Yesterday morning I took Bronwen and Bramble out of the lamb group and put them out with the three adult ewes. I still need to roo/shear Inky; the cool spell we're having gives me more time. Her daughter Bramble's fleece seems to attract debris as badly as Inky's does, so when I get the chance, I'm going to pick out all I can and see if my size C coat will fit her.
That leaves the three little boys in the lamb group. Brava's brown boys will be going to a wonderful pet home soon, which will be a sad day for Blackberry. Can't put him with the ewes for obvious reasons, and can't put him with Braveheart and Browning because he'd get beat up! That's the DISadvantage of a small flock....
Most of today Braveheart and Browning have been tied along the wooded lot fence to trim the grass. (Brian has been outside to report any entanglement problems, of which there were none.)
Unless someone comes along with an offer on Braveheart, he's staying here another breeding season. Logistics for the ram I was buying became problematic, so I decided to go with what I have for this fall. Four-square, typey-tailed Braveheart will be put with narrow-based Inky and wooly-tailed Brava. Although I would love to get another Blanche from a Dinah and Braveheart pairing, I will probably let Blackberry have a chance to see what he can produce with Dinah; the results could be clothed in black, moorit, white, moorit gulmoget or black gulmoget!
After the inspector left and I turned all the sheep out, Lucy 2 moved in to scratch in the bedding. She has become quite the endearing fixture around here! Yesterday she squatted as I walked near, and let me reach out and stroke her back. This morning Brian caught her in the sheepfold, then had me hold her while he dug her a worm. She waited calmly with me, and ate the worm from his fingers like a regular pet. Brian tried to convince me to put her in with our chickens; call me crazy but I didn't. She's not ours, after all, and I'm afraid the other hens would pick on her, even though she hangs out on the other side of the fence with them most of the day. Mostly, I just like having her around, running free but choosing to be near.That's it for now at . . .
6 comments:
Welcome back from your trip. I have to say I love your horse camping posts! I'd love that. Great photos. Glad to hear you found some good homes for the lambs. Sometimes trying to keep small numbers gets tricky, I find that it is not the number of sheep, but the number of "groups" of sheep that can be challenging.
Blackberry is really handsome. I love his fleece!
Amazing. Most kind-hearted people pick up stray cats or dogs. You've acquired a stray chicken! Glad she's getting used to you.
Nancy in Atlanta
We acquired a stray Brown Chinese goose several years ago. She had been seen in the area for months and as breeding season came, she chose our house (and our gander)for her home. I didn't let her in with my geese until she laid an egg. She was a great mother and very well mannered - never aggressive. We later found her original owners and they were happy she'd found a good home here. I'd let Lucy in before she gets eaten by predators.
Becky, when Lucy wasn't waiting in her usual area this morning, a jolt of dread went through me, thinking she might have met her demise last night. Then, of course, I was kicking myself that I didn't put her in with the girls.... ("The rest of the story" in the next post. :-)
My husband was very interested that you use your sheep to trim the grass. One more reason to get sheep!
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