Getting on with this Sheep Business

This week has been all about the sheep.

So much going on and we take the next step.

PRODUCTION.

On Wednesday a dear sweet lady, friend and mentor, came out to visit our little farm..Her husband and her have a very long history in the development of Hair Sheep to Florida and our sheep are decedents of ewes from their flock. We got lots of great information and pointed and a thumbs up on the condition of our ewes. And found out that our young growing ram lambs require 2x the feed to put on as much weight as the girls. So we have doubled their evening rashions. Can't wait to get one of those bad boys in the freezer...YUM

Ruth did a  FAMACHA test and found them to look good and health, which of course is great news for us as the less you have to worm the better the health of  your stock is.

Young Ewes at Evening Feed Time.

Katahdin/St Coix 

As I mentioned before we are taking the next step and starting production....So hubby and I build a new "love shack" in the north pen...For the next 35 days (2 heat cycles) Rocky the Ram Lamb and the 6 2yr old ewes will be housed in this pen....It is going to be a long 5 months (gestation period of a sheep) to see if this was a successful interlude.

Farmer Brown and his goatie helpers working on the love shack.

Rocky the Ram Lamb inspecting the work so far...That Lamb loves Farmer Brown 

And of course there is the never ending feedings...So when ever possible I use child labor lol.

Hey as long as I don't actually pay her it is not illegal *wink*

Yup, that is the "wee one" totting the buckets of feed out to the "meat sheep"

Meat, Lambchop and Jr are very excited to see her. 

The goats are less than impressed the sheep are being feed first.

Other news, we had a 4H meeting this week at school and Sara is loving it...She is half way thru her activity book already and has a whole month to do it lol.

It is that time of yr again, having been hanging out with a couple of my fave ppl painting backdrops for the Kids Choir Christmas program...Though the wee one opted not to be a part of the choir this yr I still love to do the backdrop.

I will be back tomorrow with a very special post. Until then

Blessings Kelsie

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The Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop #134

Around the Farm update....

I know I have kinda been neglecting my farm related updates...Not because I am neglecting the "farm" but because I am trying to juggle all my regular chores, the extra attention needed for Rocky and trying to get my ducks in a row for the photography...so anyway here is a quicky off the top of my head update.

Thursday afternoon we are head over to visit Callview Sheep Farm to get a tour and meet some lambs...This is a double duty trip because we are going to be looking at their set up and what it takes to raise hair sheep...possibly adopt a bottle baby 4month old lamb who is to small for breeding and needs to be culled from the herd...Plus looking at the new born lambs for me to borrow for my Easter Photo Booth next month...so it is both farm and photography related...excited much?? you better believe I am...Will be sure and take a camera :)

Oh our boy Rocky...Snapped this photo of him last night with my phone...he has 2 favorite toys...the chicken "dolly" shown and a pink Disney Princess ball he has laid claim too...such a manly dog lol....He has also been a little naughty about chasing cats and chickens still...and yesterday to be honest I was ready to find him a new home...Instead...He (we...the entire family) will begin Dog Obedience classes next Thursday....Then if (when) those have been completed and we are all bonded and well trained we can think about going to a sheep herding clinic later in the year...Here's hopin'

Chickens are still laying well and roaming our 5acres and the neighboring 55 acres of hay field...truly free range chickens at our house...Bless her little heart, yesterday Sara was so excited to find 8 eggs in the nest she came running back to the house to show me...stumbled up the steps, scrapped her knee and egged my front porch...OH how she cried over those broken eggs...she did not even care about her bloody knee...that girl is a true farmer.

Hubby has already put 150 corn seeds in the starter trays...we have about 20 pks of organic tomato seed that was given to us to also get started....also cucumber, squash (zuc) and peppers...think I am going to plan to just keep to these basics this yr with a few herbs thrown in for good measure....oh and lots of onions...I think hubby plans to put them in the ground tomorrow.

Poor hubby has mountains of trees to put thru the wood chipper (Nancy) and still plenty more clearing to do.

Not sure where our fencing budget lies right now...or if hubby is going to talk with the neighbor about this project or not...Sometimes you just got to stop asking because the non-commital answers of the other party is likely to drive you nuts.

I would be so happy if we could get the feed shed and new chicken coop built...Maybe the photography $$$ will help get this project under way...it really just requires the wood to build the frame because I would like to recycle the materials we are pulling off of the old barn...slowly slowly.

ummm I think that is about it...the front gardens are a mess, my herb garden is stripped bare....why??...one words...CHICKENS....Oh how I dream about fences lol.

Blessings Kelsie

Old Water Pump

Hubby and I went location scouting this morning while taking Rocky for his morning run....Can't share those photos with you, because shhhh they are for a secret photoshoot...But on the way home I did snapped a couple of farm photos to share.

Love this pallet with John Deere stamped on it...and it is mine...YAY @ neighbors that let me have their trash.

Believe it or not this old water pump works...It was the one used to irrigate the watermelon fields last year.

I have a feeling they have had this baby for just a few years.

What is not to love about a rusty old gauge panel...for some reason it makes me think of the Tom Baker Tardis.

Blessings Kelsie

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These are a few of my favorite things...

Yesterday after school Lil Sara put on her favorite dress and favorite cowgirl boots before we headed out to help with the new goat fences....

 How could I resist but to grab my favorite camera and capture a few fun snaps before we got to work?

These images show so many of my favorite things that I just had to share....

Warm afternoons even in Feb.

Wide open spaces for us to play in.

Hay bales to sit upon.

Girly pink, mixed with country chic.

My little girl...

All pitching in to get the work done..

Silly moments that make me laugh...

Blessings Kelsie

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Home Land Security....

It was all hands on deck yesterday as we rallied together as a family to defend what is ours...

Or at least what is left....Do you see those 12 lovely green, romaine lettuce plants??

No, me either...What I do see is scratch holes where they used to be and my compost and mulch flung around the garden.

Desperate times call for desparate measures...

Even the youngest dug in and helped...

Then supervised some more.... 

Our front line of de-Fence started to take shape by early afternoon....

Do not worry my lovelies...We will protect you from those ravenous meandering chickens.

Obviously we still needed to attach the chicken wire at this point...but how cute and rustic is it looking??

And finally a use for all cherry Laurel TREES we have all over the property.

We ran out of time, wire (15 ft short, wouldn't you know it) and light yesterday, but hope to finish up today...

Blessings Kelsie

Farm Girl Friday @
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Random Chicken Post

I love taking photos of the chickens...Don't ask me why, I just do.

We walked around the side of the house the other day and was spotted by the chickens, one second they where at the goat pen, the next second making a bee-line (or should I say a chicken-line) for us.

They love Lil Sara, she usually brings them food...Sometimes they will even eat directly from her hand.

I really do love seeing such happy chickens, making happy chicken noises around my house.

Providers of hours of endless entertainment and yummy eggs.

And oh so pretty

Blessings Kelsie

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Goin' on a Bug Hunt!!

Saturday we went ladybug hunting...

I guess Sara must have heard they like bright colors when she got dressed this morning...NOTE the gloves, I was told you need these incase you find frogs, "cause they is gicky" 

We looked under the front steps at the old house...Nope, no bugs...perhaps these chickens ate them all.

We checked at "Sara's Tree"...A gift from a neighbor while I was pregnant...NOPE no bugs there..

We found Diablo the stray cat that...yes we feed....was abandoned on our property a few months back....He might have bugs but I was not going to get close enough to find out.

After all the walkin' and huntin' we needed a break...So we sat on the back of daddy's 1958 Volvo to rest.

Nardia was like...That is enough 'laxin' let's go !!!

So we headed over to the veggie garden.

Hmmm...Something has been nibbling on the cabbages...I think it might have long ears and a fluffy tail.

It also bounded thru the Romaine lettuce and snapped them off...I think I would prefer to see them eaten than wasted.

Carrots are looking good...Thank goodness no bugs here.

Seems the cold snap (18F) two nights in a row has taken care of all the bugs...It also took care of the pepper plants as well...Our temp greenhouse did allow us to harvest another basket of fruit before this happened though.

Well if we can't find bugs...Let's go play in the goat playgound instead.

Boots says "Don't forget about me"

Maybe when it gets a little warmer we will see the Ladybugs at our house again.

Blessing Kelsie

Goat Playground

Today I moved a few things around in the goat pen hoping to create some interest in playing rather than eating...Deenie did seem pleased with the dog house move and explored inside and out.

 I enticed Boots on top with some oak leaves...Yes I know, kinda counter productive since it is supposed to give them something to do rather than eat 24/7.

Even with Boots showing the way, Deenie was less than impressed with the "balance beam"

Seems Boots will do about anything if you show him food, he crossed the beam a couple of times..

Now doesn't that all look like fun to you...I have a feeling Sara is going to be very excited by it after school today.

Blessings Kelsie

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Lil Farmer Brown...

Heading out to do the evening chores early today...

 Because, if you can't tell by the outfit, we are experiencing our first real cold snap here in North Central FL.

The eggs are still warm...A brown one from the old box...

And a green one from our new nesting boxes...

Making a total egg count of 3 green and 3 brown for the day.

And as I was about to turn to leave the coop I heard, Sara yelled at me "Look!!! I'm Lil Farmer Brown"...I turned around to see her posing with the rake...Truly her fathers daughter.

After the chickens we tucked in the goats and the plants and headed inside to get a big old pot of Collard Greens from my neighbors garden going...will serve it with some yellow rice and left over chicken/cheese pie from last night...Wish I had the fixin's for Chili tonight but it is not shopping day until tomorrow...So maybe tomorrow night...Hubby might even cook it since it is his day off  *wink*.

Blessings Kelsie