The ever expanding flock of sheep.

I thought today I would write about our  beautiful (well maybe not always in looks) sheep.
We started way back soon after we first purchased our little place. We thought that sheep,rather than goats would be the wisest choice for us to have as we have to leave them alone for weeks at a time and goats are a little too clever for their own good and are brilliant escape artists.
We just happened to be driving past a house here on the coast and saw a sign for 6 sheep for sale,so we went to check it out.
They were 5 merino X ewes and a Poll Dorset ram, all fairly young for $30 each.
So we purchased them and took them up to the farm the next day.We decided not to give these sheep names and we did very well  with that until the first lambs arrived.Who were promptly named Sweet Pea and Daphne.

It was only about 12 months later that we had a phone call from out neighbour to tell us that our beautiful ram  had died near his shared boundary fence with us. He suspected snake bike at  he had seen a big  Eastern Brown Snake  lurking around in the previous few weeks.
We happened to mention to a friend  who is a full time farmer that we had lost our ram and he very kindly offereed for free  if we were interested a new ram. The only thing was it was a Damara breed.
So we went and picked him up in Dubbo,We named him Roger(no idea why, it just popped into my head at the time)
Roger quickly got to work and produced some very colourful off spring that looked more like goats than sheep. We called our first one Honey due to her beautiful honey colour. As his babies grew and the flock started to expand we referred to them as "The Mottly Crew".

The  Damara influence tended to produce a fairly tall, light sheep that was very timid and flighty and after a couple of years our farmer friend(god bless his heart) offerred us another ram. He had himself changed breeds and was now fully running Dorper Sheep.
So we offered him Roger back and were told he was no longer required and to pass him along to some else, which is what we did.
So then we went  and picked up Cassanova, named in the hope that he would successfully romance all our ewes, which I am happy to announce he did, with great speed.

Soon after acquiring Cassanova, we heard of a young hobby farmer who had been involved in a car accident that was selling up his small flock as he was still in rehabilitation and didn't expect to be able to continue on his block.We went and looked at them. They were DorperX Damara ewes, but were advised that they would make a good breeding base with our Doper Ram. So we purchased 6 ewes for $360.( money well spent as it turns out) Our farmer friend in Dubbo also gave us 3  young Dorper ewes( They had thrown a little back to merino,so he didn't want them for breeding)
We arn't looking to breed purbreds, we just breed for meat and our own personal use.We are also pleased to say that the young farmer made a full recovery and is back into farming in an even bigger way, such good news.

Then just over five months later we celebrated our first babies.

There have been many more born since.I just love the baby lambs and how early every morning and in the evening they get frisky.Sorry to bore you with the pics, but I just had to include the next few photos.They are not very clear, but just cute!.

We really like the Dorper breed as they are a good heavy meat sheep, and they don't have to be shorn.
As your crosses get closer to pure Dorper they have less and less wool on them.
They constantly rub themselves on fences,gates, posts ,trees and sheds to "rub off" their Hair/wool.
The lambs are born hairy, more like a goat kid rather than with the tight white wool curls of other breeds.

As they get older, their hair/wool in some of them just forms like a saddle on their backs. We have had to trim a few but not too many. They are clean on their legs, necks and underbellies and are an excellent breed  to have as they don't seem to get fly or lice problems as much as other breeds.

We  always hand feed our sheep when we are there, it keeps them quieter and gets them to come to us more easily when we need to yard them for drenching and when we need to  butcher for meat.
No matter where they are on the place, my husband just starts calling and banging a bucket and they come running.

So far we have been lucky, considering all our time away from the farm, we have had only minimal losses, we had a tree limb fall in a storm  on one good ewe , lost a couple to Barbers' Pole worm and a few to just old age.We also have been lucky that we haven't so far had to poddy any lambs.
Our next door neighbour has done a few, but one "special" one he had is called Bouye...Bouye thought he was part of the human family(and still does) I will add a quick pic of Bouye the day he discovered his Father's brocolli garden....he was not a favourite child that day.

About 6 months ago, we felt that we may be getting close to inbreeding,so our ever wonderful friend in Dubbo once again came to our rescue and swapped cassanova for anothe ram. We named this one Colin after our friend,
At about this same time, things were pretty dry on our block so we seperated the wethers and Colin off and moved them to my brother in laws larger block down the road.

Our numbers had grown too quickly, so we have given the girls a season off and have only last week brought Colin back to our place to the girls again.He seemed pleased about that.
We love our sheep, and yes I am very matter of fact as to why they are there, but our idea is ,they are here for a purpose,and that it to feed us, so we give them the best life we can until that time comes.
I personally don't watch them die, I just can't do it. I grew up on a farm and saw and helped   my father butcher sheep for meat regularly, now I have a choice. Once they are dead I have no issue helping and  the cutting up, and the  processing is sort of honouring the animal for what they have given us. I always appreciate the animal for it's full worth, and waste very little.
We love to sit and watch the sheep, they are content and happy, or at least I like to think they are.

We need to reduce our numbers a great deal, we now have approx. 40 sheep, realistically we need to get that number down to 20-25.
So I guess I know what I will be doing on the next trip to the farm.....maybe canned  lamb meatballs in sauce , that would be a new  experiment for me.Will keep you informed.
So until we meet again,
Cheers to everyone,
Jane.

Busy,Busy,Busy...now taking a breather.!

We have just had a really busy full on 10 days, Our  youngest daughter had to go to Adelaide for a few days and hubby had to work so we offered to take little miss Holly,now three up to the farm for a week or so.
We picked her up down near Wollongong(about 3 hours south  and then drove back to Newcastle and then after picking up the trailer fully loaded with stuff for the farm and the two dogs we set off for the four hour drive out west  to the farm
Immediately upon arrival she bolted out of the car and was amazed at the sheep,she just couldn't take her eyes off them.

It was freezing cold when we arrived late in the afternoon so we got the fires going and unpacked the car.(The farm is a new experience for Holly as she had only been there overnight once before when she was much younger).
The next morning my husband  had to assemble a small motorbike(now christened Motor Mike) for ever more.We had bought it cheaply on ebay just so that my husband could save his legs a little rounding up the sheep and other jobs around the place.

We have found it to be wonderful, It is a little on the small size, but has a 125 cc engine, so gets along quite well.
Holly was given the responsibility of feeding the dry biscuits to the dogs, a job she took very seriously.Anytime we would  wonder where she was, we just had to look for the dogs, because they were always together.

She just loves the dogs, has done since she was a little baby.
She owns the black labrador, her name is Josie, she calls her Josie Jo..
Brian  went to clean out one of the stock troughs and Holly and the dogs just had to help him empty it and refill with clean water. She was cute, got soaking wet and was covered in mud and slime,she told me she was being Peppa Pig and was "jumping in Muddy Puddles".The Kelpie belongs to our oldest daughter.

Our oldest daughter also came to the farm to visit  while we were there too and brought her baby girl Claudia with here. We had a lovely time with the little girls together and also some more cousins from in town came out to visit  as well, it was like we were running a day care centre.

We had hair braiding, chocolate cup cake making(and Bowl Licking), and a first photo of Nanny and Poppy with both of their grand daughters. holly also got to do some other exciting things, like sitting up on Poppy's  big blue tractor, and feeding the little pony  at the next door neighbours,Going to the playground in town, cutting and pasting pictures and playing with play dough.( what more could a little girl want.)

While we were there Brian went up the hill with his trusty old blue tractor and cut a load of good wood, while he was up there I took little Miss for a big walk "Up the Mountain" and we gathered many pockets full of pretty  stones along the track.

Our little "feed" block that we had shut off from the sheep had progressed quite well so we let the

sheep onto it for an extra bit of feed for them, they thoroughly enjoyed it. Elsewhere around the garden spring  is rapidly creeping up on us, the apricot tree was bursting into blossom and the hardenberger"native Sarsparella' was in flower, all is looking good.Brian also weeded the rhubarb and set up an old bathtub to make a new garden the next time we are up.
We had a day with the sheep while we were there too,We keep some of our sheep on Brian's brothers bigger block of land. All the new lambs needed tailing,tagging and marking, The adult sheep all needed drenching and checking over and the alpaca(which belongs to my Brother in law) needed drenching and his toenails trimmed.Holly just adored all the baby lambs, and had a wonderful morning followed by a picnic with the sheep(which was just a cuppa in the paddock)

On our final day, we travelled to Dubbo to catch up with my elderly mum and my sister(who just happened to be visiting our Mum also. We had a lovely catch up, lunch out and a bit of grocery shopping for great Nanny.My mum is nearly 89 and doing very well.It was lovely she got to have the day with her Great grand daughter.

We had a huge week, feel like we never stopped, we are totally exhausted, but in the best possible way. Hopefully my next posts will be more farm related, but I just had to share our wonderful week with everyone. We travelled home the day following the Dubbo excursion, and never heard a peep from our little princess, Holly's Mum had loaned us her portable DVD player, and she watched Pepper Pig and Wiggles all the way home,(with a lunch break in the middle). The dogs happily sat either side  of her.

So until next time, best wishes to all,
and cheers from Jane in Aus.