A Frightful Halloween (& A Regularly Scheduled Blog Post)

 When I went out to the barn this morning, found Sassy and Marble (ewes) in with the wethers and rams.  Then I noticed that Yeti, Peat, Spruce (wethers), and Oregano (ram) were missing.  I easily found them--with the not-being-bred-right-now ewes, including Henrietta (didn't I just say I wanted to keep her away from the rams!?!?!) and the ewe lambs (a.k.a. Oregano's sisters).  The gate between the two sections was closed, and none of the dividers were knocked down.  What happened is a bit of a mystery.

Marble, Yeti, and Peat were easy enough to move.  More than a little freaked out and ready to go back "home," they all walked through the gate with minimal help from me.  I caught Sassy, but Clove (ram) didn't want to let her go and he ripped my shirt with his horn.  One of my helpers grabbed him so he couldn't do any more damage.

Taking a ram away from ewes during breeding season?  Not fun. I wouldn't have attempted it this morning with a larger or more ill-tempered ram.  I went into the ewe section to catch Oregano.  Oregano came near me before both of my helpers were ready.  I grabbed him and held on.  It's been much worse (Mimosa, although one of the smallest sheep gets those honors), and no one is hurt.  But we didn't want to go through it again, so Spruce (wether) is staying in with the ewes today. 

Being that it's breeding season, there will be some unplanned pregnancies. At least anyone who is expecting be due in March, along with quite a few of the others, and not in July.

Back to the regularly scheduled blog post...

The newest lambs, Parsley and Tarragon, are learning about peanuts.  Parsley is a big fan, and Tarragon, although interested, is not sure if he wants to be pushed around by the bigger ewes.

Tarragon

Parsley & Hazel waiting in the snack line.

Cinnamon is a big fan of peanuts.  She's a big fan of any kind of food.  She squeezes into the creep feeder with Parsley and Tarragon every morning but can't seem to squeeze back out.  I've also seen her trying to nurse from her mother Elsie as recently as this week!

Cinnamon's pudgy belly hanging below her sheep coat.

Compare to Vanilla, her twin sister, who is wearing the same size.

Cinnamon doesn't quite fit in with the rest of her family. Elsie's offspring are alert...Then there's Cinnamon, who's more interested in eating. 

Sassy, Elsie, Vanilla, & Cinnamon

Barack O'Llama is enjoying his last week of being seven.  He'll be eight next week! 

Breeding Season Update

The "bachelor" rams --Oregano, Coriander, and Clove-- are bonding. They're hanging out with the wethers and watching the other rams leave.  If they knew where their buddies were disappearing to, they'd be jealous.

Oregano, Coriander, & Clove

 Cypress is just on the other side of the barn.  His job is the breed about half of the ewes.  Oregano doesn't know it yet, but Cypress's half sisters will be his responsibility. I feel a little bad for him; they will be a feisty bunch! 

Mimosa is getting a new coat, pronto!

Cypress with all of his ladies.

Cypress

Quite a few of the ewes are having a "vacation" year, including Henrietta.  Hopefully, she'll stay away from the rams!

Henrietta

Yeti is used to the comings and goings during breeding season.

Yeti ignores all the drama.

The Neverending Busy Season

Busy season hasn't stopped here. 

Having lambs in July hasn't made things easy.  Hazel's lambs, Parsley and Tarragon, did great at first.  As summer (and the drought) progressed, they started to struggle.  They are doing well now, but it has taken a lot of work.  They've been grazing the backyard from time to time and getting extra food and special treatment. 

I can't find a recent picture of the lambs, so here's Tiffany.

Meanwhile, Snowball became ill.  At first it just seemed like some easily treatable parasites (a very routine issue in late summer!).  When he started to lose weight quickly, we called the vet.  She ran a lot of tests and treated him for a few things while we waited for test results.  Snowball passed away the following evening.  We knew it would be coming sometime--he was at least twenty, which is at the upper age range of llamas--but we didn't expect it so soon.

My favorite picture of Snowball.

 We've been coating the sheep continually (well, it seems that way!).  More on that later...

We decided to have some of the sheep shorn in the fall this year.  We chose the Icelandic crosses, the longer-fleeced Shetlands, and a few who trashed their fleeces during the summer.  They all should have good fleeces in the spring...unless they destroy them. (No pictures of the actual shearing.  My photographers were easily distracted.)

Beryl, with Cypress, destroyed her summer fleece.

A few of the smaller ewes--like Mimosa and Myrtle--were too small after shearing to fit into any of the sheep coats we have.  I decided to make rather than order more.  The first batch pretty much disintegrated because the fabric was not tough enough.  We put the first of the second batch on Myrtle this afternoon, and hopefully, the tougher fabric will make a difference in their longevity.  

Myrtle is speedy, despite the leg she broke as a lamb.

You know you're fabulous when your ear tag and coat match!

This weekend, we put Cypress in with his ewes.  (Oregano will go in with his in about a month.)  So far, so good. 
 

Cypress

Cypress with some ladies...but not his!

The only crayon mark so far is on Mimosa's face.  Hmm.

Henrietta and a couple of her friends will be getting sheared at the Fulton Fall Folk Festival this year.   I'll put more information on the Sleepy Acres Facebook page later in the week.

Shh, don't tell Henrietta about this weekend!