteering to help. More like "no but I will" when asked "who wants to help with ....."Bruce: Actually, there are days that I wouldn't mind having a food generator. After working side by side with the family, for instance, when we finally finish some back breaking task and everyone goes in to take a shower and they all turn to me and ask "So Mom, what's for dinner?"
Empty barn syndrome for sure!
- Thread starter
- #56
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Yes, the good old days when the children could be ordered out to heavy manual labor, and rewarded with a rental movie, root beer floats. and 
popcorn!
Now we still have our adult unmarried children work with us, but since we are much older, the work seems more backbreaking than usual. It takes longer to get them out there with us. I think sometimes they work with us because they are afraid if we do the work without them we will get hurt and they will have to take care of us as well as do all the work. LOL
However, I no longer live in fear of the 65 year old rusted water pipes breaking under the house. I had D use WD40 on the rusted joints several times. The next day he was able to get them apart, replaced the tangle of old piping with a single run of PVC and repaired the leak. We now have water in the barn and to the outside areas again!
Sadly, in spite of constant watering, the 112 degree temps fried the sword ferns that we had to remove temporarily from the planter where the pipes were. Once we are sure that the leak is repaired and that no other lines are ruptured anywhere, DS will fill in all the trenches and eventually I will replant the flower bed. We have other flower beds surrounding the house that I designed when we poured our large patio. I have decided to concrete them in with salt finished concrete to match the patio. They are beautiful when planted but take too much water to stay nice. I will concentrate my limited watering on heat and drought tolerant plants and herbs and on the few vegetables I decide to grow.
Today the grandchildren saw a small snake crossing the path. They rushed to look at it while DH and I shouted at them to get back since we couldn't tell if it was a rattlesnake or not. The LGDs saw it too. They rushed to get to it before the children. After DH and I got the children back to where the dogs decided was a safe distance, I managed to get close enough to identify it as a California Kingsnake. I pushed the dogs off and picked up the snake to carry it to safety. I thought it would be dead but although it was slobbery, it was not bleeding anywhere, so hopefully it will live. I put it under the shed to be safe from the dogs. We have never had rattlesnakes on our side of the boulevard, but lots of Kingsnakes which eat rattlers. Our other dogs have always stayed between the children and the snake but kept their distance, and barked hysterically to summon me. I had never seen dogs jump on a snake like the Anatolians did. Erick Conard had told me that many Anatolians will try to kill snakes if they find them. It was a good lesson for the children about instant obedience when we ordered them to back off, since if it had been a rattler it could have bitten them. They were even more upset to hear that it would have bitten the dogs many times since the dogs would not have left the snake while the children were in danger distance.
I am going to tell the story how we got back into sheep after getting rid of all livestock except our horses.
By the time the last 2 children sold off their goats, we had already bought the adjacent 4 and 1/2 acre parcel from a developer. He wanted to grade off the top of the ridge starting at the property line (undermining our property), fill in part of the gully with a 12" culvert to divert the run off water onto our property, and the build 3 houses on a hillside only capable of holding 1 with the new horsekeeping restrictions. The houses wouldn't cut off our view, but 3 5,000 sf mansions right on our property line would severely impact our lifestyle. We had licensed our horses all along the property line but he was a problem. We kept our gate locked to prevent him from driving onto our property without permission but his constant phone calls demanding to be allowed to access his property by driving across ours and threats to sue us for better access to his property were making our lives miserable. Luckily we have an active property owners association dedicated to maintaining our horse areas and we were able to fight several of his bids for variances in the building restrictions. Finally we simply over paid him for the property after the 3rd time the planning department turned him down at a hearing. It was worth an empty bank account to finally have peace of mind.
So now we had 6 acres and where we did not have to cut much brush for fire control before we owned that property, now we did. Also, around that time we had constant winter rains resulting in massive growth of weeds and brush! First we fenced the property with welded oil pipe for the horses and covered it with no climb livestock wire. We turned our 5 horses out figuring they would graze everything down. Noooo, they peered into the gully and then stood outside the hay barn waiting for dinner to be served. We tried not feeding them for a day or so. The mule tore the door off the hay shed.
We put up a corral around the hay shed. Finally, with only ourselves and 14 year old Kassy to clear 4 acres, we summoned our children back from college to help us cut the brush. After cutting and taking loads of brush to the dump 2 weekends in a row, we were so exhausted one night we left the cut brush sitting in the trailer. That is when we discovered that as long as we cut it and dragged it to the top of the hill, the horses and mule happily ate it. At least it cut out the trips to the dump, we just had to drag it up a 60 degree slope for those equine freeloaders. I swear they were grinning to each other.
The next year DH hired a company to cut the brush - $5,000 later we had a clear field. The next year it cost $3,500. Then late rains came and we had to cut again.
DH was clutching his checkbook and hyperventilating, so I told him we would get some animals to graze the field. I thought I heard a snicker from the mule. DH wanted goats but we decided sheep were a better bet. They pursue a scorched earth policy which was what we needed for fire clearance.
It took 6 months to find a small family commercial Dorset herd who would sell me breeding stock. Most commercial Dorset herds are under contract to processors for all their lambs and cannot sell privately. Best of all, these were fall lambs - Dorsets are known for out of season breeding! The breeders were in No Cal but were coming south to judge a herding dog trial. They offered to bring the sheep down for the price of gas.
The day came when our 4 legged weedwhackers were due to arrive. The barn was ready for them. We would keep them in the barn for several weeks while they learned it was the place for hay and grain - ovine nirvana! The truck pulled into the driveway outside the barn. We lined up to herd the lambs into the barn. The lambs were in a wire cage built into the pick up bed. The breeder opened the gate of the cage and we braced to catch the lambs. 3 ewelings and a ram crowded as far away from us as they could get. 4 pairs of ovine eyes stared out, 7 pairs of human eyes stared back. I got a bucket of grain - there were no takers. This was an anticlimax. Finally it was decided that someone would have to get in and herd them out. All eyes turned to DD2. She was the youngest - it's our family tradition - in she went, protesting. The lambs crowded away from her. Finally one lamb broke and rushed for the gate. DS2 caught her on the fly and carried her triumphantly into the barn. Eweling 2 and ram lamb followed. The final lamb was determined not to come out. Finally DD2 crawled into the cage and the lamb came out in a rush. Hitting DS3 in the chest, it knocked him flat in the driveway with a hoof print in his forehead. As we all lunged for the lamb, she evaded us and dashed out onto the field! 4 acres - 60 degree slopes - massive gully with plenty of brush to hide in since it had grown back. In a lightning dash our high school track star DS2 raced to cut her off from the edge of the gully. 6 people joined in the chase to recapture the escapee. Shouting conflicting instructions, lamb and humans circled the flat acre on top of the ridge! 4 horses and the mule stood frozen in astonishment. Suddenly becoming aware that a fuzzy white thing - possibly a dog - was trespassing on HER PRIVATE FIELD Josie The Mule raced along in pursuit. Passing the humans she caught up to the lamb who had paused to seek an escape route. Seeing the big red molly approaching the lamb mistakenly took her for a rescue party, and ran to her. Big mistake! Josie kicked the lamb in the head. Horrified 7 people froze in place as the lamb dropped to the ground. One could almost hear Taps playing in the silence. One nice breeding ewe was now just a large pile of lamb chops and roasts! As we approached in silence, we were astonished to see the lamb get to her feet. Shaking her head she took a few stumbling steps. Before Josie could finish her off we converged. I drove off the murderous mule. DS2 picked up the lamb and we all retreated to the barn. Upon examination it was clear why the lamb had sustained no lasting injuries. As all sheep owners know, sheep's heads are solid bone throughout. 
With the lamb safely locked in the barn with her flockmates, everyone retreated to the patio for bandaids, cold beverages, and war stories of other hair-raising animal adventures. With a friendship forged between those who go through a hellish experience together and survive, our new BFFs departed for their dog trials.
Next installment, sheep, no LGDs, and predators. . . . (here insert Jaws soundtrack!)
popcorn!Now we still have our adult unmarried children work with us, but since we are much older, the work seems more backbreaking than usual. It takes longer to get them out there with us. I think sometimes they work with us because they are afraid if we do the work without them we will get hurt and they will have to take care of us as well as do all the work. LOL
However, I no longer live in fear of the 65 year old rusted water pipes breaking under the house. I had D use WD40 on the rusted joints several times. The next day he was able to get them apart, replaced the tangle of old piping with a single run of PVC and repaired the leak. We now have water in the barn and to the outside areas again!
Sadly, in spite of constant watering, the 112 degree temps fried the sword ferns that we had to remove temporarily from the planter where the pipes were. Once we are sure that the leak is repaired and that no other lines are ruptured anywhere, DS will fill in all the trenches and eventually I will replant the flower bed. We have other flower beds surrounding the house that I designed when we poured our large patio. I have decided to concrete them in with salt finished concrete to match the patio. They are beautiful when planted but take too much water to stay nice. I will concentrate my limited watering on heat and drought tolerant plants and herbs and on the few vegetables I decide to grow.
Today the grandchildren saw a small snake crossing the path. They rushed to look at it while DH and I shouted at them to get back since we couldn't tell if it was a rattlesnake or not. The LGDs saw it too. They rushed to get to it before the children. After DH and I got the children back to where the dogs decided was a safe distance, I managed to get close enough to identify it as a California Kingsnake. I pushed the dogs off and picked up the snake to carry it to safety. I thought it would be dead but although it was slobbery, it was not bleeding anywhere, so hopefully it will live. I put it under the shed to be safe from the dogs. We have never had rattlesnakes on our side of the boulevard, but lots of Kingsnakes which eat rattlers. Our other dogs have always stayed between the children and the snake but kept their distance, and barked hysterically to summon me. I had never seen dogs jump on a snake like the Anatolians did. Erick Conard had told me that many Anatolians will try to kill snakes if they find them. It was a good lesson for the children about instant obedience when we ordered them to back off, since if it had been a rattler it could have bitten them. They were even more upset to hear that it would have bitten the dogs many times since the dogs would not have left the snake while the children were in danger distance.
I am going to tell the story how we got back into sheep after getting rid of all livestock except our horses.
By the time the last 2 children sold off their goats, we had already bought the adjacent 4 and 1/2 acre parcel from a developer. He wanted to grade off the top of the ridge starting at the property line (undermining our property), fill in part of the gully with a 12" culvert to divert the run off water onto our property, and the build 3 houses on a hillside only capable of holding 1 with the new horsekeeping restrictions. The houses wouldn't cut off our view, but 3 5,000 sf mansions right on our property line would severely impact our lifestyle. We had licensed our horses all along the property line but he was a problem. We kept our gate locked to prevent him from driving onto our property without permission but his constant phone calls demanding to be allowed to access his property by driving across ours and threats to sue us for better access to his property were making our lives miserable. Luckily we have an active property owners association dedicated to maintaining our horse areas and we were able to fight several of his bids for variances in the building restrictions. Finally we simply over paid him for the property after the 3rd time the planning department turned him down at a hearing. It was worth an empty bank account to finally have peace of mind.
So now we had 6 acres and where we did not have to cut much brush for fire control before we owned that property, now we did. Also, around that time we had constant winter rains resulting in massive growth of weeds and brush! First we fenced the property with welded oil pipe for the horses and covered it with no climb livestock wire. We turned our 5 horses out figuring they would graze everything down. Noooo, they peered into the gully and then stood outside the hay barn waiting for dinner to be served. We tried not feeding them for a day or so. The mule tore the door off the hay shed.
We put up a corral around the hay shed. Finally, with only ourselves and 14 year old Kassy to clear 4 acres, we summoned our children back from college to help us cut the brush. After cutting and taking loads of brush to the dump 2 weekends in a row, we were so exhausted one night we left the cut brush sitting in the trailer. That is when we discovered that as long as we cut it and dragged it to the top of the hill, the horses and mule happily ate it. At least it cut out the trips to the dump, we just had to drag it up a 60 degree slope for those equine freeloaders. I swear they were grinning to each other.The next year DH hired a company to cut the brush - $5,000 later we had a clear field. The next year it cost $3,500. Then late rains came and we had to cut again.
DH was clutching his checkbook and hyperventilating, so I told him we would get some animals to graze the field. I thought I heard a snicker from the mule. DH wanted goats but we decided sheep were a better bet. They pursue a scorched earth policy which was what we needed for fire clearance.It took 6 months to find a small family commercial Dorset herd who would sell me breeding stock. Most commercial Dorset herds are under contract to processors for all their lambs and cannot sell privately. Best of all, these were fall lambs - Dorsets are known for out of season breeding! The breeders were in No Cal but were coming south to judge a herding dog trial. They offered to bring the sheep down for the price of gas.
The day came when our 4 legged weedwhackers were due to arrive. The barn was ready for them. We would keep them in the barn for several weeks while they learned it was the place for hay and grain - ovine nirvana! The truck pulled into the driveway outside the barn. We lined up to herd the lambs into the barn. The lambs were in a wire cage built into the pick up bed. The breeder opened the gate of the cage and we braced to catch the lambs. 3 ewelings and a ram crowded as far away from us as they could get. 4 pairs of ovine eyes stared out, 7 pairs of human eyes stared back. I got a bucket of grain - there were no takers. This was an anticlimax. Finally it was decided that someone would have to get in and herd them out. All eyes turned to DD2. She was the youngest - it's our family tradition - in she went, protesting. The lambs crowded away from her. Finally one lamb broke and rushed for the gate. DS2 caught her on the fly and carried her triumphantly into the barn. Eweling 2 and ram lamb followed. The final lamb was determined not to come out. Finally DD2 crawled into the cage and the lamb came out in a rush. Hitting DS3 in the chest, it knocked him flat in the driveway with a hoof print in his forehead. As we all lunged for the lamb, she evaded us and dashed out onto the field! 4 acres - 60 degree slopes - massive gully with plenty of brush to hide in since it had grown back. In a lightning dash our high school track star DS2 raced to cut her off from the edge of the gully. 6 people joined in the chase to recapture the escapee. Shouting conflicting instructions, lamb and humans circled the flat acre on top of the ridge! 4 horses and the mule stood frozen in astonishment. Suddenly becoming aware that a fuzzy white thing - possibly a dog - was trespassing on HER PRIVATE FIELD Josie The Mule raced along in pursuit. Passing the humans she caught up to the lamb who had paused to seek an escape route. Seeing the big red molly approaching the lamb mistakenly took her for a rescue party, and ran to her. Big mistake! Josie kicked the lamb in the head. Horrified 7 people froze in place as the lamb dropped to the ground. One could almost hear Taps playing in the silence. One nice breeding ewe was now just a large pile of lamb chops and roasts!
As we approached in silence, we were astonished to see the lamb get to her feet. Shaking her head she took a few stumbling steps. Before Josie could finish her off we converged. I drove off the murderous mule. DS2 picked up the lamb and we all retreated to the barn. Upon examination it was clear why the lamb had sustained no lasting injuries. As all sheep owners know, sheep's heads are solid bone throughout. With the lamb safely locked in the barn with her flockmates, everyone retreated to the patio for bandaids, cold beverages, and war stories of other hair-raising animal adventures. With a friendship forged between those who go through a hellish experience together and survive, our new BFFs departed for their dog trials.
Next installment, sheep, no LGDs, and predators. . . . (here insert Jaws soundtrack!)
Baymule
Herd Master
Keep it coming! Loving this!
greybeard
Herd Master
Tea, Earl Grey...Hot!
Bruce
Herd Master
Next time get some PB Blaster. WD-40 is really just a lightweight lubricant. Blaster eats through the rust.
- Thread starter
- #60
Ridgetop
Herd Master
I'm making a note since lot of things get rusted on. We use another kind of white lithium spray on some things since WD40 doesn't do as well.
