Sheep

Stopping in with a few photos to share.

There are the usual number of losses and causes of them this lambing but the sheep are so unsettled. They move almost continually and I’m thinking this is due to the lack of quality grass. There is green stuff at their feet but the dry dusty conditions have us all looking at the other side of the fence and believing it is better over there when it isn’t. This movement of the ewes means new lambs are on the move too when they should be resting and taking in milk.

I’m allowing the ewes to graze each paddock much harder than I normally would just on account of nothing in front of us to go to. If the grass bounces back from this it will be a true forgiveness by nature. There is nothing like drought conditions to make one realize how little you know about managing grazing or how little forethought you put into it during all those wet years.

We were blessed with one day of drizzle last week and that day and the next was the calmest time on the pasture. The sheep were quiet, they got up, they ate, they laid back down. They took in moisture with the grass they ate and that seemed to make all the difference in the world to them. Normally the prairies are cool enough over night that we get morning dews in the Spring season and I always have wet shoes when walking the dogs in the morning. There is no morning dews this year, just wind and dust. The grasses are crunchy already and we are approaching some record setting high temperatures this week.

We tend to think animals readily adjust and I guess they do; I guess we all do, but we don’t sit still while we do it. The sheep are indicating the adjustment they are having to make, they are not pleased with it. Nor am I. I too am fussing from one project to the next with a real lack of focus. Just feeling that urgency of literally ‘moving’ our way through this. One of Allen’s favourite mantra’s is ‘it is what it is.’ I catch myself repeating that phrase while I check lambs and I stop the movement of my Self for a moment. Recenter, we will adjust because sometimes there is no alternative.

I shrug the small, lightweight, purple backpack over my shoulder onto my back and click the waist belt in place. I lift the shepherds crook from the box of the Ranger. Eyes looking down I begin a half circle around a ewe and her twin lambs, gently spiralling toward her. She gurgles to the lambs, urging them to their feet and then breaks off, trotting away. I make a dive forward, hooked the quickest lamb around the neck to check it up before hooking the second. Another reach for the first lamb again and I’ve got the two of them at my feet. The ewe turns back, alarm written all over her face. I present the lambs in front of me to let her know where they’re at. She comes in closer but stays well out of reach. She frets, rushes off, rushes back, does a fast circle around me. One of the lambs bleats and the ewe comes to a stand and answers. Her lambs are here; she talks, the lamb answers. I cradle the lambs in my lap, unsnap the backpack and dig out the elastrator and rings. I work as swift as I can, one band on the tail of each lamb, one band on the nuts of the male lamb, a paint mark on each and then a timely return to the ewe at a moment when she is looking toward us, searching for her lambs.

Lambing started with a single lamb, dead on arrival or shortly thereafter, the ewe nowhere to be found. The next day presented a dead pregnant ewe. Then a lovely set of twins, a single, … and five more lambs since.

I did not get excited about lambing time this year. Did not check the calendar or experience the usual amount of anticipation for it. I wasn’t dreading it either, I just did not think about it. Perhaps the flatline state is an emotional pre-screening of sorts, knowing the up’s and down’s that are ahead. I’m not sure. I do know some of my energy is tied up in worry over the grass which is nothing I can control but is something I have to consider and make decisions with. I’ve begun to chew on the thought that we may be parting with some of this flock.

I am eager to see more Corriedale lambs born and entering the flock this year. Once again I put the straight bred Corrie ram and two Corrie ram lambs with select ewes. I’m liking last years white face, female replacement lambs and am anticipating more high quality fleeces from this flock. Corriedale sheep were something we wanted when we began with sheep but ignored because it was difficult to find them. It still is. Funny how everything comes around one way or another.

Two days into lambing and I’m quickly re-establishing the annual routine for this busy time. No big reasons to make any big changes so I won’t. I used to ear tag female lambs but I’ve decided to stop with that and go with tagging them later when we know they’re staying on. Or else, not tagging at all, which is a thought percolating in the back of my head.

Otherwise, for the next month I’ll be spending a good deal of time on pasture, with sheep, with dogs, with ticks, and with any luck maybe even with a little bit of rain.