Monday, May 2, 2011

loony lambs

We have finally got all our animals out on grass . We pushed ourselves through the eye of the needle so to speak last week. All the ewes are sheared and mamas and babies out of the barn. Usually it goes quite smoothly when we lead them out of the barn to grass. This year however, well....
We got some grain to lead the mamas. They  came out easily . The babies however did not follow. The ewes took off after Gaelan up the road while the lambs ran wildly around baaing and looking confused!
Usually they do not want to leave the mom.
So we had to lead the ewes back to the barn and get the lambs back inside. We loaded the lambs into the truck and Gaelan led the ewes on foot, the truck following kind of herding them from behind.
Once at the field the ewes went into the pasture pretty well. 
The lambs however got wild. Unfortunately with the girls trying to help, Carmella  lost John and he ran off. Then a couple of white lambs jumped out of the back of the truck. I managed to recapture them twice and put them in the pasture, but they were so freaked they just ran back out through the wire which was unelectrifiied!! It all ended up with Gaelan and Asha chasing one through the woods, me diving numerous times after one white one and then when we thought we had them all, we realized one more was missing.
We heard a distant baaing and realized one was up by the cabin. Gaelan and I sprinted up there and chased it all about all the while cussing and wishing we were real shepherds with a crook . Now I remember why they are so handy! You can get to within an arm' s length and think you have the lamb, but then it books off. If only we had a crook!!
It was a little crazy but all ended well.  I certainly was sore the next day. I use my body a lot for farming, but sprinting uphill is rarely one of my activities!

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