The Escapee

Well here she is, the old ewe that escaped the slaughter truck. She was seen with another sheep on the highway, but so far I haven't heard anything more about the other one. Who knows how long this poor old girl was on her own. You can see in the photo she's got some swelling on her jaw. Maybe a bad tooth? But she's safe now and eating normally.

For me, this story started on Tuesday night when the sheriff's office called asking if I still had sheep. Right away the hair stands up on your neck when you get a call like that. Was I missing a sheep? Well, not that I knew of...I ran out and counted everyone as soon as I got off the phone.

The sheriff's office told me there was a sheep with a rope around its belly camped out on someone's deck about 1 mile away from me. She had climbed two flights of stairs and wouldn't leave. She had tags in her ears, so the first person they called thought she could be one of mine.

I know a gal with sheep who lives over that way. So I called her and she ran over and caught the ewe that night. My friend thought the ewe looked like a Shetland, being small with a curly fleece. I got a look at her the following night and realized right away she was NOT a Shetland. I thought she may be a Finn cross. She is not a tame ewe, especially after all she's been through. I got the numbers off her scrapie tag and made a few calls to the APHIS offices.

For as much as people complain about the horrors of the Animal ID's, those numbers led me right to the Wisconsin breeder who produced this sheep. I thought that was very handy. The breeder told me that she had shipped several sheep for slaughter weeks ago. She had been paid for all of them, so this old girl must have escaped from her new owner.

Well, she has a new home now in a small flock of two Dorset/Ile de France ewes and a Dorset ram. If she doesn't respond to an easier lifestyle, she'll have to go back to the sales barn. Kind of sad, though. I hope she responds to a life of leisure and I hope that jaw isn't something serious.

On another bittersweet note, we got Pugsley's hide back. Pugsley was the Ile de France ram we got in trade for a Shetland ram lamb. He weighed 154 lbs. and we got 80 lbs. of packaged meat from him. The best lamb I've ever had too. His hide came back from Bucks Co. Furs this week. It's really nice, no holes. It's a very dense, shearling hide, and very large at 38 x 30".

Home from Jefferson !

Well, I had a great time at Jefferson! I rode over with Kim Nikolai and Terri Drimel. First stop was Terri's place where I got to see her flock of sheep and llamas. Then it was on to Kim's after dropping off my son at his friend's place. We got a good look Kim's cute little puppies and her flock. We arrived in Jefferson around 8 p.m. and stopped in the Shetland barn. It was nice to see all the Shetland folks that night. I finally got to met Shelley Gooch. Above you see a photo of her Jacob ram Mederic. Look at those horns! I'm glad I don't have to deal with anything like that!

I didn't bring my sheep after all. There were several runny noses in my flock last week. I didn't want to be "the one" to spread any sickness to the other sheep at the show. I brought my Shetland Mules to the vet on Thursday night and he said it was just a mild seasonal upper respiratory thing (the temps went from VERY hot and humid to VERY cool and crisp), but the stress of a 6-hour ride and being away from home probably would not be in their best interest. Knowing that Laura Matthews had agreed to bring her Shetland Mules for the display, I was relieved. Hopefully next year I will remember this and I won't even ENTER any sheep in the shows.

It's always a hard choice though, because they look so good and I'd really like other Shetland people to see them. But then I get paranoid about any little cough, crusty eyes or anything like that. In looking at the sheep that people did bring to Jefferson, there were plenty with crusty eyes and coughing, so other people must not be as concerned about it as I am.

We have been feeding dusty hay, long story, but our good stuff is in the back of the barn where we can't get at it. I have to talk to our hay guy about putting our good stuff in the front and his dusty stuff in the back because sheep just can't eat that dusty hay. Before I left I told Stan not to feed the dusty stuff and sure enough, I came home to no runny noses and no coughing. :-)

Anyway, when I saw how they judged the Mule Show without the aid of halters, I was VERY glad I didn't bring my ewes! My yearling mule is a good size and she's pretty strong. I don't know if I could have held on to her for the line up.
Below, Judge David Cruikshank of the UK looks over the BFL rams and their Mule offspring.
Below, he feels the shoulders of a Scotch Mule ewe lamb.
It was such a blast getting together with all the Shetland people again. If only we had a good place to meet on Saturday night and tip a few, we could catch up better. There were so many things to do, I was on the go the whole time! I only briefly stopped in on one producer's seminar, usually I attend several and am never disappointed. But this year I attended the used equipment auction with Terri Drimel. She's one shrewd bidder! I was beginning to wonder if we would have room in the truck on the way home for all our purchases! She bought Laura's two beautiful Shetland Mules. They were very low priced. She got a great deal!

I picked up my BFL roving from Carol Wagner at Hidden Valley Woolen Mill and she did a great job on it. I only had to ship one box, so I saved there. The fiber is so soft, I spun up a sample skein of the natural colored roving and decided I need to make myself a BFL sweater.

I traded some of the white to Kim for gas $$ and she wants to make a sweater too. So it looks like I will only keep about 4 ounces of the white for myself. I have lots of other BFL fiber to hand-process here at home.

On the way home from Jefferson, we stopped at Cynthia's place in Wisconsin. The countryside was so beautiful there. And she lives on a hill top with a fabulous view. Below is a photo of her rams, two Shetlands and a Wensleydale/Lincoln cross (I think that's what it was), and their guard llama. The young black ram LOVES that llama. It was so cute to see him snuggling up to it.
Cynthia has a solid sided gulmoget ram, he's in the foreground. She says the solid sided gulmogets are not easy to come by only about one in 20 lambs... So it's a good thing I decided to keep my little solid sided Lana here and see what she can produce.
Last night I got a call from the sheriff's office wondering if I was missing a sheep. Apparently a sheep had camped out on someone's deck fairly close by and they wondered if it was mine. I wasn't missing any sheep, so I called a friend who lives closer to place where they found the sheep and she ran over and caught it in the dark last night. She thinks it's a Shetland, I'm going to take a look at it shortly. It's a ewe and she may have fallen off a truck because her face is bruised and she's covered with burrs. She and another sheep were seen on the highway a few days ago. My old neighbor is willing to take her in if we can't find her owners. I only hope the other sheep surfaces soon...will post photos later.

Last Minute Jitters & Tips for a Better life

I am a nervous wreck about showing/bringing sheep to Jefferson! I noticed Nancy K's blog shows the same kind of nervous thinking and she's an old pro at showing sheep. This must be a common feeling. I've only shown a sheep once before. It was a purchased ram and at least HE was experienced. ;-)

My yearling Shetland Mule is dirty and she's not halter trained. Like most of my sheep, she loves when I trim her up with the hand shears. So that's what I've done so far. I don't know if I should hose her down and wash her up or not.

McIntire and Julius have been true sweethearts with their halter training. They just stand around looking guilty when I put the halter on them. Julius is a natural and will walk with me pretty well. But he has developed a cold and I can't bring him along. I'm not sure I should bring McIntire either now.

And Lena, the Shetland Mule lamb I planned to bring had a bit of runny nose last night. Maybe I'm being paranoid. I have an appointment for health papers this afternoon, we'll see what the vet thinks.

In the meantime, my good friend Sue, who knows me very well and accepts me anyway, sent me these tips for a better life. I thought some of them were very good, and they help me realize getting all wound up about this show thing is really kind of silly. So I will post them here for you to read.

25 TIPS FOR A BETTER LIFE

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement,
'My purpose is to__________ today.'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a
college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. God heals almost everything.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch.

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I
am thankful for__________. Today I accomplished _________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

(Note: It really was only 24, #25 said to forward it to all your friends)

Okay, I've got so much to do today. See you guys at Jefferson!

MN State Fair and on to Jefferson!

We brought a couple Shetland Mule lambs to the Minnesota State Fair last week. They were wonderful little sheepie ambassadors -- friendly and soft fleeced.

Their only drawback IMO was their loud voices. I kept apologizing for their loudness and the people kept saying that was what drew them in off the street. I thought it was funny how many people "baa" right back at them. ;-) We brought Elsa's twins, they are smaller and more Shetland-like than the other mule lambs, but friendly enough for a stay at the fair.

On our second day at the fair, a local news station did a segment on shearing sheep with Minnesota shearer, Doug Rathke. After shearing a Suffolk for the news cameras, he quickly did my two Mule lambs. I am now the proud owner of 3 pounds of skirted, silky soft Shetland Mule lamb fiber! ;-) I plan to bring it to Jefferson next week.

The girls look so cute without their fleece. They have plenty of time to grow it back before winter comes. I'm tempted to shear more sheep this fall.

I have to say a great big thank you to Nancy Hoerner for letting me stay at her place while I was at the State Fair. She was so nice to pick me up and drop me off and feed me supper. I always learn so much from her! The artist's dolls and books she has made are fascinating. I was so happy to get a copy of her first needle felting book and borrow the first in the Griffin and Sabine series by Nick Bantok. (Speaking of books, I just finished reading my aunt's latest murder mystery this morning, "The Kingdom Where Nobody Dies". I thought it was her best one yet!)

So now that the Fair is over for us, I've got to gear up for the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival at Jefferson Sept. 5, 6, & 7. I thought things were going along smoothly until I read on a email list that my entries hadn't gotten to WSWF. It came as a shock since I mailed them out well ahead of the August 15th deadline. After contacting the Festival organizers though, I was assured that my entries did in fact arrive.

I was planning to bring Mabeline (above, is she an easy keeper or just fat?) and her daughters, Lena(below) and Delia, a yearling. I'm still waiting for confirmation that my entries are acceptable. But I'm going to get started with halter training.

Below is Mabline's other 2008 lamb, Socks, Lena's twin brother. I just love Socks! It would be nice to bring him along too. We rented a bobcat and cleaned out the pole barn on Saturday. It's almost September, so definitely time to get it done. The sheep will not be in the pole this winter, at least not until after shearing next spring and before lambing.

We're getting some much needed rain today. :-)

Horse Trailer, horns and hydrangeas

Our latest major farm purchase -- a used horse trailer. Can we afford it? No. But I thought it was a very good deal so we bit the bullet and bought it last night.
With Bluefaced Leicester sheep, the option of popping them in a dog crate and driving all over the country is not quite as easy as it was with Shetlands. That is a great thing about the Shetlands, they are very mobile. But my two year BFL ram Dougal, is getting pretty heavy, I would guess he's around ~150 lbs. The thought of lifting him up into a truck bed isn't very tempting. This is a small trailer, but I think I could fit about 6 adult BFLs in it, or 8-10 Shetlands. Of course the gas consumption will limit its use to the bare essentials, but we will use it for hauling hay home from our Ogilvie property too. And if we ever decide to get into beef cattle, we'll be all set. :-).

People were interested in the horn growth on the BFL crosses, so I thought I would snap photos of the heads of our Shetland Mule boys this morning (Please excuse all the hay on these guys, they are such pigs at the feeder). Above is an intact Shetland Mule ram lamb, he's 3 months old now. This guy hasn't grown as large as the other mule lambs, but I think his horn growth is very typical of what you can expect Shetland mule ram lambs to have.
He was sired by a white BFL. His twin sister is white, his dam is Bramble Jemma, a black iset Shetland. There are people who say the Natural colored BFL sires will produce more horn growth in their offspring than the white BFL sires. We wethered all our other Mule ram lambs, so I can't say for certain how their horns would have turned out. Below is Socks, a Shetland mule who was wethered at a couple weeks of age, no horns - very BFL influenced fleece. Too bad his sister didn't get that fleece!


And in the photo below you see our other intact 3/4 BFL ram lamb, T-Bone, and his very limited horn growth. The white 3/4 BFL ram lamb pictured in my last post has the most horn growth of any of our crosses (he was sired by a NC BFL ram and his dam was sired by the white BFL).
I am very impressed with T-Bone, he weighed 13 lbs at 1 day old and he's probably about 85 pounds now at four months (I wish I had a scale!). All of our 3/4 ram lambs were singles out of our yearling Shetland Mules. And they are all very nice sized. I am impressed with the mothering ability of the Shetland Mules.

While I was outside getting more horn shots from the Mules, and I took a few more shots of River Oaks McIntire. I registered him as shaela, but now I'm thinking he might be dark brown. I just love this guy, he reminds me a lot of his sire. Too bad I'm not keeping horned rams anymore. I've got to get him halter trained and picked clean of VM in time for Jefferson!

The other day I noticed the hydrangea blossoms were pretty big this year. You can see I'm not on top of things around here, this blossom is no longer white, but I thought it was worth taking a photo of. There are several like this as big a plates. I'm no expert on hydrangeas, maybe they are supposed to be that size? In the past our have more like softball size.

Garden, Chickens, and Horn growth

The garden has gone into jungle mode! Look at how tall my corn is now. There are lots of silks appearing on the stocks and the tassels are in full production. I hope we get some nice big ears of sweet corn before the frost hits. It's hard to believe we're in the second week of August already!
No ripe tomatoes here yet, but LOTS of green ones. The tomato plants were as tall as me, but two fell over in a storm last week so any sense of order that existed in the garden is now gone. I am all out of frozen tomatoes, I'll need to freeze a lot this year. Hopefully the corn too.

We had the 26 remaining broilers processed at Nelson Shine Produce in Brainerd, MN on Monday, August 4th. This was our first experience hiring out the processing and it was so worth the expense. Those birds look great all vacuum packed and plucked so clean. I hope they taste as good as they look.
(In the background is a can of orange licorice ducks that I got the Lake Wobegon shop at the Mall of America. They're pretty good-- "farm raised on small ponds". )
The broilers were 7 weeks old and averaged about four and a half pounds each. Some were over 5 pounds and some were under 4. I'm just so glad that the broilers are gone. They required a lot of monitoring to make sure their water and food supply was full. Now we're down to just our laying flock of 8 birds. The four pullets have learned to roost at night. Our new rooster is quite in charge of the older hens. He finds them food, clucking away and they all come running. He's protective of them when the dog or cat get too close, and he crows to the neighboring roosters all day long. The other roosters are about 1/2 mile away, but their crows carry quite a distance. I hope the neighbors enjoy the country sounds.

Here are the various horns in my flock. In the photo above you'll see the 3/4 Shetland in front who is smooth polled. His sire is a polled gulmoget Shetland. I love his fleece and his chunky body. In the upper right you see a 3/4 BFL ram lamb. He's got scurs about 1/2 inch or less. On the left is River Oaks Marshall, my modified moorit ram lamb. He's an F3 Holly and his horns are tight, but his fleece is really nice. He's shown below with his twin, Maverick. Look at the wool on his poll and his cheeks -- I'm tempted to wether him for a fiber pet.Below is a shot of my two boys with very nice wide horns so far, River Oaks Julius (F2 Minder in front) and McIntire (F3 Holly). Their fleeces are long and soft too. I'd like to show them at Jefferson this fall if I can fit them in the van along with the Shetland Mules I'm supposed to bring. I need a trailer!
I'm still watching Reuben's horns, he's really got nice fleece.And then we have little Bo, his are coming along too...
And we can't forget Leonie, she is McIntire's twin (F3 Holly) and has tiny scurs.

Micron Test Results & Updates

Good news, no more broiler losses on the raccoon front. In fact no sign of Mr. (or Mrs.?) Raccoon in the past three nights. I set up the live trap and the barn cam, but no action so far...

Cora's doing well, back with the flock and on the mend hopefully. Her bag is still warm and pink and engorged. I hope she doesn't lose it. I'm not sure what happens after a case of mastitis like this. Does it just not function the following year? The only other case we had was blue bag and the entire side was lost.

I got my test results back from Texas A & M while I was gone last week. I sent in 16 samples from our Feb. 28th shearing day. There aren't any really low micron counts as in past years' tests, but there aren't any over 30 either, which is an improvement, so that's good news.

Flock average: 27.0 microns, SD: 5.7, CV: 21.2

Here's the breakdown by breed and Individual sheep:

Purebred Shetlands:

Lucy (yearling ewe) Mic: 24.8, SD: 4.5, CV: 18.3

Abby (yearling ewe) Mic: 25.7, SD: 7.6, CV: 29.5

Hattie (2 yrs, ewe) Mic: 29.7, SD: 7.9, CV: 26.7

Hannah (2 yrs, ewe) Mic: 26.4, SD: 5.8, CV: 22.1

Cora (2 yrs, ewe) Mic: 24.5, SD: 5.8, CV: 23.7

Eliza (3 yrs, ewe) Mic: 25.3, SD: 5.8, CV: 23.0

Mabeline (3 yrs, ewe) Mic: 27.5, SD: 5.0, CV: 18.3

Jemma (6 yrs, ewe) Mic: 28.6 SD: 7.7, CV: 26.7

Cordelia (9 yrs, ewe) Mic: 25.9, SD: 5.7, CV: 21.9

Purebred BFLs:

Dougal (2 yrs, ram) Mic: 27.0, SD: 5.4, CV: 20.0

Lanora (2 yrs, ewe) Mic: 29.4, SD: 5.2, CV: 17.7

Rhyn (yearling ewe) Mic: 29.0, SD: 5.3, CV: 18.3

Granite (yearling ram) Mic: 25.6, SD: 4.2, CV: 16.3

Shetland Mules (BFL Sire/Shetland Dam):

Derra (yearling ewe) Mic: 30.3, SD: 5.6, CV: 18.4

Delia (yearling ewe) Mic: 26.5, SD: 5.3, CV: 19.9

Dot (yearling ewe) Mic: 25.1, SD: 4.8, CV: 18.9

I'm always surprised at the high micron count on the BFL samples. They FEEL so soft, the numbers don't seem to do them justice. But if you also look at the SD and CV numbers on the BFLs and the crosses, you'll see they are really good.

I plan to shear the BFLs and a few of the primitive Shetlands this fall along with all the rams that will be shipped. It will be nice to have more fiber!