It is only fair to give credit where it is due, I let the predators count the three baby lambs they snagged off the back hillside.  Gannon killed another possum so we get credit for that.  We are still not happy about the loss of the lambs. 

The end barn door was in sad shape.  I fixed it and added a wire panel so the sheep would not jump over the bottom section.  

We broke down and did it, a sheep sorting system has been purchased. The best place in the country for sheep and goat handling supplies is Premeir Equipment.  We want to make a one time purchase that lasts the rest of our lives. It was not cheap, but one person will now be able to sort the sheep.  It cost $1800 for the system pieces but weighs almost 900 pounds so the freight shipping cost is another $600.  The sale of the sheep this year is going to cover the cost.  Hopefully, it arrives in the next two weeks. 

Sarah and I had to go out last week and sort all the sheep.  We needed to figure out which ewes we are keeping and who goes away.  Plus all the females over one year old or who are pregnant needed a scrapie tag applied to there ear.  Getting them into the barn is easy with Zeke.  Sorting them while they are in the barn is terrible.  It took us three hours to sort, catalog, tag babies and scrapie tags on 70+ sheep.  At one point early on, the leaping animals head butted Sarah in the mouth trying to escape through the gap in the feeders she was guarding.  It almost worked, but Sarah stayed upright and kept the opening secured. 

I also installed a switch for the front creek pump we are using to irrigate the orchard.  Now, you don’t have to pull the extension cord in and out of the outlet to get the pump to turn off and on.  Just move the switch.  Plus the covers are both water resistant so hopefully the GFI will quit tripping all the time. 

I had to clean off the inlet cover to the front pump as the creek has dropped a couple of inches and the output had dropped.  I cleaned out the cover and redug out the creek near the pump.  It did not help so we switched out sprinkler nozzles for one that can handle a lower pressure.  I will probably have to install a dam soon to get the pump head back up to reasonable levels.  Our orchard looks good this year. 

Now that we have officially lost two lambs the coyote war is on.  I am going to have to take some evening strolls up the edge of the wheat field to check in on the predators.  They need to get thinned out a little.  I may even have to get a predator call to put on the back hillside occasionally.  I am going to have to start practicing with my .17 HMR. 


Irrigation pump switch.

Self captive

Well today was animal sorting day.  We got another call and it looks like the sale is still on for all of our extra sheep. We decided to run the sheep back into the barn. We had gotten a few of our keeper ewes in with the sell herd.  We also lost a couple of lambs, a set of twins, from the sell herd.  Annmarie shot a coyote just behind the house this week and today I spotted a coyote up in the upper prime pasture.  The sheep were crazy like they always are in the summer and leaping around in the barn!  We had on little boy who jumped up four feet and into one of the feeders.  He got stuck and could not get out.  We had to lay the feeder on its side so he could run out.  Every time the sheep ran by me they would leap 4-5 feet in the air,  worse than frogs they are.  Eventually, we opted to just put a scrapie tag in the extra ewe and sell her also and just turned them loose again.  We will get the final count when we load them up for sale. 

Zeke and I went up and herded the cows back down to the square pen.  It wasn’t too bad.  Then last years boys had to have a head butting match in the square pen.  We got everyone into the loading chute but could not grab the babies.  Annmarie went to go get a rope down at her mom’s house while Sarah and I waited.  The baby cows managed to work their way to the back of the chute and I pushed them toward the gate with a stick.  We got all three babies out into the square pen while the mommas were stuck in the chute.  The calves are only a couple months old but weigh in the 70-80 pound range.  They are fast!  We had to wait for the rope.  I am not a cowboy and I do not know how to throw a rope.  So I held the loop open and attempted to sneak up and drop it over their heads.  It worked but wow was I not expecting the ensuing battle.  That is one upset calf and it can really throw its body around and bawl loud.  Annmarie tried to grab it while I was holding onto the rope desperately.  I managed to work my way up next to the calf and Annmarie.  She was trying to put it on its side but could not lift it.  I thought she wanted to pull its legs out from the opposite side, I could not do it.  Finally, she communicated that I needed to grab behind and in front of the legs grabbing the loose skin and lifting the animal up off the ground onto my knees and dropping it down on its side.  It really does work.  We ear tagged both girls and then when I tried to rope the little bull I only caught a back leg down by the hoof.  Catching it around the neck is easier to hold then a back foot, just saying.  We finally got it on its side and I attempted to hog tie its feet together.  It did not hold, obviously I need more practice.  The little bull has a white spot on its left eye.  We took a picture and called someone who said it was pink eye or a sticker in its eye irritating things.  So we will need to give it a shot and irrigate the eye.  We are so going to wait for our nephew to help us on Sunday.  I just had to do this last week on a three year old human at work and it wasn’t easy.  I don’t imagine a 2 month old calf is going to be easier.  We did tag every calf, two little girls and one boy. 

Hard day wrestling calves

Annmarie and I both ended up covered in cow poop.  One of the calves smeared poop on the sides of his siblings right before we started to wrestle with them.  I think she knew what was coming and just wanted to get her revenge in early.  It was one of the little girls. 

So we have enough money saved know for the sheep sorting chute and in the next few years will get a sorting chute arranged for the cattle. 



Sticker or pink eye?

It has happened again!  I am victorious. The sly, stealthy, nocturnal beast has been eliminated.  Our eggs just kept disappearing and we were starting to have serious supply issues.  It was bad enough that I broke out the live trap and set it up.  That first night I just could not sleep, kept rolling over in bed and listening for the clang of the trap doors.  It never came.  I heard this high pitched short meow like whine coming from the coop.  You might think it is a cat, but it is a possum. I ran outside with a flashlight, my Walther P-22, my boots and wearing Annmarie’s satin robe ready to engage my adversary.  Sure enough, there was a possum in the chicken enclosure running around the coop yard.  The live trap was still set and the possum was frustrated because I had shut the human door and it could not get in to eat eggs, too stupid to go up the chicken ramp.  The possum kept running around the far end of the chicken yard and my laser needs new batteries so I could not see the red dot.  That is the excuse I am going to use for missing the first three times.  Finally, the possum decided to run straight at me!  When it was four feet away I shot it in the head a couple of times.