Evening chores in late November.   At dusk I fill the mangers with hay,   top off water buckets and call the sheep home for the night. The maidens charge at the sound of the dinner bell, while my llama Caitlyn approaches more leisurely. After bringing in the ewe-lings I make the rounds, checking water, filling feeders in each barn.  My last stop is at the top of the hill, a group of  leicester ewes who are grazing the last of the high pasture. As I head back to the barn, darkness sets  in.    Late fall marks  the end of grazing
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I  must admit, autumn is my favorite time of year.  By late August, summer’s familiar green backdrop becomes tiresome.   When September rolls around,   I love that each day adds a new splash color to the maples on the ridgeline or on the verge of the pasture.  As the month unfolds, the colors become more vibrant.   The sheep become giddy as the temperatures drop, springing across the pasture for no apparent reason. Attending the Eastern States Exposition (a.k.a. the Big E) is a favorite fall ritual for me and for many living in the Northeast and especially western Massachusetts.  Vying for
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September . . . . I took a break during afternoon chores to visit with Leucadia, my favorite ewe lamb (named for the southern California "surfdom" where my brother lives).  Time to catch my breath and reflect on recent events in this bizarre and busy month. Labor Day Weekend – I celebrated by tending to a ram lamb who had cast himself and nearly died out in the field.  A sheep can become "cast" when resting on a hillside or in a dingle or on any uneven terrain.  While reclining, this little guy had turned too far onto his side
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This morning I solved a little mystery.  For the past few days I have been finding weaned lambs that have strayed under the electric fence  into  the adjacent ewe grazing pasture.   The two groups have been divided  for grazing purposes for quite a while.    While it’s not unusual for a lamb to occasionally end up somewhere it doesn’t belong,  I was surprised three times this week to find a youngster or two amidst the adult flock.  Upon my arrival at the farm today,  I discoverd a pair of lambs happily cavorting through the hay field – definitely off limits
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I was ambushed by a pair of   hijackers while delivering water to the flock in the high pasture yesterday afternoon.  Meet Butch and Sundance, our Angora goats.  They  currrently share pasture in the uppermost reach of the farm with our ewes who were recently parted from their lambs.  Ordinarily, I do not like running the sheep with the goats.  The goats tend to bully the sheep, barring them access to the barn and the feeders.    I’ve spoken to many people who keep sheep and goats and almost everyone sees this goat-sheep aggression.  So I don’t think Butch and Sunny
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That’s right.  .  . I really like keeping busy.  Fortunately, I am also a somewhat unrealistic planner, which is a sure-fire way to keep really busy.  My tendency to absolutely pack my calendar without considering the juxtaposition of events nearly backfired last weekend when it became clear that lambs were imminent and I was booked for the Fiber Frolic.  Hence, while I  took Foxfire Fiber on the road this weekend,  Gale and Dick were my understudies here at the farm.  You may recall my vigils from earlier this spring and wonder why more lambs now?  This is summer,  lambs arrive
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Yesterday we moved the lambs and mothers from the paddock near the barn to the high ground up the lane.  The ground closest to the barn needs a recharge after a period of grazing; the fields above are a virtual sea of grass and clover.  Last night they camped out along the stone wall that runs beneath the row of sugar maples.  My tour of the pasture this afternoon revealed  the lambsters happily ensconced, not showing any signs of missing the shelter of the barn. With the ewes grazing nearby, the lambs lounged in pools of shade.  It was cool,
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Today Holly and I played wardrobe mistresses to a group of young ladies due to lamb in a couple of weeks.   Due to increased girth at late gestation, the gals were beginning  to look like sausages waddling around the pasture.   Even though they will instantly shed pounds with lambing within a few weeks, we went ahead and up-sized. I’m often asked about the jackets.  Our sheep wear them to keep their wool clean.  The Cormo sheep (above center) have fine, dense fleeces.  Any contaminants such as seeds, hay,  grain pellets, barn-yard grit become deeply embedded in an uncoated fleece and
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With each day the lambs grow more vigorous and more confident.  The milder weather means they are spending more time out of doors than inside the barn.    Before venturing outside in the morning, they  now dive into the hay served to the ewes for breakfast.  Although the lambs have their own separate feeding area in the creep pen,  eating from the adult manger appears to be the cool thing to do. Favorite after -breakfast activities : Rock Climbing Rock Nibbling Lamb races . . . Since we use portable electrified net fencing quite a bit,  one important early lesson
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We’re just back from Jackson’s ten ‘o clock feeding.   He has clearly outgrown his sweater which, with the sudden shift toward mild temperatures, he no longer needs.  We could hear the peepers in the dell behind the barn – a good sign that spring is here to stay. Tomorrow’s promising forecast  means the lambs can venture outdoors at last.   Stay tuned. In the meantime, the names of our last three lambs:  Aberdeen, Corona and Zuni.  Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
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