Our Sheep Family
Lamb Chop and Bran - Friends
Springtime is a wonderful time, each day bringing new life and vitality to the Ranch. Lambs typically arrive on the coldest, wettest and wildest days, 2010 was no different and 29 little lambs arrived during January and February. All our sheep come to us for peanuts, when we bought them they nearly all had sore feet and we worked intensively to cure them. During this time, we needed to know who we were working on and each was given a name which they seem to recognize, they also seem to know that we were trying to help them and they have become very friendly. Annie, Bandit, Speckles and Dark Star (a very exotic name Greg gave to this ewe.... she has a distinctive dark marking on her back!) Working with friendly sheep has made them much easier to handle. The lambs stay with their moms as long as we can keep them together but once hormones and testosterone kick in they have to be weaned and the life cycle begins all over again. This year one of our younger moms lambed on a bitterly cold morning and when Greg and I arrived at the barn on “lamb watch” the ewe was looking at the lamb as if it had arrived from outer space and the lamb was just as disinterested in his mom. We found him unwashed and freezing in the creep feed and gave him very little hope for his survival." Lamb Chop." didn't know it then but that little critter was set to worm his way into our hearts. From day one he was a survivor and wasn't prepared to give up. He came up to the house and, wearing a diaper, slept with Bran our Border Collie who had licked the merconium off his tiny body. Bran and Lamb Chop bonded and this has caused an identity crisis...Lamb Chop thinks he is a Border collie and when we are moving the sheep out to pasture Lamb Chop rounds up the flock with the dog. At feeding time he is very vocal and knows exactly where to wait for the bottle he knows will arrive. Despite his name, Lamb Chop (named after the glove puppet, not the food item) will not be leaving the farm. Hopefully Lamb Chop will be around for a long time to greet our farm visitors. Hopefully (time permitting !) I will be able to make him a coat in time for the Harvest Fest Farm Tour, Saturday, October 2.. See you then
Lamb Chop Helping Bran
Little Lambs in the Nursey
A Friendly touch
