August... this month I hoped to get a chance to relax while my sheep got fat on the pasture, but sadly things haven't worked out so well, and instead I've been dealing with animal health issues all month! First, several of my sheep started limping and I discovered they appeared to have foot rot...a very contagious and nasty bacteria. They must have come from the farm we purchased the sheep from, as our land has been vacant of livestock for 5 yrs and the bacteria only lives in the ground for a few weeks. So, I've been going the rounds with penicillin injections, a foot rot vaccine, trimming and soaking their foot with a zinc oxide treatment. As each sheep would get better, another would pick up the condition. Finally a week and a half ago I decided I needed to check all feet at once, and pull any sheep that showed the slightest hint of infection completely out of the pasture. I've tethered them out in the yard and twice a day I have to flip them on their side, treat all infected feet, water and grain them, and after 2 days move them to a new patch of grass. I am REALLY hoping this will eradicate it, and with them off the pasture, any remaining bacteria should die within 2 weeks. We'll keep them out on grass for 3-4, and hope and pray for the best. It's labor intensive, but it's been kind of fun to get to know each sheep personally, lol. I want to get them well. They are all a rarer breed sheep and weren't cheap. I don't want to have to cull any of them over this. :-(
Mr. Bojangles, outside my kitchen window
"Maggot Molly" Her foot was infected so much it actually had maggots in it. (Eww, ewww, EWWW!!) It only took days from when she first started limping to when I discovered the disgusting foot. We treated with insecticide, killed and cleaned and trimmed dead foot tissue aggressively. She's slowly getting better but still seems to have a tender foot. I love this sheep...she's one of my more friendly Ewes. As you can she, she seems to be massively pregnant. Last time she had triplets! She is due Sept. 19. Poor girl. :-(
This is Rebecca, named in honor of my mom and the milk cow she had named Rebecca. My grandma wanted my name to be Rebecca but my mom hated the name, so she gave it to the heifer. I have to keep up the tradition. ;-) After 5 days of treatment she looks like she is cured and gets to enjoy grazing on our lush front lawn for 2 more weeks. We have 3 other sheep tied out as well. 6 sheep have had their feet trimmed and show no signs of infection. Crossing our fingers, they don't get it, but we will fight this aggressively one sheep at a time!
Not to be left out, my two Icelandic ewe lambs -escape artists- keep finding little holes to sneak out of so they can hang out with the quarantined sheep. Little sneaks, outside my kitchen window.
On top of that, Chessie scratched her eye and got a corneal ulcer. It will cost us $200-$300 for the vet and medication and it took two weeks of ointment in the eye twice a day to get her better, but now she's back to work giving rides to the kids. :-)
Meanwhile...my husband and sons build Lego's. ;-)
Tower of Orthanc! Too cool!
Hot Air balloons drifting past the house!
The boys wishing they were in one! & Ysabel, in quarantine.
The Shenandoah Valley has 43 miles of yard sale in august called the yard crawl. We found all kinds of great things, but the prize was a knight in shining armour!
Who doubles as a practical jokester. ;-) Caught reading the Bible in Whitney's bed....
But the best find was a $45 spinning wheel! It's missing a flyer and bobbin which I'm trying to make myself, but I may end up splurging $60 and just buying them...still a bargain, and it's soooo quaint and charming sitting there by the fireplace!
One happy, wonderful event this month, My husband and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary! We have not had it easy...he married me as a single Latter Day Saint mom with 6 children, and we had two more sons after we were married.. We came from two very different backgrounds, policitally, religiously, and we struggled to make our family work amidst two very different parenting styles, medical crises, unemployment, Navy life, and now farm life! It's been an adventure to say the least, but we have a rich, loving, beautiful marriage. <3
10 years later. Still in love!
I'll talk about my garden next blog...a sad, sad thing! End of August and not a single ripe tomato ...and with all the animals, I just haven't been weeding or tending it much. Now that I've spun up nearly all my wool, I'll hopefully reclaim some of it for harvest ...not including the pumpkins which were growing on the corral fence, and the sheep finished off. ;-)
For more information on our farm, please visit http://samsbillthepony.wix.com/getting-liberty#
