The recent rain has been great!
Our lambs are growing well, including four late surprises born this month. We thought lambing was finished weeks ago. The sheep are enjoying the very diverse pasture that the wet winter and spring have produced. Sheep love grazing forbs (woody-stemmed weeds) and are thriving on plants that the cattle would not be excited about.
Our Christmas Hams are now ready to order. More info is on this page of our website.
We did our annual lamb ear tagging and sheep count this week and we were pleased to discover we had a lot more 2021 lambs than we thought, and a total flock of 162. This means that we should be able to supply our customers next year without buying any more sheep, and have a surplus of lamb the following year. At the end of the drought in January last year we were down to about 30 ewes, it is very pleasing to be in the position we are now with our flock.
Sheep ear tags are applied on a ten year colour rotation. 2021s colour is yellow. We apply them to the left ear of females and the right ear of males, so that a quick glance can tell us the age and sex of any animal in the flock. Jethro was very involved and helpful as we counted our way through all 162 animals while Fiona kept a tally of their various ages.
The one job on the farm where Wilbur and Smithy, our Smithfield Collies, are actually almost helpful is in herding the sheep. They have a good feel for gently handling sheep, while the size of cattle seems to intimidate them into overly assertive herding. They enjoyed a well-earned rest in the shade after the sheep were yarded, while the humans had to keep working in the sun. Note to us – plant shade trees around the sheep yards.
Our carpark paddock was looking pretty flash for a few hours last week when we hosted the Jaguar Drivers’ Club for a hayride farm tour. They seemed happy to switch to a slightly less sporty ride and were regaled with regenerative farming philosophy by Rohan and stories by Jethro while Eden ran about taking pictures. They must have thought each lot of animals we visited were very friendly. Most natural when the wagon seats were bales of fresh lucerne hay. Fiona served up her cooked-to-perfection camp oven damper and billy tea to send our lovely visitors off satisfied in brain and belly. Thanks to Auntie Rosie and Uncle Cameron who were the cavalry, arriving in time to help us get everything ready.
Lots of campers each week. We very much enjoy hosting our campers.
We love the way cows appoint a creche cow or two each day who look after all the calves while their Mums go off to relax and graze. We’re not sure how they organise the roster, but it’s a nice thing. Edgar the bull’s calf tally is up to nine red heifers and two black bulls. We are expecting two more red calves to finish the calving, will they be heifers too?
Thanks heaps for taking the time out to read this blog post 🙂
Not long now till Christmas. We hope your end-of-year is going very well.
From your family-friendly farmers,
Rohan, Fiona, Eden & Jethro<