Chocolate Coloured Lambs

The Sunday before last we collected two new chocolate coloured lambs from a farmer who couldn't keep them with the rest of his flock. I am calling them Chino (as in cappuccino with a frothy white top, left) and Marble (as in Cadbury Marble chocolate, right). They are both girls and they're gorgeous. I intended to introduce them to the rest of my sheep gradually by letting some in with them for a while, but I couldn't get my girls to come down to the gate even with a lucerne bribe.  So I just opened the gate.  The other sheep didn't bother the new girls but Bobby chased them for a few days.  They have settled in now and are part of the family.  I haven't taken a 'group' photo yet but will add one later.

 

Natural Dyeing Workshop

I had a very enjoyable afternoon on Saturday at a Natural Dyeing Workshop. The photo is of everyone's samples and a few larger projects with commercial dyes. For the natural dyeing we used a selection leaves, bark, flowers and berries and all had a sample skein in each, then added mordants which changed the colour with a second sample skein. I have wanted to do this for ages but hadn't had the time or opportunity. I look forward to being able to use natural dyeing for a project.

The photo is of my natural dyeing samples.  The colours were obtained from (left to right) Crabapple bark, Walnut shells, Ivy berries (immature) and leaves, undyed, Wattle (Cootamundra), Wattle + Copper, Yellow Paper Daisies, Yellow Paper Daisies + Copper, Blackberries, Blackberries + Copper, Dahlias, Dahlias + Copper, Buddleia + Iron (didn’t get my skein in first batch).   I'm thinking now that I might make something using all the samples, but I don't know what just yet.

Rudi to the Butchers

While I had the cows in the yards for tagging, etc. the calves it was a good opportunity to send Rudi to the butchers.  He was collected on Monday morning and was no trouble at all.  We collected his meat on the Friday two weeks following.  From a carcass weight of 356.2kg I only received 176.63kg of meat, which is 49.59% and much less than previous steers.  The butcher said this was because Rudi had a lot of fat wastage, although his meat was marbled, which is supposed to be a good thing.  The total cost was $767.15, including freight to the butchers.

Buying Water & Broken Pipe

In October the tank at the top of the hill was almost empty as there had not been enough rain to pump from the shed tank, so buying water was the next option.  Unfortunately, not long after this I lost the lot due to a broken pipe.  After a bit of work and fiddling I mended the pipe and then managed to get the electric pump working to pump from the front dam (with a bit of help).  I have pumped a few times from the front dam now, plus one pump from the shed tank after about 12ml of rain.

  (I have included a picture of the path mown for the water guy and the mended pipe.  After the photo I filled the hole and secured the stand pipe to a star picket for support, so it wasn't broken again.)

Snow in October

The day after Smokey was born it snowed!  I have included a photograph of the cows in the snow and snow on the chopped pine tree.

Four Calves

At the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 I had my three cows and two heifers artifically inseminated.  Tawnie and Blackie, my two heifers, were the first to calve on 14 and 18 September.  Then Brownie had her calf (Zorro) on 20 September.  Sandy (with Smokey) was the last on 11 October.  Jemma didn't calf at all, which was disappointing.

Before the new year really starts, I thought I had better finish off summarising the events for the second half of 2012.

2012 Lambs

I moved the sheep to the ‘Far East’ paddock and took stock of which ewes had lambs.  There were eight new lambs, so including the three from earlier this year in January and March that’s 11 lambs and a total of 29 sheep including lambs.  Even Spotty Nose had another lamb this year and she would be close to ten years old.  At shearing time when we tagged and marked the lambs, I was pleased to see that there were 3 boys and 8 girls, and some of the boys will stay as merino wethers.

 

Fallen Pine
Last month I was walking down the front and noticed a gap in the trees along the road, a large pine tree had fallen down ... in the direction of the road.  Luckily, it had fallen diagonally and not right across the road.  I think it may have spilled onto the road but some very kind passer by had already removed any large pieces from the road.  I didn't hear it fall, so I don't even know when it happened.  I hope this is just a one-off and no other large trees will fall down.  Of course the top fence wire is broken and the rest of the fence is taking the strain, but there are no animals in the front 'house paddock'.
We have not been able to get out there with a chainsaw yet but intend to cut it up and bring the pieces in for fire wood.  I know pine is not all that good for the chimney but together with other wood it will be fine.

First Fire of 2012
Anzac Day was a cold windy day, so I thought it was the perfect day for the first real fire of the season.  I had lit the stove once for cooking pizza a few weeks earlier, but this was the first fire in the sitting room.  I had forgotten how lovely the warmth from a fire can be.

Ready for Winter
My new load of wood arrived on 20 March. I didn't even get a chance to load it into the shed this time, Steve and Dad did it all for me. Russell and I have started splitting it for the fuel stove, with the larger pieces for the inside fire, but we haven't actually had a fire yet. Maybe next weekend. Or I might even light one just for myself if it gets too cold.
Also, while Mum and Dad were visiting, Dad mowed the centre tree run, so the little trees could see the sun. Plus he mowed some paths. One path in particular was for the car, all the way from the back gate. Steve was asking about taking the chicken coop to his house and to do that we would need to bring in the trailer, so Dad mowed a path. But we will need quite a few people to help lift the chicken coop over the fence and that hasn't been organised yet, let alone the initial inspection. All in good time.

A Colourful Addition
About five months ago I heard that someone was looking for a home for a black lamb. As I would eventually like to own a collection of coloured sheep and I don't believe a lamb should be eaten just because it is coloured, I offered my little farm as his new home. Also, Coco had died only a week or so before this. Back in October, I had noticed that two sheep were missing about a week before but didn't find them until I had moved the sheep to the next paddock. I hate not being able to walk amongst them now that I have 'Arnie the Charging Ram'.
Anyway, with one thing and another I had not been able to collect this black lamb, now a sheep, called 'Blackie' until 13 March. With any new additions to the flock, they have to be introduced by degrees, so as to escape the wrath of both Arnie and Bobbie, and even the other sheep. (I remember Coco had a hard time for weeks.) I put Blackie into the small paddock around the yards and encouraged some sheep down to join him. This proved difficult and I only managed to entice two sheep into the yard paddock. This would have to do, as I didn't want either Arnie or Bobbie to come in too. So Blackie spent the next three days with two ewes. I was surprised, though, because Spotty Nose gave him a bit of a hard time and I didn't think she would, especially as I had thought she would be a good introductory companion being the oldest ewe and my lead sheep.
On the Sunday we managed to separate Arnie into the laneway and Bobbie in the cattle yards and brought all the sheep into the yard paddock. I left the sheep to sort themselves out with both Arnie and Bobbie watching on the sidelines. Very late in the afternoon I reintroduced Arnie and Bobbie and everyone was one big happy family. Arnie nudged him a bit but Bobbie didn't bother him at all. So, all in all I think it all went fairly smoothly and I now have another black merino sheep for spinning wool. He is a fine black sheep with only a little bit of white on his face. Steve helped him into the trailer and said his fleece was very soft, so I am looking forward to the first shearing.

Early Lambs and Early Crutching
There was a new lamb on 24 January (not sure who the mum is) and Original Mum had a lamb on 12 February. I think there was also another lamb but it was lost. Because of Arnie, I can't get close enough to the new lambs and mums to figure out who is who. Arnie is certainly doing his job. I just hope he doesn't wear out the ewes giving them lambs seven months after they lambed last time.
On 4 March when moving the sheep I noticed that one had flystrike near the front leg (Rosie, I think). Also, Original Mum was very weak and I suspected she had worms (or maybe just old and worn out feeding her lamb). So, we had the sheep crutched the following Friday. We marked the boy lamb and ringed both lamb's tails. I haven't purchased this year's coloured tags, so I will tag them at shearing. Also when shearing I will ask the shearer's advice on which lambs from last year can be classed as merino. Some of them are 7/8 merino by birth but their wool may be good enough to be classed as merino. I will then identify them with a blue tag for ease of sorting fleeces at shearing in future, and also to help decide which ones to sell or eat.
I didn't remember to take photos at crutching time. Steve took a good close up of Arnie, so I have included that.

Socks Finally Finished
On 9 January I finally finished the socks that I started last year. I spun 100g of merino and silk and then started knitting. I soon realised that I didn't have enough wool to finish the socks, so I had to match the colour as closely as I could and spin some more. There are lots of variations in colour throughout the socks, so the colour change to the newly spun slightly different colour is not as noticeable. I actually finished them late last year but had to finish off the loose threads. I entered them in the show and managed a second in the handspun garment section. Now the winter can bring on the cold and my ankles will be cosy.

The Fence that Linda Built
Up until now I have been using a netting fence originally used with solar power as an electric fence to funnel the sheep into the yard near the shed, which I call the corral because it is round. The sheep sometimes got caught in the netting and had to be rescued, so I wanted a more permanent and less problematic solution. I made a fence using star pickets and hingejoint with two makeshift gates of hingejoint. It is strong enough for the purpose for which it is intended. I used this laneway to get the sheep into the shed for crutching and it worked just fine. I am pretty proud of my efforts and have included two photos.

Tons and Tons More Needed
On 18 December I (with a lot of help from my son) shovelled 750kg (1 cubic metre) of 20mm aggregate into the hollows of the driveway. Then some time in January or February (I didn't record in diary) I shovelled another 750kg load of 20mm aggregate myself into more hollows. Previously the driveway was like a roller coaster. It is better now, but I can see from the puddles after rain that I will probably need at least one or two more loads. I have included the photos taken after rain to better identify the worse hollows.

Yard Fences
I forgot to mention the new fence and gates around the cattle yards. They were built around the middle of November and are invaluable in getting the cows into the yards. I have included a few photographs from each end. You may also be able to see some AI heat patches too. I have been getting the cows into the routine of coming into the yards by putting a half bucket of pellets in a trough and a little bit of lucerne into the yards. I call them and Brownie usually starts coming first and the rest follow. Of course they don't all go in at first but I can usually get them all in with a bit of encouragement. They are much easier to handle now that Star and Freda and their calves have gone.

Artificial Insemination
In early December I had the cows AI'd. The photograph is of Tawnie, as she was the first to cycle. After they had all been done over the next few days we put heat/pressure patches on them again just before Christmas and waited to see if any didn't take. I had Jemma and Sandy done again in early January. I will observe them over the next three weeks, but I think I will just leave it now and see what happens. The AI girl has a few other commitments over the next month and may not be able to fit me in. Initially the cows were very reluctant to go through the race but they are getting better at it now. Today I got them all through by myself and removed the heat patches, leaving Jemma and Sandy in ready for the final AI.

Cows to Market
Before I started the AI process I wanted to sell the cows that I didn't want to breed from because of their behaviour. Star continually pushed through or jumped over fences breaking them in the process and Freda fiercely protected her calves, which in turn made them scared of me and difficult to handle. I would prefer calm well-behaved cows. So in late November I sold Star and her calf Twinkle and Freda and her calf Anna.
They brought a sum total of just over $3,200 after deducting the costs of selling them, including carting. It was sort of sad to see them go, as I had raised both Star and Freda from poddy calves. But I hope that the cows I have left are less trouble now with the trouble makers gone.

Gum Seedlings
After buying tube stock from the markets I planted some Bendemeer Gums and Orange Gums down the middle of the paddocks in the tree run on 25 September. After a few weeks I was very pleased with the growth, so on 3 November I planted an extra two Yellowbox in the eastern tree run all the while keeping an eye on the swooping magpies. Although I have watered them on several occasions, we have had lots of rain in between to keep them alive. Over Christmas we will have to mow the grass around them, as I won't let animals in the tree run until they are established.

Shearing & Drenching
The sheep were shorn on 30 October. Steven and Russell both helped. On the Monday prior I drenched the sheep with drench from a neighbour, as I had lost three sheep in the two weeks prior and I suspected it was from worms. I sold the wool the very next Monday for $291.88 (shearing $106.03 and crutching in March 2011 $97.70). I have since lost one lamb, so I now have 20 sheep (including ten ewes, one ram and nine lambs - five boys and four girls).