King of the Trough

Gabriel was named after an arch angel. Other than one hen he dispatched to the pearly gates (she deserved it, attacking and annoyed him endlessly) he has been a Godsend to our farm.  Before he arrived we lost sheep and lambs to the local cougar regularly.  Since he has been on the farm we have not lost a single sheep or lamb.   

One of my favorite things is to sit and watch the interactions between him and the sheep.  He has favorites among the flock.  A few lambs are his buddies.  Some of the ewes remain leary of him and that will never change, as they were not raised with a guardian dog.  He is quite affectionate with many of the lambs that grew up with him.  He will groom them, lick them, lay with them and most of all he protects them.

When Gabriel first arrived at the farm he was hesitant to defend his food from the chickens, or his sleeping spots from the sheep.  That has changed.

Gabriel has a couple primo spots he has made his own.  One of them is in the middle of the round bale feeder.  He loves the hay and makes his bed in the middle under the tarp covering the feeder.  He is snug and warm.  Down side, when he is sleeping in the feeder, he does not allow many sheep to eat.  His favorites, yes.  The ewes he does not care for?  Nope...which has resulted in a few getting their noses nipped.

I feed the bred ewes and lambs alfalfa every afternoon.  As long as I am in the pasture, Gabriel hangs with me or Stewie.  The minute I am occupied with something else, like working dogs.  Gabriel will climb into one of the feed troughs, make his bed and then the game begins.


Gabriel "Listen ladies, this is mine now. Get lost!"

"Stewie can stay, the rest of you bugger off!"

Stewie settles in to share the alfalfa with Gabriel.  Always one to take advantage of favoritism, Stewie knows the drill.  

Stewie says "Nom nom nom."

All hail Gabriel, King of the Trough

Challengers appear.

The girls think they can move the unshakable rock.  It is a fruitless endeavor.  (Trust me the only way to budge Gabriel from his bed of alfalfa is to tip the trough over - don't ask how I know this). 

Brave Beulah, Stewie's mother, risks her nose and ears diving into the yum.  The girls stay back, timing Gabriel's response.

Alas, Gabriel knows better than to do anything with me standing there.  Wise dog.  His game is thwarted. 

Gabriel says "You suck, please go away."

"I love you, but you understand the minute you leave - I will bark, snap and growl, and they will scatter like the sheep they are." 

That's okay you big white goober.  You are worth your weight in gold. 

Stewie Crack

He saw the bag the moment I got out of the car. As I walked to the gate you would think a bomb went off in his butt - propelling him forward at rocket speed - screaming M'aaaaaaaaaaaaa-kettlecorn-aaaaaaaaa! The whole way.

Stewie Crack. 

He nibbles, gnaws, licks, desperate to get his fix. 

Must.have.it.NOW! 

Utterly beside himself, he is shaking in anticipation. Finally he has his fix. 

Sublime caramel kettle corn crunching and melting, soothing the desperate symptoms. Sugar coursing through his veins. 

Sadly, Gabriel has also succumbed to the heady lure that is Caramel Kettle Corn. 

No hope for him either...

Gabriel is so desperate for a fix he snatches the pieces that fall off the ground. 

Sated. They both move onto other interests. 

Stewie to his ever faithful standby, Alfalfa and his BFF Matilda. 

Gabriel to cleaning off lamb butts. 

Someone's gotta do it. 

Charmin's got nuttin' on Gabriel for leaving a clean behind. 

Relaxing end to another good day. 

Bless Ewe :) 

Echo & Brynn

This last weekend we had a visitor come by the farm.  Brynn's littermate Echo stopped by to hang out and meet the sheep with her family. 

 

Brynn has not seen Echo since she was a wee puppy at their foster home in Moses Lake, WA, three years ago this month.  

Brynn & Echo were good friends way back then. Below they are playing with the nanny dog Cassie at the foster home. 

 

Brynn and Echo today

Echo was blessed with awesome ears.  

And the cutest head tilt ever.  

The resemblance is striking, except for the ears.

 

Brynn has the air-plane ears

Echo has flying-nun ears

They stand the same, they drool the same. 

They both love to play ball.  Intense hard working dogs.  They even have the same tongue and love for the water. 

While Brynn is an working sheepdog, Echo is not sure what to do with sheep.  

She was not impressed by them...at all.   We let Echo watch Brynn work, you could see a little glimmer, but then she would turn to her mom and look away. 

Echo made it clear that is not what trips her trigger. 

Where Brynn would curl up in a corner and die without sheep...Echo didn't care one iota for them. 

Brynn was just fine with that.  She tried to share, but was happy to keep them for herself. 

Brynn showed off her sheepdog moves, trying to get Echo interested. 

 

Alas it was for naught.  All Echo wanted was to be with Holly and her boy Nick.  That is what rocks Echo's world.  Her family. 

While sheep may not be her forte, Echo and her handler Holly are kicking butt and setting records in Noseworks competitions. In her first trial Echo won first place overall in addition to receiving the Noseworks One title. She also placed in 3 out of 4 elements: 2nd in interior & vehicle searches and 1st in exterior.  Her overall time for all 4 elements was 57 seconds, the only dog to do it in under a minute total. 

Who needs sheep when you have an kick-ass nose?  

We are DONE!

We are finished with lambing. 

The final Border Leicester had her lambs, a week early.

This is her first lambing.  Two ram lambs.

The coats made a reappearance because these guys had very little body weight and needed all the help they could get maintaining temperature.

Daisy finally had her lambs.  The first one was huge, and I had to pull it due to locked elbows and sheer size.  She was happy to have them both out.  She is an excellent mother.

Tulip, was one of the ewe lambs we hoped was not bred, but she was...and thankfully she lambed with absolutely no difficulty.  A wonderfully healthy ewe lamb.  Tulip is a splendid mom, very protective and watchful over her lamb.

I pray that these were the last lambs to be born.  There are two very young ewes that were included in the total ewes due to lamb that we are hoping are not pregnant.  They would have been exposed to the ram for a short time after the dog attack.  If they are not pregnant (due at the end of the month) then we are DONE! 

Final Lambing Stats

20 ewes delivered
2  remain - doubtful pregnancy - are not supposed to be pregnant

40 lambs total
-1 still born (disrupted attachment - dog attack)
-1 death at birth (premature ram lamb)
-1 death from birth complication (ewe lamb died due to birth complication)
-1 death from being smashed in jug by ewe (ram lamb)

36 surviving lambs
~14 ram lambs
~22 ewe lambs

2 sets of triplets
15 sets of twins
3 singles

Break down by Breed 

Sire Coopworth (Johnson)
Clun Forest/Romney - 3 sets of twins, 1 triplet (4 ewe lambs, 5 ram lambs)
Romney Ewes - 1 single (ram lamb), three sets of twins (4 ewe lambs, 2 rams)
Columbia Ramboillet - 1 set of twins (ewes), 1 set of triplets (2 rams, 1 ewe)

Sire - Coopworth (Roy)
Border Leicester - 5 sets of twins (5 ewe lambs, 5 ram lambs)
Katahdin Ewe (first lambing) - single (1 ewe lamb)
Daisy - Katahdin Ewe - twins (1 ram, 1 ewe)

Katahdin Sire (Monique's Katahdins)
Three twins (5 ewe lambs, 1 unknown)


Now my life can return to regular scheduled programming. 

Whoops, maybe not.

Blogging has been seriously impacted by my new job.  To put this bluntly I am flipping exhausted at the end of the day.  AND I have lost 34 pounds thus far. 

Lambs are growing like weeds

My dogs are happy going to work with me.  Brynn and Beth are the happiest.  Brynn's day today was spent between chasing a basket ball up and down the yard, an occasional stop to check that the sheep were behaving, back to playing basketball, following around the tractor, etc.  She is out like a light. 

Another way our life has changed dramatically....My daughter, psuedo son in law and grand daughter have moved into our house until they can get on their feet again financially.  The economy hit them both hard and we are happy we have the space to share, but wow....it is interesting to go from a relatively quiet home back to utter chaos again. 

That said, I have a bunch of pictures to process that I have managed to shoot over the past few weeks that I can't wait to share when I have the time.

Till then, please be patient with my lack of blogging and iPhone pictures.  One day I will recover full mobility in my hands, arms, shoulders, legs, back, neck....muscle cramps make typing very difficult. 

Now to get ready for shearing, next week.  I cannot wait to get my hands on Piglet's fleece. 

Time to go to bed and count the sheep of my dreams.