farm

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Nothing Dramatic

Hannah woke up at 6 this morning… the 1st time since we changed the clocks that she hasn’t slept in.  I got up with her but I really wanted to go out to the barn.  I heard lambs baa-ing over the baby monitor and wanted to see what was happening out there.  I didn’t want to bring Hannah out in pj’s so I waited till Grandma woke up.  Abigail and her lamb were fine, Rosy and her twins were fine.I put Annie in her lambing stall yesterday because I thought she looked ready to go and, sure enough, she  had twin lambs cuddled up to her.  They were mostly dry so I gave all 3 moms some hay and went in the house for breakfast.  I weighed and checked them out afterwards.  The ewe lamb was 9.75 lbs and the ram lamb was 11 lbs.  We already have more ewe lambs than we did last year!

Annie and Twin Lambs

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The Lord Will Provide (a lambing story)

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus tells us not to worry about our lives….that God will provide all we need.  He tells about the birds of the sky.  They don’t plant or harvest, or have barns or storehouses to put away food for winter, yet they have enough food to last until spring.  He also tells us about the lilies of the field.  They can’t work or spin fiber, but God has clothed them in beauty.

In conclusion of this parable, Jesus asks us this: if God care for the birds of the sky and the grass of the field, doesn’t He care for us even more?  “Are you not of more value than they?” (Matt 6:26)

I can’t tell you how much I worry.  Especially this time of year when we’re expecting lambs.  I constantly think about the “What if’s”.  But the Lord will provide.  This is such a certainty that one of the names of the Lord is “The LORD Will Provide”, Jehovah-jireh.  And every time He is faithful, I am in awe.

Yesterday our ewe, Rosy, lambed.  I took Hannah and Noah outside after lunch to tidy-up a bit for the field-trip this afternoon.  We were also waiting for our friends to come over.  I let the girls out of the barn to eat some of the nice green grass that’s now growing.  The new little lamb even came outside for the first time…that’s always a joy to see!

When Jen arrived with her daughters Rosy went into the barn and laid in the stall.  Very unusual – Rosy loves to eat.   Jen and I talked while the kids played together, but I kept an eye on Rosy.  After a little while she began labor and we got her into a lambing stall.  We watched her and soon it was apparent that she needed assistance.  The lambs head was emerging, but no feet were in sight.  I checked things out and found another head and feet but couldn’t find the feet from the 1st lamb.  And I couldn’t push the lamb back in far enough to find them.  In my mind I was flipping through all the birthing diagrams and instructions I’ve studied, but was still perplexed.  I called and left a voicemail for out vet to “Please call ASAP and talk me through this!”

When he called back I had found the legs and was attaching my lambing cord…or trying, at least.  The lamb kept pulling her feet out of my hands!  We delivered her fine and let Rosy clean her up while we waited for #2.  Soon all 4 children were gathered around Jen and were watching with amazement.

The 2nd lamb was delivered quickly but it was much smaller.  It was very still and its nose was cool.  I cleared the nose and rubbed its chest, then tried “swinging” it to clear its lungs.  Still nothing so I tried mouth-to-mouth.  Nothing.  I wrapped him in a towel and moved him aside so Rosy could keep cleaning her little girl.

While we were watching the little lamb try to stand Genna said, “I think she’s having another lamb!”  I told her it was probably just the afterbirth, but when Rosy laid down and started pushing again we all looked at each other!  She was having another lamb!  This one was a normal presentation (head and 2 feet).  Rosy was obviously tired so I helped the lamb out.  This ram lamb was huge!  I wiped his nose and brought him around so Rosy could clean him.

Rosy with twin lambs

The ewe lamb weighed 9.75 lbs, the ram lamb weighed 12.5 lbs and the stillborn lamb weighed 5.5 lbs.

I am so thankful that Jen was here to watch over the kids while I helped Rosy deliver her lambs.  And I’m thankful that Rosy went into labor when I was home.

The Lord will provide.

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Whew!

Last night Dave couldn’t sleep because of his cold so he went in the living room and watched some tv.  Well, at 12:45am he woke me up because one of the ewes went into labor and he could hear her pushing over the baby monitor we keep in the barn.

We got out to the barn pretty quick with my lambing box and discovered it was Abigail who was in labor.  We moved her into a smaller lambing stall (or jug) and persuaded Rosy and Annie to return to their “ladies in waiting” stall.  We got some things together and sat by the straw bales to wait.  Midnight and Tiger were very happy that we finally decided to come join them in sleeping in the barn.  🙂  Not much happened so we decided to go back to sleep for 30-45 minutes and do another check.

At 2:15am, I mean 3:15 daylight savings time, we went out again because we still heard pushing.  I checked and only saw 1 hoof….not good.  I felt around and found the other foot quickly.  It was bent at the “ankle” and corrected easily, but the emerging legs didn’t look like front legs.  I felt around again and found a tail….not good.

The next time Abigail laid down to push, Dave knelt down and held her for me.  I attached my lambing cord to the lamb’s legs and, with each contraction, pulled.  Poor Abigail was a trooper through the delivery.  Dave said she chewed on his jacket when she was pushing.  We had to get that baby out quickly so that it didn’t start to breathe while still in the birth canal.  Pneumonia can develop when fluid gets in the lungs.

We got the lamb out – a ram – and cleared its nose…after a little chest rub he started breathing and shaking his head.  What a big boy!  After mama cleaned him off and he stood up I weighed him… 12lbs!  No wonder he didn’t have a twin!

I finally got back to bed at 4:15 daylight saving time.  What a night to be out in the lambing barn!  And I had to teach Sunday school this morning, too!  Whew!

Noah & Hannah with Abigail and ram lamb

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Philly Cooks! Chef Competition

Philadelphia Magazine’s 10th annual Philly Cooks! Chef Competition is today at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel and we’re rooting for local chef Michael Falcone of Funky Lil’ Kitchen in Pottstown.  He’s using some of our ground lamb to make Lamb Sloppy Joes.  Proceeds from the competition and party benefit the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House.  For more info visit:  www.phillyfunguide.com/event/detail/80957.

Check out Funky Lil’ Kitchen online here:  www.funkylilkitchen.com.

I’ll let you know how he did later!

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O Romeo, Romeo!

We have 2 stray/wild cats that come around for food.  There’s Pumpkin, the large orange tabby and Scaredy-Cat the little grey and white kitty.  Our pet cats, Midnight and Tiger tolerate them…sometimes more than others.  They’ve both been around for 2 winters and this year both have gotten quite trusting.  They now will stay on the deck when we feed them.  Pumpkin would always hang out at a distance from us, but Scaredy-Cat would take off as soon as he saw us, hence the name.  We actually thought Scaredy-Cat was a girl because of his size and the yelling matches he and Pumpkin would have.

Last month we finally realized Scaredy-Cat was a boy when he started woo-ing Midnight (who is fixed and doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on).  Anyway, because of this and his new-found trust in us he’s earned the new name Romeo.  Here’s a nice photo I took yesterday.

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More Snow Pictures

Here are more pictures of our snowy farm!
Why buy an expensive weeping cedar tree when all you need is a good blizzard?!

Hannah and Noah in the snow.  Noah has been having lots of fun.  Hannah, on the other hand, asks to go in the house 5 minutes after we get outside.  She can be bribed to stay outside longer if we go see the animals.

The sheep and goats going up to their pasture.  Dave shoveled paths from the barns to the pasture and to the house.  He also shoveled out a big area for the sheep in their field.

Giant icicles on the front of the house before I knocked them down.

Me holding some of the biggest icicles.

We’re supposed to get more snow today and tonight!  I hope the forecasts that say only 1″-2″ are right.  🙂

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Winter Wonderland

 
Chicken Coops in the Snow

Just in case the snow we got last weekend wasn’t enough we got hit yesterday with a blizzard!  The forecasts predicted we would get 6″-8″ of snow last Friday and Saturday….we got 15″.  Yesterday we got an additional 2 feet of snow dumped on us!  The snow started Tuesday around 7pm and ended around 10pm Wednesday night. 

We tried to keep up with it by plowing every 3 hours or so, but by dinnertime only the lawn tractor could fit down the driveway.  It just wasn’t powerful enough to push the heavy snow back.  This morning after breakfast Dave went out to try to push the snow back.  He ended up just shoveling a large area. 

Dave Shoveling the Patio

Our new neighbor hires someone to plow her drive and they showed up with a Bobcat and a tractor with a front-end loader.  We ended up calling her to ask if they could do our drive, too.  It was just too much!  They did ours and our other neighbor’s drive, too.  The mounds of snow are just amazing.  I’ll post some of those pictures tomorrow.

Noah in the Path to the Front Door

Noah went out with Dave in the afternoon and was upset that there wasn’t a lot to shovel!  That’s all he wants to do right now.  In the summer he’ll want to pretend to mow or weedwack.  🙂  They did sled down the hill in the front yard, or at least they tried to sled.  The snow is so deep that they could only get about 3/4’s of the way down the hill.

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The Ups and Downs of a Farm

This past week was definitely a tough one.  When I went out to give the sheep their afternoon hay on Thursday (1/14) I noticed our wether, Pippin, was having trouble walking.  He’d stumble and have trouble getting back to his feet.  This is the sheep that was attacked by a coyote in April 2008.  I called our vet right away and from my description he concluded that the sheep was probably suffering from severe anemia due to a high barber pole worm load.  Pippin had gotten increasingly flighty after his recovery, and we were unable to catch him in the fall for worming. 

I caught him and wormed him right away and let the other sheep and goats into another pasture so I could hand-feed him and give him some Nutri-Drench.  Friday he was worse but still eating.  When Dave got home from work we put him in a stall in the barn.  He was so unsteady that we had to load him on to our farm wagon and wheel him down to the barn.  By Sunday he couldn’t get up by himself; and he stopped eating on Monday.  I talked to our vet again to see what advice he could give us.  He suggested euthanasia but couldn’t come out until Tuesday morning.  Dave decided he would put Pippin down that night so he wouldn’t have to suffer any longer. 

Tuesday the state vet came out to take samples before we buried him because we’re in a Scrapie Eradication program with the USDA.  At least the past couple weeks have warmed up enough for the ground to thaw a bit!

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Gift of the Old One

I received this poem in an email from one of my sheep groups. It’s beautiful and very touching.

GIFT OF THE OLD ONE

By Eunice Day, Washington ME

The young couple had made their usual hurried, pre-Christmas visit to the little farm where dwelt their elderly parents with their small herd of goats. The farm had been named Lone Pine Farm because of the huge pine which topped the hill behind the farm, and through the years had become a talisman to the old man and his wife, and a landmark in the countryside.

The old folks no longer showed their goats, for the years had taken their toll, but they sold a little milk, and a few kids each year, and the goats were their reason for joy in the morning and contentment at day’s
end.

Crossly, as they prepared to leave, the young couple confronted the old folks. “Why do you not at least dispose of “The Old One”. She is no longer of use to you. It’s been years since you’ve had either kids or milk from her. You should cut corners and save where you can. Why do you keep her anyway?” The old man looked down as his worn boot scuffed at the barn floor and his arm stole defensively about the Old One’s neck as he drew her to him and rubbed her gently behind the ears. He replied softly, “We keep her because of love. Only because of love.”

Baffled and irritated, the young folks wished the old man and his wife a Merry Christmas and headed back toward the city as darkness stole through the valley.

So it was, that because of the leave-taking, no one noticed the insulation smouldering on the frayed wires in the old barn. None saw the first spark fall. None but the “Old One”.

In a matter of minutes, the whole barn was ablaze and the hungry flames were licking at the loft full of hay. With a cry of horror and despair, the old man shouted to his wife to call for help as he raced to the barn to save their beloved goats. But the flames were roaring now, and the blazing heat drove him back. He sank sobbing to the ground, helpless before the fire’s fury.

By the time the fire department arrived, only smoking, glowing ruins were left, and the old man and his wife. They thanked those who had come to their aid, and the old man turned to his wife, resting her white head upon his shoulders as he clumsily dried her tears with a frayed red bandana. Brokenly he whispered, “We have lost much, but God has spared our home on this eve of Christmas. Let us, therefore, climb the hill to the old pine where we have sought comfort in times of despair. We will look
down upon our home and give thanks to God that it has been spared.”

And so, he took her by the hand and helped her up the snowy hill as he brushed aside his own tears with the back of his hand. As they stepped over the little knoll at the crest of the hill, they looked up and gasped in amazement at the incredible beauty before them. Seemingly, every glorious, brilliant star in the heavens was caught up in the glittering, snow-frosted branches of their beloved pine, and it was aglow with heavenly candles. And poised on its top most bough, a crystal crescent moon glistened like spun glass. Never had a mere mortal created a Christmas tree such as this. Suddenly, the old man gave a cry of wonder and incredible joy as he pulled his wife forward. There, beneath the tree, was their Christmas gift.

Bedded down about the “Old One” close to the truck of the tree, was the entire herd, safe. At the first hint of smoke, she had pushed the door ajar with her muzzle and had led the goats through it. Slowly and with great dignity, never looking back, she had led them up the hill, stepping daintily through the snow. The kids were frightened and dashed about. The skittish yearlings looked back at the crackling, hungry flames, and tucked their tails under them as they licked their lips and hopped like rabbits. The milkers pressed uneasily against the “Old One” as she moved calmly up the hill and to safety beneath the pine. And now, she lay among them and gazed at the faces of those she loved. Her body was brittle with years,
but the golden eyes were filled with devotion as she offered her gift – Because of love.

Only Because of love.

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Coyote Alert!!

Yesterday was the first time we’ve seen a coyote around the house. We always knew they were around, especially after we lost a bunch of turkeys and had a sheep get attacked a couple years ago. During the snow storm yesterday around 1pm Dave saw a coyote run across the pasture. He took this picture from Noah’s bedroom window.