Sheep

Sun Soaked Pasture Lambs

I slip the small backpack onto my shoulders and pick up the crook from the back of the ranger. A short distance away is a set of twin lambs and their momma. There is plenty of warmth in the sunshine this morning and the lambs are soaking it up.

With my approach Momma realizes something is amiss and gurgles to her babies. They are full bellied, sun soaked, and asleep. They are babes and do not yet recognize the urgency as Momma does. They stay where they are. I regret that I am going to be one of their lessons on wariness. Moving smoothly I step up to the lambs, kneel and place a hand on each. No quick sprint and the shepherds crook is not even needed this time. Sleepy, sun soaked lambs are the easiest to catch and one of my favourite perks of lambing time. The ewe will disagree but I take these easy moments where and when I get them, and am glad for them.

When I am through with the lambs I return them to the distraught ewe. She does a fast sniff inspection of her lambs while backing away. The spray mark applied to the lambs smears the low curve of her belly when one of the babes makes a dive for the udder. Full as they are, a little bit of milk still soothes them from the trauma of being caught. The ewe does another fast check to be sure that she has both lambs and then trots off, urgent to get her lambs a safe distance away.

The scene around the pasture is a busy one. At first glance you can’t be sure who belongs to who. Heck, even on second, third and fourth look you can’t be certain. Ewes and lambs are beginning to make their way to the shade of the trees. A guardian dog is across the way; following the ewes lead, she is also making her way toward the trees. I carry on with checking for lambs while animals are still spread out. My schedule is dictated by their activity and once the animals settle in the trees I won’t bother them on account of the group being in closer quarters. When they settle in the trees disturbing one means disturbing all and it’s not worth it. When the animals settle in the trees is when I take my leave.

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Pastoral Tasks

Moving the flock is one of those tasks that has me feeling slightly annoyed knowing I have to do it but as soon as the Kelpies and I are underway, feeling glad that I get too. There is a feeling of assurance and rightness in doing one of the oldest pastoral tasks there is. The smooth flock moves are golden of course. Yet even the rough flock moves where things go awry leave their pastoral stamp upon the soul.

Last night’s plan was to night pen the ewes and release them to a new pasture in the morning. It wasn’t a long move but what I didn’t take into account was how frisky the ewes were feeling on account of cooler weather after several days of intense heat. I let my assumption of an easy move with a flock I know blind me to the real mood of the ewes. The move was soured when we lost our sheep. My frustration got the better of me and I wrongfully chastised the stock dog who was helping me. He had no clue what his misstep had been – he hadn’t made one at that point.

In the grand scheme of things a move gone awry is trivial. We always get the flock where needed and we all still show up for work the next day. In hindsight, the injury lies in knowing that I let wee frustrations interfere with the pastoral nature of the task in front of me. Letting haste and frustration steal those moments feels like wasting a vital and precious piece of my own nature. Wasting those moments feels like disregard for the very thing I am searching for in raising sheep in this manner.

wool sheep with cowbirds

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Tidbit From Beyond the Rat Race

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A little slice of life beyond the rat race. It just makes your breath slow, does it not?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”3177″ img_size=”large”][vc_column_text]It is early morning and there is a fine mist in the air from a recent rainfall. The landscape has just begun to flush with the brilliant green of spring. The grass is full of moisture each morning. Half a dozen steps and your boots will be sufficiently washed by their leaves.

The ewes have just been turned out for the day. They were penned overnight to allow for a move to new pasture because the day before they went a walk about off of the farm property. Even though it is early for you and I, they would normally be half way to full with grazing by this time of the morning. Being held in an overnight paddock means that on this morning they are subject to my schedule rather than theirs. I fed guardian dogs before releasing the ewes and the ewes watched in the manner that sheep do, which is to look like you’re not watching at all. But when I moved toward the gate, many heads came up and it took only two calls of “come girls, come girls,” before the ewes were streaming toward the open gate.

From there all I did was watch them go.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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