Heatwave!

It is summer and it is really, really HOT and very, very DRY!

There has been no rain on the farm for a really long time. 

The grass is brown and crackly, the dirt is dry and dusty.

The feed for the animals is quickly disappearing, so too is the water.

Time to sell off some animals. 

Woolworths have taken another load of meat lambs at $4.00 per kilogram. 

 My other pet lamb Racer was on that truck, he made $97.00.

The last of the lambs will go to the sale yards this week. They are either too heavy or too light for Woolworths. 

So we will try our luck in the sale yards.

There are steers fat and ready for sale too. 

When the days are SOOOO hot, Dad and PopPop start work early.

 They mustered the steers early this morning for weighing.

Today it is a little cooler so I am off to help too.

 

All the steers are tagged and weighed. My job is to organise the ear tags.

Some of my pet calves are in this mob.

Curly, Clover and Freckles they have grown up very big. They are not as big as the ones that had their Mums to feed them but they are good. They weigh about 400 kilograms.

 I think they remember me?

A man is coming to the farm this afternoon to check the steers and make sure they are good enough to sell. If they are good they will go on the truck tonight.

More animals will need to leave the farm, as the feed disappears. 

I wonder who will be next?

While it is hot in the middle of the day Dad works in the shed. 

Henry Ford is broken down. His radiator that keeps him cool is leaking.

 Dad has had to pull Henry apart to get him fixed.

I do what I can to help...but it is pretty compilcated!

Henry Ford has alot of work to do soon, he has to help prepare all the paddocks for sowing.

But that will not happen until it rains.....I wonder when that will be.

Time to head back inside for me....too stinking hot! I am going to find a fan!!!!

Shopping List....garlic and lamb.

Saturday afternoon....garlic harvest.

Time to dig,

 clean

 and transport for drying.

 

down to the dark, dark shed for drying. It should be ready in a month.
People are asking for it already at the shop.....it is very popular.

Sunday morning....loading lambs for Woolworths.

These lambs have been sold to Woolworths, for $3.80 per kilo. 
They are leaving the farm today on a big truck. Rocket, my pet lamb is on this truck.
He has grown up as good as all the other lambs.

These lambs will end up in Woolworths shops....
perhaps you will even buy some...
Is lamb on your shopping list today?

Over and Out!

We finally finished shearing last week, a big job over.

Today we finished putting the last of the shorn sheep back in the paddocks.

Some of the sheep had to be reshedded..... because on Friday we had SNOW! 

And it was just a bit chilly without their woolly jackets.

I don't think I would like to stand out in the snow in the nude. It would be a bit nippy!

The weatherman was kind enough to let us know the bad weather was coming. 

He calls it a Sheep Graziers Warning....that tells all the farmers to beware of bad weather ahead.

Farmers can then find better shelter for the animals.

We found only one ewe that had died in the cold so I think we were pretty lucky.

After thinking really hard we decided to sell the smallest of our meat lambs.

It will take us along time to get them ready for sale so they are off to another farm.

$55.00 each,  Dad and Mum are a little disappointed. They will go on the truck tomorrow.

Last year those lambs would have made $80.00.

The rest of the lambs have been shorn and they are enjoying lovely sunny weather and paddocks of clover!

Dad says....."IT IS ALWAYS A BIT OF A GAMBLE" .

Farming is like that, you never know from year to year what the market, the season or the prices will be. 

Leaving Home.

All good things must come to an end!

A sad day today, school holidays are over and my pet lambs have left home to join the REAL sheep!

To make the most of the last day I have been extra busy.

Dad and I mustered up the pet lambs, it was their turn to be shorn. 

Dad shore them for me

He took extra special care and I watched him very closely.

It was my job to prepare the wool.

That involved alot of jumping!!

Beau watched on and had.......

a well deserved rest!

And after a little while they were all done!

I think they feel a bit funny now....they sure do look different.

Then it was all aboard.....

for a ride to a new paddock and some new friends.

Bye, bye babies...I'll miss you...BUT

I will see you again soon!

Swoop...you missed ME!

The holidays have been hectic....

I have spent lots of time helping muster sheep into the yards for shearing.

I love to walk along behind the sheep and help the dogs with their work.

 It is great exercise. And I really love it.

EXCEPT for Mrs Magpie..............., 

Mum says she is an occupational hazard of springtime in the paddocks!

She is just doing her job protecting her babies in a nest nearby. 

But she sure gives me a fright!

Luckily I have discovered a way to scare Mrs Magpie off.....

Today we have been weighing the meat lambs trying to find some ready for sale.

 There are some nearly ready but not quite.

Sadly the prices for the lambs are going DOWN! 

We have to decide whether we will take the money now or wait until the lambs get bigger? 

My job is to operate the pedal that moves the lambs along. 

STOP and GO, STOP and GO! 

Dad says it hard to know what to do....if the price keeps going down....keeping them may be the wrong decision. BUT if the price goes UP....it will be the right decision!

I don't know what I would do.....maybe flip a coin!

We will just have to think about IT! 

Farming is a family business and we all have to help make the decisions!

Cycle of Life!

Just as I grow up and get bigger and stronger, so to do all the babies born on the farm.

The ewes have done all they can for the lambs and their milk is starting to dry up.

The winter feed is short and the lambs need more food to keep growing.

The decision is made.....

It is time for all the lambs to be weaned from the ewes.

Dad says it will be better for both the ewe and the lamb.

The lambs receive a booster needle for diseases and a drench for worms. 

They also get a purple eartag, a bit like an ear ring for sheep!

Checking whether they remembered to clean their teeth this morning!

They will get a fresh pasture paddock to eat and a feeder of grain....
what more would a sheep want!

A CUDDLE FROM ME!

The ewes will return to the paddock and rest. They will be sad for a little while.

BUT they get to have another baby next year.

Meet My Mates!

I love living on the farm. 

There are so many good things about it! Animals, trees, space to run, explore and play!

Most of all I love the babies, and we have so many of them.

 We have lots of farm babies every year, calves and lambs. 

Sadly sometimes the mothers of the babies die, that is part of nature. 

BUT

lucky for some of the babies, I take them home and look after them.

My calves have grown up really big, they do not drink milk anymore  but they sure do like their oats.

I now have 6 pet lambs, they are a real handful. 

Their names are Decker, Racer, Rocket, Coco, Mrs Brown and Squirt. They LOVE their milk!

Mum says she needs to be an octopus to feed them, she just does not have enough hands. They get fed 3 or 4 times a day.

Lucky for her I help out when I come home from school.

Lambing Disasters!

Lambing is nearly finished. Dad and PopPop have certainly had alot of headaches.

It seems the ewes wanted to do nothing but DIE.

In the beginning the ewes had lambing sickness and quite a few died. 

It seemed nothing they did worked. Eventually this problem solved itself and THEN..

WORMS and a bad one, called Barbers Pole...it takes all the blood from the sheep and then they die!

"Its OK girl...we will look after your baby. I am afraid you are too sick and you might die!"

 Only one way to fix it with medicine. 

It is difficult to drench the ewes with medicine while they are still lambing, Dad had to make yards in the paddock so the ewes did not have to walk far and they could get straight back with their lambs.

Maybe the ewes are missing me, last year Mum and I checked them everyday. 

This year I have to be at school. 

Each day when I come home on the bus I wonder whether Dad will have a surprise for me.....a baby lamb?

SO FAR Dad has had 6 surprises for me! 

WOW!

Dinner is Served!

Beautiful autumn weather, cool mornings and warm sunny days!

Perfect weather for lambing. Baby lambs are due to arrive on the 11th of April.

I can't wait!

The ewes are getting bigger and bigger, they need lots of energy now.

Dad is serving them up oats and lime, trying to keep them strong.

 Ready for the arrival of their babies.

in it goes....it looks like they are enjoying the blocks I gave them....

this is where the ewes nibble up the oats....

the ewes can smell the grain...they are waiting patiently.......

sneaking up a little bit closer.....

These ewes are having two lambs, there is very little room left inside their body for food, so the food they eat MUST BE GOOD!

While the grain goes into the feeders I find something fun to do.

ZOOM.....ZOOM in my aeroplane!

Dad is also serving up some food for the nasty foxes...we don't need them around while the ewes are having their babies. No, no, NO!

PopPop's oats is up and away, the seeds have grown very quickly.

It seems the everything is enjoying this beautiful weather.