As we’re getting ready for lambing here at Stark Hollow Farm, the sheep flock has been divided into 2 groups. The pregnant ewes have been placed near the barn where all pens and equipment is ready for the upcoming lambs. The ram and two yearlings (i.e. 1 year old ewe lambs) have been left at the top of the pasture with access to the round house where the flock has spent the winter.
Already late last summer, the 2 Icelandic lambs, now yearlings, started proving to have quite a personality! After fixing and re-fixing tear after tear in the shade tents, I caught the two of them running, leaping into the air, and landing right on top of the tents eventually touching ground as the tear they caused during the jump reached the edge of the tent resulting in the whole thing to collapse. It seemed they found joy in this. I recall their look when I caught them in action… it was almost a smirk… almost defiance. As I was screaming half in disbelief and half in despair, they looked at me and it was like they were telling me: “whatever”. I thought I felt what teenagers parents feel like when they yell at their children who seem to have lost the ability to listen as they grow taller.
As fall progressed and winter weather began, the jumping and tearing ended, the mended shade tents went away, and I forgot all about my growing lambs behaviors. In the winter, we had a couple of surprises here and there -- a spilled water tank, broken hay feeder part, some rocks from the small wall surrounding the round house moved over, etc. -- but nothing serious. In addition, the frequency of these occurrences was low enough to assume they are due to normal management and/or wear & tear of equipment/structures. But now that the yearlings make up the 2/3 majority of the group at the top of the pasture, my feelings toward empathy for parents of teenagers seem to be resurfacing. Suddenly, I find the sheeting that makes up the temporary walls of the round house taken down (i.e. note that the sheeting has been in place for at least the past 5 months through snow, ice, blowing winds, etc. and 10 sheep), I
discover poop in the water tank, I walk up to a bucked down feeder with all salt & mineral spilled onto the pasture, and the list goes on daily. Then as I discover these nice little gifts of entertainment -- since I have nothing better to do all day -- and express my astonishment, I have to listen to my yearlings going baa-baa, baa, baa-baa while they look me straight in the eye. As my shock begins to morph into distress that borderlines outrage, but of the peaceful kind, I am interrupted by two even more closely approaching yearlings yelping out baa-baa, baa-baa, baa. At this point, they actually manage to shut me up.
As I look at them, while they turn around and walk away stomping their little hooves, that fiery feeling that bordered outrage is gone. Absolute bewilderment sets in as I stand there with my mouth opened and my jaw dropping down slowly. I am not sure whether I should focus on the damage those two have caused for the day or on their demanding yet defiant behavior. But I force myself to step back, remember my morning meditation, take a deep breath, and move on to fix whatever they managed to destroy/buck/etc. I feed them, water them, and clean up their bedding. When everything is finally back in order and my two yearlings and ram have been well taken care of, I look around and pat myself on the back. Walking away with the optimistic view that I have everything under control again, I also don’t pay too much attention to the baa-baa, baa, baa-baa of my two yearlings… but I swear I know that if I did turn around to look back, I would see my dear yearlings smirking and chuckling away as they plan a new prank for tomorrow!
We had a blast pumpkin carving at HOWL last night, just past the full moon. Our pumpkin carving event morphed into a dance party!
be moved inside next to the wood stove. With fence lines down everywhere, the chain saw came out and offending tree limbs were removed. As we worked, the snow kept coming down. The silence was broken every 10 minutes or so by the sound of a cracking and falling limb or tree. It was scary for a while with trees coming down around us. The little piglets got out and had to be chased down, which, thankfully, wasn't too hard with the deep snow. In between clearing the electric netting and fence lines, we stopped to admire mother nature's work...and feed a bottle to little Bibo our last little lamb of the season, a triplet out of Mara who needs a little extra help. Once the snow stopped in the late afternoon, the sheep came out to scavenge the many fallen buds and leaves that were lost by the trees in the storm. They washed them down with fresh snow and tramped back to their hay lined shelters to ruminate on things.
tamins and antibodies to help them survive in the world.
Already late last summer, the 2 Icelandic lambs, now yearlings, started proving to have quite a personality! After fixing and re-fixing tear after tear in the shade tents, I caught the two of them running, leaping into the air, and landing right on top of the tents eventually touching ground as the tear they caused during the jump reached the edge of the tent resulting in the whole thing to collapse. It seemed they found joy in this. I recall their look when I caught them in action… it was almost a smirk… almost defiance. As I was screaming half in disbelief and half in despair, they looked at me and it was like they were telling me: “whatever”. I thought I felt what teenagers parents feel like when they yell at their children who seem to have lost the ability to listen as they grow taller.
discover poop in the water tank, I walk up to a bucked down feeder with all salt & mineral spilled onto the pasture, and the list goes on daily. Then as I discover these nice little gifts of entertainment -- since I have nothing better to do all day -- and express my astonishment, I have to listen to my yearlings going baa-baa, baa, baa-baa while they look me straight in the eye. As my shock begins to morph into distress that borderlines outrage, but of the peaceful kind, I am interrupted by two even more closely approaching yearlings yelping out baa-baa, baa-baa, baa. At this point, they actually manage to shut me up.
Laura and Vanessa attended the Vermont Grazing & Livestock conference in Fairlee, Vermont. The theme was Farming for Modern Markets and we attended a variety of workshops including Partnering Retailers and Producers to Feed a Hungry Public, Bedded Pack Management for Winter Housing, Managing Small Ruminant Parasites, among others. We enjoyed a presentation by Brian Moyer, Director of Rural Vermont. We networked with numerous other farmers small and large who care about sustainable farming and agriculture. It was a great day.
The sheep are loving the round house and all the girls should be bred now and into their 2nd trimester. They were all rounded up yesterday for a good hoof trimming, which meant a taste of grains which of course they just love.
