Missing Willow Farm

Here’s our newest addition.  This lamb’s mama is probably the best in our flock.  After every baby is born on our farm, we dip their navels in an iodine solution to help sanitize and keep germs at bay.  That process obviously requires catching the lamb.  When we grabbed her, mama freaked out because she couldn’t see her on the ground any more.  She immediately decided our border collie had taken her (an obvious conclusion if you’re a sheep) and charged her.  Repeatedly.  We gave Jenna permission to protect herself.  That command is called ‘GET IT!’  Lots of ramming (the ewe), lots of nipping (Jenna) and lots of screaming (me!).  Jenna’s only got three legs now and can’t turn on a dime any more.  We shoved the lamb in the ewe’s face and they trotted off in the rain.  We had considered putting them in the barn for the day but decided mama knew what was best.  Jenna seemed exhilarated by the experience.  What could be better than getting permission to nip a sheep??

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It started as an advent calendar, but I don’t really have much Christmas paper stash and had a set of really cool zombie photo booth images…  There are 24 drawers for treats – gummy candy brains anyone?   The night sky was painted black then covered with black glitter glue.  The moon glows in the dark (because everything’s better if it glows in the dark!)

Here’s a picture of the little ewe we helped birth a few days ago.  Could she be any cuter??  The mom was a little shell shocked afterwards.  I was worried at first that I’d have another bottle baby on my hands but after being penned together in the barn, she’s realized this is her baby and has figured out how to care for her.  They’re doing very well.

Lambs and kids gravitate to Milos, these three little girls like to be near him.   They seem to know he’s their protector even though we’ve got such good fences that nothing harmful has never gotten in, thankfully.

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After morning chores, we noticed a ewe in labor who seemed to be struggling with the birth.  We took Jenna with us and selected a spot in the pasture where we could watch her without stressing her out.  FiFi immediately showed up looking for a dog biscuit.  Then Nellie wandered over with her twin lambs to see what the heck her people were doing sitting in the pasture.  Then my bottle kid spotted me and made a beeline for my lap.  I was thinking it might be nice to picnic in the pasture this summer but have changed my mind!  We did end up helping the mom and she had a lovely little ewe.  Pictures to come!

Summer the bottle baby is nibbling on hay and grass now.  Of course, everything tastes better when it’s handfed.

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Milos came over to me a few days ago while I was feeding the bottle kid, laid down beside me and closed his eyes.   That is how he told me he wasn’t feeling well.   We kept an eye on him and noticed he wasn’t chasing cars along the fenceline like he usually does.  Taking our guardian dogs to the vet isn’t an option.  They are unmanageable.  150 pounds each of  ‘don’t touch me’.  We tried to lure him into the barn with food.  He knew something was up and refused to go in.  The next day we were finally able to capture him in our sheep handling area.  One of the baby goats crawled through the fencing and kept him company.  Brian cornered him and laid on him while our vet gave him a sedative.  While he was knocked out, he got a thorough assessment, his matted fur trimmed and a new flea collar.  We weren’t able to get near either of them last year with a flea collar.  He was found to have a tendon injury so will be on meds for a few days then hopefully good as new.  I’m just glad our vet didn’t have to dart him!  And FiFi still needs a new flea collar…

Sunlight first thing in the morning makes for perfectly backlit photos of our critters.  I took my camera out this morning because I kicked myself for not having it yesterday.  I sat down after chores to rest in a pile of hay next to our feeder and found myself with two baby goats in my lap (one asleep), a goat nibbling at my jacket collar and our cow licking my boots.   I felt like Snow White in the forest.

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They are just adorable!  I’ve been calling them Summer, Nymeria and Shaggydog after the direwolves of Winterfell (vague literary reference!).   Summer is my little bottle baby.  She’s a little bigger than her sisters, which makes me happy because she didn’t start out  that way.  I can’t get a photo of the three of them together because she runs to me whenever she sees me.  Maybe I can use a long lens to catch them at play.  For the last few days I’ve noticed her romping with the lambs.  Interspecies play time.

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I sat down by our Ritchie livestock waterer to feed the bottle baby and Augusta wandered over for a drink.  She pushes the float aside with her mouth to get to the water.  Our sheep normally run off when I approach them at the waterer.  I guess since I was already there, I wasn’t too scary.