I've never succumbed to "chicken math;" I am happy with a small laying flock and no rooster. I have occasionally indulged in a little sheep math, but have admirably – in my opinion – reined in most of my inclinations due to limited facilities and a desire to stay happily married. This year, with a bountiful (for me) lamb crop, I find myself regularly reviewing my flock numbers. I started 2023 with nine sheep, added eight lambs, lost two adults, traded a ewe lamb* for a ram lamb, sold a ewe and lamb**, and have one last lamb to leave by early August. That should leave me with an even dozen, which is a net gain of three. Not too bad, but like pounds, adding three every year would quickly cause me to outgrow my jeans capacity. Come spring, shearing, micron testing, and lambing (if the little boys prove up to the job) will help me determine which of this year's overwintered lambs will stay on and which may be sold***.
*On Sunday I completed the trade for my new ram lamb. A friend picked Bailiff and me up in her Tesla X(!) and Bailiff, unconscious of the luxury transportation, cried loudly the whole hour-plus ride to Black Sheep Gathering. And probably continued to cry while we all shopped (my friend brought two other people), but the spaceship car is equipped with 'dog mode' climate control so Bailiff could stay comfortably cool on a hot day. I had just enough time to proxy-shop at the Jenkins booth for six other people (and score a Shetland Horn spindle for myself) and find a small family fiber mill willing to accept fleeces onsite (one for a customer and uncoated Broadway's too-trashy-to-sell fleece for myself). Then, at the official closing of this year's BSG, I was able to take Bailiff to her new owner's trailer and say good-bye.
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| Ed Jenkins with Ravelry member Uté, who made a last-minute trip from Germany! |
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| Uté brought fiber snacks for Jenkins friends, so it inaugurated my new Horn |
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| One of my friend's acquisitions |
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| Gorgeous clematis at the entrance |
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| One final shot with my beautiful Bailiff before we went our separate ways |
**On Wednesday, Bree and Blackjack were picked up to join the fiber flock started by Berlin, Boomer, and Sarai (who later died) last year. I didn't get any parting shots, but their new owner sent me some heartwarming photos.
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| Traveling to their new home in style in the back of an SUV |
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| Boomer and Berlin checking out the newcomers |
***After Bree and Blackjack left, I spent Wednesday afternoon trimming feet, picking fleeces, evaluating, taking photos, and getting coats on my last three 'naked' sheep – Bench, Bonnie, and Bitta. I figured out that our empty wood/hay trailer made a great place to do all this! Sanson got coated when he arrived last Thursday, and I cleaned up and coated Bijou and Bauble well before that. Good thing, too, since I turned them out with mom Blaise in the grassy strip between barn and arena and they found the 'sticky weed.' 😱
I finally got the last of my vegetable starts planted. A neighbor had some extra soil and filled my leaky stock tank, in which I planted four tomatoes, two ground cherries, and two sweet peppers and surrounded with wire for protection. My little sheep stock tank garden is growing gangbusters; I need to get it protected before a deer discovers this tasty buffet. My garden deck pot is producing steady snacks of sweet pea pods, and has several green tomatoes, too.
One more thing that got surrounded with wire for protection:
I had noticed a little Oregon-race dark-eyed junco flying up out of the grass near the hen house several times while I was moving around doing chores. At first I thought it was a fledgling, but when it kept happening I got curious and looked around. I couldn't believe this tiny, perfect nest hadn't gotten trampled on by me or the dogs! I put our 'protective custody cage for chickens' over it and checked to make sure little mama didn't mind (she didn't). In the photo below, the location is that sunlit spot just below and to the left of the pop-door of the henhouse, between the driveway to the barn, the henhouse, and the hayfeeder for the wooded lot (just outside the photo on the right). Before this discovery sent me to allaboutbirds.org, I didn't know that juncos are ground-nesters!
If it's the hot season, it's hay season. Load #1 is in the barn; load #2 is waiting to be unloaded. ALL hay has to be inspected by Chuckie. 😉
Farewell June, from . . .
8 comments:
Fun post :-)
June ended well, Sara!
Wow, I never knew Juncos nested on the ground either! Learn something new every day.
Aw, such sweet photos of Bree and Blackjack at their new home.
I hear you about evaluation. I'm constantly doing that with my goats. It's always on my mind, it seems.
Such a great photo of you! Glad you got to go to Blacksheep. Any chance you'll be judging at Wisconsin this fall? It's like musical chairs with the lambs/sheep this year. I hope your breeding program goes really well in the coming year :-)
Sue, I don't know what happened, but at evening chore time yesterday, the junco was off her nest and there was just one egg. Rodent or snake? The cage was undisturbed, so nothing bigger. This morning there were two eggs, but I haven't seen the mother on the nest again.
It would be interesting to compare notes, Leigh. What I'm looking for in my Shetlands vs. what you're looking for in your Kinders!
Thanks, A. I am usually very camera-shy, but I actually like this one. No chance of me judging at WI again. That show brings in a judge or judges from the UK every year, but couldn't during the pandemic, so they used domestic judges. That was a great trip, though; I would love to go again!
Very interesting! Sorry to be so slow - I didn't find this post until I got home from the hospital. I'm glad you had a good time at BSG. That was quite a trip! Love all the pictures. Your new horn spindle is exquisitely lovely!
I'm sorry about the Junco nest. Has anything further happened?
Jeanne, I haven't seen the junco on or leaving the next since; it just sat there with two eggs. I finally removed the protective wire cage.
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