She would bash me for this shot! Not long Daisy Girl.
My two big fat pregnant cows.
March is breathing down my neck and since it does not look like Sheila is going to respond to the hormone treatment. She has been keeping herself busy cleaning out the pens. One of her jobs is to keep the straw turned over and aired. We have to get ready for calves. Usually it is a lot warmer in March.
But this year it is going to be very cold for the calving. So Sheila and the chooks are busy getting the pens roughed up, so I can clean them out in preparation for indoor calving (3 down 2 to go) . I just throw some candy corn around and Sheila and the chickens rough everything up then John and I come in with forks and tractors and scoop it all out. I must take a shot of the compost heaps for you. They are mammoth. Excellent.
I am a bit worried about Mama. She eats a little then stands back. I moved the sheep across to the Salad Bar Paddock (part of getting the barn ready for calves) and she was so slow. 
I have given her a drench. And now they are in a nice sunny field with shelter in the RatHouse. But she worries me. We love Mama.
Good morning. Minty and Tilly are in fine fettle though. Which is good as it looks like we are still below freezing for at least another couple of weeks. God help us.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
51 responses to “If Daisy had a Stick and a Thumb”
I’d love to see a picture of the manure heap, not sure what that says about me though:)
I put one on my blog on Saturday – http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2014/02/22/6-word-saturday-73/ – and now we’re waiting for the farmer to come back and spread it about before planting the maize. I think we may go out that day!
Wonderful that they are spreading it on the fields, is it from a pig farm? that will be a bit smelly!.. c
I agree with Claire – I’d like to see the compost too 😉
Who would have thought that pigs would loose all interest in sex so early on!
Ah well.. I am learning so much so fast, but often i am just on the wrong side of the ball, but as i said to john I need to get another sow so as not to waste all this knowledge.. c
How old is Mama? Not sure of the life span of sheep, but maybe she is going through her golden years and just slowing down like the rest of us?
I really hope the weather takes a turn for the better before the calves are born. Even if only for a couple of weeks to see them up and on their feet. This winter has been hard all round. Was talking to my Pork farmer this weekend and she lost three litters of piglets due to the frigid cold. She said they choose the coldest time to produce and there was just no way they could keep them warm enough in their big barn. Such a shame, not only for the loss of life but this is the livelihood of my farmer and will mean a slow start to the year for them.
How sad. yes i am hearing this a lot. She must have been devestated. If i do go more seriously into the pigs I am going to build them a warm room, I will only be doing one litter at a time but it seems you have to keep them going or like Sheila they just stop.. sigh.. c
“Fine fettle.” I am unfamiliar with the word “fettle,” but like the sound of those two words together rolling off my tongue.
fettle
noun
.
condition.
“Marguerite was in fine fettle”
synonyms: shape, trim, fitness, physical fitness, health, state of health; More
verb
verb: fettle; 3rd person present: fettles; past tense: fettled; past participle: fettled; gerund or present participle: fettling
1.
trim or clean the rough edges of (a metal casting or a piece of pottery) before firing.
N. ENGLISH
make or repair (something).
Origin
late Middle English (as a verb in the general sense ‘get ready, prepare’, specifically ‘prepare oneself for battle, gird up’): from dialect fettle ‘strip of material, girdle’, from Old English fetel, of Germanic origin; related to German Fessel ‘chain, band’.
There you go – a useful word!
Compost heaps are nice and warm. Shame you can’t channel that heat into the animals’ accommodation somehow, rather like a Roman hypocaust, so they could reap the benefit of all that poo. Perhaps Sheila is doomed to be the Eccentric Aunt, the kind that had a very short haircut and comfy shoes and lots of tweed. She doesn’t seem to have been allured by all those lovely hormones or Eau de Boar….
I have a friend (Maggie) who heats her tunnel house with compost! Though at this time of year the whole pile is frozen solid.. c
Brilliant!
In the first house I owned there was a huge quarter horse ranch just down the road. I laughed every time I drove by. Their horses sold for thousands and every spring all the sweet little foals would be laying flat out all over the manure pile. Nice and toasty, that.
fantastic!! c
I have been gone and was so very sad to read about Meadow and her little babe. But Marcel made me smile. I dreamed last night that Daisy had a girl and all went well. Too cold here too especially after a sojourn in the tropics. Sending warm and healthy energy your way, miss c. It was charming to meet you in my dreams.
What an extraordinary thing. To have Daisy and her calf in your dreams. Well i do hope that your dream comes true! I really do.. c
Yes, how old is Mama? I’m sure you will mix up some wonder concoction to give her a little Vim and Vigor. Happy Tuesday…. The days are getting longer, but sadly my work days are too… Oh the life of working in IT…. HURRY HURRY HURRY -> WAIT…. kind of like Nascar, but not as much fun.
no-one is terribly sure how old Mama is but I would say she is 6 maybe 7. They all needs warm sun, all my animals need warm sun.. so do i actually..c
Wish I could send you a pocket of it…. Today – we have rain that will turn to sleet tonight. Texas – if you don’t like the weather – wait an hour and it will change. ;(
I think some warm breezes and the good doctor green of fresh grass will do wonders for all the grazers. So much energy expended just to stay warm has to be terribly wearing on the body. We’re predicted to hit -20 again Friday night, will have to beef up all the bedding again. Hopefully this will break soon and be just what the doctor ordered for Mama and all the rest. So, so tired of this winter……
Oh, a giant compost heap! How wonderful is that!!! What we would give for a huge heap or two! It has warmed up a bit here and we spent yesterday in the garden. My John turned our compost heap while I collected pig poop to go in it! I read that the best compost heaps have at least 1/3 part manure. The compost becomes our soil as we have so little real soil here. We have to grow/make it!
John keeps the pig poo heap seperate as it takes a bit longer to break down. You need a cow, cows are fantastic garden fertilisers! c
Good luck and bon courage to Daisy and Queenie. I hope it all goes well.
Love,
ViV
The on going cold must be a worry for you, maybe spring will come on quicker than you think…
Maybe Mama needs some sort of pickme-up….she may be getting on a bit and so is liking to lead a slower kind of life, much like me……I can.t be bothered to rush around either.
A big pile of poo…that will be a treat…
Mama does not look as though she feels well in that picture. Do sheep get displaced abomasums (twisted stomachs)? Your feeding program seems to be structured to minimized the possibility with lots of hay and smaller grain amounts But Mama had so many lambs packed in her and was sick after her loss of her lambs. In cows it often shows up within the 1st month after calving when there is empty space left by the delivery of the calf and their diet is lacking in fiber or not enough water consumption immediately following calving. Fat cows have a greater instance of it as well, as do cows that go off feed after calving. I don’t know if this translates into the same circumstances for sheep. Is she passing poop in normal amounts? Is it runny? I know it would be hard to tell especially since she is with the other sheep. A vet can tell by thumping on a cow’s rib cage for a certain sound in specific spots and listening to their digestive system gurgles. There are simple fixes if the twist is not severe and in the right spot. Severe twists usually require surgery which seems to be only moderately successful in my experience with cows, sheep may be different. It might be that she has another infection from losing her lambs. She would probably be running a fever in that case. Sometimes uterine infections can really hang on despite antibiotic treatment. Best thoughts for Mama and you.
I don’t think it is serious. She is just old and tired. She is eating well and has normal poop etc. She prefers to be fed away from the young ones, and will go and stand somewhere else for her special delivery. She does have very good hay, and very little grain. I think like most of us she is ready for some green feed. Usually by now they have been in the field for a few weeks at least. But yes I shall watch out for any other symptoms. c
Well that is a relief. Maybe since she is older her teeth are wearing down and she prefers to have time to eat her food alone. That way she doesn’t have to fend off the girls from her meal. Maybe she is just cold standing there waiting for her hay delivery. I like her shadow on the barn. Kind of like the silhouettes that are often done of children.
Celi, are you giving your ewes (and Marcel) free choice mineral sheep salt?
yes, absolutely, plus their mineral block.. c
Daisy doesn’t need a thumb or stick …. she has that verrryy large head that she could just swing like a bat 🙂 That calf looks like it is only comfortable when it is lieing with its legs out at full stretch – poor Daisy. Maybe Sheila is waiting to see if the warmth is ever going to return. She will soon feel left out when everybody else is nursing a cute baby or two. 🙂 Laura
Daisy does look rather annoyed with you. My Mom took us to the Canadian National Exhibition enemy I was around 8 or 9 and there we saw an actual birth if a calf; it made me want to barf back then, but what an incredible thing for a little one to witness.
Ceclia, I’ve been following your winter woes, and I’m sorry about Meadow but overjoyed with Marcel’s progress. Since you’ve begun planning for spring planting, I have a suggestion — a dyer’s garden. Then in addition to the lavender for soap, you can dye all that wool naturally. Look for A Dyer’s Garden by Rita Buchanan, a very good book on choosing, growing and harvesting natural dye plants. Not that you don’t have enough on your plate …
Oh Susan, what a wonderful suggestion. I shall look into that. I used to know a wonderful old lady who had a dyers garden at the beach in NZ and I had completely forgotton about her. thank you.. c
You’re welcome! You’ll probably find that some native plants, which in other times were called weeds, will produce the best dye.