Lamb By The Fire

One lamb hasn't fared so well in the weather last night and I don't hold out much hope.

Got him by the fire warming. My youngest thinks this is incredible and we're struggling to get him to leave the lambs side.

I'm annoyed at myself as I noticed him being a bit doppy last night but when I lifted him and saw he had a full belly I just assumed he was kind of "milk drunk" as he was lay next to his mum and still walking around when I put him back. Noticed this morning the ewe was over the other side of the field while he was still lay where he was at 3 this morning when I did my checks. The constant wet weather has made him go down hill fast. 

Fingers crossed a bit of a warm by the fire might help him. He hasn't got his head back so that's a positive.

*lamb update*

I'm afraid the lamb hasn't made it.

When I brought him in the house I knew his chances were slim. You develop a sixth sense of when something is going to survive or not but you always try no matter how rubbish the odds.

I could hear that rattle on his chest, the tell tale sign of pneumonia. I gave him the right antibiotics and plenty of warmth and comfort but unfortunately I just didn't catch it soon enough.

Now I have to make sure the ewe doesn't get mastitis, as sometimes twin lambs have a side they drink from so the other lamb will only be pulling from the one.

Never sure how much I should share on the blog. But it seems right to share the lows as well as the highs, to save looking at it through rose tinted glasses.

It does leave you feeling shitty no matter how often you deal with these types of things.

I can remember spending hours in the lamb shed trying to get sickly ones to drink or pull through when I was a child.

Guess What's Back...

So yesterday I picked up the sheep from my fathers farm and transported them back to our smallholding. 

I'm down to 25 ewes now, but hopefully they're all in lamb and they're all proven mothers. I was worried I was going to get stuck getting them in the field, I'd borrowed a stock box from one of my dads friends and it would be embarrassing if I couldn't get it back to him. 

Luckily the truck proved it's worth and got it over the fields no problems, even with the rain the night before, it does make it easier to move sheep! 

We then had to move a few things around for the sheep, setting up troughs and a few other bits and bobs. The girls moved the one, but they did moan about it! 

Feeding time! 

The boy also showed how fearless he is of them and ended up down the bottom of the six acre field herding the whole flock back round to me on his own! He was so pleased to see his sheep back. when he saw them he held his hands wide and shouted "MY SHEEEEEEEPPPPPP!" with a huge grin on his face! A happy little two year old!

So today brings a day of fetching some more stuff back from dads, we even found a old hay rick in the orchard so I'm going to try and do that up to make it usable again as there still isn't much grass on the fields.

Children Helping Or Working

I had a playdate yesterday, where a friend came over for some cake and a chat (don't worry she brought her child as well). 

Rounding them up with granddad

We talked about lots of things but one I thought was interesting was when she asked me how I felt about children helping or working. 

Now I'm not talking about sewing Nike trainers in a sweat shop here, more helping around the house and in my case helping out on the farm and garden as well. 

Helping sort the sheep

Getting moody

I've never really questioned whether this is right or wrong, for me the children "help" and that's just how it is. Sometimes they want to, other times they don't, but they still have to pitch in, even the boy at 20 months. 

In fact yesterday was a prime example of this, as my dad had come over to help me wean the lambs and sort out a few cull ewes. I had the children all day so they had to be out there helping us, to start with they were quite happy as we rounded them up, but as we got near our second hour they were both getting bored, a little wet from the rain and obviously wanted to go inside. 

They didn't though - as I had to stay until the job was done, they found ways to amuse themselves, picking blackberries and playing on the bike, but they'd definitely had enough!

I said to dad that "I keep sheep differently to most, I normally have three kids in tow." 

He just said "Well that's how I did it as well".

We emulate our parents without even realise it sometimes. I remember so many hours of things like this, learning through osmosis. 

Done with the job for today! He just wants to go in!

The day before they put their own toys away in the sitting room while I hoovered, although I had to do much nagging to get them to do this. And yesterday they helped me bake a cake and some bread for lunch. Things like being able to send my eldest off to get herbs and veg from the garden for tea is really helpful as well. 

But don't get me wrong, them helping doesn't mean that my jobs get done any faster, in fact normally quiet the opposite! But it should make things easier when they're older and they're building skills and hopefully a work ethic which will last them a lifetime. 

But I'm glad that my children already help out, and they seem to enjoy it. The look of pride on my daughters' faces when I put them to bed and say "Thank you for helping today," says it all as they beam back at me and say "You're welcome". 

I don't want to spoil them by making their lives too easy! 

What do you think? 

Should I be making my children help me or just letting them play?

Shepherdesses

The most common question I'm asked is how do I fit so much in when I've got the kids full time?

Simple, they do it with me when they can.

Last night I got the sheep in to check them over. It's proper fly strike weather and the sheep were twitching enough to get me worried. 

Turns out they were absolutely fine, not a maggot in sight but it pays to be careful in this weather. 

The girls weren't going to stay inside, not when there's chance of a ride on the quad bike (the boy was napping and mum was home).

My younger daughter won't leave the bike if she can help it, she comes for the round up and beeps the horn whilst my eldest mans the pen and helps me funnel them in.  

waiting for another go on the bike

We always go for a ride after we've finished, just a quick blast round the field with one child shouting faster and the other saying to slow down!  

Not sure how old they should be before I get them their own motor bikes! I know I was always a little crazy on them! 

Who else can remember being a kid and going on the back or front of a motor bike or quad? I certainly can! 

Life And Death On The Homestead

If you've got more than a few animals then having some die is an enviable part of keeping them. 

I know I've posted before about involving the children in every aspect of what I do here and yesterday was no exception. 

The day before we'd had a triple born, the one wasn't going to be a very good lamb, it couldn't stand and faded pretty fast. I could have messed about with it and tried bottle feeding, but you get a feel for when these things will work or not. By the morning it was dead. 

When I picked my eldest up from school I mentioned this and both girls asked questions about what had happened. Then later when they came to help me feed the ewes they asked to see the dead lamb. I got it out from where I'd put it and laid it on the ground. They both studied it very hard for a few minutes before going off and playing in the trailer.

When we came back in they both told their mum, very matter of fact, that the lamb had died because the mother sheep had had three lambs and didn't have enough milk to feed all three. 

I was really pleased with how they dealt with the subject and how they reacted around the dead body of the lamb. I think children really pick up on the reactions of the people around them, around the animals I'm generally very calm, quiet and move softly (unless I'm trying to catch them) and the girls are the same, they make me really proud around the animals. 

They also know they're not people, far too many people anthropomorphise animals, the children can see that they don't have human emotions. A sheep loosing a lamb will forget about it very quickly, sometimes in a few hours, a sheep in a lot of pain lambing will evoke no emotion from a sheep sat next to it. 

They also know why we keep them and I tell them when we eat one that we've bred here, they seem to like to know where their food has come from even at their young age!

Started Lambing

And so it begins! 

I was almost starting to doubt myself as lambing was taking so long to arrive! 

Yesterday I had two doubles, both sets of lambs were healthy and strong and had full bellies when I found them, so I was happy. 

The kids were pleased to see them as well! 

Second pair found on my walk round the sheep at 12 last night.

If it continues like this I'll be a happy man! 

Good Advice About Sheep

Yesterday I posted a rather down hearted post about keeping sheep. 

Reading the comments was great, some from both sides of the fence and there was one that really struck a cord with me from "Mr Home Maker" It read-

"...and then there is the continuation of shepherding/husbandry skills from one generation to another - it's not all about $$"

That's it. 

To be honest I need to keep sheep for nothing more than that. 

I want my children to have a similar "extra" set of skills when they're adults to what was given to me. 

Sheep Shearing - Last Week

It's been a busy week so I've got a bit of catching up to do. 

On Monday I spoke to my neighbour, Ken, about getting the sheep sheared, as it was getting warmer and like every Shepard I was getting worried about fly strike and my animals over heating. 

He phoned back within a few minutes, the guys we used last year were busy but his friend was getting back into after 18 years as he had a young lad to train. 

I came back from work (I was only working in the village luckily) and set to getting set up.

It wasn't long until we had the sheep penned up and everything in the right place. 

I had the easy job of keeping the smaller feeder pen full of sheep to make it easier for the shearer to pull the next sheep out for shearing. 

The lad he was training was keen to learn the skill and really cared about the animals, he felt really guilty if he cut one but as I kept saying to him it's inevitable as they move about so much. They have a tough skin and even the pros cut sheep from time to time, we make sure that we treat any cuts straight away so they heal fast. I'm just glad there are some new people learning to shear sheep as it's the last thing I want to learn or do! 

The kids thought that shearing was great full. Alistair didn't really know what to make of it all, but I liked getting him in the pen with me - gotta start them young with stock! 

The girls liked it as well. There was a little pen right next to the sheep so they could safely get close to the action and see what was going on. 

So at the end of the evening and a few beers shared round to cool down from a hot and close June day, I had a flock of bald and happy sheep. You could see that they were so much happier now they could keep a little cooler. 

Anyone else who keeps sheep had theirs sheared yet?

Now who want to buy some wool?

My Eldest Checking The Sheep!

Before we started lambing the girls were both quite, understandably, scared of the sheep. They're much bigger than them and when you're only three feet tall I imagine they're quite intimidating. They used to hide in the trailer or shed and scream if they came near. 

Of course with my no fuss approach I'd very rarely intervene so they'd have to sort these hungry sheep by themselves, they leant to close the trailer gates by themselves fairly quickly! 

Fast forward a month and they've both become quite fearless. Put a crook in my eldest's hands and she becomes like a warrior princess, ready to charge at the sheep, swinging it around her head! 

I love the little video above where she's trying to catch a lamb to play with it. 

Fearless.

Shepherdess

My little shepherdess watching her flock.

All the things she's learning without even realising it.

Makes all the highs, lows, late nights, missed work and grumpiness worth every second.