Simply Sheep

[Beekissed]

He'll make some beautiful lambs!

I'll be interested in what color he throws, especially with these colored ewes...his grandaddy was all black. Should be interesting!

 

[baymule]

Jo is quite the pretty ram! What a nice boy! I like the pen you have him in, another Beekissed creation!

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah...it's none too pretty but it carries my signature style of using whatever is on hand to build something else.

He's using the nipple cup gravity fed waterer just fine...just two sessions of putting feed in that cup got him to notice water comes from there. Building another one for the other pen...it's a little tricky finding the right fittings to convert the cooler to the hose fittings and not have any leaking.

Come spring I hope to be able to build a permanent barn/pole shed structure for the sheep. Will place it right where this temp penning is, adjacent to our storage shed.

 

[Beekissed]

Jo gave me a light butting yesterday...sort of a test or playful "where is my food?" move. Got disciplined for it by being caught, put on the ground and held there...I think he learned it, for now. He peed and gave me distance when next I entered the pen.

The next time, if there is one, will be a bit more terrifying, with loud noise and more ground time, with more pinning there. He needs to get a healthy respect for humans before he gets heavier than me...he's already well on the way to being stronger.

He and the girls are loving the kelp meal loose minerals. I have yet to pick up some second cut round bales for their winter and next spring's needs, though they currently have some first cut they've been eating on in square bale form.

Got a supplier I'm making inquiries with on the second cut bales. Good price, just need to see if the hay is good.

 

[Beekissed]

Cleaned out the garden and placed a lot of grass clumps, weeds, corn stalks, sunflower stems, pepper plants, tomato vines, etc. in the part of the pen that will get the most runoff, manure and urine.

Starting the foundation of a composting DL there and all those woody plants will help create air spaces in the litter pack. Soon I'll add a LOT of leaves, some hay, sticks, bark, wood chips and anything else that will compost well into that pen, just like I do in my chicken coops.

Hoping to get a jump start on the mud that will be there this fall, winter and into the spring. The DL should help wick the moisture into the bottom levels while keeping the top layer springy and fairly dry, while encouraging healthy microbial and bug life to grow, as well as keeping the soils loose and able to absorb the rains and snows.

 

[Mini Horses]

These rams & bucks are like teenage boys -- try you in a second! When I disciplined my bucklings, it was with a loud grumbly "aaaaattttt" (mostly from horse days. LOL) . It sticks with them and now, as physically grown but mentally unsure, if they even LOOK like they want a challenge, that loud sound makes them think again. They remember "mom rules!!". I'm certain you do similar. But, we need to teach the young handlers that voice sounds are critical....for good and bad actions.

I laugh when a goat or five get out and someone stops, asking to "help" get them back. Nope -- then call them with the "feed time" sounds and they race to get to me! It seems to astonish many. I thank them, then look for escape route. Actually, if I am the one who sees them out, I call from the field and they show me where the break is -- coming in the way they got out.

If science would research goat brains we may wipe out Altzhimers. Their memory & retention is amazing.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

It seems that city folk are as out of tune with animal behavior as they are with the food chain. I can't tell you how many folks have asked me:

Will chickens run away or get lost if I let them out?

Do I need to catch them and put them back into the coop at night?

 

[Beekissed]

It seems that city folk are as out of tune with animal behavior as they are with the food chain. I can't tell you how many folks have asked me:

Will chickens run away or get lost if I let them out?

Do I need to catch them and put them back into the coop at night?

If I've heard that one once I've heard it a thousand times..."How do you make them go back in the coop at night?" How in the world does anyone even GET an animal on their land without first researching and learning more than that? Why would anyone get an animal while being that unprepared?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

We see it all the time. I can't tell you how many times I've heard dog owners state: they will not hitch their dog up, or put him on a leash because it's "cruel" to restrain, or inhibit the dog's movement. No doubt, same folks who raise children without putting any behavioral controls in place.

Chatted with a gal a couple weeks ago. She got some baby ducks along with her baby chickens. She did ok with the chicks... but she was floundering re: management of the ducklings to meet their needs. She has a "swimming pool" in their enclosure. They are not fully feathered. Did some education re: waiting till the ducklings are fully feathered before letting them have a "pool", necessity of giving them enough water to immerse their heads, and suggested Poultry Nutridrench.

 

[Mini Horses]

It seems that city folk are as out of tune with animal behavior as they are with the food chain

So true.


But, then, I should have chocolate milk next yr -- brown doe And I named her Hershey!!! It's a given.


Many people don't even cook anymore. They heat & eat. Sad.