Alice

We lost Alice to coyotes.

That is Alice in the foreground at left.  The picture was taken a few years ago, in the fall at my old place in Augusta.  The sheep in the back with the white nose is Alice's older sister, Ophelia (the ewes in that family line all had names from Shakespeare).


Many years ago now, I got a disease in my flock that sheep people know as "CL".   This was before there was a vaccine in the US for CL.  I unknowingly bought a ram that had it.  The disease can be slow to develop and slow to transmit, but it is contagious among sheep.  It is an easy disease to buy.   When I found it was in the flock, I stopped breeding and selling lambs.

I decided to keep a dozen or so sheep, just to have them around.   This was an un-economic thing to do, but I felt like I owed them something.   That flock gave me some very good lambs.  Some lambs had been sold to spinners in prior years, and some went to slaughter.

I've had only three sheep for quite a long time now.   Been putting old ones down from time to time over the years, as they got sick, injured, or tied up with arthritis.   The three remaining were descendants of the first two ewes I owned many years ago, Cordelia and Chloe.

The sheep in the flock were mostly Shetland/Finn, which are highly intelligent.  I know that isn't the common view of sheep, but it is true sometimes with relatively primitive breeds.  Each has his or her own personality.   Alice was special to me because she'd always been friendly and relatively calm.  She got spooky the last few years because I didn't spend enough time with her, but she always calmed down quickly when I did.   She was the first one to check out any offering from my hand, like a bit of apple.

Alice was descended from Cordelia, and was born the year that a Finn ewe I had named Lily gave birth to a bottle lamb named Chester.  Alice and Chester used to follow me around.   Chester followed me because I was his adopted mother.  Alice followed me because she wanted to.  I will miss Alice.

A word about coyotes -- this is the first trouble I've had with coyotes, over about a 15 year period.  Most coyotes don't bother sheep, and the American Sheep Institute recommends leaving coyotes alone that don't bother sheep.   Coyotes are territorial, and will keep other coyotes out of the area. I'm still going to leave the coyotes alone, but I'll bring the last two sheep in the barn at night.    This time of year, they like to graze at night when it is cool, but now that needs to stop.

The two remaining sheep are Arthur (Alice's twin) and Sparrow, and they've both been shy since they were born.     Arthur has never been aggressive, but he likes to keep to himself.  Sparrow wants to flit away, although she is descended from Chloe, who was rock-solid, calm and friendly. 

Alice always gave me the benefit of the doubt.  Being brown and a ewe, she looked like a delicate little white-tailed deer right after shearing in the spring.  So pretty.

Alice was a very good sheep.

Alice in Orono (at left).  Ophelia and Sparrow at right.

Bare ground January day

 

I enjoy January thaws, as long as nothing floods too badly.   But, seeing bare ground like this the third week in January, when we've had little snow so far, seems very odd.

I walked around to take pictures and document conditions, which I don't normally get to do this time of year.   They will help me to plan for fixing things when the weather warms up.   I am grateful this board fencing behind the sheep is still standing.   Only a matter of time until it comes down, and I need to get something in the budget for replacement materials.

Also in the picture are the three ancient sheep.   It is not commercial to keep old sheep around and I forever feel guilty but, well, at this point they are here for good if I can help it.   At least they don't cost much to keep, since we put up our own hay.  It wouldn't feel as much like home without at least some sheep around.  These are descended from the first two shetland/finn cross ewes I ever owned.

The green patch in the picture below is the "new" garden plot that was started last year.   I turned in a lot of aged horse manure, planted to buckwheat and turned in, then planted to winter rye that will be turned in, along with lime, this spring.   Started with basic clay, so it pretty much needs almost everything.   I'll probably be imprudent and plant something here this year, and see how it goes. Lots of happy weeds are expected.

Another "new plot" that just barely got started last fall is beyond the fence, in the old pasture.   Last fall I skimmed it with the cultivator, and piled on aged horse manure and grass clippings.   It grew up in mowed pasture plants before winter, which will hold the soil.    This year, it will likely get turned over deeper, have more inputs added, and be planted to green manure for the season.   

I haven't figured out where to start the "next" plot yet but...probably it will be in the old pasture too. I'm trying to expand the area in vegetables a bit each year:  more food for family; more food for community.

Ophelia

This is an old photo.  See that brown (moorit) ewe with the white face toward the right?  That's Ophelia.   I was looking for a picture from when she was born, but couldn't put my hands on it.   We put her down this past weekend.  She was 12 1/2 years old and very stiff.   I was worried about her getting sick during the winter.

She was part of what remains of a small flock I had several years ago in another location.  In the picture, the sheep are out front helping to mow the lawn.  From the left, that's Cordelia, then Sparrow in back.  Alice is the brown one in front.  Then comes Chloe, the black ewe in front of a white wether named Pete.  Ophelia is in front, then a big black wether named Sal.  Aurthur is a wether with horns in back of Sal, and I can't see the face of the one in back, but it is probably Lilly.   I still have Sparrow, Alice, Arthur and Sal, and they are all very old.

Ophelia was my best ewe for fleece, from my best ewe for fleece (Cordelia) from my best ram for fleece (Moses).  I'm saying "for fleece", because other sheep were best for other things.  It never all comes in one package.

My husband and I have been taking a cut up apple out to Ophelia each morning since spring.

Week of Memorial Day Weekend

Been a busy week/weekend, mostly with chores, but the weather makes it pleasant.   Light wind, few biting insects (except at dusk), sun, and mostly only raining at night!   Lovely light.   We saw some eastern blue birds along the driveway.   A friend said that folks along the coast have been haying the last two weeks with beautiful, clear, drying weather.   We've had just enough rain to put off haying here, for the most part.  That's ok.   We'll have a bit more growth when we do cut.

We did a lot of mowing toward the end of last week, so the place looks tidy.   Went over part of the sheep pasture twice, to mulch in the fairly long grass.  Had to cut it because of the large number of buttercups.   They contain a caustic chemical, and animals can't graze them.   Only good news is that once buttercups are cut, the chemical partly breaks down, so buttercups in hay are safe.  

Got two of the handful of old sheep sheared.   This is a long process because my back won't let me do it the "proper" way, and there aren't enough sheep to make it sensible to try to get a shearer.   I put a sheep on a blocking stand and use hand shears, going slowly.   My husband says it takes me about an hour per sheep, but I've never wanted to time it.   I'm not keeping the fleece from the old sheep.  The object is to just get it off, for the health of the animal.  Within a month the rough coats will grow out enough so that my sloppy shearing won't show.   The sheep are helping to improve the pasture.  They've already been wormed this spring, but I'm behind on hoof trimming and shearing.   One or two more next weekends, then will be done.  After than, next thing is to clean out the barn.

Planted one garden bed with buckwheat, and have been watering alot.   Next time we'll try to do it just before a rain.  The new cultivator works great!

Tractor and haying equipment are ready to go, in terms of maintenance.

Preparations

Spring has come so early, that it makes me feel perpetually behind! But, we're getting the preparations done. My husband and I have have gotten the disc mower out of the back shed (I still have to clean it up). This was an iffy proposition, because it had half fallen over, and is extremely heavy - way too heavy for two people to lift. But, we got lucky and it came out easily. Sheep have been wormed. We've started greasing the baler. My husband sharpened the blades on the bush hog this morning.

The new tiller is coming in a few days, and we're excited to see how it works on a couple of old, overgrown garden beds. There is a major weed problem, so we're planning to plant buckwheat first. We'll mow it before it goes to seed, and then till it under. Next, we'll plant winter rye (might have it wrong, but that is what I remember at the moment). Then, that gets tilled under. With luck, that process will choke out the weeds, and we'll have a couple of nice new garden beds next year.

The barn swallows arrived back last night. I'm sorry to say I went out and knocked down their nests from last year this morning. I like a few around, but last year there were so many in the sheep barn that it was very hard to keep the water buckets clean. Would like it if a few stayed around - they do a great job on flying insects, and are just generally very cheerful. But, I need the sheep to have fresh water too.