Sometimes

Sometimes I wish I didn't have a farm. Sometimes it can be hard. Sometimes it can be heartbreaking. Sometimes it can be frustrating. Sometimes I wish I didn't have a farm.

My goat Louise had quadruplets. One was smaller than the rest. I thought it was a doe. I thought it had a hernia. Instead it was a male. If I had bothered to check I would have seen that it didn't have a vulva. It didn't have a scrotum either, but you could feel the testicles in its body cavity. It had bad plumbing. The hernia wasn't a hernia, it was urine. The poor little guy's urinary tract was messed up. He was in pain. He was retaining urine. He had no future. He had to be euthanized. There's something especially heartbreaking about euthanizing a baby animal.

Never had a chance

I don't think I've ever had a ewe lay on one of her babies. It happened twice today. Both dead. One was a sick ewe with triplets. She was in a big pen (8x8) but still managed to suffocate one of her babies. She lays down a lot, seems to have some discomfort. She doesn't have much of an appetite, but is still chewing her cud. I'm treating her with antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory, and nutrition. Fingers crossed. Now she's only got twins to raise. That might be better. The dead lamb was a male. The whole litter is. It's hard to make money bottle feeding a male, if that's what I end up doing with her lambs (if she doesn't get better). Last year, she gave birth to a dead lamb (single). She was a yearling. Her time in the flock is probably limited. 

The other ewe that crushed her lamb, had a difficult birth and was also laying down a lot. Yesterday I pulled two lambs from her, plus a mummy. She laid on the bigger, more vigorous lamb (of course!).  She was in a 5x5 jug. I've tube fed the small lamb twice. Hopefully she'll raise it. A red ewe lamb. So was the dead one. I'm afraid she's going to lay on this one, too, but I can't be there all the time. Not sure why she couldn't deliver her lambs yesterday, but she was in distress all day and is still a little off. 

I kept a ewe from last year that had mastitis. In fact, part of her udder had sloughed off. So why did I keep her?  I'm asking myself now. Until last year, she was one of my best ewes, raising triplets each year.  A really good milker. Part dairy. I thought she might be able to raise one more lamb (on her good side) and I'd raise anything extra she had. But she's been sick for a week now. Still hasn't lambed. Big udder. No fever. Makes these strange sounds with her throat. I've been providing nutritional support: yogurt, molasses, and red wine. Don't know how this is going to turn out.

I kept a 10 year old ewe that used to be one of my best ewes. She raised two nice lambs last year. I raised her third one and kept it for replacement. I was glad when she only had a single. But I soon learned she didn't have much milk, even for one. I'm bottle feeding her ram lamb. I keep ewes I shouldn't. When ewes can't maintain their body condition, even with extra feed, it's time for them to go.  Another lamb I am bottle feeding is part of a litter of triplets. The dam has plenty of milk, but the lambs won't nurse from one side. The teat is bigger than normal. I've had to hand milk that side a few times. Too much milk. That's a new one!

Another ewe with triplet ewe lambs had one lamb with a broken leg. Don't know if it happened before or after birth. Since it would be too hard for the lamb to compete with two siblings I removed it for bottle feeding. It's in a pen by itself in the garage with the goats. I named her Tippy. I put a cast on her leg twice (paint rollers and vet wrap), but she's managed to get it off twice. Her leg seems fine now and she's doing well. 

Besides the aforementioned ewes, I've got ten ewes left to lamb:  yearlings and 2 year olds. Some don't seem to be bagging up or even look pregnant. Time will tell. I'm not sure I care anymore. I'm so exhausted, physically and mentally. I'm just ready for lambing season to be over. Maybe I'm getting too old to have so many sheep all on my own. Maybe I care too much about them. I try to do things right, but there are so many things I can't control and so many things that happen regardless. 

I started raising rabbits a few years ago. I started with good stock and invested good money in cages and other equipment. I went in thinking there was a good market for rabbits (for meat). There is not. I cannot find a consistent or decent market for the fryers. I'm able to sell some for breeders, but that is hit and miss. Plus, I hate having to use Facebook to sell rabbits. I'm planning to keep just a few rabbits (for now) to produce my own meat. The reds. I'm still trying to sell the whites. Bertha, one of my original rabbits, died unexpectedly last week. I found her dead in her cage. She looked peaceful. It was probably for the best. This way I don't have to sell her to someone else (or for meat).

Oh, and the basement sink is backed up.

Carport barn

The new carport barn is ready for sheep. It was a four-phase project. The first phase required the removal of old structures (shed and fenced-in pen). The second phase was to level the building site. Three loads of gravel were used. The carport was installed on April 5. Today, the wood sides were installed, along with some eye  hooks to allow installation of gates to make smaller pens.

Ready for sheep!

Tomorrow, the yearlings and their lambs will be moved to the new building. Seven ewes have twelve lambs. One yearling has yet to lamb. A corner of the new building will be sectioned-off to provide a creep area for the lambs. I may put up some electric netting to provide a small pasture for the ewes and their lambs.

I plan to paint the outside of the wood sides, green to go along with the color of the carport.  I've decided to add another level of 2 x 4's (along the bottom of carport roof) in case I want to put tarps or curtains up to cover the open areas.. My dad's idea.

New Building

The new building will soon be ready to be inhabited by sheep. The yearlings and their lambs will be moved in as soon as the building is complete.

The first three phases of the project are complete. The first phase was to remove an old shed and pen. Fence posts had to be pulled up from the ground. The next phase was to prepare the site for the building. The land was leveled and crushed stone was added to the site and pounded flat to make a level site.

Last Tuesday, three Mexicans from Carolina Carports arrived at 6:30 p.m. to install the carport.  It took them about three hours. They spent the second two hours mostly in the dark. They seemed to do a good job.

Next weekend, I have someone coming to add wood sides to the two long sides and the short side that is closed in.  One short side will remain open. There will be a three foot open area between the wood sides and the top of the carport. The roof of the carport extends down three feet on both long sides.

The carport is approximately 20 x 30 ft in size. Another 600 square feet for sheep or whatever else I might want to do with it. Right now, my intentions are to use it to lamb the yearlings and possibly a few 2-year olds that will be bred for April lambs. I don't plan to use it in the winter time. Eventually, I will have water and electricity brought to the building.

I purchased the carport from Alan's Factory Outlet in Virginia. After they got their deposit, most of my dealings were with their builder, Carolina Carports. Carolina Carports didn't demonstrate good customer service, but in the end, things seemed to have worked out okay.

Lambing Update
So far, four of the yearlings have lambed. Two are raising twins. Two are raising singles. One of the ewes that has a single lamb had also given birth to a deformed lamb that I had euthanized. Its left front leg was deformed. It wasn't going to be able to walk. It also had a severe parrot mouth. It's always hard to put a newborn down, especially when they have such a will to live, like this one did.

Blizzard of 2016

It's hard to tell how much snow we actually got, due to the drifting. Somewhere between 2 and 3 feet is my best estimate. It was certainly more snow than I've seen in my lifetime, at least in one falling. Several years ago, we had two back-to-back snowfalls that were fairly substantial.

The sheep and dogs made out fine. There's a lot of snow in the feed area of the hoop house, but other than that, everything's good. If I had replaced the roll-down door on the closed end of the hoop house, much less snow would have gotten in. I covered the opening the best I could. A lot of the snow came in when the people door blew open.

The walk to the barn was treacherous. The drifted snow was waist-high. I came to understand how people can get stuck out in the snow, even if they are very close to their destination. I used a shepherd's crook on the trek back to the house and it was much better (and safer). I fed the sheep extra last night, so I could wait to feed them today, after a path was cleared to the barn.

Day 2 (today): the sun is shining. It is a beautiful day. The snow is beautiful. The dig out has begun. A local farmer has plowed me out.  He plowed the driveway and a path down to the barn.  I still have to shovel out some paths and dig my car out.  I won't be using my deck for awhile. It is piled high with snow. Zak's backyard is also deep with snow. I dug a path for him, but it's not enough. I need to take him out for a walk, so he can choose where to do his business.

For city dwellers and suburbanites, I don't see how a big snow is much of a problem (unless power is lost). So, you have to stay inside for a few days. There's not much shoveling to do and there are no outside responsibilities. For a farm, it's a much bigger deal, especially if there are livestock.  You have to get to them. You have to get feed and water to them. Worse yet, sometimes, lambs, kids, and calves are being born in the middle of snowstorms. I'm glad I'm not lambing.

Fortunately, the snow slides down the sides of my hoop house.  My brother wasn't so lucky. One of his hoop houses got covered in snow and the frame bent like an M. No animals were inside, but equipment and vehicles were.

There was plenty of advanced notice for this big snow storm. Anyone that wasn't prepared has only themselves to blame. I made sure I had plenty of food and feed. Anyone who ventured out during the storm (other than those that had to) was foolish. 

Time to go out and do some more shoveling . . .

We will all survive the blizzard of 2016.

Expansion Plans

I'm getting closer to retirement, so I'm planning to expand the farm a bit.

Second feed bin
Even if I wasn't expanding, I would be having a second feed bin installed on my farm. I have to purchase all of my feed. Hay is very expensive. Much more expensive than grain. It seems as if every year is a bad year for growing hay. It's either too wet or too dry. This past year, it was both. I plan to replace some of the hay in the diet (of my sheep) with soyhull pellets.

I've done the calculations. Soyhulls are a more economical source of energy than hay, and bulk soyhulls are much cheaper than bagged hulls.  Soyhulls are easier to store and handle than hay. There is less waste. One pound of soyhull pellets is equal to approximately 1.4  lbs. of hay. The new bin will be used to store soyhulls.  If soyhulls become too expensive, I can store another type of feed in the bin, including more barley.

I use the current bin to store whole barley.

Second building
Last year, I used the back bay of my three bay garage to lamb my yearlings. I would like to use the garage to raise rabbits (eventually). The lot that connects to the back bay gets too wet.  I need to put in a 16 x 16 ft. concrete pad if I want to continue to use it for the yearlings. This year, I have 10 yearlings to lamb. It's probably not big enough for all of them.

So, I'm going to put in another building, in the pasture behind the house. I'm going to start with a carport and have wooden sides put on it. I don't plan to use it in the winter time, so it doesn't need to be completely enclosed. It will be approximately 20 x 30 ft. in size. The roof will extend down two feet.  I will have water and electricity installed. In addition, to lambing out the yearlings (and others), it can be used to feed lambs and/or kids.

Current facility for yearlings (garage).

Handling system
For years, I've needed a handling system. A handling system would make it much easier to vaccinate and sort my animals. I haven't weighed my lambs in a few years; a handling system would make me more likely to do so. I want to enroll my flock in NSIP. This requires that I weigh lambs at 60 and 120 days of age. I would also like to get a pre-breeding weight of my ewes, so I can calculate efficiency (lbs. lamb weaned/pre-breeding weight) of ewes.

I already have the components of a handling system. I  have a work platform and scale. All I need to do is design my system, decide where to place it, and order the additional pieces I need. I plan to put a cover over it, maybe another carport.

Automatic milk feeder
Because I push my ewes, I'm always bound to have some orphan lambs. An automatic milk feeder would make it so much easier to feed orphan lambs. No more leaving work early or getting up late at night to spread out the feedings. The feeder would also mix the milk. I can easily justify the expensive when you consider the number of years and lambs that a feeder would feed. I am also interested in buying day-old lambs (or kids) to feed (as another farm enterprise).  Not sure yet which model of feeder I plan to buy.

Automatic milk feeder

Rabbits
Not sure when I will start my rabbit enterprise. For years, I've wanted to raise commercial meat rabbits. I'd like to use the style of cages that I saw in France a few years ago. I'm hoping that I can get them from a distributor in Ontario. With the new building for the sheep, I'll be able to use the back bay of the garage for my rabbit enterprise.

Besides liking rabbits, I am attracted to rabbit production because it is much easier to market rabbit meat, as compared to lamb (or goat). They are also easy to handle. I may use the hydroponic fodder system my dad created to replace some of their pelleted diet with sprouted barley. I've also read where soyhulls can replace approximately 25 percent of their diet.

Clerici rabbit cages in France

My "new" hoop house

A new cover

The cover to my hoop house split down the seam on July 18, likely the result of fierce winds that accompanied a summer thunderstorm. The storm was short in duration, but that didn't seem to matter. Perhaps, the seam was gradually tearing open and this particular thunderstorm finally got the job done.

Cover completely removed

In the days that followed, the cover continued to peel open, leaving more of the hoop house exposed to the elements. The lack of cover was making one of the pens particularly hot, so I erected a tarp over part of the pen.

A few days ago, another fierce storm took most of one side of the hoop house down, exposing the area where I keep my hay. Fortunately, my hay supply is almost depleted. I covered what was left with a tarp.

Getting ready to pull the cover over

Nightly rains, sometimes heavy, were filling some of the hay feeders and making everything pretty soggy. On the plus side, some of the lambs got a much needed bath.

The new cover was put on today (August 3) by a team of three contractors. The crew knew what they were doing and had the job done in less than 6 hours. No problems were encountered. Everything fit. Everything worked. They used their truck and a tractor to pull the cover over the top of the frame.

Cover almost over

The new cover is white, which should make the hoop house brighter and cooler. The sheep don't seem to notice the new color and weren't too upset when the cover was pulled over the top of them. I had put the ewe lambs out, but had left the ram lambs in their pens.

The new cover

It's a relief to have the new cover. With each storm, I had worried about how much more of the hoop house would come down. I worried about the lambs and I worried about storing hay (I've got a load of hay coming tomorrow).

The first cover lasted 10 years. Not too bad. This one should have a 15-year warranty.  

Hoop house saga

In the fall of 2002, a hoop house was erected on my farm.  My brother and dad put it up. The neighbors came to help get the cover over the top of the frame, akin to an Amish barn raising.

For almost 10 years, the hoop house has been an ideal place to house my sheep and store feed and equipment. A few days ago, the seam at the top of the hoop house ripped and the hoop house began to peel open. To quote my brother, it now has a "sun roof."

Not a welcome site

The hoop house is mostly open along the top. The cover remains over about 30 percent of the frame and the sides are still mostly covered. I ordered a new fabric today. It will take a few weeks to get and make a deep dent in my bank account, unless insurance agrees to cover the loss.

In the meantime, if it rains, it will rain through the center of the hoop house. Severe weather, like the winds that broke it open, could cause more damage. I've got quite a few lambs in the hoop house. I have moved their hay racks closer to the sides. Some grain feeders remain in the center, exposed to the rain, but that just means I can't feed them when it is raining. They are hand-fed, so no grain is left in the feeders to get soiled. Rain will just wash the feeders out. The hay is in a corner that is mostly protected.

"Natural" ventilation

So far, we've had a dry summer (what's new?). Of course with my hoop house peeled open like a fish, we are bound to get gobs and gobs of rain, even in Clear Spring. Last night, we got an inch of rain, moisture that was definitely needed for the crops in our area. Fortunately, the storm didn't do much more damage to the hoop house.

The hoop house will be as good as new (better) in a few weeks. In the meantime, I hope I can keep the hay protected and the feeding areas under cover.  I suppose if things get worse, we can throw some big tarps over the top.

In better times

The new hoop house will be white (instead of gray). That should make it brighter and cooler.  I've also ordered some new fabric to make a roll-up door. The old door worked well, but is on its last leg.

Chick pics

Okay, so chickens aren't my favorite animal, but they may be a good subject for taking pictures. They have such unique faces and expressions. I'm sure I will discover more about them as I continue to take their pictures. I may even start to like them (don't tell anyone!).

My dad's venture into raising poultry has started with a group of Cornish cross chickens that he is raising for meat. In fact, they are due to be slaughtered next week.  It is amazing how fast they grow to market (eating) size.

This is my favorite shot, a close-up of one of the hens.

I caught this biddy with a mouthful of food.

This hen looks flat out mad!

One of the roosters.