Adventures of a Stay at Home Mom, Shearing Sheep

I believe a good education is extremely important in my children's life! And I do everything I can to support that, but sometimes an education is not traditional at our house. Every once in a while (usually when Grandpa needs help at the ranch with big jobs, such as branding, docking, shearing, etc) I allow the kids to skip school for a farm education! We live on a small farm and it's a wonderful way for my kids to grow up, but I also like to allow them to have experiences on a larger scale farm/ranch, like my dad's. We took one of these "non-traditional learning experiences" this past Friday. Grandpa brought the first herd of ewes home from the desert winter range to be sheared before they start lambing. Unfortunately the "before they start lambing" turned into shearing while they were lambing. The shearing crew was delayed by rain and was about a week late getting to us, so we had ewes starting to lamb before they were sheared. This may not sound like a big deal, but let me assure you...it's better to get them sheared before they start lambing! It makes the whole job slower and more work, but you can't change what Mother Nature throws at you, so you just roll with it. (A good life lesson!)

The kids working the chutes for grandpa.

We had 862 pregnant ewes (and some already with lambs on the ground) to run through the chute to be sheared. We had a skeleton crew of a sheep herder, my dad's good friend, myself and my kiddos. Dad was busy tending to the lambing so we tried to keep things moving through the chute! (so he could keep an eye on the lambing situation) The kids learned how to herd, but not crowd the ewes, how to get them moving, but not spook them into a craze, how to manage what needs to be done next to keep things moving (great managerial skills!), how to recognize a problem or something that doesn't look right (like a ewe about to have a lamb that needs to be put in another pen for some private time, how to listen and follow instructions, patience, self confidence, leadership, hard work, and working together as a family. These are lessons that are taught very easily in a farm/ranch setting. And just being outside, free to explore and play is a fringe benefit! I remember how much fun I used to have as a child in the same lambing sheds, playing in the chutes, chasing each other around, playing games and enjoying life! I'm grateful that I can extend these same adventures to my kids.

Here's one little group of babies waiting on their momma's to be sheared.

We all learned a little patience as we got to the end and had about 45 ewes that had lambs to run through. We could only take about 10 at a time, take the babies away and put them in a pen close by(which means picking up each lamb by hand and transporting them, so they didn't get trampled. Put the ewes through the chute and shearing trailers, and back out to be reunited with their babes, before we could run any others through, so to make sure all the babies got back with the right mommas. Sometimes they get confused and "adopt" someone elses baby or reject their own in this scenario, so we had to do our best to make it as less traumatic for everyone as possible. It's a slow process, and much better to shear without lambs.



The kids playing a game in the back alley.

I learned that I can still hop a lambing chute fence about a hundred times in a day and take a pretty good hit from a couple hundred pound ewe! We had a ewe get down on the ground and cast herself up against the fence (it's hard to get up when you are on your back and super preggo! Kind of like a turtle on her back!!) so I went over to give her a hand. I leaned over to get her up and just then the trusty Border Collie Dog spooked another ewe and she took me out like a NFL line backer sacks a QB! She actually took two of us down in one smack, as Bob, (dad's friend) was behind me! We were both OK, nothing a little Ibuprofen and hot bubbly bath didn't fix!! Farming/Ranching is not for Sissies I tell ya!!

I remember the first time I had one of these experiences as a kid. I was helping dad give scour medication to a sick calf. His momma didn't appreciate the kind gesture we were offering her baby. As dad held the calf and kept the tube in him, I was in charge of pouring the medication into the syringe that went into the tube. I looked up just in time to see his momma with nostrils flared, coming right at me! I learned I could run and hop a fence like no body's business!! (I think that helped my track and field career later in life, LOL!) Even though some experiences can be difficult or sometimes scary, you can learn confidence and how to face and conquer your fears! (I still haven't conquered my fear of Rattlesnakes...probably never will on that one! Thank goodness I didn't have any run ins with any of those this time!!)

The kids had a great time at the ranch and they were a lot of help!! They enjoyed sluffing school for a farm education!  It's always good to spend time with my dad, even if it's just working. So grateful for my family heritage of farming and ranching and that I can share that with my kiddos too.

Until next time, Hug a Farmer, Thank a Rancher!!

Kacey









Adventures of a Stay at Home Mom, Raising Bummer Lambs, End of Season

It's been a while since I posted anything about my little crop of lambs. And tomorrow is auction day so I will be bidding farewell to my 2013 bummers. It's always a bitter-sweet experience for me! I spend so much time on/with them that when they are gone it feels like something is missing, yet I don't have to chase them anymore! I was beginning to refer to myself as "Little Bo Peep" this summer because it always seemed like I was loosing my sheep! My gracious neighbor lets me feed off his 4th crop of hay and that really helps me get my lambs up to goal weight without buying expensive feed. But the fences are not great for sheep so it seems I am always chasing them back where they are supposed to be! You've heard "the grass is always greener on the other side?!" Well that is certainly true for a sheep! Even when their pasture is greener and has more feed, if they can...they will! Let's just say I have gotten my exercise this summer herding them back in. There is a reason big herds have a full time sheep herder. Otherwise they would disappear!!

I have a few reasons for raising these lambs, first is that it gives my children good agricultural experiences. The next is that it makes this stay at home mommy some money. Tomorrow is my long awaited pay day! I may not have put a lot of money into this investment, but I've sure put my time, energy and sacrifice. And the last is I'm just crazy and I guess that it's in my blood! I love sheep and the ag heritage which is mine.

Here is a re-cap of this year's orphan lamb raising experience:

A ride home from the ranch in the "lambulance" (otherwise known as the "nice truck")

This is the most crucial and time consuming period, getting them all to drink from the bottle and want to live. Yes..this is also my garage! I set up temporary pallet cubies in here so they stay warm and are close for those late night feedings.

My kiddos love to help with the bottle feedings. And it's so good for them to learn responsibility because if you miss or forget just one feeding on these babies, they will not survive!

Nice Nipples!! Me just being silly!

Come on baby you can do it! Take a drink!

Oh happy day! First day out in the pasture!

Good thing I'm not claustrophobic! Oh wait...I am! AHHH!! You guys are freaking me out man!!

Come follow me. It's getting chilly outside. Going back into their barn (aka my garage) for the night.

Time to put weight on in the alfalfa pasture.

Little Stinkers, escaped again! But it gives the kids good herding experience and gives them some more responsibility. There were days I needed to do something else, but I could give my 8 year old the charge of keeping track of the sheep. Many times she got them back in without my help.

And they are back where they started! Off to the auction tomorrow.

We Are Learning To Smile Through The Tears, Life Lessons Learned on a Sheep Ranch

I mentioned in a previous post a while back that I felt lucky to have made it through our
County Fair this year. Truth be told there were some hard and disappointing moments. Today I thought I'd share this experience with you. I strongly believe that one of the best ways to teach my children the lessons of life and the character traits needed, is through farming and ranching experiences and participation in the 4-H program. I like to give my children as many of these experiences as I can to help them become the people I know they can be. Our family has been in the sheep industry for decades. My dad still operates a large sheep operation in Sanpete County which my Grandpa operated before him. So sheep have been in our lives forever. I decided to give my girls a more individual experience with sheep this year. Since their birth they have been involved with helping me feed and care for our bummer (orphaned) lambs every year, but they have never experienced the show before. I asked them if they wanted to show some lambs this summer. They said "yes, we do!" So Grandpa Joe bought some fancy show lambs in the Spring and we got started feeding and leading!

Practice!

We practiced leading, setting up, showing almost every day this summer. It took a lot of our time and energy. There were many times when the girls complained and asked "are we done yet?" There were tears shed at first especially from my youngest, who by nature is very timid, shy, doesn't like attention, and is not by nature "tough." Which is one of the reasons I wanted her to have this experience. I was extremely understanding at first of her fear. The lamb was wild. He was bigger than her. And I was kind and patient in my ways of helping her to overcome her fears. It was inevitable that she would cry at some point in our practice every time. And that was okay. Our goal was to make these crying sessions and dramatic moments happen less often. My oldest just went about her work without the tears and drama of the younger. Which is just the way they are, very opposite of each other and that's great! We practiced, practiced and practiced. The show was upon us. As my littlest girl weighing 38 pounds led her 155 pound lamb to the show tent she was ready! That is, until she saw all the people sitting in the stands!! When she entered the ring she was paralyzed with fear. She can be so shy at times and this was one of those times. I told her it would be okay and that I would be there. I stood in the corner of the ring where she could see me and an older more experienced girl walked with her as she showed her lamb in the Market Class. I was able to snap a picture of her as she entered the ring that day. It is priceless to me. She has tears in her eyes, but she manages a smile and continued on with what she started. When she exited the ring with her blue ribbon there was a bigger smile on her face! She had been rewarded for her hard work. That was the last class for her that day. But I wanted to get one more practice session in, in the show ring before the Showmanship Class that was to be the next day, thinking that it would give her more confidence if she was more comfortable working in the ring. Both girls performed perfectly. Even the littlest was able to do everything all by herself without tears and I felt confident in her abilities to compete the next day. In the morning we practiced one more time. This practice session went quite different than the night before to my dismay! The tears and "I can't do it's" came back and I was wishing I hadn't suggested another practice at all! Grandpa walked up and asked me if I was being a little hard on her. I would have agreed with him if this was her first experience, but I have seen her do it and knew she could do it. Yes, I was not as patient as I was in our first encounters.  Yes, I was "pushing" her a little. Not to be perfect, not to do that which she was unable, but to help her understand that she knows what to do and to help her to find the confidence that she could do it! I'm happy to announce that after the breakdown in the parking lot, she went in there and showed her lamb to the best of her ability and without any tears. I was super proud of her because I know it was hard for her. Another blue ribbon was won and she was pleased. When it was all over she asked me "Mom, why did you want me to do this?" Very profound question and I'm glad that she asked me. I explained to her that I want to give her experiences in her life that will help to build her up. I wanted her to see that she could do hard things. I wanted to give her opportunities to be in front of people and help overcome her shyness. I wanted to give her an experience that would teach her that she can be tougher than she thinks she can. I think she understood. I asked her if she thought she wanted to do it again next year. She said, "I'm not sure yet." That's fair, I can go with that. I like to give my kids experiences and opportunities, but would never make them do things they didn't enjoy. But I will however help and encourage them to finish what they start as we did with our show lambs this year. I have a deep respect for the farmers and ranchers of our country. They sacrifice much to bring good, safe food to the tables of America. And I will continue to use the farm and ranch opportunities and experiences to teach my kids about hard work, sacrifice, determination, perseverance, animal husbandry, self confidence, grit, respect, delayed gratification and many other qualities that I feel are important. Even though I know it was hard and she had to stretch and grow a lot, I am so proud of her and what she was able to do. I hope that she always remembers the day she overcame her fears and emerged triumphant!

We will keep building character, doing our best here on "Patch-A-Heaven" and we hope you have a great day!! And don't forget to thank a farmer/rancher!!

Here are a few pics from our sheep show:

Pretty proud of herself! Makes my heart smile!

The blue ribbon cuties!

Waiting to go in the ring.

What do I do for exercise you ask? Well there's this new craze in workouts, it's called lamb walking!