Sheep!

We were trying to figure out how to keep control of our pasture this year. When we had pigs before, we had horses and they broke through every barrier we put up to get to the pig feed. So, we decided that we wanted to get something that wasn't strong enough to break into the feed, but that would eat our pasture. We finally decided to get lambs. We found a place about 25 minutes away that gave bum lambs away for free. For those who don't know, bum lambs are lambs that the mom can't or won't take care of. The problem is, they are hours old when you get them. And the ranch doesn't know exactly when they'll have them. So, we just had to call every day to see if they had bum lambs. Finally, one day we called and they had six lambs for us. I had researched lambs on the internet and we thought that we were ready. Thing was, the lambs hadn't read the internet. Nathan had heard that lambs are born with a death wish - some of them just don't get their wish. We found that to be true. The first night, we lost one that had gotten chilled on the way home.

Three out of the five left died quite quickly for various reasons. One had a broken that we didn't catch until too late and the other two never learned to suck. I definitely took the deaths the hardest. I grew up in the city and we never had animals. Nathan grew up on a dairy farm and was always around animals. Our kids also have learned a lot about life and death. They amaze me sometimes. Jo even ended up consoling me. So, after about a week, all we had left were Curious Georgia and Spots. Interestingly enough, we thought that Spots was going to be one of the first to go. When we brought her home, she had two broken legs that they had set at the ranch with duct tape. She couldn't even stand. But she definitely didn't get the message that she was supposed to want to die. She had a will to live. She always sucked harder than any of them and she would eat more than everyone. When we came out to feed, she would try so hard to stand up and when she couldn't, she would finally crawl over to us to eat. She made sure she got enough.

Owen feeding Georgia

Owen feeding Spots - see her broken legs?

Georgia and Rocky (one of the lambs we lost early on)

Bottle feeding the lambs

The kids playing with Spots and Georgia

About four weeks later, I went out to feed the lambs and Georgia was dead and Spots was bawling. I never knew a lamb could bawl, but they do. That death was the hardest for me. I had bottle fed her for over four weeks. She had a personality and vitality. I really missed her. Spots also had a hard time. Every time we opened the door or the window, we could hear her bawling clear at the back of the pasture. It was hard for me to even go out there, but I had to because she needed to be fed.

We finally decided to see if we could get some more lambs for companions for Spots. We called the ranch and they let us buy 5 other lambs for the price they had spent on the milk replacer to feed them. They were the same age as Spots and all were about ready to be weaned. We fed them all for about a week and weaned them. Because we didn't have as much contact with them early on, these lambs didn't take to us as much as the first ones. Spots always was a little more affectionate. The other lambs paid attention to us when we had grain or they thought we had grain. So we ended up with six lambs: Spots, Misty, Freckles, Brownie, Rose, and George. They grew a ton over the spring and summer!!

Jo offering grain to Spots - see how she grew up?

Owen feeding grain to Misty, Rose and George

Jo getting a kiss from Spots

The kids feeding grain to the older lambs

Another bonus we found to having lambs: they ate our noxious weeds in our pasture. Our pasture is much healthier. We also never had a problem with them breaking in to the pig food. We learned a lot from this experience. There are some things we'll do differently, but I'm thinking we'll definitely get lambs again. I've loved having animals. Spring and summer is the best time to do it and it's nice that we get rid of most of our animals before it gets cold.

This last Monday was auction day for lambs, so Nathan took them to town and had them sold. This was the first time we've ever made money off our animals!! Usually, the pigs we raise for meat and we sell the other pig for the price of processing both, but we don't actually make money. And the chickens are just a joke. We'll never make money off them, but it teaches our kids,and me, responsibility; and who can put a price on that? We have animals for reasons other than just making money, but it was nice to get actual money from these. Nathan, learning from the pig experience, began feeding the lambs grain in the trailer about a week before he needed to load them, so Monday morning, he went out, threw grain in the trailer, the lambs ran in, he shut the door, and they were off. MUCH EASIER!! He took them to the auction and went at the end of the day and picked up his check. That experience was one we'll repeat.

I feel like the more years we have animals, the more we learn. We learn which animals work well for us, how to take care of them, and how to get rid of them. It's a great opportunity. I'm glad that I live in a place where I can do it.