Semi-coherent Lamb update

Okay, so you need to catch up! Which, admittedly, would be infinitely easier if I would post in a more timely fashion. My bad.

So far 4 ewes have lambed, with a total of 6 lambs, 3 rams, 3 ewes, 6 more ewes left to give birth...I think, I can't do math right now because I am very, very tired.

Let's see, where did we leave off? Oh, yes, three have been born since last we conversed.

Bella, a first time mom, had a single ram lamb Saturday morning. Thank-you Bella for having him before I left for market in the morning, thus avoiding a panicked phone call from my husband saying, "I don't know nuthin' about birthin' no babies!"

He is a really nice little ram. So far, his fleece is crimpier at the shoulder and falls off toward the back, BUT, the fleece on his 'purse' ( if you don't know what that is, use your imagination...he carries his stuff in it) is very crimpy, so I am expecting that he will have lovely fleece by weaning time. Truly, I am not making that up, it is a good indicator of what adult fleece will look like.

Gah! I hate taking pictures in the barn, photos are so much better in natural lighting.

Bella's Rammy Lambie.

This morning, at 2:30 am, Luna had a matched pair of  ewe lambs. They are not as flashy as her ewe lamb Athena, that was produced from this same breeding last year, but they are both really nice girls.

The older 3 lambs went outside for the first time today. The weather had been too wicked up until now for them to go out, but the skies cleared this afternoon and although it was still very windy, the temperature was warmer, and the sun was shining. The lambs had a great time mingling with the rest of the flock.....well, that is, after the ewes stopped trying to kill each other. Very unladylike behavior for new mothers!

Here are Menemsha's lambs.

Ram on the left, ewe on the right. Both are looking really good right now. The ram definitely has a nicer birth-coat at this point, but time will tell...his purse is crimpy too-thanks for asking!

 I am really liking the looks of this little guy. He will be mioget color like his dam.

Laurel's boy really enjoyed exploring the outside world too. I added this picture for my friend Cassie who finds it hilarious that some part of Ande the llama shows up in every photo...unless I crop him out.

Run, Forrest, Run! No, his name isn't Forrest, it just seemed appropriate. C'mon, we go through this every year, you know that I take forever to think of names!

Run, Little Ram, run! Yeah, I need to think of names soon.

....and done.

Ande is super-excited about all the new lambs.

Now you are somewhat caught up...I'll see what happens tonight.

It's gettin' hot up in here.

It's been about a month since we've had any measurable rainfall here, and daytime temps have been stuck in the upper 90's for some time, yesterday was 100 degrees. Today we are supposed to hit 101 with a heat index of 120+ and unbearable humidity. It has been a  huge challenge to keep the animals cool. I have several fans in the sheep barn, and we added two more high velocity fans a couple of days ago. The fans help, but they can only do so much when they are just moving hot, soupy air around. The sheep keep their noses plastered to the fans all day and then go out to graze at night after the sun goes down.

I also have sprinklers running all day over the barns to cool them down.

The chickens are having a very difficult time as well. I lost my big Blue Cochin rooster and one of my Easter Egger hens in spite of my efforts to keep everyone comfortable : (. 

The chickens are all walking around with their wings up, trying to cool themselves.

I have a sprinkler going into the chicken run, and over their barn to cool it too. The chickens find some escape from the oppressive heat by picking around in the puddles.

Even my little Barn Swallow baby is lifting himself up out of the nest to stay cool. He is an only child so he is doing pretty well....no siblings to heat the place up.

Rooster Cogburn and Swagger seek shade under the apple trees....and beneath the weeds in my overgrown garden during the heat of the day. That's why I left all those weeds in there....yeah...that's it.

The horses are a little tougher to keep cool. I have fans in their barn as well, but the fans don't offer much relief in this weather. I hose the horses down with cool water a couple of times a day. Jasmine feels the need to taste the water as it comes out of the hose, making it kind of difficult to spray the rest of her body down.

Then, of course, after she is all clean and fresh, the obvious thing to do next is to roll around in the dirt and replace all the gunk that just got washed off.

  Dead horse.

Aaaannnd shake it all off.

.

Ande has his own way of keeping cool. He has his sprinkler...

...and his swimming pool, albeit a little small for him.

Sometimes he likes to combine the two for that true 'water park' experience.

He is, however, not too excited about the prospect of sharing his water park with Emma and Jolly Ball.

We have chances of rain in the next couple of days and temperatures are supposed to be more bearable....like 95.....it had better cool off because I promised my critters that if we can just get through today, we will be OK.

I hope it's cooler wherever you are!

Now I have to make jam for Farmers' Market. YAY! Boiling water and hot, molten fruit!

Fun with Japanese Beetles! Caution, this doesn't end well for the beetles

Well, I have no excuse for my long absence from my blog. The summer is flying by and there have been a number  of things that I could have blogged about, but time just seems to slip away so quickly. I vow to be a better blogger....or, that is to say, I will blog more often...it won't be any better 'cause I am still the one that is writing it, there will just be more of.....well, whatever this is.

Recently our farm has been invaded by Popillia Japonica-no, this is not some hip, new rock band-we are talking Japanese Beetles here.

At first, there were just a few of them munching on some of my flowers, which was not much more than an annoyance.

Then they brought their friends- along with their voracious appetites..

Then they started dining on some of my fruit trees. 

 Oh, heck no! I am not havin' any of this!!!

Something had to be done, and since I really try not to use any insecticides on the property, I had to get creative.

In past years, I have gathered up some of  shiny little insect-offenders and thrown the mercilessly into the chicken run, to be gobbled up by my hungry flock. It was pretty much a win-win situation.....unless you were a beetle. 

Hard-shelled beetles provide extra phosphorous and calcium - not to mention lots of protein for the chickens- which means happy chickens, less feed for me to buy, and, as an added bonus, by keeping the number of beetles down , my plants looked less like Grandma's lace doilies. But, collecting the evil little creepy-crawlies was a bit time consuming- as well as a bit disgusting when they decided to fly into my hair, so I needed a new, improved method of revenge.

I considered placing one of those Japanese Beetle traps in the chicken's run, but I didn't really want all the beetles to land inside a trap where the chickens couldn't get to them, so I improvised -as I sometimes do.

I bought the bait that is intended to go into the trap - apparently it is scented with beetle pheromone and the beetles are lured into thinking that they are on their way to some sort of  insect swinger's party, when, in reality, the only date that they will be having is with their maker.

 I tried to think of a way to expose the bait, while ensuring that the chickens couldn't get to it. The bait is supposedly non-toxic -  the beetles are only lured by the scent and then are captured in the trap, but I still didn't want to take any chances. I had a few ideas to keep the chickens safe from the bait, but some of them were not very practical. At times like these I go to our junk- garage and take inventory of all the useless stuff that we have been hanging onto "just in case we need it".

I found a couple of old vent covers...hmmmmm...one of these could work.

The back had wire mesh, so there was no way for the chickens to get through it.

I found a board to attach my new-fangled trap to.

Opened the bait and secured it to the board.

Covered the bait with the vent cover.

And then nailed it into place...OK, so I am no Bob Vila, but I got the job done.

I almost forgot to mention that you will need a good supervisor for this project.

I then selected a spot in the chicken run to place my new chicken feeder, and waited for the fun to begin.

Are you wondering why you only see a few chickens in the video when you know that, in actuality, I have....well....a lot of chickens? It has been obscenely hot here and most of the girls were seeking shade at this time of day. One of the older Barred Rock girls, however, was particularly persistent!

Is this going to solve the problem? No, but it will give me a little satisfaction knowing that there are a few less beetles eating my yard!