Managing my Hay

So, since this drought has gone on for so long we have worked very hard to "manage" our hay appropriately. I mean---when you can't even steal a bale of hay because it's so scarce well...you have to care for what you have.
Waste---especially of hay is always an issue. All livestock love to walk, climb, fling, roll in, run through, and poop on their hay. I don't know why but there you have it.
Round bales come under particularly aggressive attack---probably because they are big and don't get eaten as fast, but small squares are not really that much safer from the "waste fairies".
For a long time we didn't have to worry about hay and so we didn't really care about the waste. The bales were only $25 dollars for about a 650 to 800 pound round bale. Need a new one?---just drive down the road a mile or so and pick up a new one. Or just across town about 10 minutes away there were even nicer rounds. So, though we did try and keep the animals from completely destroying them it was inevitable that eventually some of it did get wasted.
Last year the weather started to show it's true colors and we became a bit more conservative with hay feeding since it became a bit harder, though not impossible, to find hay. Rounds were tarped in the driveway and fed out in small piles or stuffed into moveable fence panels tied to the regular fence. Square bales too were fed out in small piles or stuffed between the two fences like filling in a pita pocket.
As we moved into summer though and we were STILL feeding hay----we really began to give serious thought to how to feed the hay through summer then on into the winter so that NO hay was wasted. By now hay had become and will remain difficult to find. If you do find it---it's pricey. We now can only get square bales for $7.50 each---though I heard they went up since last we bought. That's $7.50 for just a measly little 70pounds of hay. You do the math in comparison to what we used to pay. Also---though I only have to feed out not quite one bale worth of hay a day I will have to feed more as it gets colder and there is no green grass left to help supplement.
So, after deciding it had become somewhat imperative that we design a hay feeder of some sort I stumbled on the two sided feeder that premier 1 sheep/livestock supplier had on their web site---it's in the downloadable instructions/chart section.
Well, after all my procrastinating for years now---someone should smack me. This feeder was so easy to build that I did the first one, which was the bigger one, in about 3 1/2 hours by myself. The second, though smaller one made by my husband and I for the rams was even quicker. Somebody kick us for being lazy! I tell you what! And wow! how easy to put hay in to it instead of trying to stuff it between two fences. Humph!---how disappointing that it took so long to become aware of this "labor saver" of a feeder.
Also, as a really great bonus---it has a "trough" area that can be used for grain or alfalfa cubes without any spilling. Since it's so stable and part of the whole unit--they can't knock it over while they fuss and fight amongst their selves during feeding. That part is o.k for my ewes----but a huge (HUGE) convenience for the rams who bash around so much during feeding of grains or cubes that most of the feed in lower troughs or bowls gets spilled and smashed into the ground.

And cheap! though we did already have a livestock panel specifically for goats/sheep that we had purchased at Tractor supply for $25 dollars---the wood was very cheap. (small aside to those who try this---we own very large bolt cutters that make easy work of cutting the 16 foot panels to the correct sizes). We even used some of our scrap lumber pile for the bigger one so total cost for it was under $50---most of it being the part of the goat panel we used. The smaller one obviously was cheaper though we did have to buy new wood for some of it---but it used the leftover part of the goat panel in it.
I wish I had built this years ago because not only is it easy to feed hay in but it also keeps the fleeces much nicer than the way we had been doing it. We spent much less time picking VM (vegetable matter), specifically hay, out of the fleeces after we sheared this summer.

There are two issues that we now need to address to make this feeder fit us even better.
One: A roof. The feeder needs some sort of roof that is easily moved, lifted off,or tipped so hay can easily be put in and it could then be used in an open area of a pasture. Both of ours are under cover---the big one is used to divide our "catch pen" and the smaller is under the new chicken coop addition.
Two: Wheels. Wheels and maybe a hitch of some sort, along with a roof would make it easy to move the feeder from pasture to pasture or just around a pasture so they don't "beat down" the grass in one area.

So here are the pictures. The last one shows how we dealt with the open end of the smaller hay feeder. It also allows one more animal to eat at that end. Plus an extra picture of my now healthy Princess (with hay hanging off her face and body!)

Good day all---here's to rain

Why we don't pay to be organic

Some one asked me not to long ago when I decided I would raise my plants (all plants not just my food) organically. I told her that I couldn't remember a day when I hadn't thought that way. I think she thought I was just saying that and I can understand how skepticism may ooze from anyone reading this. Truly though, I don't remember a time when I didn't think that way. I don't know if I read a book, if God "put" it into me, or maybe some genetic "thing" that is inside some of us---who knows. Not I for sure.
I also don't remember a time when I wasn't interested in plants. Of course like all children---I DID NOT want to weed the occasional garden my parents had. My parents grew mostly tomatoes, green peppers and squash---all of which I hated. Not anymore--but I did then (of course green peppers still hate me!)
Anyway my point of wandering through my early life is to give a base point on why I don't "certify" my animals and my garden to be considered organic.
Two reason---one of which is easy. Organic grain. Though I am careful about what I feed my animals I am not always able to get organic grain. Though we do not feed a lot of grain there are times when we have to as in droughts and when the ewes are pregnant. Yes, I would pay the extra price for it but when I ship it in, since it's not commonly carried around here, the shipping adds a lot of price to something I can not easily buy in bulk or store. It almost doubles the "per bag" price. Yes, I would love to use only organic grain and hay (MY grass IS organic) but shipping costs can kill you when you have a small farm leaving virtually no room for any profit---not even a little to buy shoes with :-)
Secondly is the biggest reason and it is this: why on earth would I PAY the government to certify my farm and garden organic when they won't make the others I would be competing against follow the rules? See the story of Aurora Farms here and on Boulder Belt Blog for more information.
One of the lawsuit and article points brought up are: exactly what does constitute organically raised animals (veggies, milk etc)? I know my ideas may not be exactly the same as others. I know my idea may be more or less even than other peoples.
Maybe instead of worrying so much as to whether we are purchasing organic we should instead worry about whether we purchase locally. That is were organic started----and that is were it hopefully will come back too and become "real" again. Why all this stupid legislation by the government to "protect" us from bad food---but in reality most of the bad food comes from big business and the government won't even do anything about it.
I would LOVE to buy local milk----even pasteurized-----but the government makes that impossible. To much legislation that's "for our own good". What are they? My parent and I am 11?
Even starting local with a pasteurized milk I could then say to the farmer: Ever though about going organic? or Ever thought about selling some of it raw?
I am, and have been, a big advocate of writing our congress people and senators. However I would like to add one more thing to those reading this: Talk with your neighbors. Don't bash them over the head with it though---just teach them where their food is REALLY coming from and what it is REALLY costing us.
Even our neighbors don't "get it" completely---but we are working on them. Friends and family that live far away---well they take even longer to educate since they are not near us to hear all that goes on. What better way to affect change than right at home with family and friends? THAT is democracy when we can all get together and tell the government we are sick of their crap---and now they need to clean it up. We expect, nay demand, wholesome food. We are not some corporate guinea pigs for their on going research with food.

Some news (but without a picture)

I meant to take a picture of my ewe Princess that I have posted about on numerous occasions lately---but I forgot. However---she is doing great even though she didn't get the ice cream that Tim was sure she would like :-)
Yesterday we let her back into the pasture and she seems to be doing fine eating and drinking as she is suppose to. She did "relax" a bit around the pasture--- a little more than normal---but after almost 3 weeks in the barn I think she was a bit tired schlepping up and down the hill. That's to be understood though.
How we got to this point is started in my previous post New treatments for sick sheep . After that all we did was add, first some apple tree leaves (any edible shrub or tree leaves would do though) then some grass. At first I gave her only 5 apple leaves which have less moisture than grass so they would be less likely to cause frothing/bloating or vomiting. We built up to lots of them---fed every few hours that day. The next day I started slowly adding grass to the apple leaves until she could eat quite a bit. By the third day she was back on her hay and drinking lots of water herself and voila! She's well :-)
Today--she had some serious head banging and butting confrontations with a few of the other sheep. She is, and of course was, my top ewe----so she has to reassert her dominance over the others. Seeing her butt another of the ewes so hard head to head a number of times and then chase her down to get in a few more whacks ascertained me that she is completely well. A sick sheep does not fight. She also got in a few whacks on my new ram lamb who is not quite big enough yet to take on the "higher" status adult ewes yet. He will soon however---but full rut and a bit more weight will help him out there.
Needless to say I am relieved that my ewe made it---and I now have a much clear idea of how to treat a poisoned ruminant. Hopefully I will never again have to---but at least I now know more than I did before which is always good. Practice makes perfect they always say---however I am not sure you can ever been practiced with livestock since they always always find some new way to stump you.
Have a great day all.

A little bit for the birds

This summer as everyone knows has been hideous as far as droughts go. We finally got to the point were we just quit watering everything since it was becoming very expensive to do it. Occasionally "save the plant" watering did occur for some of the more expensive perennials but nothing more than that.
We had also planted some small annuals--including veggies---but most didn't survive since we just couldn't water them enough.
Even with all the mulch we had acquired---it just didn't work out well for them with the high temps and no rain.
But now that I am getting ready for the fall I felt it was time to post about this plant known as a cypress vine (or maybe it's a cardinal vine---I am not sure which it is since they are closely related).
I actually received this one (and only one) plant as a start when I did some volunteer work for a research/organic garden in downtown Chattanooga (Crabtree farms). I planted it---and forgot it. It was only watered once when it was planted--never again after that. However---it went on not only to climb my fence but take over that corner of the fence and a bench too. I even quit allowing my husband to weed eat there since it might get some of the vine. This vine just went crazy---and remember it is just one plant. One little seed. So, considering how well it did---I will plant it again next year.
















It's very pretty and we have had a number of hummingbirds visit it in the morning after they visited the four o clocks by the patio.
Next year---now that know it grows so well, I will use it to disguise some of the uglier spots on the farm. You know--those places that just are not pretty either because they still need work or that just can't help being kind of "ugly" (like the windowless side of a shed or something).

Also, I wanted to remind everyone that fall is technically here now. Soon we will have colder weather (I think we will anyway) and the birds might need a bit of help to survive. This spring with our freaky late frost that killed a number of plants then the drought the wild animals are low on their native foods. In our yard alone we will not have any oak nuts, hickory nuts, maple seeds, wild persimmons, blueberries, apples, pecans, and for some reason no rose hips either. That's a lot of seeds/mast foods to be without. The wild ones will be hungry---especially if we have some really cold snaps that require high energy foods.
I have a number of these feeders below that I hang out. Some years more of them go outside than in other years, but this year I will make sure all of them go out and stay as full as I can keep them with seeds/sunflowers etc. I will even put out corn for the squirrels since, though I don't care for squirrels too terribly much (they are somewhat destructive and they eat my apples and other fruit) I don't want to see them starve to death. I would much rather a hawk got to eat them instead.




So though it's nice to place plants in the spring and summer that bring in those pretty hummingbirds and colorful songbirds---don't forget that the winter can be important too. Especially after a year like this.
One other thing for the birds that they really appreciate is shelters. Bird houses are used even in the winter. It's where they shelter from the cold and icy storms that blow up. So grab a bird book at your local library or bookstore and build some bird houses. Not only is it a fun fall project but next spring you may have lots of baby birds in your yards.

New treatments for sick sheep

So as I have mentioned in the post "whys and what for" (and another) about our sick sheep I just wanted to update the situation.
The reason I am boring everyone with this on going problem is that in the coarse of raising sheep or goats it becomes very very obvious to most people that vets either:

1. Know absolutely nothing more than textbook information about these animals ---so why pay them when you can read it yourself?

2. Don't really care if they live or die. Especially with sheep. EVERYONE says " a sheep lives to die" Again---I don't believe that but whatever.

Anyway in the course of recovering from a bad case of poisoning by fungus our sheep's rumen shut down. Now THIS is serious stuff---way beyond the poisoning. Why? Because a sheep (and goat and cow) being ruminants have a fine balance of various microbes which help them digest their food in a sort of fermentation type process at points. To have these microbes completely die off is very very serious. If you have never seen a ruminant vomit---it's not a pretty site AND you wouldn't be the only one who has never seen it. By the time a ruminant gets to the point of vomiting most people write them off and put them down. Well, my ewe didn't look as if she wanted to die however any bit of solid food that passed her lips was almost immediately rejected by her "stomach". Imagine an animal standing there---looking normal but not being able to eat at all. Slowly they will starve to death or die of dehydration as they try to eat and then vomit out fluids.

So, our goal is to reintroduce the digestion process again. Just as if she were a human that had a bad case of flu----who doesn't immediately restart eating by choosing a thick steak needless to say.

How are we doing it? Well that is why I wanted to post this since there is very very little information on line. If you don't have the correct books---your out of luck.
We didn't do fancy expensive vet stuff like intravenous fluids or anything like that---of course we didn't wait until she was really bad either so.......you can however give fluids under the skin if you need to. We didn't as I said.

What we did do was start with fresh ginger from our local store. We bought a pound of it for 3.49 and haven't used much of the total amount so far. We grated it some of it and put about 1/8 to a 1/4 cup of the grated in a lidded bowl with an peppermint leaf tea bag (2.49 for the box of peppermint leaves only---25 bag count ---no flowers, or green or black tea etc added) and steeped it with about two cups of water and two tea bags. We strained it then drenched the ewe with 60 to 90 cc/ml every 15 minutes for an hour and a half to try and settle the rumen.
After that I took plain regular fat yogurt with live culture (or low fat---but not the no fat--- WATCH the ingredients) and thinned it with some ginger/peppermint tea and added a teaspoon of probios powder ($2.49) and electrolyte powder ($1.99). The electrolyte powder also has some added Dextrose so it was a calorie boost also---which was why I chose that particular brand. Both products were meant to go into drinking water but she wasn't drinking much at this time since her stomach was so upset. The tea added was so it would go through my drench nozzle attachment to my 30 cc/ml syringe. I force fed her that (about 90ml again) once every half hour---checking after 5 minutes to make sure she didn't vomit it. After a few times the ewe decided---"Hey I like this stuff" and started taking the drench nozzle in her mouth on her own. We upped the amount she ate each time and by the time 6 ish hours had passed I added some corn syrup to add calories to the mix----and by then the ewe was sitting in my lap begging me to hurry and feed this to her faster. At that point she was eating within a two minute period one cup of the yogurt mix---sucking on the drench nozzle as the last of it went down her throat. For some reason she would not eat it out of a bowl though (must be sheep/texture thing).
One other idea I have been told about since this began is a high calorie livestock supplement that has more calories than the corn syrup does called "Dyne" The person who recommended the dyne says she has used it on sick llamas and lambs---so it would surely work on adult animals too. I will get some---but don't have any currently.
My point yesterday was to try and get about 3000 calories into her (based on her normal weight of about 150 pounds) so she would have a maintenance amount of calories to live on. Hence the dextrose in the powder and the corn syrup so that the calorie count would go up for each feeding.
3 large yogurts cost about $7.50. So in time---this could get expensive but I could have also supplemented with dextrose shots but chose not to. I hate to give lots and lots of shots HOWEVER if they are going to possibly die the rule of thumb is this:

Try anything and don't worry about wether it will kill them or not----if they are about to die what do you have to lose? You may save them

Also---a vet would cost me a lot more so..
Starting today---we added cooked rice. Last night at the last feeding I had added a bit of blender ground cooked rice---which had the yogurt mix blended with it. Today I didn't grind it and it was mixed with a small bit of her yogurt and put in a bowl. Since she was so hungry (no night feeding) she was willing to lick it out of the bowl. This is basically a "BRAT" diet. You know the doctor prescribed bananas, rice, apples and tea for sick kids.
She likes the rice and so slowly we will work up to solids. I am not sure exactly how to go from yogurt and rice to hay and grass but we will figure something out. In the mean time---she looks lots better. Yesterday she had finally gotten weak enough that she wasn't standing again---but by later last night she was not having problems getting up or standing. So we are on the right tract it will just take time and hopefully work out for us.

By the way---during all of this the ewe has been receiving Bcomplex shots. These vitamins are manufactured by the rumen when it is working correctly. If it is not working correctly -- they are not being made. So don't forget those B shots---even with other illnesses :-)

Don't forget when adding anything to the diet small amounts first---working up to large. Even with the yogurt which has the live culture the rumen needs---small amounts. Better small amounts more frequently than to over whelm the system and have the vomiting reoccur.

Purse "snatching"

For the first time in my life---I got my purse stolen. They broke the window of my car and stole it out of the back seat floor board.
Luckily---we had phone numbers written down to cancel everything. As a matter of fact we shut off our debit/visa card right after the guy bought cigarettes and gas but before he and his friends bought $190 worth of groceries. :-D
So..though I have to replace my purse, wallet, driver license, switch my checking account and get a new debit card-----the guy was dumb enough to not only use my card at a store with excellent cameras BUT he stole my purse out of my car in a FEDERAL park. hahahahaha His time to serve is now greater because he committed the crime on federal property. Idiot.
So yesterday and today I am busy replacing all my things and getting "stuff" reorganized.
Don't forget to write down phone numbers and card numbers so if you ever lose your purse or wallet it's as easy as a call to cancel everything quick.

Have a great day all

Need convincing?

Need a bit more evidence that the current administration is working towards a goal of war AGAIN?
How about this little "you tube" gem that is an interview with Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh (the man who exposed Abu Ghraib). Even better this interview came off MSNBC. Watch it---you might find it......interesting.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x59160

Washable leather???

Since I posted about my new Icelandic sheep pelts for this year a number of people have asked me about the care of them. One question that repeatedly comes up is about the fact that my skins are washable---yes washable. No dry cleaning necessary.
I don't know exactly how they tan them so that they are washable instead of needing dry cleaning but I think it is great. Since they are washable this makes them extra functional because they can be used for babies, the elderly who sit or lay for long times (reduces those "bed sores"), trim on jackets, dresses, purses, dog coats for beloved pets---you name it. The Icelandic in particular is good for trimming clothing since it looks a bit more like a fur than most sheep pelts do. Add that to the endless color range and you can match just about anything with one of them.

Anyway, we don't use dry cleaning, even for our wool, cashmere, mohair, alpaca or other fibers made into scarves and sweaters. Why? Because it is hard on the environment. Traditionally all people washed their wool products by hand since in up until recently there were no dry cleaners in the local villages. I figured if they could wash their wool by hand--then I could too. However it took me a number of years to understand just exactly why and how to wash a sweater of wool/cashmere/alpaca without ruining one once in a while. So instead of you stumbling through it here are some tried and true directions that I will tell you for those of you that don't know how to do it. We find many people don't understand this issue and we spend much time at fairs telling people how to wash their clothes so they don't have to dry clean. I will give instructions for washing both "washable" pelts and your lovely natural fiber clothing.
First the pelts:

Washable pelts----the company has differing directions than I, but if you didn't quite pay attention you could end up ruining your pelt. The way I prefer to wash them is by running medium temp. water (not to hot, not to cold) into a tub with some soap. Soap can be dish soap, your favorite body wash, shampoo etc. Some soaps are more drying than others so keep that in mind when choosing. Lay the pelt into the tub upside down---in other words you want the fiber in the water and the skin facing up. The skin will get wet which is fine but by having the fiber "hang" into the water allows it to get clean better.
Let it soak in the water for about an hour. Drain the soapy water out, then while keeping the pelt away from the running water refill the tub with clear water to rinse in. Again, let sit about an hour. Drain. At this point you can quickly get it out of the house wrapped in a towel (to absorb some of the water that's going to try and wet your floor) or you can put it into your washing machine and let it spin out. IF you choose the washing machine---DO NOT let water run in and pound onto the pelt during the spin cycle. That can cause felting of the fibers and though you will still have a functional product----it won't look nearly as nice as it did. Next---lay, drape or hang it to dry. Gently stretching it a few times during this process just so edges don't curl up a bit. Some people then put the pelt in the dryer with a tennis ball and NO HEAT air to tumble and re-fluff the fibers. I prefer just finger combing and maybe using a gentle bit of dog brush----don't get too aggressive though. This isn't your daughter long tangly morning hair :-) Voila! a beautiful clean pelt.

Now sweaters from natural fibers.
Almost the same idea as the pelt. Again---medium temp water with soap and let it soak. Then medium temp. clear water to soak for a rinse. Again---you can then spin them out in the washing machine but DO NOT allow water to rush in and "pound" them during the spin cycle. The pounding of the water AND the movement allows the cuticles in the fiber (which at this point is slightly expanded from heat and the soapy water) to "grab" the cuticles in the neighboring strands and then as they cool the stay stuck together and then you have felting. So, as long as you spin---but don't pound with water which is a form of agitation---you won't have felting and your sweater won't shrink. Every time you have a natural fiber sweater shrink---it has gone through a form of felting: combos of hot water, soap and agitation.
My choice though is not to put it EVER into the washing machine---since I have a tendency to walk away and forget things. So I just pull my sweaters out of the tub---GENTLY GENTLY GENTLY lightly (get the hint?) lightly squeeze just enough water out of the sweater that it isn't going to flood the floor and then lay it into a towel. Roll the towel and just press on it to extract a bit more water. Take your sweater and lay it out to dry on a rack or something---not a cloths line that will distort it. Shaping it slightly since all natural fibers like to "move" a bit and your sweater was shaped the day they finished knitting it to make it look the way it does. Shaping is a natural process and does not mean that you ruined it---most commercially machine knit sweaters don't require quite as much shaping as a hand knit sweater does. Hand knitting is unique each day---today I am tired and my knitting is a bit looser and tomorrow I am tense or in a hurry and it is tighter so it creates a bit of "movement" in the finished product. Nothing wrong with this at all---just that when you wash you may need to shape it (or block as it is truly known) a bit.

Hope that helps some of you out there. If you are concerned with your technique---start with a pair of mittens or a scarf. If you don't scrub, twist, wring or let water "pound" onto your items---you will do fine. It's a lot easier than you think---if everyone knew this the cleaners wouldn't have nearly the business they do.

Whys and what fors

Back on Sept 25th I wrote about how one of our sheep was sick. As I said then---it is something that occurs to every farmer and every species of animal. Most people, without livestock, assume that it can be as simple as giving an antibiotic to treat a sick sheep, goat or cow. However---it's not always that easy. In our case it wasn't anything close to being that easy.
We started out not knowing exactly what was wrong with our girl and finally settled upon "thiamine deficiency" also known as: Polioencephalomalacia (PEM)
This disease can occur because of many different reasons but can be summed up best as a "disease" that has to do with the ruminants stomach not producing vitamin B1 also known as thiamine.
Chances of our ewe recovering were medium---but not for sure---and she could have been left with a bit of neurological damage. However in the course of treating her for this disease we found she lacked the two major symptoms that everyone I spoke with said she should have: a "starry eyed/going blind look" and a neck that was very stiff and "pulled backwards". My ewe did not have either of those----so back to the research I went even though most people DID still think that thiamine was the problem. For some reason I just didn't feel it "fit" correctly.
To make this story a bit shorter we finally figured out our problem. Our ewe---and a few more of our sheep---were slowly becoming effected by "Dallisgrass Staggers". And though the name doesn't seem to say this, basically they were slowly being poisoned by a fungus. A fungus that was growing on the seed heads of a variety of grass in our pasture--dallis grass.
"Grass Staggers" or fungus poisoning is a fairly common problem among livestock but is much more known to happen with fescue or perennial rye grass or a few other types of grass. I had even originally thought it was grass staggers but I do not have that much fescue and the drought had pretty much killed of all the rye grass so when the vet said "thiamine deficiency" that's what I went with.
Treatment is as simple as pulling them off the affected pasture and giving them different grass or forage to eat. That helped the rest of the sheep, though one of our younger sheep also seems to be still struggling with it a bit but not nearly as much as our ewe Princess.
Princess still is bothered by "leg cramps" maybe even a bit of an upset stomach, so twice a day she gets a banimine shot which is a pain and inflammation reducer to help her move around and eat and drink. Yesterday she finally got to go back out on pasture and seems to be doing o.k. She is eating and drinking and moving around with the flock.
I do believe not only was she glad to be back with the others (remember they are social animals) but they had missed her too. Usually when two sheep, even ewes, have been in different pastures for a while they will butt heads to establish who is "top". This time however instead of putting horns together or butting---they rubbed cheeks with her :-) Very nice---I like to think they were telling her they are glad she made it. I know I am.

So here are a few pictures of Dallis grass with fungus on the seeds and also a bit of information about Dallisgrass Staggers for information. Note the comment on the "sticky" sap of the seeds----we have that every where and have never before had that. Also one other thing I learned was that if you have mushrooms growing in your yard/pasture then you have prime weather for any fungus that grows on any variety of grass. So just watch those seed heads---they aren't always good for the animals to eat.

















Dallisgrass poisoning (also known as Dallisgrass staggers) occurs several days after cattle ingest a significant amount of dallisgrass seedheads infected with an "ergot-like" fungus called Claviceps paspali. The seedheads typically are infected with the fungus in the fall, as the seedheads age. Rather than flat looking seeds on the heads, the infected heads have gray to black swellings that have a sticky sap material on them. Some observers say it looks like little popcorn (see photos of normal and infected seedheads). Usually not all the herd is affected, and it appears that it occurs when some animals develop a preference for the tips of the seedhead.

The infected seedheads contain three primary toxins, paspalinine, and paspalitrem A and B, which are tremorgenic alkaloids. The affected animals show neurological symptoms, including trembling of the major muscles and the head, jerky uncoordinated movements, and they also are spooky and sometimes aggressive. The animals will startle and run, and often will fall in unusual positions. In bad cases the animals will go down, and may stay down for several days. Convulsions and death can occur in extreme cases. The symptoms are somewhat like grass tetany, and this is often misdiagnosed, but they don't show the sudden death characteristic of grass tetany, and don't immediately respond to treatment for grass tetany.

There is no treatment for the malady, except to get the cattle off the affected grass, and provide them with high quality forage. If possible they should be put in a field with no ponds, steep slopes, etc. as they commonly stumble around and end up injuring or drowning themselves. Usually cattle can completely recover from the poisoning.

In late summer we often have reports of dallisgrass poisoning, and it seems to be getting more common now because there is more dallisgrass in pastures in North Carolina. Toxicity usually is reported on farms with rank dallisgrass seedheads and the fungus present. In many cases producers had stayed off the pastures hoping to let the grass get a little more growth on it, and as a result the seedheads got old. In other cases, there are only a few cattle in large pastures, so the Dallisgrass grew faster than the cattle could consume it. Rarely do we get a report of a case were there deaths of the affected cattle. It also seems that in many cases the younger cows are affected, which suggests that cows may learn to avoid eating too much of the seedheads after getting too much (cattle are known to learn to avoid poisonous plants in this way).

Dallisgrass is becoming a more important part of many pastures in the piedmont and coastal plain. It is a very good quality warm season perennial, and provides great benefits to pasture systems, but the one drawback is the potential for Dallisgrass staggers. By rotational grazing the grass after seedheads emerge but before the fungus grows on them the problem can be avoided, because cattle will readily eat the immature seedheads unlike some other grasses we are used to. If the seedheads do become infected, clipping them off at about 12" before grazing should

help prevent the problem. Hay with high amounts of seedhead can also be a problem, so feeding Dallisgrass hay along with other hay is advised, especially if infected seedheads are present.


For more information concerning dallisgrass poisoning contact Matt_Poore@ncsu.edu, your extension agent or your veterinarian.

Happy and Sad

In the course of raising livestock (cows, rabbits, sheep, goats) there are times you have deaths or cull the animals for your table or just to better your flock---which is a very sad thing for me I find :-(
When we do though---the skins are sent off to be tanned since they are such a useful part of the animal and we don't like to waste anything more than we have to.
Today, I received my sheep pelts back for this year.
They came out BEAUTIFULLY.
After the fact that this years fiber didn't come out so well, and all the other things out of our control (think rain here) I wondered if I would be disappointed---but I am not :-D
Bucks County did an excellent job on them and they even did well on two that my butcher left alot of fat and junk on (I worried about those). I know that things can happen---but I have heard much more good about Bucks County than bad and they have really shown the quality of work they do. We are very pleased.
Take a look at the pelts we won't be keeping here ---the colors are gorgeous-- and they are for sale if your interested! :-)

Changes

I have " re opened" anonymous comments for those of you who would like to comment but didn't want to join blogger.
Previously I had a problem with a person or two commenting and then filling it with advertising which is why I closed it down---nothing personal to most of you anonymous commentators.

So please---comment since I love to hear what you think ;-)

War AGAIN?!!

BREAKING: Lieberman-Kyl’s Iran amendment passes.

By a vote of 76-22, the Senate passed the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, which threatens to “combat, contain and [stop]” Iran via “military instruments.” Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) called the amendment “Cheney’s fondest pipe dream” and said it could “read as a backdoor method of gaining Congressional validation for military action.”

Want to know more?

Read who voted for and against with links to the various phrases taken out Here

and basically the same thing but a bit different Here

Contact your Senators and definitely your Congressperson.
Congress hasn't voted yet----we still have a chance to stop this madness!!
Don't forget to post it to your blogs or pass it on to your friends----this was NOT on CNN today. WHY??
Don't let them slip this through on the sly like they have done other things.

Crowd control or efficient means of torture?

Here's a really interesting article you HAVE to read. Don't skip it----even if your in a hurry.
This is very interesting and a bit scary. Considering the government as it has conducted business since 9-11 , you have to wonder about this new latest and greatest "thing".

Also notice the comment in the article by the US---"only for use by the US and it's allies---we're not selling it to countries with human rights abuses."
O.k---what if our ally is no longer our ally 20 years from now?? Then they have this "thing" too.

Do we never ever learn from history???

Another reason to save rare breed livestock--and a little bit more

As I was re reading the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) newsletter (sept/oct 2007) that I recently received, I noticed an article that I must have missed the first time through. It's a small article and titled "Skimmed Milk Cows" and is about some cows being bred in New Zealand that produce skim milk versus "regular" milk. Hmm...
After I read that decided I wanted to know more about this subject. So with just a small bit of searching I found a good expanded article here.

Well, this doesn't look good at all does it? Oh, I am not talking from the perspective of "tampering" with animals to produce specialty products (the white bread syndrome as I always think of it) but two other things that concern me.
One, that I had not thought of, is out of the article in the ALBC.
The author (Mwai Okeyo of the International Livestock Research Institute) says this:
This debate (one breeding specialty cattle) emphasizes the importance of the very old principle: that is the need to set realistic breeding objectives, depending on the production systems and the target market and consumers. Breeding objectives for low-input, poverty reduction systems should there-fore differ from those meant for high input systems and more affluent consumers.
In many developing countries, daily protein intake per person, especially of animal origin, is too low. For such consumers, high milk-fat content and intake is not a negative concern. Good quality water is often not available for the people and their animals, so a cow that converts water into watery milk is not a desirable goal. Yet that is what the multinational dairy cattle genetics companies are aggressively promoting. In such places it would be more desirable to have animals that can produce less milk with more fat and protein form poorer quality forage and less water. Such animals do exist but which donor/investor wants to put resources in such animal today (added by me: when everyone "with money" really wants skimmed/low fat products)?
At the same time, the type of consumers who do not desire butterfat in their milk can afford the additional higher prices that come with skimmed milk. Ironically, it is not just milk fat that is bad for health, but a combination of diet, exercise and social habits. Smoking may be far worse than milk fat, but no sensible tobacco breeders aims to reduce the nicotine content of the tobacco leaves!
As animal geneticists and breeders, we still have huge and real gaps to fill despite great successes in many areas. I would rather we concentrated our genetic improvement efforts to areas where we can really make meaningful changes to many lives, rather than to those that are targeted at the special few.

The author then goes on to talk about the World Food Programs, "who find it cheap and convenient" to ship/airlift maize-beans mixes grown in the USA to famine stricken part of Africa while other parts of the same country have fresh produce (potatoes, fruits etc) rotting for lack of an infrastructure to process, package and ship these products hundreds of miles only. If these world food programs and world bank etc would help develop these infrastructure how much better it could and would be for so many people. Many people could and would then also make a decent living while they shipped food to places that had less and needed it more.

My last comment on this issue is from the science article listed above ( placed here for convenience). In this article they comment that the gene that allows the cow to produce only 1% butterfat versus 3-4 percent is a dominant trait. Now that is a scary thought since when these large companies begin making money with this it won't take long for a dominant gene such as that to spread very far and wide until most of the production cows would be this way. Not to sound like a pessimist---but that is exactly the type of thing that has occurred over and over again. Just one more reason to raise a "rare" breed of farm animal to save those recessive traits that we may find ourselves without in some future generation.

Just a quick picture

Here is a picture of our winning ribbons from the Tennessee State Fair along with the Best in Show Ram fleece rosette ribbon and the pewter plate that we received for Best in Show Fleece.
They're nice---but the money we won will be even better :-D

Have a great day!

Getting Sick

When you have livestock it's a guaranteed that eventually one of them will get sick.
Animals are never easy when they do get sick since you can't ask them what's going on such as: did you eat anything strange? Where does it hurt exactly? Does it also bother you to (fill in the blank)? When did you notice the symptoms starting?
So when it happens you have to take the visible symptoms and do huge searches to find exactly what you think may be the cause of the problem. This however is not always an easy thing because:
1) Most vets have no clue (or don't really care?) about sheep and/or goats. So asking the vet is like wasting your precious time (and money) sometimes. Now that is not to say they don't sometimes come up with something good but....a stopped clock is correct twice a day.
2) Many, many, many (seems like thousands) of sheep and goat diseases all have the same symptoms. Very annoying and confusing to say the least to try and find out what is exactly the problem. That's where the talking sheep could really help you out.
3) Most sheep and goat books out there are very very basic and really don't address the various treatments of sheep nor the more "in depth" causes of the disease. I don't mean cause as in bacteria or virus but is it related to mineral problems or well....lots of other small things that can help avoid the problem to start with. Also by treatment I don't mean "call your vet" as many of them say I mean things like this: give (blank) intramuscularly, not subcute at the dosage of blah blah ml's per 100 pounds of body weight for blank number of times per day for 4 days. Or something like that. THAT is extremely helpful. Many times I tell my vet what I need to treat my animals. I have a hard vet though and have to make my case. Sometimes I don't get the drugs I want which can be annoying but I consider myself somewhat lucky that they will generally give me what I want. I do know some people whose vets will give them anything and others whose vets won't give them even something so simple as a prescription bottle of minerals so.....
And lastly
4) Sheep die fast. You don't have much time by the time you see major symptoms to figure out your sheep is sick. Some people say sheep die at a drop of a hat and they are too hard to raise. I don't find that to be true but I also believe that it goes along with your style of management of your sheep. Sheep are prey animals so their main goal is to hide their problems to see if they get better. If they don't hide their sickness then the big bad (wolf, bear, coyote, fox, wolverine, badger, large prey bird etc) will swoop in and eat them. So paying very very close attention to your sheep will make a huge difference in how much time you have to treat your animal and how far along the problem gets to progress before treatment starts. If you only visit your sheep once a week or barely glance over them for 15 minutes a day---one could be very sick before anyone knew about it. "Eye of the shepherd" some of the people I know call this: eye your sheep every day, your "eye" knows what is normal---so go with your gut. Also,sometimes the problem is as simple as we just didn't know a symptom was a symptom----until we look back later and go "ah hah" THAT was a symptom.
There have been points especially with lambs and new animals, that they are very sick before we figure it out. Animals that have been on our farm a long time are much easier to figure out and diagnose since you "know" their "normal" reactions to things.

So my point of this article?
One of my best sheep is very sick. We did think we would loose her for sure. Now? maybe she will live.
What's wrong? Absolutely no clue. We are treating for a number of things so every few hours she gets 4 shots, one of antibiotic (in case its a bacterial disease), one of vitamin C (in case it's a poisoning), one of Thiamine (since it seems as if its a b1 deficiency) and one of Vitamin B complex (to keep her rumen working correctly since she is not eating or drinking yet and to help with micro nutrient problems) She also gets some probios paste for her stomach and 120 cc of water every hour. She is alert but not moving around much yet. We will see.
Did we see symptoms---yes but it was one of those "ah hah" didn't know THAT was a symptom. Also---she was very good about hiding it.

So my point of this? Just remember when you raise livestock that yes, there will be times when they are sick. Hopefully they don't die---and that is what we are working towards in our case----but sometimes even the healthiest best cared for animal does some how get sick. It's the nature of the beast.

A few good books I would like to mention:
The Veterinary book for Sheep Farmers----British publication but has actual Vet treatments and helps with diagnosis.
Also both of Laura Lawson's books Lamb problems
and Managing your ewe

"Cultivating" friends who have raised sheep longer than you also helps :-) since they can become indispensable in helping to decide what to do.

Have a great day all

Fair Trade I never considered

Always before when the idea of fair trade would come up, thoughts of the poor hardworking South Americans or Africans slaving away to produce something would pop into my head. The idea that they would work so hard only to have more connected and educated land owners or middle men get all the profit was, and still is, appalling.
This weekend though, I was reading a magazine I like very much (there aren't many I don't like!) that is published in Britain. They have a new campaign going that is called Free Trade for British Farmers. Now why would they need free trade I thought as it caught my attention? Aren't they similar to us in that they get medical (better access than we do), good wages, paid vacation etc? Well yes. However this article and campaign is specifically addressing British Farmers that produce....drum roll please......milk!?!?

Ah hah! Now that you know the product it is easier to understand why they might need a bit more "fair trade". After reading the article and checking out the web site I thought that it was such a good idea that they should start it here in the U.S.
I know we have the "drink real/raw milk campaign" but what about a plain old "give a fair dollar to a small local farmer so they don't have to sell their milk to the large companies" campaign? Even if it's not raw and just plain ole grass fed and grown but maybe homogenized milk. Maybe not even certified organic---but maybe it is they just can't afford to pay the government the "blackmail price" of getting certified.
In Britain they are losing so many dairy farmers that they may have to import milk soon at this rate. GASP. Can you imagine importing our milk from overseas? China? Taiwan? It could happen here too though since a small local farmer who milks under 30 cows is as likely to fail because not only does the government over regulates how milk can and will be sold but most people don't want to spend 8 dollars a gallon to purchase it. Oh they say they will when it comes to the question of "would you buy it if.......fill in the blank with some humane objective." However---most won't. Of course maybe they are like me and hesitant to spend it in the grocery store because I know the big companies got government subsidies and the grocery store is taking a pretty large profit their selves. The farmer is getting barely a pittance of that price if I pay it. I would however pay a local guy that amount of money for his milk, especially if I could see his farm and pick it up fresh (hear the sound of fresh "cracking open"). Just try and find a farm to do that on though! The shrinking amount of small local dairy farms goes back to the article I send you too. The U.S is losing it's small farmers at an alarming rate----and we and our children are going to pay for it in the long run. (so sad--sigh)

Another point brought up in one of the other articles I read is about animal welfare. If we end up purchasing from overseas how do you know that the animals were treated well. Oh wait! We don't care about that either or else we would be raising our own meat or buying from a local grass fed producer not a CAFO (confined animal feeding operation) that sells to the large grocery chains, that gets government subsidies, that pollutes water and land and charges us a high dollar to sell to us.
So I guess in the end "fair trade" is just for some things like coffee and tea and as long as we get our every day staples for cheap cheap cheap the world is working correctly.

*By the way, when you check out the first link titled Fair Trade for British Farmers, click on the beef/lamb/dairy links at the bottom of the article for some other interesting "unfair" facts about these products.

something a bit off the wall

I know---you are wondering why I am posting about a cup and saucer on a farming blog. Well...I am an avid fan of the 50's. Almost everything: toasters, dishes, furniture, colors etc. I have many fond memories of my grandparents and of their homes. Since they were not very wealthy and very practical their homes were decorated in the 50's early 60's style until they died. So for many years I have tried to acquire things that remind me of them --such as an old working phone that is exactly as the one my grandmother and I used to pretend calling each other on when I would visit. It even has the same ring and since it is corded, my kids can't take off with it :-D

Sometimes this "freakish" desire to collect gets a bit whack though---and I end up with too many of some items, so that I am unable to use or find adequate storage for them. Today---as I looked at my room and decided that some of the "over flow" needed to go out of it---I found 8 of these little jewels in a box. Unfortunately though, I forgot I had these little guys and though I would like to keep them, I am of at least a certain amount of "sound mind" to realize that I am not using or displaying them so maybe they can go and GASP---I will live :-D

So onto ebay they went here. Hopefully they will sell since if they don't I will have to find some spot in the very very limited closet space I have. See...we don't have an attic, or a basement. So we are functionally out of sorts when it come to storing xmas items, collectibles not currently on display or out of season clothing. Our garage doth floweth over in our demand that it help us out.

However---as I look at them again on my table and in the picture I do realize just how retro and cute they are with their very unusual feet. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad if they didn't sell........

By the way if you want to see some neat retro "stuff" check out the man that designed my cute little cups (made by Salem China in the pattern "daybreak"). The man is Victor Schreckengost and he designed not only very unique for the times dinner ware for Salem but also: bikes for sears, the ubiquitous lawn chair we are all so familiar with , and those very very stylin' and cute pedal cars and planes for murray.
Didn't know you knew the man's work so well did you?

Making it look good

One of the things we liked most about our house when we bought it was the fact that one of the longest sides of the house faced south. All the better to help heat it in the winter time we thought. It is so nice in fact that we had to reduce some of the glass to reduce the amount of heat that came in during the winter---another "story" altogether that I will blog about later. This story is suppose to be about plants and landscaping not low E glass and windows.

The gentlemen that originally owned the house before us was quite the "scavenger". He did not believe in beauty so much as saving a buck. That could mean anything from using something to build with that just didn't quite match the rest of the building OR even, as we have found, some slightly dangerous "jury rigged" things.
So, somewhere along the span of his ownership of this house he built hideous brick planters along the southern side. Of course these were one of the first things to go since they were so ugly and just filled with a bunch of weedy plants. They also stuck out onto the patio by quite a bit (I think so they would catch rain). After our removal of them, and the reduction of their footprint, we filled the remaining sections with medium size river rock. Why rocks and not some good looking plant? Because we have a two foot over hang and rarely does water get near that area of the footing. So it stays fairly dry---really dry. Placing plants there is a kind of hit or miss situation in regards to water---a few windy storms will throw water against it but overall it is pretty close to the Sahara. Why bother I thought---besides after living in Texas I am all for a more xeriscape style of planting. Less water, less grass.
After living with and looking at this for a few years however, I decided it was...well..a bit boring. So after mulling my options (for quite a while since that is my best skill :-D ) I purchased two agapanthus plants to see how they would do. I figured that even though my "philosophy" is to place only plants that can make it on their own, I wouldn't mind watering the agapanthus once in a while since they are so pretty. They are actually one of my favorite flowers and though we usually get enough water for them (remember it's a drought this year) they need a sheltered spot since I am at the very tippy edge of their hardiness zone.
There is one variety that grows a bit more North than I am, but most need it a bit warmer. I thought that since I was at the very edge---they would do great planted against this southern wall that stays so warm, warm enough that it once grew a huge fig tree that was very prodigious. So much so, that it grew into the septic and had to be removed the year before we bought the place (to bad---we love figs).
As you can tell by the picture on the upper left hand though, I was wrong about the agapanthus doing well on the wall. Yes, I did water them but the heat radiating off the rocks and wall got them. Maybe they would have been fine in the winter but with many many record setting days over 100---they cooked.
Too bad since the flowers were very attractive when I first planted them.
So, after looking through many many catalogs without success, one day I rounded the corner of my house and there in almost the same growing situation were my red yuccas. Ah hah! That plant will for sure be successful I thought, and though a more "traditional" flower might have been a bit more to my liking, the hesperaloe (or Red Yucca as it is also known) should do really well there.
Now, I am not a big yucca fan-- but I do like red yucca. It is much more sedate (tame?) and has beautiful striking tall strands of pink flowers. Everyone comments on them when they bloom--even men. (I believe I have posted pics of them previously on my blog) They have not only done well on the rocks but have thrived so that this year when they bloomed and the pods dried I saved some of the seeds and planted them. They quickly sprouted and have done very well for me with barely effort on my part. About the most I did was give them a bit of water and make sure the seed made contact with the soil.
So next year, after these guys grow up a bit, I will plant them in places of honor along the southern wall of my house. Not only should they be able to take the heat but maybe I won't even have to water them.

How do you know?

Last night a friend who recently bought eggs from us called. Her question? Are they suppose to be orange? Or did she leave them out too long on the counter and that's why they are not yellow?
My response: Yes, they are suppose to be orange.
Notice in the picture above that two of the eggs are darker than the one towards the bottom. The bottom egg is store bought. You may also notice that the egg on the upper left looks.....um...."softer" around the edges. The picture is not the best in regards to clarity or color so you may not be able to see it. However a very very fresh egg will be "tight" and the yolk will sit "high"---not slouchy looking. Our slouchy egg is one that has been in the fridge for about a month now and the other egg was laid yesterday.
Since we began raising chickens so long ago we have found that most people do not know what a farm fresh egg is suppose to look like or why it is that way. Because of this, I thought maybe I should post a few bits of information about eggs on my blog--more information than the two egg cookbooks I recommended in another post anyways.

So here goes:

Eggs get their orange color from the grasses and bugs they eat. The actual pigment is called xanthophylls. Especially in the early spring and summer when grasses are at their best and bugs most plentiful a hens egg yolk will be a bright bright orange color. If you are buying pseudo "free range"eggs their yolks probably won't be the super orange of a true free range egg. Now their are natural additives (marigold flower petals for one) that can be fed to the hen to brighten their egg yolk but so far I still have not seen any from the store/large companies that are as bright as a true free range egg.

Color ,as I mentioned above, is effected by what the hen eats and here is something interesting I found on line about hens, their food and how it effects the color of the yolk:

medium yellow yolks are usually from chickens fed corn/alfalfa meal
light yellow yolks are usually a sign of barley or wheat fed hens
white or almost colorless yolks can be a sign of being fed white corn.

Also---not only are color additives against the law but most people prefer light yellow/orange yolks. To that I can attest as we have had a number of people say "thanks---but no thanks" to our eggs because the color grosses them out.

Another thing you may not have been aware of is that I would be breaking the law by selling my eggs as "free range" though my chickens happily ERUPT from their house when I open the door in the morning and range almost our entire 6.5 acres all day. I would have to document and provide data and fill out forms to be able to legally call my hens free range--more work and more government intrusion than I need. Besides we sell local---the buyers can see with their own eyes our chickens ranging our property. As a matter of fact in the evening they will "range" under foot as they wait for their evening treat of some scratch grains.

Free range, like all other organic/sustainable labeling has been "sabotaged" by the USDA because of this regulation---which wouldn't be bad except they do NOT do on site inspections. They just take the producers word for it. Basically what they consider free range is this: A producer must demonstrate to the agency that the poultry has been allowed "access to the outside". This can be nothing more than a hole in the wall opened for an hour during the day. Chickens are well...chickens (just like we used to call each other as children) and they do not like the unknown-. So they will not venture into a place they have never been accustomed to. It can take up to few months for our new chickens--depending on breed-- to learn they can go farther than about 400 feet away from the area they are confined at night. That is with us opening big doors and feeding them outside to encourage their natural foraging. Every new batch of chickens has to be taught this especially if you don't have older birds for them to see that "it's o.k".
So --don't be tricked into paying more at the store for the fancy boxed "cage free" or "free range" eggs.

The last thing I wanted to mention was that The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy recently co partnered a "study" with a rare turkey breeder named Bill Yockey, Slow Food USA and The French Culinary Institute to study the best uses for turkey eggs. According to the article (printed but not on line yet) the Midget White Turkey produces more eggs than most so they open up a range of possibilities for cooking with them. The study found they were excellent in things such as deviled eggs and custards/creams but not quite as nice in lighter foods such as Angel food cake or genoise.

Also: here is an interesting article about a chef and the use of many eggs: Eggs: chef shows chicken don't always come first.

Finally some pictures--2nd post of the day

I have taken some picture of my new sheep finally---not many and most of these I used on my web site too but I did promise I would show them so here they are. By the way---I did finally come up with names for all of them. Not the most innovative names---but easy to say and remember names :-D

here we have "EL" which my husband said was not technically a name but I told him one of the blogs I read: Fast grow the weeds----SHE calls herself EL so what the heck. This ewe is very pretty and unique---so EL is the perfect name for a "pretty and ewenique ewe" hehehe













Here we have "TOO". Yes, I know it's silly but it's a play on words. First she is the half sister to one of our ewe (as in two) and we just HAD to have her also (as in too!) She's a friendly little thing---just like her half sister. She's watching me in this picture but wouldn't look up.






















This is "TEX" my new ram for this year.
Not only are we originally from Texas but I would have to say that Tex is wearing a "ten gallon hat's worth" of horns on his head. Also.....this is the "T" year for tattoos---so for once I matched the name AND the year code!






















Then we have "Paris"---we had trouble with her name so...We'll stick with this though I am not sure it fits her as well as another would have, but there you have it. Sometimes you go with what you have.
















Finally we have "Gray Lady" aka Lady, as in "you know the little gray lady we bought". She's very refined so it fits her well.





















All these sheep are "technically" lambs---but they will go on to breed and have lambs for me this next spring. Watch for them----it will get here quicker than you think.

Soon I will mostly be blogging about the garden again (and then there is Christmas too). Woosh! I am ready for fall and winter when the sheep pretty much don't need me as much as they do after lambing and on it the early fall.
I have already started some perennials from seed and will have to find a spot to grow them through until this next spring planting. However---I need landscape plants. I will blog about them soon----less sheep more plants :-)

We have a winner!

About a month ago a very nice lady from Tennessee contacted me about sending some of my Icelandic sheep fleeces in to the Tennessee State Fair. Kim, as she is known, handles the fleece show there and is trying to develop it into one of the larger shows in the country. As far as I can tell she is becoming somewhat successful at it since it has become one of the largest for the southeast and a pretty large one for the East in general. Kim would eventually like to have as many breeds represented in the fleece show as she can---you know all those "rare" or "less well known" breeds of sheep---in addition to the "common" breeds that are at every show across the country.
Anyway---since she already had some Icelandic breeders sending in fleeces she wanted to see if she could get some more and have as large of a class as she could. So she contacted me to ask me if I would send or bring some. I told her yes I would be glad to "promptly" send some but in the end I ding donged around. Finally--days before the judging---I sent in a few fleeces. I had almost backed out of because I have been so busy however I basically promised her and would have felt kind of bad if I hadn't sent some.
So up to the Tennessee State Fair I sent a solid black adult ewe, a solid moorit ewe lamb and a solid moorit adult ram. These were pretty much the best I still had left since either 1) any other candidates were already sold and mailed or 2) the sheep had done some "dirty deed" to their fleece like scratching against the water trough and felting sections of it. I of course hoped one or two would place to pay for the shipping to the show and back to me (Kim was so very nice to offer to ship back as an encouragement for me to please send some). I was not holding my breath though. I knew my fleeces this year were the nicest we had ever had, but I wasn't sure how they compared to others. After three continuous years of vitamin/mineral work for our flock we are finally getting close to getting it right---and it's starting to show. As I said though---I didn't know how they compared to others.

Anyways, late at night this past Sunday I received a call from Kim. Good news. My black ewe had taken first in the ewe class though my lamb had not placed----the judge felt it was TOO soft to correctly represent the Icelandic breed (better that than some other faults aye?). However the ewe lamb did sell to someone :-) and would not be coming home to me. Yeah! Also, even better news my ram fleece placed first in his class AND then went on to beat out some pretty heavy competition to win Best in Show! So now not only do I get some cash for winning---but I also get a special ribbon and a "pewter" platter. Go figure. I am not even into that sort of thing-- however I am glad that my fleeces did so well.
Kim said the Judge narrowed best of show down to a Romney, a Rambouillet (which is basically a type of merino sheep) and my Icelandic ram. She said he finally said that to him my ram's fleece was just so nice and epitomized what an Icelandic should be that he couldn't not give him Best in Show. Also, Kim and the Judge both said they absolutely loved the color--she said the judge raved about it! My ram does have a very odd color---and for an Icelandic who does not carry the gray gene, he for some reason has a "grayish" almost blackish cast to his brown. Very different. Very unique.
Now just to give you an idea how big this is for him and us just let me tell you----"primitive" breeds like Icelandics, Karakuls etc RARELY ever beat out sheep like Ramboullet or Romney or a few other better appreciated breeds for Best in Show. So for a primitive to win Best in Show is a pretty big deal!

Since this ram is technically "sold"--- and to a lady who wanted to add him to her flock specifically for his fleece attributes---I'd say I represented him well AND she got a sheep that hopefully will do for her exactly what she hopes he will.
So next year we are again sending in fleeces to the fair--as promised to Kim (again)-- AND I already have the moorit ewe lamb's fleece from next year sold since it was so appreciated! How about that!
I will post a picture of my "winnings" when they get to me---which could be a week or two I was told.

Also, thanks for helping us make our booth a success at the "fair" this weekend. We appreciate it and enjoyed seeing everyone. We were one of the few booths that actually went beyond breaking even and actually made money. The town did not do it's best to advertise this year---and it showed---but luckily we did well.
I have also been asked by the lady that is running the "museum" in our downtown to 1) please come and do a spinning demonstration periodically there when the antique train comes into town on Saturdays (bringing tourist from Tennessee) and 2) to offer some of my knitted items and hand spun yarns in the gift shop.

** A quick plug for my "sponsor": SmallMeadow Farm---check out the site it is updated with fleeces, fiber and hand spun and/or hand dyed yarns. Check it out :-)

Overall---a DAMN good weekend wouldn't you say? :-D At least in regards to sheep!:-D

The Bachelor Pad

Every fall we get to the point of deciding where exactly are we going to put each group of breeding animals. Always the conundrum since each ram's group has to have a gap between the other group(s). Why? Because rams will fight through fences even if they can't see each other. They will bash down fences, gates and anything in between them to establish who is top dog and to "get the girls". If one ram is older and obviously the dominate ram---they will still fight until the dominate ram can "gather" all the girls from the other side. Needless to say the girls stay well out of this battle and are not that interested in being gathered (most of the time). However during all this the poor shepherd ends up constantly trying to repair all the damaged things and keep everyone apart and in their correct place--not always that easy with rams in the grip of rut. Though they are usually fine with the shepherd ---they can be much harder at this time to control and to get their attention. Bull headed would be the description that comes to mind here---and annoying.
Now fortunately---we have always been successful BUT we have at times had gates accosted when another group did not have an "appropriate" distance. So, as I mentioned--with each year comes the new decision of who goes where.
This year to help us with that---we made a new pen. It is a small area and will technically be the official "bachelor" pen for the rams after breeding and until they go back in with the girls after lambing. Until that period of time however--one breeding group will go into this pen which will make it easier on us as far as keeping a good distance between the other group. Also, as fate would have it we will end up with only two rams. So, with this new pen it actually will work out well for us by allowing more of our pasture to rest during the winter (especially after this hard drought year) and possibly even re seed more of it if it ever rains regularly again.
Ike---who is pictured above with the chicken on him will come in this pen with his three girls. All the rest of the girls will go into the back pasture with our new ram "Tex" (yes, kind of a silly name---but there you have it).
My point of posting this was to show how we are allowing this pen to overflow into the chicken area. Ike as you can see is taking full advantage of it by laying in front of the chicken coop door. This morning I had to change the hinges on the door since Ike kept knocking it close by laying against it. No sooner had I done that then two of the rams (both soon to move to new places) squooshed their selves through the door and hung around inside the coop. The chickens as you can see are fine with this---they just climb over the rams to get in or out.
The "long view" picture up there is the beginning of the attachment to the back of the coop that will be the new shelter for whatever animals end up in this pen over time. A place to keep their hay dry and for them to get out of the worst that winter dishes out (if winter ever comes!). The tarp is a temporary side to help with sun control right now but the roof and posts only took a couple of days to get done. Eventually it will be finished---we are much quicker with animal shelters than our own :-D and a group of sheep will move in for a few months. The girls would be glad to know they are just going to be temporarily ensconced---but since they can't understand me I am sure they will fuss at me all the while they are there.

Getting ready

We have been getting ready for our local festival that occurs each year at this time. It is a Civil War/reenactment/craft festival that is hosted by our town. Chickamauga is one of the small areas around Lookout Mountain that saw fighting during the civil war as the North pushed through to Atlanta. As an added history lesson (a little bonus if you will) for those of you who didn't know---this area held off the North for quite a while. If they had won---Atlanta would never have been burned. This was the last great battle and because they lost here, Atlanta fell to the Union forces.

Anyway, we (yes, my husband is helping) have been prepping fiber until I feel like I could scream. Though I don't have many pictures of it I thought that I would post a few just so you could see some of it and we will try and remember to take a picture of our booth this weekend.
We won't have a huge selection at our booth since quite a bit of our fiber is already sold but we have added a few things like dye to sell and a few other small things. Our area doesn't really seem to have a place to by fiber dye so we are going to offer it at our booth along with a few other non essentials. We will see how it sells here and at our next festival we go to to decide if we will keep offering it.
We were hoping to also have pelts for sale but unfortunately they will not be back in time to have on hand. We had six this year: two black, three black gray, and one moorit gray. Most are lamb fleeces---but two are adult ewes and all should be very nice except maybe one. The butcher was a bit "eager" to get it off and may have left it in less than perfect condition. We will see. The tanner takes 4 to 8 weeks to do them before sending them back. It has been 5 now and so they shouldn't be much longer but I don't think they will make this weekend.

No matter that we are low on supplies---the booth is only 25 dollars and we will mingle for the afternoon with people while they watch us spin and also with friends from in town.---generally a good afternoon for everyone.
Maybe we may see some of you there? We will be located near the Coke Ovens with the other crafters. Stop in and say hi if you come.

(NAIS) Causes Cancer?

As I am sure some of you know I have been against NAIS (national animal identification system) since I first heard of it. There are a number of reasons that I have never been for it---personal privacy topping the list. Now, to make me even more convinced that it is a bad idea, here is a new piece of evidence against using micro-chipping in animals or humans. (By the way---if I was forced to chip a breeding ewe she would wear that for about an average of 13 years---how long did the study animals wear their chips?)
Now I have heard of this story in passing previously, but since the "mainstream" media has now picked it up---maybe it will go a bit farther than stories like this normally do.
Also---notice the reference to former head of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson who, in the article is quoted as saying: "I didn't even know VeriChip before I stepped down from the Department of Health and Human Services," he said in a telephone interview." Read the rest and see if you believe that one.
With all the under the table deals (that are pro big business and not really good for the average person) that have occurred during these past two Presidential terms----I am not surprised that Mr Thompson works where he does now nor that he denies ever having met them before. Yeah right.
Good day all---and still hoping for some sort of water from the sky here :-)

Here's the article in the Washington Post titled : Chip Implants Linked to Animal Tumors.
dated September 8th, 2007
Thanks to Todd Lewan for writing the piece.