Monday, July 14, 2008

There's One in Every Family

Our sheep have all had their babies. Well, except for one who never did give birth. Obviously she wasn't pregnant or had a miscarriage. We will give her another time or two in the breeding department to see if she will produce. We are up to 19 sheep. In just a few short weeks, it will be time to separate the lambs from the mamma's and let the milk dry up. I am amazed at how quickly these lambs have grown! They don't even really look like babies any more. We also are on the look out for a good ram because after the lambs are finished nursing, then we will breed the ewes again. In each family, there is always one leader or downright nosey individual. Here is our leader sheep. Her name is Cleo (short for Cleopatra because she has rings around her eyes that look like she is from the Ancient Egyptian time period). She is always the first to come and see what is going on in the backyard. She is very friendly and does not mind being touched.

On apple picking day, you can count on finding her right under the apple tree "helping" the children gather the apples. Our children are use to her, but the children helping us weren't so sure. They liked her, but they didn't want to pick up any apples that she had smelled. They were concerned that they were dirty.
This summer our son has decided to get the horses back into riding condition. As you can see, the sheep are all interested in what is about to take place. Really they were just looking for some free hand outs of food!


Here is Cleo once again with her nose where it doesn't belong...in the apple basket!!! She thought it was a grand idea for the children to gather all the apples up in one basket to make eating them easier for her! I truly have enjoyed these sheep. They have become my favorite farm animal, and I am thankful that we have had a chance to add them to our farm.
grace and peace,
julie

2 comments:

Marci said...

Is your whole yard fenced? I just wondered if the sheep had free roaming abilities. I love my sheep too!!!

TnFullQuiver said...

Marci,
Our entire 17 acres is fenced. Our back yard has a perimeter fencing around it to keep out the animals. We then took a strand of electric fence and divided the back yard so the sheep could eat in half of it and stay out of the other half where the garden and trees are located. We are trying to rotate our animals to properly manage our pastures. When we want to keep the sheep out of the backyard, we just close the gate but they still have access to the two large fields. We haven't allowed the sheep on the back half of the property because we aren't certain of the quality of fencing and the coyotes.
grace and peace,
julie