Waiting...

Our oldest daughter, Lara, has a ewe that's due to lamb anytime.  The dairy ewe that we share with Courtney McDonald is also do any day.  This is the hardest part for me - waiting.  Every did knows that the longest day of the year is not the winter solstice; it's Christmas Eve!  These days of waiting for the ewes to begin lambing are just as long!

Nature vs. Nurture

This will seem like a very strange posting, but try to stay with me.  I found a brass bolt in the back of my truck this morning.  It was stripped and had fallen out of a tool that I had repaired some months ago.  I started to throw it away, but then I heard my Dad's voice, and my Granddad's voice, saying "Save that for scrap - it's worth something."  My Granddad had a salvage yard in Southern California after World War II.  My Dad was an auctioneer - he has a barn full of great things that he's saved over the years.  Needless to say, I couldn't bring myself to throw away the bolt.

This made me think - is there something genetic in the Macon clan that makes us hang onto things?  Are we genetically inclined to being pack rats, or is this a learned behavior?  I don't know.  It also made me think about our livestock and our dogs.  Our sheep learn to eat certain plants - the lambs seem to learn from their mothers and from each other.  The ewes eat a more widely varied diet than the lambs.  Do they learn this, or is it genetic?  Our border collies possess tremendous instinct to go around the sheep, which seems to be genetic.  Some handlers I know, who speak without an accent in most cases, have a Scottish burr when they are working their dogs.  Is this because these dogs evolved on the border between Scotland and England and have heard a brogue for many generations?  My friend Roger has a border collie that came from Argentina.  She will sit when given the command in Spanish, which Roger has never used himself.

I've concluded that we learn much of our behavior, but our ability to learn and the ways in which we learn best are genetically coded in some way.  It's fascinating to watch.  Most ewes, when they have their first lambs, know exactly what to do.  Those that don't know how to be a mother don't last long in our flock - we need sheep that know how to do their jobs.

Here Comes Winter (Finally)

December's snow storm notwithstanding, the winter thus far has been a disappointment (at least in terms of precipitation).  If the forecasters are to be believed (and their track record isn't great), that will change next week - we may get as much as 6 to 12 inches of rain in the next 10 days, with 10 feet of snow possible in the high country.

This weather will present some short term challenges for us.  The ground will be so saturated that we won't be able to drive out to the sheep and goats (to haul water, replace batteries, etc.).  The sheep are well-equipped to deal with wet weather (their wool coats keep them warm), the goats are less hardy.  We'll likely be erecting shelter for them in the midst of the storm.  Wind and rain can also impact attendance at the farmers' markets.

Over the long term, these storms are exactly what we need.  The soil profile will be fully saturated, which translates to grass when the days grow longer and warmer.  Snow in the mountains means water in the reservoirs - essential to our summer irrigation season.

I'll admit - I love winter weather.  There will come a time that I grow weary of the mud and dampness, but for now, I'm looking forward to stormy days!

Taking a Break

I must admit that I'm taking guilty pleasure in last night's heavy rains. I had planned on cutting firewood and falling a rather difficult tree today. With the muddy conditions and continued threat of rain, I decided that I'd be safer doing other work. I enjoy cutting wood, but once in awhile it's nice to take a break from the physical demands of the job. This morning I did my banking, got my financial record-keeping system organized for the coming year, and worked on my internship program. I'll still get some "outside time" - we'll move both groups of sheep onto fresh feed this afternoon. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the excuse to stay inside by the woodstove!

Bonk Burgers

We enjoyed Bonk Burgers night before last - actually ground lamb burgers using a recipe created by our friend Bob Bonk from Snow's Citrus Court. Here's what we did:

1 lb ground lamb
Splash of Snow's Citrus Court Zesty Mandarin Vinaigrette
Two Spicy Ladies Couscous seasoning (to taste)
Crumbled feta cheese from Dedrick's Cheese

Combine ingredients, form 1/4 to 1/3 lb patties and grill over direct heat for 5 minutes on each side. Serve with hamburger fixin's!

Bonk Burgers were great - we highly recommend them!

The Great Livestock Guardian Experiment of 2009 - Part II: Courtney and Lucy in a Tent (by Courtney McDonald)

Continuing where I left off ... we sadly had to return Chester to Dan. Now I had 18 ewes in my care in the pasture, hopefully ready to lamb over the next few weeks. Leaving them without a guardian was out of the question, so I decided (with Dan's approval) to set up my tent in the pasture and guard the sheep myself.

There are coyotes out here for sure, as well as other predators. I have seen their scat around the barn behind the house where a group of deer were living before Chester came. I can hear the coyotes singing at night and I remember what coyotes can do to livestock from growing up in the country. I have learned from Dan that coyotes are somewhat lazy predators and will always look for the easiest meal possible. Even a girl with a flashlight is reason enough for them to go looking for dinner elsewhere.

At first (actually for the duration of my camp out), Eric thought I had lost my mind. Sleeping outside with the sheep? In my own mind it was an important learning experience. I really wanted to keep the sheep in our pasture. Having these animals at home 24 hours a day was going to round out what I was learning at the ranch as an intern. And to have the opportunity to do it was, well, when might this ever be possible again?

So over the next 32 nights Lucy, our dog, and I slept outside with the ewes. I had a high-powered flashlight by my side at all times. The weather was a little crazy during their stay; one night the wind and rain was so bad that I had to stay inside.

I learned all kinds of things about the sheep in the dark ... the most surprising of which was that they graze at night. I often awoke in the middle of the night when their grazing migrated to right outside my tent. The sound of their munching became a comforting sound. And every morning without fail, when I opened the tent the flock of ewes were laying as close to the tent as they could get, as though they knew I was there to watch over them. That's what I like to think, anyway - in reality I was probably just a convenient wind block.

Throughout this time, I was moving their grazing paddock every other day or so, along with the tent, and trimming and treating feet as necessary. After about a week a few of the ewes would come up to me to pet them, which I could never do before. Everyday I would walk through them to see if any were getting close to lambing.

One day, a ewe's udder began to fill, signalling that she was close to lambing. I watched here like a hawk, and what seemed like an eternity (probably a couple of weeks), she had a very cute mule ewe named Chiquita.

Two days later the ewes had grazed the entirety of our pasture, so it was time for them to leave. I was so happy to have kept them at my own house, and on top of that for a lamb to have been born there. I'll call it my "immersion shepherd" experience, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Getting ready to lamb

Yesterday, we made the last major preparation for lambing, which will get underway in earnest in about a month. On New Year's Eve, we moved the ewes to the Doty Ravine Preserve in Lincoln, where they'll stay until they are done lambing in March. Yesterday, we vaccinated all of the ewes and ewe lambs for tetanus, over-eating disease and other disorders. By vaccinating a month before lambing, we ensure that the lambs have some protection from these diseases, as well. We also trimmed feet on all of the lambs and moved each set of sheep onto fresh pasture. Now, we wait!