Kindergarten Farm

The ewes have moved to a creek-bottom pasture that usually stays nice and green through fall.  It’s a season of peaceful grazing and regaining their body condition for the coming breeding season.  Their lambs were weaned, and those we sold went to their new homes.  Aside from a brief parasite attack in some of the weaned lambs, it was a good summer for the flock.  It was the first time we’d needed wormer in several years, and they recovered well.  Our area was blessed with late summer rains, which meant greener grass and a better second cutting of hay than some years.
*Note: The sheep don’t get grain as part of their normal diet this time of year; only a small amount occasionally as a treat.

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Only two foals were born on Kindergarten Farm this summer, but we’re enjoying them more than ever.  Eclipse is the first full-sized foal we’ve ever had, a Fresian/Walker cross, born to our saddle mare, Caramel.  Clyde is a Shetland/Miniature Horse cross, and will be for sale as a weanling this fall.  Both have been caught and handled almost every day since birth.  This makes them a lot of fun, as they’re getting quite friendly and are leading very well.  Pictured with the grandchildren in the driveway is Mouse, one of our favorite older mares.  Grandpa wonders if it’s safe to lead a pony before you’re two; grandma says yes – it is under the right circumstances!  If you’re interested in a pony/miniature horse, check out our updates to the “Horses for Sale” tab.

Time to earn some of that hay you’ve been eating all winter, we told the horses!  Several groups of children have been out to the home farm for riding lessons, and I (Laura) borrowed a couple to work with at our place.  Golden Cloud (“GC”) has been getting used to the idea of pulling a cart.  Janette is gearing up for ARC’s summer camp for handicapped kids; this year she’s celebrating 20 years of bringing horses to camp for that fun-loving crowd.

Lambing went smoothly, for which we are thankful.  All our ewes lambed without assistance and are raising their own lambs – no bottle babies.  It was the year of triplets. 3 ewes had them, though Snowball is the only triplet mama whose babies all made it.  (Ginger’s 3rd was stillborn, and one of Rose’s got on the wrong side of the fence from his mama – management lesson we’ll keep in mind for next time; like we did for Snowball, triplets need a small pen at first so the ewe can keep track of them all!)  The lambs are 4-6 weeks old and acting very energetic!  One ewe lamb and several wethers are still available.

Snowball and her triplets at one week. Two rams and a ewe.

Getting into trouble already!

Snowball gave us an exciting start to lambing season with our first ever set of triplets.  She is doing a great job, and they are thriving.  As of April 18, 5 rams and 4 ewes have been born; more are due any day.  Two ewes are available, as well as a few wethers.  Rams without buyers are being wethered as we go, so if you’re looking for a ram, let us know and we’ll keep one intact for you.

It’s the time of year for throwing off last year’s wool, transitioning from hay to lush green grass, and anxiously awaiting new lambs.  This is Flopsy, pre- and post-shearing.  We did all the shearing ourselves this year (mostly Ben).  The results weren’t always pretty, but the job did get done.

Brutus, our new ram: his deep, well-muscled body and level topline are some of the things we like about him.  He is dual registered, codon RR, and will become part of our breeding program in fall 2017.