Baby Shower for the Girls!

It is that time again.....getting ready for lambing...

All the ewes have been mustered up for their annual appointment with the shearers.

Time to clean up the wool around their faces and a little around their bottom too!

 Down the chute and out into the yards for their next appointment with Dad.

Time for a needle, which will help protect both the ewes and the unborn lamb from bad diseases and.....

Open wide..... some medicine for worms........AAAAAAAHHHH......

 

With all this rain the flies just keep hanging around.....so Dad is spraying the ewes with a special chemical to keep them AWAY!
We do not need to be chasing flies when the ewes are having their babies.

Off they go.....now they need to rest up. In 4 weeks their babies will arrive!

"Walk up Cattle"

Grass everywhere.....we need more cows!

This summer it just keeps raining and growing more grass.

Sheep like their grass short and cattle like their grass long. We move the cows and calves to the the long grass paddocks to try and chew it down.

I hope they are hungry, they have alot of grass to eat!

After moving the cows and calves we discover that the merino lambs are starting to get fly blown.

The chemical that protects them from flies is starting to run out.

Time to ring the shearers.

A big storm came through yesterday afternoon......big thunder and lots of lightning.

 It was really noisy and a little bit scary.

Bad fly weather, flies love it wet and warm.

A beautiful rainbow appeared after the storm.....

Some people say there is a pot of gold where the rainbow ends.
Maybe I should get my shovel and go on a treasure hunt?
Or maybe it would be more fun to slide down.....

I Hear Thunder!

Springtime brings stormy weather, thunder, lightning, wind and rains.

Overnight a storm blew in and we had a good fall of rain. We are very happy to get rain on our farm at this time of year, the grass is still green and the spring will last a little bit longer. Lots of other farmers are not so happy about rain now.....my cousins have all started harvesting thir crops.....and they do not want rain....no, no, no!

Rain can still create headaches on our farm too, stormy weather makes it really steamy and WOW do the blowflies like that. Some of the meat lambs' bottoms have become dirty and a bit smelly. The perfect home for flies! It is really 'gross'! Flies are really cruel if we do not treat these animals the flies would kill them.

'GROSS'!

Another small draft of lambs are ready for sale....the meat lambs have not got as fat as quickly as we would have liked. The meat buyers say they are too woolly now and they need to be shorn....Mum makes a phone call to see if the shearers can come back. More work!

Mum and Dad are disappointed that all the meat lambs need to be shorn, Mum says:

" it takes the icing off the cake"

 I am not sure what she means by that?

The rain has kept Dad in the workshop this morning, he is busy building some new sheep yards. Mum and Beau have been moving some sheep to new paddocks, and checking stock to make sure they are all happy.

Ready, Steady.......Shear......

So the week is underway....

Mum and Dad have finished crutching the last of the ewes. Now all the ewes should have nice clean bottoms. Hopefully there will be no wee stain or poo in the shearing shed.

The stock agent came out on Monday and drafted our meat lambs for the saleyards. He found 115 that are nearly ready BUT not quite.  Another week? The weather has turned very cool and the stock have stopped doing as well on the grass, once it warms up again they will boom along!

Drafting ready for sale lambs

Back to the paddock lambs.......got to get fatter!

Mum and Dad have also sprayed all the merino (wool) lambs with a special chemical to keep the flies away. It is a bit like the spray humans use in the summertime for flies and mosquitoes. It should keep them safe until they are shorn in January. Flies can kill sheep, amazing that a little insect like a fly can be so tough!

Merino lambs can be very diificult to manage, Mum says that applies to ALL young ones, animals and children alike! Once the lambs are one year old they become alot easier to look ater. Like all young ones they need to build up their immunity to worms and diseases.

Now a spot of cleaning in the shearing shed.....

we tidy up all the bits and pieces and give everything a good wash down. It is nice and clean for the staff that come to work. I would not like to work in a dirty, smelly place SO we do our best to provide a clean, safe working place!

You could eat off this floor!

Cleaning up a few odd bits of wool. Mum and I will take this to town tomorrow and sell it.

Catch this Dad....tying on the load

Loaded up!

And there is always time for a bit of FUN! Come on Dad!

Day Spa visit for Lambs

The meat lambs are getting fatter and fatter. They are nearly ready to go to sale. But before they can go, all their bottoms need to be cleaned up. The shearers came and cleaned up all the lambs that are nearly ready for sale. Dad says he hopes all these ones are sold before Christmas The lambs too small for sale have all been shorn, they will grow a bit better without their wool on.

I love working in the shearing shed.



BUT sometimes I get a little tired, lucky there are plenty of warm cosy places to rest!

 

When the weather turns warm flies appear. Flies are a bit of a nusiance on the farm especially when it comes to sheep. Dad gives the meat lambs a shower with some special chemical that will keep the flies away. We really don't want our lambs to get sick or fly blown now they are nearly ready for sale!