kajarrel Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 Well folks, I finally have a chance to come online. The cold snap is killing me. We're lambing and the conditions are pushing our setup and the ewes to the edge. Luckily I've lost only 1 triplet out of about 20 lambs so far (60 ewes to go). It's amazing to me that I can come home and find a momma and baby(s), standing, warm and dry when it's -10 . . . It's definately been a challenge this year. Now the dogs - they love this weather. Frozen "placenta-pops" are a special treat of the season. The other day they found a 8" diameter ball of sheep poop that they've been playing with nonstop . . . Cleaner too. Supposed to warm up to (maybe) freezing today! Woopie! So how is everyone else handling this? Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dot me not Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 And here I am being all paranoid about 4 measley little ewes in Georgia's "warm" weather! I been sittin' around thinking about how to get heat lamps for them in our barn that's not finished (just a roof and one side complete now). We've only had a couple of nights of below zero weather here and even that makes me want to head closer to the equator! Our problem this week is the very cold rain. We got about 2 inches yesterday at about 38 degrees. The sheep don't seem to mind, or even get wet to the skin, but the horses are absolutely miserable. Every one of them outside is shivering. I'd rather it get colder and actually snow than do this frigid rain! Once they get wet to the skin then there's no staying warm. Lydia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted January 31, 2003 Report Share Posted January 31, 2003 Lydia, I'd rather have a dry (or snowy) -15 F than a 38 degree rain. The sheep can handle the cold if it's dry, but cold rain is very hard on them. I have the same reaction. Even with the dry cold that we've had lately, the sheep are obviously more hungry. In the past month, I've sold 140 lambs but the daily feed consumption of the flock hasn't declined any. Yesterday was the first day that temperatures moderated -- there's even a chance we'll get above freezing today -- and it was also the first day that they didn't clean up three round bales. Just to give you an idea of what that means -- it's nearly eight pounds of balage per head, or about 5 pounds of dry matter. Unfortunately, we're looking at the possibilty of freezing rain and sleet tonight and tomorrow. None of us are looking forward to that. A friend of mine who is lambing right now went out and bought a load of small square bales of straw and made lambing jugs out of the bales. It has made a big difference in the survival rate of his lambs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseysmom Posted January 31, 2003 Report Share Posted January 31, 2003 I just took my 2 ram lambs to be processed. I got compliments on their condition. However, I was pouring grain into those guys during the 3 weeks of severe cold that we had. Thankfully they are gone now and the weather is warming up. Now I won't be going through quite as much grain. I'm cooking my first home grown roast on Sunday Amy Stone Fence Farm Upstate NY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted February 1, 2003 Report Share Posted February 1, 2003 We may have had the shortest January thaw on record: 2 hours. From about 2 p.m. to about 4 p.m. yesterday, the temperature rose above freezing for the first time this month. Even for northern New England, this is remarkable. We usually have a several days in a row of above freezing weather at some point in January. Many years we even get a taste of the mud season that is to follow. A friend of mine who is working in the woods opening up roads for sugaring was telling me that there's very little frost in the ground, despite this long cold stretch. There's been so much snow that the cold hasn't worked down into the ground under it beyond three or four inches. Where the snow has been plowed, there's at least 18 inches of frost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted February 1, 2003 Report Share Posted February 1, 2003 Hey Amy, Enjoy that roast! There's nothing like the satisfaction that comes from enjoying the fruits of your labors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.E.S Posted February 1, 2003 Report Share Posted February 1, 2003 Its been so warm here lately (So Cal) that it almost feels like summer. We haven't had a cold winter in a few years. Kind of strange. As to the home grown roast. I felt very proud of my dinner one year. Everything on my table was either home grown or homemade. Homegrown meat, vegetables. Milk from my goats and homemade bread. Didn't grow the wheat and make the flour tho. I think people need to continue to be as self sufficient as possible and pass that knowledge on. Who knows what might happen one day. JES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseysmom Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Ok, I didn't roast. I grilled chops on Saturday. They were awesome. I got about 60-65 lbs. of meat from 2 lambs. Is that good? Amy Stone Fence Farm Upstate, NY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokjbc Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Hi all, I don't have to deal with the cold much (its been a chilly 70 degrees here lately but I did want to chime in on the lamb chops. I made some last night, not home grown by me- but in a few weeks I will be taking a journey north with one of my lambs to have my first "own" freezer lamb. It will come in handy, I'm doing the low carb diet thing and a freezer full of lamb will be extremely helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Hi Amy, Our lambs, slaughtered at 100 to 115 pounds live weight, usually yield about 30 to 35 pounds of table-ready cuts. So it sounds like you're in the right ballpark. The more bones you leave in the cuts, the more the cuts will weigh, obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseysmom Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 I guess we did OK. I put all the meat in a box on the bathroom scale. I did not have anything boned or ground. My lambs weighed nowhere near 100 lbs. By my husband's and my estimates (we lifted the dog crate with a lamb in it into the car), they weighed around 65-75 lbs each. I gotta get a truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 "I gotta get a truck." I dunno, seems like that's the downhill slide, y'know... Half a lifetime ago, my wife took 3 dairy goats (alpines) to be bred in the back of a Renault LeCar...and they sneered at everybody through the hatchback as she drove down the freeway... Once you get something that can carry more than three of anything - sheep, goats, dogs, smelly handlers - the end is near... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Williams Posted February 3, 2003 Report Share Posted February 3, 2003 Not too cold here, but have a funny lambing story. We routinely turn sheep out each morning into a pasture they share by day with one of our sheep tolerant horses. Mare and ram (Dorper/no horns) often play - he charges, dodging right or left at the last minute, she watches amused, then they both take off running and bucking and meet up to do it again, until they tire of it and go their own way. Anyway, I was home sick feeling all sorry for myself watching the ram and mare play out the living room window. After a bit, I realize something is different. The mare has her nose to the ground and is pivoting her rear end around in a circle. Hmmm - up I get, and walk outside to the fence to get a better look where I realize that the ram's not a ram, but a ewe. What the heck... the ewes never hang around the horse, so I watch intently, finally noticing something on the ground under the mare's nose. I run for the hay knowing the mare is a hog in horse clothing, grab an armful, whistle and throw it over the fence when she looks my way. No deal, she stays put. I go to the kennel, get a dog and head out into the pasture, where the mare allows me only so close before swinging her backside to me, then back around to warn off the frantic ewe. Seems she has adopted herself a newborn lamb. Meanwhile the rest of the flock is exiting, so I send the dog to hold the flock so they don't abandon the ewe and cause more problems. The mare won't budge and won't let me approach, so out of desperation, I jump at her, waving my arms to move her away from the baby. This works temporarily, she runs off bucking and kicking, then banks hard to the right and comes back with the speed of Secretariat to run ME off. Seems she had really decided this was HER baby. So now the two of us are running as hard as we possibly can for the baby. I get there a half hoofbeat before her (I'm not that fast, I was just closer), grab up the soaking wet lamb and run like hell to the sheep pen with the dog bringing the flock in hot pursuit - I just knew the lamb and I were going to be trampled to death in a bottleneck in the gate, but in we went, dodging left waiting for the flock and the dog. I slammed the gate right before the mare caught up with us to claim her baby. Ewe and lamb are fine. Flock stays confined until further notice (no one was due to lamb for another month); and, between meals, mare stands heartbroken at fence nickering softly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 J., sounds like your mare needs to adopt a foal. Surely there's one lookin' for a new momma..... Great story (and lucky, happy ending!)! Thanks for it. diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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