Spring Cleaning on the Farm

Best fertilizer is the one you got.  Justin brought a couple truck loads of the sheep manure and many bucket loads of chicken manure to the garden.  A smelly job, but good for the earth.  

We found a place for the ladder.  AKA we gave Pepere Larry a couple extra odds and ends to fix up after he put up the new upstairs door.

He made the little door to match the large lower door.  It lets in a good amount more of light into the workshop  upstairs.  

The barn so far this Spring 2021.  If you do not remember what it looked like before, check out the post on The Barn; The finishing touches.

The roosters are not getting along this year as they had previously.  We have four beautiful and family friendly roosters.  It as a difficult discussion, but we have decided to give away Angus and Carliss to separate homes.  We’re hoping Jupiter and Cameron can share the rest of the space.  Please let me know if you’re interested in adopting a free rooster.  These are the two pictured above: Angus is above Carliss.

A full flock photo.  The boys are up front Lambert and Boston.  Ivy with her bell bottoms is behind them.  Nala and Natalie the Katahdin ewes to her right and the Southdown ewes to her left and in the back.  Do you know what got them to line up perfectly like this?

Yes.  They were meeting our new dog Boomer for the first time.  He sounds like his name, that’s why they all startled together. Boomer is a two year old hound mix that we adopted from the Portland Animal Shelter.

Justin has also been clearing out a new patch to the left of the barn.  This year we’ll probably have turkeys there. You can see the new open space and the large pile of lumbar up front.  I’m excited for the turkeys because we’re getting a heritage breed.  So they will be ver pretty.  Well also keep a few for breeding.  Expect lots of photos.  This spring we’re also getting some meat birds; it’s been a while since our last set.

I love early Spring flowers, it just really solidifies spring for me.  Happy Easter everyone!

Alexia made me these flowers from egg cartons and pipe cleaners.  She envisioned this craft on her own.  It was a great birthday present.  Save your quarters, she’ll be making a few bouquets worth for craft fair season.

A Growing Flock

 My children are always asking me what is your favorite animal? And it’s funny how easily I fall in love with a new animal when we add it to our little backyard farm. So right now high on my list is sheep. 

And our flock is growing. Obviously you’ve all met Ivy,  but here she is again because she’s too cute to write about without sharing a photograph. And now she has her sweater off.  She loves going outside to play... check out this little clip of her excitement that the door is open. Happy Bouncy Ivy Video

And last weekend we went to a farm in Milton Township, Maine and picked out two new sheep at EB’s farm.  Here is their Facebook page.

One Southdown ram lamb who will be the father of next year‘s lambs and one Hampshire market lamb. That little guy was a bottle fed lamb and is super friendly.

Meet Boston the Hampshire wether.  A wether is a male sheep that has been castrated.  They are considered better meat this way and therefore preferred for a market lamb. They are easier to manage at home and for showing at the fair.

Meet Lambert the Southdown ram.  We have his “papers” for being a purebred Southdown and of no relation to our females.  This will allow us to sell their purebred Southdown offspring... In case any of you readers have been motivated to start your own homestead.

He is one of the most handsome rams!  He will be ready to breed this fall.

Both of these little guys have already been weaned from their mother’s milk.  They have their own space in the barn to protect their health and our ewes and lamb.  They will be sharing the outside paddock until this Spring and we’ll separate them before Lambert gets big enough to be ready to breed. We will reintroduce them in September.

The other adjustment we’ve made is moving the Dolly Mama and Ivy out of the lambing pen.  We replaced the dividing fence with a Creap.  Think of this as a lamb’s playpen.  It’s a safe warm space for her to get away from the ewes, and they can’t follow her, but she can come and go as she pleases.

When the Spring flowers bloom, I will have some fun taking Ivy’s pictures.  She will be filling in more and looking beautiful.  Come again soon... the sap has been dripping from our maple trees so we’ll have a maple syrup post coming up soon.

The Big Move to the barn.

 The Big Move to the Barn

From the small sheep pen to the large pen in the barn.

Here the Ladies are going out the barn door to the winter paddock for the first time.

 

Hardware cloth was added to this side of the window to prevent injuries and rubber barn mats layer the ground to prevent slipping.

  

A new hay feeder was made for their new home in the barn with space at the bottom for grain.

A view of their space from the stairs above moments before they moved in. There is space to add paneling and create a lambing pen within this space.

Their new space in the barn is much cozier and roomier then their sheep shed and they were happy to be back together, especially when they realized it was time for breakfast.

They stayed together as they explored their winter pasture.  Rosie and Dolly the Southdown sheep and Natalie and Nala the Katahdin sheep.

Checking out their new space and their surroundings.

Even though the barn is not fully completed, it is certainly functional and we are so happy to have our animals move in this rainy October weekend.

They acclimated very well and enjoyed their roaming ability.

We called their names and they stopped their nibbling  to look up. Natalie is the brown Katahdin on the left, Nala is the white Katahdin in the front, Rosie is the larger Southdown and Dolly is the smaller of the two.  I can’t tell from this photo, which is which.

The Southdown sheep are going for a snack of evergreen, while the Katahdins are searching for and munching on acorns.

The Southdown sheep just came to our farm a couple weeks prior to this big move to the barn.  Check out their arrival story on the post: What’s Two More?

If you would like to learn a little more about the barn itself, check out the post Building a Barn. And Building a Barn the Finishing Touches.