Drying Out
After 2 big snow storms we are starting to dry out again and the sheep are loving it. The forecast is a couple of nice war, days before rain and more mud. I think we’ve had mud season every month since November. I could do with some nice weather to grow some grass at this point.
Tractor Josie
Things were just starting to dry up here on the farm and Josie had her first couple of spring swims in the pond. Today she’s helping clean up 2 feet of spring snow. We love our Border Collie who can go with the flow. She enjoys farm life. there’s never a dull day on the farm and Josie is up for all or it.
Cogsworth
Sometimes I hear “I’m nit paying for a piece of paper” when I get Inquiries for feeder lambs. While I understand the thought, What people should understand is that Texel genetics are superior. This is Cogsworth, he’s just 1 month old. You can buy a less expensive lamb, but Cogsworth will provide 3 times the meat on grazing alone. If Cogsworth is lucky though, he’ll get to father the next generation of Texel’s or Texel Crosses that provide value in the genetics that the piece of paper represents.
Thats a Rap
It’s snowing on the farm and thanks to our cameras, I can see a lot of happy sheep in their cozy barn from my cozy yurt. More lamb pictures soon, but we had 42 lambs, 26 girls and 16 boys. Only 2 bottle lambs and our season finished with two lovely sets of twins from Geminine and Tsunami. No names yet for the babies.
Happy Lambs
We leave a heat lamb or two on in the creep feed pen for chilly lambs until hey all get a little older. It’s a popular place on wet windy nights.
Bottle Lambs
We are 27 lambs into the season and have our first bottle lambs. We’re exhausted but are getting closer to the end. 8 ewes left and hopefully more pictures soon as it’s currently all a blur.
Lot’s of Lambs
We’ve had a lot of lambs over the last few days and haven’t kept up with posting. We even got one with a big black spot. Welcome to the farm Limoncello, Sangria, Dice (black spot), Rice, Mai Tai, and Margarita.
Valentine’s Part II
2 more lambs for Valentine’s Day. Gnocchi welcomed a big ram and a little ewe. Welcome Gaston and Lumiere!
Valentine’s Lambs
Peony welcomed Pizza and Prosciutto for valentine’s day. They get to ware coats because it’s a little chilly being born when it feels 3 degrees out.
2024 Lambing had Begun
Finally we have lambs. Iris had the first lambs of the season, a ewe, Pretzel and a ram, Mustard. They’re settling into the new lambing barn. Can’t wait to see how this crop of lambs from our new ram grow.
Queen of the Bale
Josie has found out it’s fun to play queen of the round bale. Evie, the LGD says she isn’t willing to share her perch just yet.
Mustang Magic
It’s not often we get off the farm, even less often we get any actual distance from home. Having a blast with Amelia here in Fort Worth at Mustang Magic and Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
New Lamb Shed
We’ve been busy preparing for lambing. All the ewes are in and lambs are expected in January. The first wall of our new lambing shed/sheep barn is up. Hopefully we’ll have the lambing quarters done when the lambs start arriving and hope to add on in the future.
Tractor Lessons
Josie has been improving in her herding, but we haven’t done much lately with sheep. This morning she convinced John that it was time to learn how to run the tractor. Hopefully she’ll take to tractor work as well as she’s taken to herding.
Moving the Sheep
We move our sheep to fresh pastures every 3 days. We do this for their health and the health of our pastures. The pictures show the day we move them, the paddock after 3 days, and growth after a month.
The Last of The Hay
It has been a busy summer of haying here on the farm. It’s definitely been an interesting on that’s for sure. We have done 4 cuts on some fields, while parts of others never got done due to all the rain and wet areas. We are finishing up the last bit of 3rd cut this week and then we can get on to some other needed projects before snow flys in a few weeks.