Hello all my steemsteader friends! It has been far too long since I've posted an update on the farm. Things have been pleasantly routine on that front. Weather has been much kinder as well!
So. What's been happening?
I went away and did some shearing this past Friday and Saturday. Here is the last sheep on Saturday, and she was the 20th one I sheared that day.
I sheared 32 on Friday, but the farmers hadn't really done their part in preparing their sheep. It's best to keep the animals off of feed for at least 12-24 hours prior to shearing, and these animals hadn't been fasting. When their bellies are full of food, it puts extra pressure on their lungs while they are in shearing position, so naturally they struggle more, because it's harder to breathe. Here are some of the results of said struggling:
The ewes at home are starting to show some udder development as lambing approaches. Here's Umbra, who is the first one due. You can see that round bulge between her hocks where her udder is beginning to swell.
They all have some very nice big baby bellies!
In between all this excitement, I've been enjoying my participation in Write Club. Our first round is over and the second round started today. So that's another busy thing on my plate. I am SO impressed by the stories that came out of our first round of writing, so this one is going to be even better, I'm sure. I'm going to try harder to post more about my process this time around, so I hope you'll come back and read about that too.
That's all for now!
Looks pretty tough to wrestle with the sheep. Great job.
They can be quite strong, and really I can't blame them for being afraid, humans are pretty scary after all.
Dang. I'm pretty sure I could have lived happily without seeing an arrow pointing at a sheep's udder, but much props to you for getting in there amongst the hair and bits and nipples and whatnot.
Its not like, explicit. No worse than a bikini. Plus wooly and warm. So really, you didnt see anything that sketchy. That arrow is a little risque though I guess.
So this is part of the reason why you don't have time to write some music for my lyrics. Well, the real life must go on. Sometimes I wish I would have been raised on a ranch/farm, but that just wasn't the case for me. Happy Shearing and Happy Steeming.
Thanks! XD
I think you need some shin pads next time. You got some good bruising going on there.
Haha! Maybe i'll put on a full suit of armor!
Sheep Shearing is such hard work, and can be painful the bruising looks bad i hope your not in to much pain
It wasnt too bad! Looked worse than it felt, haha
Thats good, but then again that’s what I would say even if it hurt like hell LOL
Wow, you work hard! Hope your bruises heal up quickly. It is so fun to see all the sheep pictures. It looks like you will be super busy when lambing begins!
Oh my goodness, there will be so much sheepposts with pictures XD
Bravo!!! I admire, appreciate & absolutely respect your skills !!!
Three cheers for that !!!
I think you should drink "Hot Turmeric Milk" to quickly heal those bruises & topically apply some anti-inflammatory gel...or any NSAID gel, available !!!
I have never tried turmeric milk! Ill have to look that up. I bruise very easily so im quite used to what it looks like, thankfully the look is worse than the feel.
Awh... :) 😊😊😊 You definitely are a brave "Girl" !!! 😉 LOL!!! Keep Rocking!!!
Cheers!
Oh geez!! That is some serious bruising you have going on there! Hope it's not too painful but I did really enjoy your post and they sure do look plump!! That one looks huge! Can you tell which ones may be carrying more than one baby?
I can usually make an educated guess on how many lambs are coming. I know which sheep have historically always raised twins, but even then there's still a chance theyre bearing a third, particularly since the birthweughts of multiples are a bit smaller. So she might be carrying two 9 pound lambs, or three 6 pound lambs, and will appear the same size. But a single wont usually go much past 12 pounds with the breeds I currently have, so its easier to pick out who is bearing a single than who is bearing triplets.
Looking forward to lots of lamb pictures I can share to my mother. She misses having sheep.
I can definitely deliver that!
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Pretty cool looking day except for the bruises. Have cows and chickens, they are easy to raise not so cute. I don't know if I could do the deed to a cute litle sheep when it was time for mutton.
They are definitely cuter than cows, in my opinion, but most of them, by the time they're ready to butcher, are past the "adorable" stage and into the 'average' stage of cuteness, haha
Good work!!! I can feel my back groaning just looking at that picture lol
I find it's my butt and legs that wind up the most sore! But my back does get a little stiff, haha
Shearing Is one thing I refused to learn as I've always had a bad back - it's why I run cattle not sheep lol :)
Can I just take a minute to have some empathy and say Ouch! I do hope your legs look better today!
Thanks Debralee! The bruises still look quite nasty, but are actually feeling much better already. Thanks for stopping by!
Looks like you should get some hockey shin guards... Might help. Yikes. Maybe the whole getup - pants, shoulder pads, elbow pads :-)
Lol yeah maybe. Except I don't think I could bend in half with all that stuff on!