Maremma LGD's and Other Sundry Things...

It's been busy around here, more or less. Heath is growing up fast and showing what he is made of. 

I've always made him stay in the yard when I went out to feed, because he is too little and I don't want the sheep to hurt him and blow his confidence, or see him kicked by a cow or horse. Plus he loves to pop his front feet at the laying hens and make them run off squawking.

One afternoon, the Maremmas were in having a day off. I didn't see Heath sneak past me. They did though. He made a bee-line for those sheep and they made a bee-line to intercept him. Mr Potamus put himself between the sheppie and the sheeple while Bruno distracted him, offering himself as a sacrifice, being chewed on and abused, for the sake of his honor.

Potamus stood between the sheppie and the sheeple

blocking Heath's access to the sheep, which he has now forgotten

...because he is busy gnawing on Bruno...

...but they haven't forgotten him...

and Bruno brings him back to me...

Once again, the Maremmas demonstrated their unique style of protection and independent thinking. Instead of attacking the pup, which they knew was mine, they blocked and redirected his attention, thereby protecting my sheep, and my pup, while still accomplishing their objective. These same dogs that were so careful to cause  no harm don't hesitate to take on a cougar if it tries to breech their perimeter.

When they aren't actively preventing calamities, they engage in a lot of playful wrestling...

Notice there are never any teeth showing. They have always been careful not to injure one another, but the play is still rough and very fierce...

My son and his wife and six children came for a visit. It was GREAT to see them all and I especially enjoyed the weekend. They stayed busy doing target practice, riding around to see the ranch, feeding calves, putting shelters back together, moving meatie chickens, bathing Scottie, doctoring and marking sheep, and taking down the greenhouse, along with other things. 

Heath loved having the kids here and was especially taken with one little girl. It made his day when she would wake up in the morning and come to see him.

They actually wore him out. First time we've ever seen it....

All in all, it was a very good month.

I ruptured my bicep, so it will be a bit more difficult to do things for awhile, again, but Heath has been pitching in and helping to put the 54 meatie chickens away in the shed at night. One was injured when she was moved from the brooder to the shed, as the other chicks all piled up on her and she has difficulty walking or balancing now. He has been very disturbed by this, and yesterday, to my surprise, he went out and got her, and brought her to me in the house. She was none the worse for wear for his having picked her up and carried her all the way in here and is currently residing in a small rabbit cage in the house where he can feel satisfied she is doing ok, although she is not likely to survive as she gets bigger and gains more weight.

He's been doing a bang-up job taking care of the little flock in the back yard. However, I had to draw the line this morning, when he decided to separate the small "bonus chick" that was sent with them, who is a barred black and white and does not match the others. He then attempted to carry Magoo, the blind duck into the house. I've been trying to explain to him this is not an avian hospital and we do not segregate our chickens...never a dull moment here.

There's No Place Like Home!

I apologize for being very inconsistent in my blogging …but I have finally returned home and am nearly ready to pick life back up where it left off…almost.

After having my knee replaced, I spent the following six weeks living in a reclining chair in my son and daughter in law's home. I was lovingly cared for, my son Cody bringing me coffee each morning he was home and a plate of dinner each night, when he wasn't gone at work, at the picture above. He works about 80 hours a week, so it's a pretty big deal when he's home. My daughter-in-law (known as a DIL, or Krystal, or Laura for the sake of brevity and a swollen right hand) cared for me most of the time. She is responsible for finally finding a surgeon capable of replacing my big mess of a knee. Every day she gets up early, feeds the kids then races off to work at the hospital where she often has to combat someone crazy in order to do her job, but she comes home each evening to help her older little person, Abby, do homework (I was amazed to see her doing "would, could, know, knee, too, two, to and other trick words in first grade and properly applying them. Most adults aren't that literate these days. I was still a year away from "See Jane Run" when I was in first grade) fix dinner, run two girls to gymnastics, find cuddle time with the very little person, do the dishes, the laundry and get them both showered and into bed…then add me to the mix! My oldest son drove an hour and a half one evening to deliver a care package to help my very upset stomach as I could not eat or keep anything down for days. The care package was lovingly packed by my other DIL, Laura who had just had surgery herself.  Later, when I was a bit better, she drove an hour and a half EARLY in the morning through Tule Fog to take me to Dr appts…TWICE! I don't think I would have done so well without the love of my family. They are the absolute best.

Aside from the fact that they live in the city (in a really nice house) with a "drummer" next door, and I say that loosely as he apparently only knows 3 beats and plays them over, and over and over, day after day after day, a garbage truck that sounds like hurricane force winds and no critters, not cows, chickens or even dogs, it was a good time. The little people entertained me and my almost constant companion, (along with the sitter) 3 yr old Kinley, placed pillows under my leg, brought me ½ glasses of water (so it wouldn't spill) and shared her popcorn and, unfortunately her favorite cartoon with me…several times a day. (I believe I can probably recite every word of Garfield and Micky Mouse clubhouse in my sleep) She is quite taken with TheMan, otherwise known as Papa Randy. He just sits on the couch staring at the TV while she chatters at him and leans against him, and this has won him the highest esteem. Everyday I heard "I like Papa Randy, I LOVE Papa Randy" and so on and so forth. Once he returned to the ranch I assumed it would be MY turn to be popular. One day I told her "Kinley!" She answered "What?" I said "I love you!!" and with a sweet smile she looked at me and said "And 'I' love Papa Randy!"

Another day, Krystal took the girls and I for a pedicure. I was having difficulty getting into the chair and the lady asked "Are you all right??"
To which the older little person replied "She IS 59!" As if that was the root of all my problems. I couldn't stop laughing long enough to get up! I love the way these guys think. The first time I walked without a cane, the littlest little person screamed "LOOK AT GRAMMY KIM!!! SHE'S WALKING!"

I thought "oh, how sweet that she is happy for me!" Then she said "Now she will call Papa Randy and he will HAVE TO COME DOWN!!!"

It was a lot of laughs, a lot of love and finally the Dr told me I could come home, milk my cow, ride my horse when I felt ready and go see the surgeon in 6 more weeks. I missed TheMan and the Maremmas something awful. All the new lambs were born in my absence and the dogs took care of them.

The dogs are great about not only keeping the predators away, but if the ewe doesn't mind, they will often help dry the baby carefully and watch over it while she delivers a twin or triplet. The lambs often cuddle with the dogs or play on or around them and the dogs accept that with grace and patience. There were 7 lambs this year from 4 ewes. One ewe did die from unknown causes when her ewe lamb was only a couple of weeks old so she is on a bottle now. I look forward to going out and watching them play.

Sushimoo is back in and we will be weaning her very soon. The calf will go with the other young calves and I will be milking Sushi. It's been far too long since we have had good raw milk and buying milk products just bugs me no end. I  can't wait to make mozzarella and cream cheese, more ice cream and of course homemade butter!

The hens and ducks are laying eggs and I can't wait to start baking with the duck eggs. I keep hearing how wonderfully light and fluffy baked goods are with them! We'll be eating a lot of egg dishes, as we now have 66 eggs and this far from town I can't exactly gift or sell them.  The ranch cows will start calving in a month or so and that always means leppie calves, so I will be bottle feeding again as soon as my leg and back are stronger. I am looking forward to this spring and summer as I have high hopes for it!

I have a long road to go, but I am on the right road now, healing and getting stronger everyday and it is my hope that I can do all the things I am able to do, and can find a way to get around those things I can no longer do and have them done. Spring will be welcome here, as I am ready for flowers, and color and grass and butterflies. The drought has been just terrible here so we won't be putting the pasture in like we had hoped, or the new fruit trees yet. Maybe next year it will end and we will have a better year.

For now, I will be grateful for all He has done and know I can count on Him for all He will do.

The Ranch Rustics store on Etsy is open again. I will be making and curing soaps and adding them to the list as they are ready to sell. Whipped Tallow is available in Cool Water, Lavender and Bergamot Sandalwood fragrances. Custom fragrance can be made for a small additional cost. Soy wax tarts are available in a variety of fragrances until it gets too warm to ship them.

God bless all and thanks for stopping by!!

Petey

...And So Forth...

The heaters are plugged in on the water troughs, the shelters are up the hay has arrived and we are pretty much ready for winter. I was worried about Madge, the last of my original original Dorper ewes. It has been a year since she lambed and I thought maybe she wasn’t able to have anymore as she has had trouble lambing every time and I have had to intervene. I was glad to notice her little lopsided udder suddenly evened out. In less than two weeks time she went from looking not bred at all to absolutely enormous. She is currently in the lambing shed, lonely and uncomfortable. She’s taking her sweet time too, but I am glad because she is a sweet thing and I didn’t want to cull her.  In fact, night after night I have been watching her, although she doesn’t have the classical signs I usually am able to pick up on, such as hollow flank, tight, shiny bag and going ‘slab sided’. No, instead, her Madge-esty simply enjoys eating copious amounts of hay day and night and rocking back and forth in her attempts to get up and get down. She backs up to the wire grill door, with her ever so itchy derrier just out of sight of the camera and does the mambo, as I sit on my perch in the warm living room rocking with laughter at the sight.

The cougar still haunts the houses up above us, walking around the ranch compound without fear. He is still spotted in broad daylight, often not far from where the guys are loudly working in the shop. He avoids capture or destruction time after time. The cowdogs sound off at him as they back their way to safety, one reason I think he is so bold. The LGD’s would not be so easily intimidated, but as they cover much ground on their perimeter patrols, they still risk being caught in one of the traps the cougar has NOT stepped in. I’ve heard some of them could be lethal. At least one trapper will be here until January. It’s going to be a long, long 6 weeks, regardless of how very much we like him and enjoy his company.

EmmaLouMoo is about 4 1/2 months pregnant now and should calve in March. I was hoping to have SushiMoo bred but there wasn’t a bull in at the right time. Then they brought a bull up with some calves for some reason and had them in the back pasture. I asked the boss if I could put her out with him and he said “sure, but he leaves in 10 days.”  I watched everyday to see if she was in heat. She was coming in the morning they came for the bull. I just hope she got far enough along to be bred before they moved him. I hate having to wait over another year to see what kind of milk cow she is going to be for me.

Meanwhile, I’ve been making lots of soap. In addition to my normal inventory I have added Jasmine, which is fast becoming one of my new favorites. I have also made a couple of batches of Salt Soap which is exceedingly nice. It has incredible lather and I love the way my skin feels after using it. It gets things really clean without drying my skin out and the Himalayan Sea Salt in it does its work detoxifying and nurturing. I think it’s going to be a pretty popular soap. There are tons of different varieties cured and ready to go for Christmas gifts. They make great stocking stuffers! If anyone cares to order, please remember our pony express here is a little slow, so get your orders in soon if you are wanting them in time for Xmas. Soap is currently 3 bars for $12 but prices will be going up after the 1st of the year due to the rise in shipping and supplies. Salt soap is currently $5.50 a bar. They are very large and very heavy bars.

Health issues have kept me indoors much more than I would like lately, so I went out into the small sheep pasture  to visit with the Maremmas. Bruno is getting stir crazy and REAL crabby. He was complaining at the ram so badly I had to yell at him to stop. I had just fed everyone, and as usual, when I went to toss the hay over the fence, the sheep made sure to all be right in the landing zone. I watched as Annie-goat’s baby “Shugar” grazed all the leaf off the backs of her lamby companions. The dogs left their food bowls to visit with me and to keep the neighbor dogs at bay, as one Border Collie was taunting them with the famous BC ‘evil eye’. Next thing I knew, one of the young wethers had snuk over to their dogbowls and was helping himself. Now the Maremmas work hard at disciplining the sheep to leave their food alone. They roar and charge and run them off, which is okay, as they would otherwise starve. They never injure the animals so I see no reason to put a stop to it. The sheep know better...even this guy. I was curious to watch, as instead of running along the fence to run him off, they instead circled around at top speed through the middle of the flock. Instead of scattering in terror (because none of them are afraid of the Maremmas, instead they run TO them when frightened) they all watched as the dogs ran between them with the look on their faces of “Oh boy, Joey is REALLY gonna get it!” And he did.

The dogs clown around, wrestling and knocking each other down until someone gets mad...

Then, of course, Potamus wants to kiss and make up, much to Bruno's humiliation.

Next up on the entertainment list was Cowboy the rooster. He has adopted the sheep as his ‘flock’, grazing and foraging with them by day and sleeping with, or in many cases on them by night. He particularly enjoys riding around on Thyme’s back. She was waltzing across the pasture to the water trough when he hitched a ride and apparently he’s due for a pedicure because she took to pitching and bucking until she unseated him. He landed gracefully behind her and picked someone else to sit on. It’s funny to actually watch as the sheep stretch out their necks and sniff his face while he stands and allows it.

This evening, as usual, I fed the horses, captured my recalcitrant milk cows, fed them, fed the sheep, then in turn, fed the dogs. Once again, they had to run sheep away from their bowls. As I was heading for the house I noticed them return and with confused and forlorn looks on their faces, they looked at one another then just sat down, staring in the direction of their dog bowls without eating. Curious, I walked back to find the rooster and a friend had decided to help themselves, and gobbled up kibble unimpeded while the Maremmas looked on sadly. The LGD’s sense of honor is beyond fault.

Trials and Triumphs

In spite of some pain I have been living with lately, its been a good week. Our fruit trees and the grapevine I ordered arrived and  Randyman got them planted. I am really looking forward to the garden this year. I got the trees roped off so the pups cannot break them off at the base, like the LAST tree I had. In addition to that, the boss got us a phone that works here on the ranch, that we can actually hear on, not that I want a lot of phone calls. It’s been wonderful not having my day interrupted constantly. It’s just for doctors, emergencies, and family.

I was able to download 30 free books on kindle, which made a difficult night go faster. I woke up ready to face the day, when I saw Randyman walk into the bedroom. I could tell by his face something was terribly wrong.

My stomach lurched as he told me that Rosemary’s mama was dead. He found her laying in the alleyway, looking like she might have bloated. She was fine at dinnertime, in fact, the boss’ wife and I were admiring the sheep and how great they all looked. It was a real shock. It was Stewie’s dam I have been concerned about about, what with the difficult birth and all, not Rosemary’s. She’d had no problems and had lambed almost a month ago.

I had to gather my thoughts and process it. I was grateful I had not lost EmmaLouMoo, or one of the dogs. I am very sorry to have lost this good ewe, but there is always a reason, even if we do not see it. The only way to deal with this kind of heartache is to trust my own Shepherd. He’s walked me through far more difficult places than this, so I know I can trust Him completely. As soon as I wrapped my mind back around this fact, I had my light in the darkness.

At least Rosemary, the little ewe lamb, will become easy to handle after being bottle fed and she did get an excellent beginning to life as she had a very good mama for her first three weeks.

I have to think something in the hay was suspect, as EmmaLou was also sick this week. The other sheep are all fine though, so I cannot be certain of it. Whatever it was, it was very sudden. She was fine in the evening, and gone by morning. Having animals is a great privilege and a joy, but can sometimes be heartbreaking.

Being dam-raised for nearly a month, Rosemary is not terribly social. I spent some time in the morning trying to catch her, but decided not to cause her more stress than she was already going through. Later in the afternoon I saw her napping and was able to stealthily enter the pen and snatch her by a hind leg as she tried to escape. I lifted her into my arms and huffing and puffing, managed to get her through 2 gates and the several hundred feet to the house. My hands, wrists and legs hurt tremendously as there was nowhere to stop and rest and she is incredibly heavy for a month old lamb. I couldn’t put her down anywhere as she would not let me catch her again. The pups followed us in the house, checked her over, then laid down to nap, while I tried to fill a little tub with hot water to put a bottle in. I had made the bottle earlier in the day with fresh milk from EmmaLouMoo and just needed to bring it back up to 100 degrees. Trying to do all this, with my hands hurting and a   solid chunk of a lamb in my arms was exceedingly difficult. Randyman showed up for lunch JUST in time. He helped keep her quiet while I got the bottle in her mouth. She fought a little bit, but after not too very long, she began to suck and she drank all that I was willing to give her.

Randyman carried her BACK to the sheep pen to be with her friends. He says his back hurts and estimates she already weighs about 45 pounds. She is HUGE for a month old ewe. My bummers didn’t weigh that for several months. I hope we can keep her thriving, without her mother here to feed her. I found an old shepherds hook up in the shop, so I can catch her again without too much work and get some more milk down her. Hopefully the change won’t upset her stomach too much.

Feed time came and I gave the sheep their hay. Rosemary tucked herself in behind the feeder to nibble on alfalfa leaves and I was able to snag her hind leg with my hand and drag her out. My friend “D” showed up and helped steady her while she made quick work of a bottle.

This morning Randyman and I herded all the sheep into a little room and re vaccinated all of them to insure none of them die from clostridium, which may or may not be what killed MamaC. She was boostered in December and should have been ok, but there is no telling if she had been vaccinated before I got her so one shot might not have been sufficient. Better to be safe than sorry. I also gave some anti biotics to Madge and infused her in case of any infection from the difficult birth, where I had to intervene.

I captured Rosemary and once she started on her bottle I was able to set her down and allow her to stand. That is a big improvement from last nite. I hope to give her 4 bottles a day, as close to 32 ounces as I can, as I only have a 10 oz bottle that fits the nipple. So a light feed in the afternoon and a full bottle before bedtime should do her ok.

Rosemary has begun hanging out with little Stewie, who is more than willing to accept her company. 

Still, I would like her to buddy up to the dogs more, as Stewie can't protect her if she gets in trouble and she has no Mama to look out for her now. I reconfigured the sheep pen so I could contain the Maremmas in there. They are almost 2 now and since all the stock is pretty much contained this time of year, I would like them to become more closely bonded to my sheep. My intention is that they will follow them around during the day while they are grazing and not be so concerned about watching every pasture. At night they will be free to patrol their boundaries. They have been spending way too much time at the back door, so its time to put them to work guarding full time, as they are mature and experienced enough now, for all I can tell. They aren’t thrilled about it, but such is life.

“D” came over at noon to help capture Rosemary for her #2 feeding. She had the bottle as I wanted to get a picture of Rosemary so I can compare and make sure she doesn’t lose condition over the next few weeks. We decided to see if she would come to the bottle...and she did. Her suction was so great, “D” was able to drag her all the way to a nice sitting-on stump without losing her.

So far, so good.

I expect in another day or two, she will run to me for her bottles and get over grieving the loss of her mother. I hope I will too. Life is still good.

Joy Comes in the Morning

 

Just as the most incredible and amazing Resurrection follows what I consider to be the most horrible day of the year actually the most awful day in history, Good Friday, today sorrow lent itself to comfort, if not joy.

Recently, my lambs and animals have been for me, an illustration of the things the Lord has said. They have become pictures that help bridge the gap between here and eternity. Tender and heart-gripping pictures of the way He cares, in the interaction between the lambs and myself, as well as between the pups and the lambs.

Today was a more difficult lesson.

I woke up this morning and dragged myself out to the corrals to feed leppies and lambs, but only 4 lambs came to me. Normy was missing. After the others had their fill of milk, I went to look for him. He was lying in their shelter, inside of the little kennel they like to sleep in. I knew something was very wrong, as Normy has always been the most active and the most hungry of the 5, in spite of his chronic sniffles and smaller size. I reached in to lift him out. His little body was very cold and he moaned. I knew it was too late for him, no matter what was wrong, so I took him into the milking shed and held him, trying to make him as warm and comfortable as I could. He nestled into my arms and moaned again. It was not many minutes before he was ‘gone’.

I laid him on one of the pups’ pillows in the shed and went about feeding the rest of the animals and completing my chores. The pups were already out on patrol. By the time I had finished milking, Cletus showed up. I took him to Normy and he looked him over. A week ago, I had banded two of the lambs’ tails and they were quite upset, both pups were clearly distressed and spent a great deal of time tending to them and trying to comfort them. This time Cletus seemed to accept that Normy was gone and without further ministration, he turned and went out to the other lambs. Bruno showed up and did the same, licking Normy a time or two, trying to rouse him, then quietly leaving and joining the remaining four.

I carried Normy to the porch and laid his little body down, until such time as Randyman could decide how to dispose of him.

As I thought about how very animated the dogs were when the lambs were in distress, I marveled at how quiet and dignified they accepted one’s death. They seemed to take it all in stride.

It is my own opinion, but I believe the animals, or at least most of them, possess a wisdom we lack. They rarely wallow in self-pity, or live their lives pining for more than they already have. They simply go about their purpose with as much satisfaction, or joy, as they can take from this life.

It says not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father’s will. (Matt 10:29)

 It also says our days were written for us, before there even was one. (Ps 139:16)

The same surely holds true for one little lamb, and for us.

Everything living will someday die. Death is not something we welcome with great anticipation. Losing Normy leads me to the conclusion that we either trust Him with everything, both good and bad, or cannot trust Him at all. Trusting Him with Normy is a small comparison to trusting Him with my own life and death, but it is the most logical decision to me.

He was willing to sacrifice His life to restore relationship with me, so why should I not trust Him with all of mine? I know He can bring goodness out of tragedy, and beauty from ashes. He did it on “Easter”; I’ve seen Him do it in my own life as well.

Normy, if your short little life served no other purpose, you brought me a step closer to understanding my faith and my God and gave me tools and strength for the future. Thank you.

…Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps 30:5)

Labor Intensive

We all know that after diligently watching mares due to foal, goats due to kid, and cows due to calve, a frenzied 10 minute shower, or trip to the store will induce rapid and active labor. This holds true with sheep as well.

Pet-ewe-nya (Tooney) has been in the barn, under the camera for a week now. She has had a little bag and got a little haircut, so in the event she DID have a lamb it could find aforementioned bag, and has been the center of countless questions regarding imminent signs of lambing from anyand every source I could ask, email or read. The results were kinda of: it’s a crap shoot, watch her for not wanting to eat, for wanting to be alone, for a darker pink ‘hoo hoo'...and the most reliable sign that she is about to lamb is her having a head at each end.

No changes have occurred. She lies down in the same place everyday, close to the common wall with Free Wooly. She has practiced identical habits for the entire week, day and night, so at least I know what is ‘normal’ for her.

Desperately needing clean straw for her stall, and a complete lack of changes, I headed for town with the boss and his wife. I picked up supplies for the animals, a few replacement chicks, and straw.

Randyman called about 3 in the afternoon to tell me there was a lamb in Tooney’s stall.

 So, I have an extra bale of straw now.

She had just one lamb, a ramlet (I made that up) I'm pretty sure he would be considered a buckling, like a goat. Randyman had found the little guy before noon, already up, dry and sucking. I have little doubt she had him before we were out of the driveway. I asked if he was sure she didn’t have another one coming and we decided, no, not if he is dry and been hanging around this long. She was in no distress and there was no evidence left of her having lambed, so she had already ‘cleaned up the maternity ward’.

He has huge spots, like an Appy horse, we therefore, have been calling him “Appaloo-samb”(of course, the "B" is silent...) He’s kind of scrawny and it was cold, so in the absence of a sibling to cuddle with, I cut the leg off of a an old pair of sweats and put it on him. Sort of a ‘tube top’ for lambs. What can I say? We are trendy. Such great ideas can be found on the internet!