Sheep
Worming sheep
Saturday 17 September, 2011
We weaned the ewe lambs on 4th September, amid a bit of baaing. Kept in the paddock next to their mums, they all settled down. Because we have small numbers, running lots of little groups of sheep is difficult to manage, so on the 15th, we put the ewe lambs back in with their mothers. I was a wee bit anxious and hoped that a) the lambs had "grown up" and b) the ewes' milk would have dried up. Anyway, they're fine - the lambs didn't try to suckle at all.
All thirteen of these females will now run as a group "forever", apart from the six weeks or so when Leo is in with the ewes and gimmers. Over this period, the four ewe lambs will be elsewhere with Uncle Dickie.
Fleece at the RHS
Saturday 2 July, 2011
I entered three fleeces into the Royal Highland Show fleece classes - one white one and two coloured. We didn't win but we did get some useful comments and our marks weren't humiliating, although not close to the winners.
I'm planning to enter again next year and hopefully, we'll do better.
Meanwhile, the fleeces are all in the wool sheet ready to be delivered to Perth on Wednesday.
Shearing finished
Sunday 12 June, 2011
And all's well!
The ewes will be glad it's done as it's warm here today. As ususal, they look a bit odd but we kept the lambs around during shearing, so there wasn't the usual confusion when they were reunited.
Garry's done a good job - just a few wee nicks that have been sprayed with iodine and are dried up this morning. They all look nice and tidy.
The gimmers have the biggest change - having lost their lamb fleece, they all of a sudden look just like the older ewes.
Shearing, almost
Tuesday 7 June, 2011
Our Ryelands have very heavy fleeces so I like to get them off as soon as I can. We have a new shearer this year, as our previous man is a bit far away. Sunday 5th June was the arranged day - cool, dry weather forecast. Perfect!
I had the tup and wether in and pens built when Garry arrived. Once he got his equipment sorted out, Dickie was first. Lovely tidy job done. Then Leo - have to say he was smaller than I expected once his fleece was off. It weighed 4kg, though.
Then it was on to the ewes. Now, I brought the ewes in as Garry was shearing Leo. Mistake- I should have brought them in first thing in the morning to let them empty their stomachs. First up was Luna, who is probably, with Lucy, our least friendly sheep. She was a kicker, which was a pain but probably saved her life. As Garry was shearing, she stopped kicking- she was unconscious!
Fleece
Tuesday 10 May, 2011
The Ryeland breed is renowned for the quality of its fleece. I am no expert but I am hoping to increase my knowledge by attending a fleece workshop run by CSSA in June and by entering three fleeces in the appropriate classes at the Royal Highland Show. The latter will give me useful feedback on fleece quality. I am planning to enter Leo's fleece in the down sheep class and Nellie and Niamh's fleeces in the coloured class. Nellie and Niamh have quite different fleeces and it will be interesting to see how well they perform.
God bless Louise at Ketchum Eartags
Wednesday 4 May, 2011
As per previous post, ma heid is nippin'.
Ordering the eartags for this year's lambs was easy. Then I decided that I should at least HAVE tags for all the older sheep, even if they aren't in their ears. So began a long conversation with Louise at Ketchum Manufacturing, where we get our tags from. Finally, this morning, I was able to phone Louise back with the missing bits of information - the individual number for Lyra and the flock number for Juno, Jura and Jinx. She's now put together the order and we've checked it carefully (fingers crossed).
Ear tags
Thursday 28 April, 2011
Ear tags are makin' ma heid nip. I need to order tags for our lambs. We have 4 ewe lambs that will be registered Ryelands; they will need two tags, one electronic. The tags need the UK flock number and an individual number by law plus the RFBS flock number and individual number as well. The five boys are destined for the freezer so I need five electronic slaughter tags for them.
I've just completed my RFBS ewe registration document, but won't send it off until the lambs are tagged since all the numbers have to tie up with the correct lamb.
A great Sunday morning job
Monday 18 April, 2011
The new grass has given our ewes the squits. Ryelands are very wooly sheep and consequently, the ewes bums were a bit messy. With the warm weather, we were getting concerned about fly strike, so yesterday morning, we had them all in to dag them and spray with "Crovect".
Dagging is the process of removing the wool from around the rear end of sheep. It's often done at this time of year to remove shitty wool that might attract flies, leading to fly strike. Some folk also do it as part of their preparation for tupping, presumably to make life a bit easier for the tup.
Lambing over!
Friday 8 April, 2011
Well, that's our 2011 lambing, and our first at Dalmore, over. Rather unexpectedly in the end. We thought Jura wasn't due until the 20th, but she must have held to her second service and gave birth to two tup lambs yesterday teatime - one black and one white.
I had gone to feed the other ewes, looked in the field and there she was, with a black lamb. He was up and tottering around, so we brought them in. It was clear she was going to have another one, but since she wasn't getting on with it, I thought I'd better have a guddle around, as Dan describes it. Watched by our neighbour, Rebecca and her son, Sam, and John (no pressure), I had the guddle and said "Flip" (or similar), "only a head!". Fortunately, Jura's a third timer and quite a roomy sheep, so it was no bother to bring the legs out and, in a jif, twin No.2 made his appearance.
Choke
Wednesday 6 April, 2011
Niamh must be the greediest sheep alive. Twice in the last week, including this morning, she's choked on the pellets the sheep get. It looks pretty awful - terrible slavers from her mouth and nose, plus coughing and retching. However, her breathing was fine so we kept her in as a precaution. Within half an hour, she was fine but it does give you a fright.
