Jim & Sheepy Rambling

After the dreary rainy days the blue skies and picturesque view of Mt Rainier was a welcome site today. 

Mt Rainier from Enumclaw, WA

Jim is perking up since loosing Mama.  We were a bit late getting to the pasture today and he was not impressed.  Jim was waiting in the hay shelter, talking in his llama language "It's about time you got here!"

Doesn't he have the cutest smile?

Some how he has figured out that I am doing something with my phone, and it involves him and looking handsome.  I swear he is posing. 

Llamas are innately curious creatures.  Jim leans in for a close up.   I yanked my phone away right before he tried to eat it. 

Nice look you have going on there Jim. 

He enjoys his orchard/timothy grass.  

Jim is an attention hog. 

John has a routine with Jim.  It involves food and lots of scratching.

Scratching the neck, the back, the ears. Jim sucks it up.  

We have worked hard at getting him used to being handled. 
His antics are an endless source of giggles.  

Tulip, one of my first ewe lambs has grown into an incredible pest.  

I have NO idea why.

 

She quite resourceful. Eating the grass off the backs of the other sheep.  

She is too cute for her own good.  While she is adorable, I will not be buying any more hair sheep.  Tulip and her mother Daisy are it.  Obviously their lambs will be primarily for meat.  They do not have a place in my breeding program, other than I have them and will give them a good life.  Unless Tulip sucks as a mother...in that case she will be downgraded to the 'working' group until she is culled. 

This is Esther, one of the 4 registered Romneys from Bullock's.  She believes she must shove her entire head into the feeder and eat from the other side.  

 

She is the biggest ewe we have.  Her head is massive - as you can see compared to the clun forest ewe on the right & the katahdin/dorper on the left.  

 

She feels she must put her entire front end into the feeder, feet and all.  

My favorite ewe lamb, Baby - the brown rambouillet has been growing leaps & bounds.  Her fleece is amazing & I already have a buyer for it after shearing.  I have several people who want the Border Leicester fleece too, although I am not sure what the condition will be in.  I have learned a lesson with the feeder - I need to make sure next year to not feed them in a way they can get the food in their fleece.   I am putting coats on several of them next year to protect the fleece.  I plan on spinning much of it myself. 

I might have to change Baby Behemoth's name to Sweetheart.  She has a perfectly shaped heart on the top of her head. 

The farm where I bought Baby/Sweetheart has offered me her father and aunt for sale.  I am not able to take on the ram at this time, but he is a very handsome black rambouillet.  Baby's mother and aunt are natural colored ewes.  I am considering purchasing her aunt, who will be lambing in March.  This entire flock has done very well in the wet climate here in the PNW, absolutely no sign of foot rot or other issues ramboillet's can have in a wetter climate. 

This is Piglet and Maimie.  Two columbia/rambouillet ewes.  Can you tell which one is Piglet?  Hint, she looks like a pig. 

 
At feeding time I like to walk around behind them to check their weights and other things.  The other day I was able to trim all the dingleberries off the backside of the Border Leicester ewe lamb and she didn't even notice.  So much less stressful than penning them and flipping them.  

At this time it looks like we will be lambing out 21 ewes & all the anticipated  lambs are spoken for.  We were also offered a couple neighbor pastures to graze at no charge, I can easily trail the sheep back and forth, they just want help keeping the grass down. Once I get a trailer we have several options for hauling sheep out to work on large fields near-by.  Yeah!   

I'm loving our life. Living my dream.  What could be better?