Let's see, so far I've had two bales of haylage delivered for the winter. Next Friday I'm having four round bales delivered and scattered about the fields. Scored that at $30 per bale! Each bale is about 1000# each and should last a LONG time.
But before that I need to purchase some tarps to wrap them in to keep them rain/snow- safe as well as. What I do is keep the bales laid out on the round side, wrap them up in the tarps and undo the sides for the sheep to eat from. This keeps the hay bunched together and dry and the sheep can eat at leisure. I also find that they are less wasteful this way them if I kept them on the flat and took off the bottom ties.
Also on the agenda is to find some firewood too and get that put up. This winter is supposed to be nasty so I need to get 'prepared' with heat and food for the animals. Now that I have a dry place to store dog food, I can stock up on that too.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Scored!
Well, for many years I've been looking for some 10' chain link panels that were no bigger than 4' and this weekend SCORED! On CL I found four, 3' x 10' chain link gates/panels!!! They also had a 16' panel that I would have loved to bring home but I didn't think I could safely attach it to the top of the S-10/canopy and bring it home. Would have been nice though. So, yesterday, after picking them up and bringing them home I hauled them out to the left pasture and made my regulation sized (10 x 10) free standing pen! At 3' they are tall enough for my sheep and easier to haul around! Yeah Team!
Today, when I muster up the energy, I need to put up the 4' field fence to cross fence off the regulation sized field.
Today, when I muster up the energy, I need to put up the 4' field fence to cross fence off the regulation sized field.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Happy Birthday
Happy 7th Birthday to the Courtney-Jack pups: Ezra, Cash and Neo as well as the rest of the
nine pups born.
The Rain is here
Well, I guess it's Fall. It's been raining all day. The heavy stuff. The stuff that makes working outdoors pretty much a non entity.
Yesterday the guy that came to mow the pastures down got pretty much of it, but the stalks of some of the Scotch Broom need either a chainsaw or handsaw to take them out. But I now can see all the way to the far fence next to the road and see the sheep hunkered down under the big fir tree during the rain. They came briefly out during a not so wet spell to eat but went back in when it started to pour.
I'm thinking that I'll need to get shelters for the two rounds of hay so they have a dryer place to eat. I'm thankful that I don't have the mud issue like I had before. The sheep and dogs are far cleaner now.
This morning, my neighbor Nancy and I went over to Steamboat Island Goat Farm and picked up some cheese. I bought a little bit of Feta - YUMMY; and she bought some of that as well as some cheddar. The owner and I chatted about sheep vs goat milk and such. It was interesting to share knowledge. I also talked with him about the wonders of having sheep dogs (which he doesn't have) and that a good trained dog is worth their weight in gold when it comes to moving stock!
Anyway, A pretty much non productive weekend. Granted I have been moving my data to my new 2 TB hard drive - getting a lot of stuff off the laptop to free up space there and hopefully have it run a bit faster. And found a Database program that I may get some ideas about in setting one up in Access to track my sheep flock.
Yesterday the guy that came to mow the pastures down got pretty much of it, but the stalks of some of the Scotch Broom need either a chainsaw or handsaw to take them out. But I now can see all the way to the far fence next to the road and see the sheep hunkered down under the big fir tree during the rain. They came briefly out during a not so wet spell to eat but went back in when it started to pour.
I'm thinking that I'll need to get shelters for the two rounds of hay so they have a dryer place to eat. I'm thankful that I don't have the mud issue like I had before. The sheep and dogs are far cleaner now.
This morning, my neighbor Nancy and I went over to Steamboat Island Goat Farm and picked up some cheese. I bought a little bit of Feta - YUMMY; and she bought some of that as well as some cheddar. The owner and I chatted about sheep vs goat milk and such. It was interesting to share knowledge. I also talked with him about the wonders of having sheep dogs (which he doesn't have) and that a good trained dog is worth their weight in gold when it comes to moving stock!
Anyway, A pretty much non productive weekend. Granted I have been moving my data to my new 2 TB hard drive - getting a lot of stuff off the laptop to free up space there and hopefully have it run a bit faster. And found a Database program that I may get some ideas about in setting one up in Access to track my sheep flock.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sheep - New Boy In Town
When I bought the Soay last year, I purchased three ewes and one ram. Ramsay thought he was in heaven. All the girls to himself. Until I moved and forced him to live with the the other ram I had, an American Blackbelly. Granted this guy was bigger then Ramsay, but he wasn't going to let that bother him one bit. So that ensued a fight, constantly. And Ramsay, being half the size of the American Blackbelly, won hands down anyway. So, Mr. AB and his girlfriend found a new home. I was thrilled with the lambs that he produced. They were beauties, but didn't do well on the wet land that I'm on now.
Ramsay's first lambing produced four ewes and one ram (now a wether). And since I can't breed him back to his daughters I needed to find another semi unrelated ram. Semi I say because with Soay sheep and the lack of numbers in the gene pool, there isn't much to choose from if you want a high percentage of British or pure British. Later this summer I added three more older ewes. So I now have the six adult ewes and four ewe lambs.
Recently I was able to get a really nice ram of similar but distant lineage from eastern Washington. And he was a big boy compared to Ramsay. He was also from a line of Soay there are well known for their good structure and type, as was Ramsay. Comet is what you would call a self colored black. He is stocky and bigger than Ramsay. He is also a dominant ram. Upon his arrival I had him in relatively nice size pen. But later heard the pounding of what I thought was him hitting the walls. What it was was him smashing down the gate to get with the ewes. So much for separating everyone into two flocks. That would have to come later.
Comet was NOT impressed by Ramsay and had his number quickly. Comet proceeded to knock him silly as well as chase him around the pasture and away from what he now considered HIS ewes. Ramsay had already bred the Katahdin ewes so I know that everything else will be Comet's progeny as he will not allow Ramsay anywhere near them. Poor Ramsay. Next year he'll have his own flock of Comet girls to play with anyway.
It will be interesting to see what the girls produce. On ewe in particular had been breed to a different lineage twice and didn't do well. Out of four lambs, only one survived. But in looking at the other rams that she had been bred to, their pedigrees were similar to Ramsay and Comet. In fact one was a half brother to Comet. She consistently produced twins and those twins produced too. So, I'm thinking that the genetics of her and either Ramsay or Comet should be good. Time will tell.
Ramsay's first lambing produced four ewes and one ram (now a wether). And since I can't breed him back to his daughters I needed to find another semi unrelated ram. Semi I say because with Soay sheep and the lack of numbers in the gene pool, there isn't much to choose from if you want a high percentage of British or pure British. Later this summer I added three more older ewes. So I now have the six adult ewes and four ewe lambs.
Recently I was able to get a really nice ram of similar but distant lineage from eastern Washington. And he was a big boy compared to Ramsay. He was also from a line of Soay there are well known for their good structure and type, as was Ramsay. Comet is what you would call a self colored black. He is stocky and bigger than Ramsay. He is also a dominant ram. Upon his arrival I had him in relatively nice size pen. But later heard the pounding of what I thought was him hitting the walls. What it was was him smashing down the gate to get with the ewes. So much for separating everyone into two flocks. That would have to come later.
Comet was NOT impressed by Ramsay and had his number quickly. Comet proceeded to knock him silly as well as chase him around the pasture and away from what he now considered HIS ewes. Ramsay had already bred the Katahdin ewes so I know that everything else will be Comet's progeny as he will not allow Ramsay anywhere near them. Poor Ramsay. Next year he'll have his own flock of Comet girls to play with anyway.
It will be interesting to see what the girls produce. On ewe in particular had been breed to a different lineage twice and didn't do well. Out of four lambs, only one survived. But in looking at the other rams that she had been bred to, their pedigrees were similar to Ramsay and Comet. In fact one was a half brother to Comet. She consistently produced twins and those twins produced too. So, I'm thinking that the genetics of her and either Ramsay or Comet should be good. Time will tell.
Training
Now that I have the round pen up I have been back to training. Last weekend I started with Courtney and Harley. Granted Courtney is worked more often in real chores but she and I have become lax about stopping and sides and slowing down, so, back in the pen where we can work on that.
Harley, on the other hand, needs to work on the whole tamale. Last weekend was the first time in MONTHS that I had her out on sheep. So, she was a little wild to say the least. I had the rams in with her too and this of course doesn't phase her in the least. If they stop and try to press a point, she won't hesitate one iota to grip their muzzles and make them mind. Her lesson lasted about 20 mins before it was time to stop on a good note and leave it for next time.
We worked out again today. Courtney, Ezra and Harley. Ezra hasn't been worked for a while either. Ezra has issues about livestock (sheep/cattle/goats) facing her off and trying to fight her. Needless to say, per her breeding she is not going to take no for an answer and will give as good as she gets, which can get her into trouble on sheep. And since these ewes are a tad smaller and far more aggressive then the larger sheep, war ensues a lot if she presses them too much - especially when they have lambs. She is very good with sheep, mind you, but doesn't take being rammed lightly. She will stare down a ram or ewe from 10 - 15 ft away trying to get them to turn and move were she wants, but sometimes they just don't want to go where she's asking them politely to go and then all hell breaks loose. They ram her, she grips them, I yell at her to back off, they ram her again, she grips again. You get the picture.
So, today I worked Courtney on more finesse work. Stopping, rating, 'out' as in turning away from the stock (relieving pressure and slowing everything down) and moving to the fence line then going in the direction I've asked at a reasonably slow pace. Getting her to walk has always been like pulling teeth. At 10 yrs old we are still working at it. But she was getting it. Since she is in Advanced Sheep/Cattle, working at a slower pace bodes well for that work. Bodes well really for any work. But Aussies, being Aussies, are pushy and like to work up close and personal. Courtney is no different. She'd rather work the cattle pens any day of the week. To her, it's fun.
Ezra was next. Ezra can be very sticky. She has a lot of eye for an Aussie and has a tendency to get stuck in a trance when working ducks for the most part. Hence, one reason we haven't finished her Advanced Duck title. If one breaks off she will not leave it and will work it back to the rest of the group like a cowhorse, or die trying! Sheep can be no better. Today it was getting her to forget about the two rams that were on the other side of the fence (outside the round pen and hanging around just within eye sight) and work the flock that we had in the pen. This I could tell was stressful. She hates having things that are, in her opinion most likely, in disarray. All stock should be together. So, for a while it was the reminding her that we need to forget about those rams and work the ones in front of her. Then it was teaching or reteaching her the 'out' command. One side for dogs is always easier then the other. For her, going to my left (away) is easier for her. She re-learned quickly that as soon as I said 'out' and she turned her head away from the stock, I would say good girl and let her continue on.Otherwise, I would tell her no, out, and block / 'push' her away from the stock until she did. It took a while longer for her to release the pressure on her right (go bye) side. Finally she got it. Timing is everything. And with several good repetitions, we called it for the day.
Harley, the speed demon of her mother in red, took a quite bit longer to work. First it was just getting her to wear down so she would be more responsive to what I wanted. Then we worked on the out, stops, and turning directions, slowing down/rating her stock - which she does well WHEN she has tired herself out; mostly it's my bad. If I worked her more often she would be more responsive quicker, so that is something that I have to do.
But all in all she did well. I could stop her, call her away from the stock, sit her away from the stock and wait until the ewes were more rested before sending her out. After one bonk in the side by the flying rake, she then figured that even though I may be 60 feet away, I could still reinforce my agenda when I wanted to. It was a wake up call and then she started really listening and watching instead of just having her merry good time.
Next weekend I am hoping to get the fields mowed, rest of the fence up and do more training. Alas I do have a wedding to go to so my weekend will be cut short.
Harley, on the other hand, needs to work on the whole tamale. Last weekend was the first time in MONTHS that I had her out on sheep. So, she was a little wild to say the least. I had the rams in with her too and this of course doesn't phase her in the least. If they stop and try to press a point, she won't hesitate one iota to grip their muzzles and make them mind. Her lesson lasted about 20 mins before it was time to stop on a good note and leave it for next time.
We worked out again today. Courtney, Ezra and Harley. Ezra hasn't been worked for a while either. Ezra has issues about livestock (sheep/cattle/goats) facing her off and trying to fight her. Needless to say, per her breeding she is not going to take no for an answer and will give as good as she gets, which can get her into trouble on sheep. And since these ewes are a tad smaller and far more aggressive then the larger sheep, war ensues a lot if she presses them too much - especially when they have lambs. She is very good with sheep, mind you, but doesn't take being rammed lightly. She will stare down a ram or ewe from 10 - 15 ft away trying to get them to turn and move were she wants, but sometimes they just don't want to go where she's asking them politely to go and then all hell breaks loose. They ram her, she grips them, I yell at her to back off, they ram her again, she grips again. You get the picture.
So, today I worked Courtney on more finesse work. Stopping, rating, 'out' as in turning away from the stock (relieving pressure and slowing everything down) and moving to the fence line then going in the direction I've asked at a reasonably slow pace. Getting her to walk has always been like pulling teeth. At 10 yrs old we are still working at it. But she was getting it. Since she is in Advanced Sheep/Cattle, working at a slower pace bodes well for that work. Bodes well really for any work. But Aussies, being Aussies, are pushy and like to work up close and personal. Courtney is no different. She'd rather work the cattle pens any day of the week. To her, it's fun.
Ezra was next. Ezra can be very sticky. She has a lot of eye for an Aussie and has a tendency to get stuck in a trance when working ducks for the most part. Hence, one reason we haven't finished her Advanced Duck title. If one breaks off she will not leave it and will work it back to the rest of the group like a cowhorse, or die trying! Sheep can be no better. Today it was getting her to forget about the two rams that were on the other side of the fence (outside the round pen and hanging around just within eye sight) and work the flock that we had in the pen. This I could tell was stressful. She hates having things that are, in her opinion most likely, in disarray. All stock should be together. So, for a while it was the reminding her that we need to forget about those rams and work the ones in front of her. Then it was teaching or reteaching her the 'out' command. One side for dogs is always easier then the other. For her, going to my left (away) is easier for her. She re-learned quickly that as soon as I said 'out' and she turned her head away from the stock, I would say good girl and let her continue on.Otherwise, I would tell her no, out, and block / 'push' her away from the stock until she did. It took a while longer for her to release the pressure on her right (go bye) side. Finally she got it. Timing is everything. And with several good repetitions, we called it for the day.
Harley, the speed demon of her mother in red, took a quite bit longer to work. First it was just getting her to wear down so she would be more responsive to what I wanted. Then we worked on the out, stops, and turning directions, slowing down/rating her stock - which she does well WHEN she has tired herself out; mostly it's my bad. If I worked her more often she would be more responsive quicker, so that is something that I have to do.
But all in all she did well. I could stop her, call her away from the stock, sit her away from the stock and wait until the ewes were more rested before sending her out. After one bonk in the side by the flying rake, she then figured that even though I may be 60 feet away, I could still reinforce my agenda when I wanted to. It was a wake up call and then she started really listening and watching instead of just having her merry good time.
Next weekend I am hoping to get the fields mowed, rest of the fence up and do more training. Alas I do have a wedding to go to so my weekend will be cut short.
On the Farm - building arenas and training areas
Well, it's Fall and past time to get ready for Winter. Friday I had my first two bales of Haylage delivered. For those who don't know about Haylage, they are big rounds of hay, usually about 1000# each, plastic wrapped for storage. The difference between Haylage and regular Rounds is that the moisture content is higher, which is good and bad. The good is that sheep seem to prefer it because the stems are more tender - hence less waste, and they are usually leafier - depending on the producer. Bad is that it spoils easier if the casing isn't completely airtight. Hay rounds are same size, baled later and the moisture content is low plus it is only wrapped in twin which doesn't keep it from the elements. The added benefit of either haylage or rounds is the cost. One round costs from $24-45 each versus the small bales of 50-80# bales of hay for anywhere of $3 - 15 each. So, if you can do it, round are the most economical way of feeding sheep/cattle/goats. Horses - well they have too many issues with haylage and rounds so they pretty much get feed small bales.
I've fed Rounds before to sheep and cattle and they did quite well on it. This year I'm doing Haylage. There is a co-op of breeders in the area that uses this producer so I have high hopes that the sheep will do well on it.
Last weekend I measured out the main fields that I use for pasture and pounded in another cross fence line. I will wait until the field is mowed of scotch broom before putting up the fencing. This pasture is bigger then a regulation trialing arena - so it will give me more of an opportunity to train in a larger field then ever before at home. The other larger field I'm having mowed too but is really just for the sheep to graze and be sheep.
The weekend before that I put in the 60 x 60 training arena. Pounding in all the t-posts and laying the fencing temporarily until I know that is were I want it before I put in wood posts for ends and gate attachments. That is not something I'm looking forward to. Hard work. I hate digging post holes! Over the past weekend I scoped out the other back pasture and have been thinking that I could just as well put the round pen there instead and have the front section available for a larger area to work in but not as large as the arena. It would be about 130' x 135'.
I know that I should have done all this earlier this year but the weather hadn't been cooperative for the most part - either too rainy or too hot on the weekends. Lately it's been in the mid 60's so that's good working weather! For man and beast.
I've fed Rounds before to sheep and cattle and they did quite well on it. This year I'm doing Haylage. There is a co-op of breeders in the area that uses this producer so I have high hopes that the sheep will do well on it.
Last weekend I measured out the main fields that I use for pasture and pounded in another cross fence line. I will wait until the field is mowed of scotch broom before putting up the fencing. This pasture is bigger then a regulation trialing arena - so it will give me more of an opportunity to train in a larger field then ever before at home. The other larger field I'm having mowed too but is really just for the sheep to graze and be sheep.
The weekend before that I put in the 60 x 60 training arena. Pounding in all the t-posts and laying the fencing temporarily until I know that is were I want it before I put in wood posts for ends and gate attachments. That is not something I'm looking forward to. Hard work. I hate digging post holes! Over the past weekend I scoped out the other back pasture and have been thinking that I could just as well put the round pen there instead and have the front section available for a larger area to work in but not as large as the arena. It would be about 130' x 135'.
I know that I should have done all this earlier this year but the weather hadn't been cooperative for the most part - either too rainy or too hot on the weekends. Lately it's been in the mid 60's so that's good working weather! For man and beast.
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