Friday, July 20, 2007

Fugitives!

When I couldn't see lamb silhouettes in the pocket pasture as I drove in our driveway yesterday, I turned the car toward the barn with a knot in my stomach. There, laying next to the OUTSIDE wall of their quarantine shelter, were the lambies, peacefully chewing their cud. Seeing they were in no danger, I put the car in the garage, unloaded my farmers' market purchases, and headed back down with my camera.
Both lambs got up, and Brava walked the few steps to the sheep pasture fenceline to browse in the hay that spilled out of the pasture feeder. I'm sure she and Braveheart spent lots of time schmoozing through the fence with the older girls; so much for quarantine! Since they arrived at Boulderneigh nearly four weeks ago, no big deal, right? Confession time. This was not their first nose-to-nose contact with the girls. Twice before the GIRLS have gotten loose, roaming freely for some time before discovery. I'm sure they checked out the newcomers in the quarantine pen when they had the chance. Sigh. I am a BAAAD shepherd. Fortunately, no one is showing any ill effects.

Getting the lambs back in their quarantine quarters (I don't trust three of the big girls not to flatten them if I put them all together) was easy with a bit of grain.Can you see the little burrs in their fleeces? Both are just LOADED with them; must be Queen Anne's Lace, although I didn't think it had seeded out yet. What a mess. If I'm going to show them at OFFF, I've got a LOT of picking to do. I hope they have some wool left when I'm finished!

That's it for now at . . .

3 comments:

Sharon said...

That looks like a great feeder - that green thing. Does it keep them from flinging hay all over the place??

Michelle said...

Not completely, but it works okay (it's a horse hay bag). I like the feeder Rick built in the sheep fold much better for keeping waste and mess to a minimum (I'll have to look back to see which post it's shown in), but the lambs won't be able to reach it for awhile!

Kathy said...

Nice looking sheep, there....what about covering them in coats to keep them cleaer before the show?