Invasion of the little ones.

Indeed they have arrived; all within a two week window. Lisa had her twins and five days later Artemesia had hers; within a day Nez Perce, then Vera Lyn a couple hours after that. I'm sure at this point the ladies are all talking amongst themselves saying "whew - we made it through his rookie year- glad thats over with." And you know what I didn't do so bad.
There were the perfect births, where everything went to plan. Ewe shows signs of early labor and a few hours later she is licking and cleaning and feeding. There were a few that didn't go as smoothly, but that is to be expected. I learned from that and about assisting in deliveries on top of all the other learning experiences like 2am barn checks, getting home from work and heading right into the barn (shirt/tie and all) to look for surprises (aka new lambs). I learned how to tag and dock tails, then I learned how to do it efficiently. I also learned about how amazing a new life is, and to watch it all unfold right before your eyes is an experience I will never take for granted. As I look to finish my first full year as a new shepherd, I am amazed at everything that has come my way, and now lambing is another expreience I can say, yup, done that.

There is quite the variety of lambs running around the paddock now. Out of the 11 lambs, 7 of them are ram lambs. Not exactly your 50/50, but the quality is amazing. It's quite the melting pot of grays, moorits and whites; the color varies quite a bit, even for a smaller flock of 10 errrr I mean 21. The science teacher in me follows the genetics closely. Some matings were easy to predict, a recessive Moorit with a recessive Moorit is going to give me a (you guessed it) recessive Morrit. Other pairings were to maintain the registered Corriedale line where White is the color and larger, taller lambs will prevail. Still a few were going to leave a 25% of something, where going to the barn is like Christmas 'cause I wasn't sure what I was going to get (potentially gray, brown or white, male or female- all from one mating). Still even when I think I have it figured out, there was one real surprise. Alaina is our black ewe, and she was bred to Ahgosa our moorit. The black was something I knew was a possibility; on the other hand, white came out of no where and by white I mean black and white on the same lamb! This is a genetic variance a shepherd doesn't exactly wish for, and it is that of an unexpected "chance" mutation. However, what went from a puzzling disappointment, quickly become a crowd favorite. This black and white little guy has the personality of a charmer and no doubt will become the ambassador of someone's farm. His wool quality is still top notch, and will spin black and white together to create a natural colored tweed and suddenly this odd ball becomes quite unique and desireable. He surely is the first thing people notice when they visit. A farm jester is born.

Some of the other highlights include Rutherford, our new gray ram lamb and Rosalyn our beautiful Morrit ewe lamb seen playing in the hay feeder here, (her twin is Abagail). Then there is Abraham (tallest president) our Corriedale ram lamb who was born weighting 18.5 pounds! That's heavier than the lambs that were already a week old. Despite being the youngest he is already head and shoulders above his peers; he is one big boy. So the first lambing season, and we all lived to tell about it. The chickens had a few births of there own while all this was going on. Not to be out done, the chickens laid and raised their own 7 peepers. Windy Knob eggs continue to sell out every week, the wool was sold out in just a few weeks, and now begins the next stage of developing the Windy Knob Farm label for lambs and breeding stock. Please contact us with any questions, as these lambs will make a great addition of new genetics to your flock, perhaps giving you that natural color that you have been trying to incorporate into your flock, or even if you are looking to start a new flock of your own. Look for more information and details in mid April at http://www.windyknobfarms.com/.

You know what they say about March...

In like a lamb... out like a lion. But seriously, in like a lamb? Is that what that meant all along... lambing season, "that" time of year. How did I become it, before I ever knew it. Is that where the saying comes from?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Windy Knob Farms has reached a milestone - its first lambs. Lisa went into labor late Thursday night, and by 12am Friday the first lamb was born. She went right to work licking and cleaning and drying and checking and licking... I mean I wasn't about to get in her way, the lady knew what she was doing and I was better off just observing and learning myself. But a quick glance revealed that as she was cleaning she had another two little hooves waiting to come out! At that point I needed some sleep before I might as well just curled up next to her or something; so back to the house for an hour I went until my alarm went off (ever set an alarm for 2am? me neither) and with my boots untied, jacket unzipped and hat askew I stumbled back to the barn. Of course she was on her second lamb already and the cleaning was well underway. My first lambing experience - and I might as well stayed in bed. Okay not really, but could have been for all the matter. The ewe had it all under control, she knew what she had to do and delivered two healthy lambs. Women, you all know this already, you're thinking yeah... story of our lives, men only get in the way at this point in delivery. I did wipe off the lambs, weighed them, made sure they were getting milk when nursed, and I sterilized and trimmed their umbilical cords. But make no mistake, Lisa was the hero in this one.

Lisa was important, she was bred to another ram from another farm. I was really hoping for twins, it's like stock in a set of genetics that you won't have access to ever again. When I saw she had twins, it was perfect! Then as they came out I realized I had one ram and one ewe. Even better! Pictured below are the twins. The ewe lamb is in the foreground, while the ram lamb is in the back (also note the cool "racing stripes" on the sides of his face). It's early at this point, but it is looking like they are gray badger face; which means their pattern is variegated, or multi colored. The gray is really unique and a gene that is hard to find and control. And I got twins.

Names? Well lets see, 1001 and 1002. The "10" is for 2010. The 01 and 02, yeah first and second born. Once everyone is born, they will all receive their formal names. Windy Knob will always have a theme, a way to recognize the year that sheep was born (along with the tag number of course). This year's theme is Presidents and First Ladies. My favorite names will be given to the ram and ewes I plan on keeping. Yes some will be for sale for breeding stock, and I will choose according to colors, size and genetics. Some of these sheep are homozygous resistant for codon 271. That's a big deal, it means they are not succeptible to foot rot. Others are at least carriers for the gene. Then you include "moorits" "grays" and the "registered Corriedales" and there is a lot to be found here in adding to or starting one's own dual purpose flock of sheep.

Good ol Nez Perce. Nez quite possibly has the single best fleece in the bunch (she competes with Alaina and Ahgosa for top honors). The crimp, the quality, the luster and the staple length (she is part "bond" - not James, but a special type of Corriedale) all make her the stand out of an already impressive group.

She is also a rookie to lambing so wish her luck. She will be due later this week and she was bred to Dougherty - it's his first lambing too. We shall see how these lambs turn out, but of course I expect nothing short of some serious awesomeness. But really it's her demeanor. There's something about Nez, she is laid back but regal at the same time. She isn't the biggest, she isn't the bossiest and she isn't the loudest of the flock; but she has her way of standing out to me. You take that and the fact that when I looked at Lisa she bah'd at me around 4:30 on Thursday, which then led me to placing her in the stall to prep for lambing which came 8 hours later... I'm beginning to think I speak sheep or something (first sign I need to get away from the farm more). I'm not ready to be labeled as the sheep whisperer or anything but hanging around these guys, it's amazing. I never realized how much personality they have and how I have really picked up on their traits. When I walk my dogs the sheep follow along the fence line and they will call out (wanting food, it's not like they beckon me by name or anything) but really I could pick each noise out and tell you which sheep it was. Months ago, they all sounded the same.

Maybe I am the sheep whisperer.

February... Not Baaa'd

So far the winter hasnt been bad. Or baaaa'd I should say. The weather has been so mild the driveway only needed to be plowed once in the last 8 weeks or so. The sheep, the chickens, the dogs, even the farmer... all get outside from time to time. Although it is strange being in that it is not warm enough for some activities, but also missing the snow for a lot of typical winter activities. Speaking of getting outside, Mary Jo seen to the left, with an amazing sunrise behind her. There have been a lot of amazing skies this winter, be it a sunrise, a sunset, or a full moon. The beauty has been there consistently this winter.

The set up has changed a little bit as I approach lambing season. Of the three stalls, one was left open for the sheep to come and go as they pleased, a place for shelter and a chance for them to get out of the wind. With February and the grain feeding requirements, the Rams had to be separated. They are now isolated to their own 14'x14' stall for a month or so, and now the ewes and drogo are free to come and go from the middle shelter.
This leaves the last and final stall for lambing season. This will be where ewes drop their lambs and then are kept in lambing "jugs" to establish that connection between lamb and ewe. The first ewe due is Lisa and that is coming up in early March.

This is another shot of the amazing sunrises here at Windy Knob Farms. The cooler winter air allows for a wider variety of light colors. The spacing of the molecules, the temperature impact, the angle of the winter sunlight, all plays a part. Its not like there are bad sunrises around here, but lately these winter ones sure seem to take the cake.

Finally, with so much attention on the girls, and lambing season, I didn't want the boys to feel left out. This is Ahgosa (Moorit on the left) and Johnny. They are two of the three rams here at Windy Knob. They are about 3/4 of the way through their year's wool growth. These are the same two rams you can find on our website at www.windyknobfarms.com and you can compare them now to when they were shorn back in May. Soon we will have lambs, but also we will have more of the amazing wool we sell here at Windy Knob Farms. The same wool we sold out of in just three weeks back in the fall. If you are interested in purchasing a raw fleece or other wool products, contact us and we can keep you updated on our mailing list of what is available.

The Final Countdown....cue the music.

The final countdown begins with Monday, February 1st. Its time to once again separate the rams from the ewes, in an effort to get the ladies their added nutrition. Grain is gradually introduced up to a pound a day for each ewe, giving them the protein and nutrients they need to sustain growth for themselves and however many critters they have growing inside of them. They have been on a richer 2nd cutting hay for sometime now, but in this final trimester, the fetus grows 70% more than the other two tri's combined! This makes for a lot of cramped belly space, and the stomach simply cant hold the amount of calories it needs to. The rams are in a stall for the time being, to give the ladies a break from competing with stupid boys for the grain and added food. March 1st will be here before you know it, and Lisa, our veteran, will be delivery Windy Knob's first lamb! Will I name them? Of course. Every year there will be a theme, this years is fitting of course with it being "Presidents and First Ladies."

I have been making an added effort to enjoy the days, and sometimes I forget how beautiful a winter walk can be. One morning I hiked along the bay's shoreline, and was able to watch the sunrise over the ice shelves that continue gain in size with every frigid moment. It was spectacular, and an amazing display of beauty. I won't take it for granted, and I won't forget to take time for myself; to have such appreciation for nature and to take in God's beauty all around me. It's nothing short of a miracle, every sunrise... again, and again and again.

While on that hike, I was able to take a photo that has since caught me to be one of my favorite photos Ive ever taken. Not necessairly cause I think it looks cool (totally subjective) but because of the moment it captured. It was early in the morning, about 7am, and I found these prints in the fresh dusting of snow left from the night before. Now it's pretty windy along the shoreline, however even in this powdery fine snow the prints from a coyote were so perfectly imprinted, I swear if you looked closely you could see the steam from the warmness of his paw pads- the prints were that fresh! To me, its just amazing to be walking these places that you soon begin to feel are more intended for the animals then the humans that "own" it. A rocky shoreline, towering pines, a fresh snowfall, and a coyote out taking a stroll. And I was lucky enough to get a shot of it.

Mid January and counting.

It's mid January, there just isn't a lot going on. I'm busy, but its with the mundane. It's the "get through it" mentality right now. Get through the school days, get through the cold weather, get through the chores. It's tough coming off the holidays and visiting family and having days off... and when your sandwiched between that and sheep vaccinations and as you prep for lambing (6 weeks away at this point) the time just isn't all that exciting. Things are coming along just fine. Sometimes "dull" is good though, I guess.

I did have to change a few jacket sizes the other day. The girls have their wool coming in strong, and of course they are putting on the pounds as their bellies widen. I took a picture to show the contrast between the jacketed wool, and their.. er.. unjacketed. Clean wool sells, that is why I have these sheep wearing jackets, it can add 10-14 dollars per pound of wool. People tend to laugh when I describe that my sheep wear jackets. But you cant argue with this:

The chickens have been the talk of the farm these days. Their egg laying has gone up tremendously, honestly you'd think it was mid summer by their production. The hens are averaging about 4.5 eggs per week- each! There are anywhere between 18-22 eggs every day. Luckily through the winter, when the roadside stand isn't an option, the teachers I work with are buying eggs. I have a waiting list if you can believe that. I sell about 10 dozen a week right now. As I look to the spring, I am going to try and breed my own chickens again this year. Last February was the farms first "birth;" where a Hen raised a

clutch of 4 chickens. Of course my luck I had 3 Roosters and 1 hen. The roosters became a bit much, in fact they started hurting the hens, and scratching up their backs pretty good. Its too tight of a space to have 5 roosters in for the winter. I dont know how you may feel and Im sure some of you may disagree, but it's something that every one should do; prepare your own food. And that is just what I did with 2 of the roosters. It is really eye opening to take a life through the stages from "coop" to the dinner table. Its not something I take for granted, and I was confident that I provided one heck of a life for that rooster for 10 months, compared to what many of us buy in the freezer section of our grocery store. I can't describe it, its not "cool" or "neat," I didn't turn all braveheart or anything with war paint on my face; its just a time to reflect on your food, where it came from and what its' life was like. You gain a true appreciation for everything it takes to get a chicken from birth to table.

January 1st and halfway there!

What? Halfway where? We're halfway there. You know "there." As in lambing date! Yeah happy new year, hope 2010 is everything for you and yours, yada yada; but seriously, I'm thinking March 1st people. And don't worry, I'm taking every day as it comes, enjoying life, and all those bumper stickers. But c'mon, I got pregnant ladies on the farm! In about 9 weeks I will have lambs hitting the ground and its like Christmas all over again with the genetic guessing game and the statisitcs of a Black or Gray ram from the Lisa/Steel combo and the Nez Perce/Doherty pair and... and. sigh. Okay point taken. My therapist was right, I do need to get out more.

None the less, look at their bellies, you can see the round "sag" going. Now I am a rookie, and I could just be overfeeding, but the rams don't have it, and these two are my "veteran" moms (aka weaker abdominal muscles, their bikini days are long gone) and you can derive, like I have, that indeed these ladies are developing a new life within. Fertilization was a success and cells are dividing; the miracle of devlepment is well underway. One cell to two, two to four; eyes, muscles, neurons all developing from the same origin and tissue. Tell me life isn't simply amazing! Or like I said, maybe they are just getting fat.

Lisa and Vera Lyn

But it is the new year people. What are you calling it? Two thousand and ten? Twenty Ten? Is it the start of a new decade or the last year of one? Must be a slow newsday if those are the topics of the day. And isn't it funny how people need substantial bookmarks to turn the page in their life? Odd actually. We need something globally substantial, to "trigger" us to do something for ourselves. Why is that? Can't a sunrise be enough to make you stop in your tracks and start to appreciate what it is you have in life? Or just another day seem a little too blah, driving you to want to accomplish something or set new goals? I dont know, I wish we could all just keep the new years motivation for each and everyday throughout the year. You people all just need a kick in the butt if you need a "1-1-xx" to start resolutions... my new diet starts today and I am getting back in shape; whose with me?

This is Ronin. No segway. No smooth transistions. But just a picture that I adore very much. The break from school has left me home and enjoying what it is I love most. My farm and the animals that make it such. I'm at the transition in my life where I'm torn between social responsibility (aka sanity) and wanting to stay home for the night. I truly enjoy putzing around the farm feeding chickens and sneaking grain to the llama before the sheep can figure out what's going on. I like cross country skiing across the orchard so I can look back at what I have and all that I have done to make it what it is. Then comes Christmas and New Years, where I know I ought to go out and be social with friends and visit family downstate, and yet I dont want to. I want to stay home. New Years isn't about a party, its about knowing you dont have to leave the house the next day cause its a holiday! Now depending on where you're at in life, your reading this saying whats wrong with staying home! You dont have to go out! Do what you want in life, not what people say you are supposed to do! And then there are others of you going is this guy for real? Isn't he barely in his 30s and yet he has become the cooky cat lady or something. I dont know people. But what I know is that Ronin is something special, and if you look at his eyes in this photo, you might catch a glimpse of his "it" factor, and why I have a special bond with him.

And maybe you can't relate to the dog ordeal and staying in on New Years, but you are a naturilist at heart. And you read this 'cause you like the farm life and the essence of nature, and getting back to the roots. If thats you, this is the story you want. Eagles. Bald ones. As in a majestic bird with a four foot plus wing span. A symbol of our country because of its stately manner, flight, power, survival (sorry 'bout the DDT, our bad) and freedom. And when I woke up on Christmas morning, and saw not one, not two but (say it with me) THREE bald eagles soaring outside the window, you can't help but appreciate the majestic and splendor of God's world. Honestly. I wish I could just stop talking and let you experience it for yourself, but this is a blog not youtube. Kinda what I'm here for. So you will have to take it from me, when I describe this man child still waking up, running the length of the house nose pressed against each window as this amazing eagle was flying, no make that soaring along its' way, coming into view and leaving as I ran to each window. Nothing like it. Nothing.

I hope you are able to see through my sinister approach to the new year and through my half hearted attempt to joke about my love and appreciation for life and its miracles. I hope that its a great year for you and I hope you already have a passion within; where a goal and a sense of accomplisment exist all at the same time. And most importantly I hope you realize it. It's all there, realizing it is often my nemesis, could it be all of ours to a degree?

2010, twenty ten as I will be calling it, can be the start or the end for whatever you need it to be. I know I'm excited! More chickens and all the eggs I can sell, a possible SARE grant to be awarded, my first lambing season, and another graduating class of high school seniors being shipped off to the real world prepared to the best of my abilities. And thats just the first half. How can it not be a great year?

Snow......ed in?

So it had seemed like I was asking for it all along. The rain in October, the unseasonably warm November, and as of Thanksgiving... no snow. Weird. For northern Michigan, thats just plain weird. In the past, we had snowfall in October, accumulation in early November and perhaps a snowday (cancelled school) by Turkey day, but this year the weather kept prolonging the inevitable.
But then it hit.

We heard about it for a few days before it actually came. The storm that was tearing it up through the west, overturning the midwest and heading up through the great lakes was all over the news. The farm had about 8 inches of snow fall overnight, add in the strong winds (windy knob... remember?) and it was quite the storm! So much in fact that it shut down schools in the area on Wednesday. There is something about a snow day I tell ya. I swear teachers get more excited for them than the students. Anyway, the snow just dumped.

But that wasn't going to be it. Then the cold kicked in, with windchills well below zero districts cancelled school on Thursday too. And there you have it, the first storm of winter. What's that do to a farm? Well, it makes it darn cold thats what it does. So now the little chores, like carrying hay from the loft down to the stalls becomes numbing. And you consider leaving the gate open and letting the darn sheep just run off into the horizon when they break their feeder that you just made a few weeks ago (I know I know, poor build, not bad sheep). But still. I mean c'mon. How about frozen water pipes? Anyway, thats what the cold does, it brings out all of those little odd jobs that you didn't plan on nor have time for.

Luckily, you adapt. You start realizing you can stack 8 bales, keeping it out of reach of the always hungry llama, and manage to get a weeks worth in there; saving the loft trips for weekends only. The frozen water pipe (which would have been disasterous) was easily fixed by wrapping and insulating heat tape around the spicket. Broken feeder? Bigger screws! That may be a temporary fix, Ill keep you posted. But you learn to roll with it. For someone that had every minute of every day mapped and planned out, thats one thing I've had to learn in raising livestock, you roll with it. Well, you yell and cuss a little bit, then you roll with it.

And while I'm at it, here's a complaint about Drogo the llama. How is it he has managed to train me into feeding him in his private stall, rather than making him eat with the others? Picture this, two feeders, plenty of space for the 11 of them to gather round and eat (7 Ewes, 3 Rams and 1 very overzealous llama); you break up the flakes of hay into the feeders and viola, Ponderosa for animals. No, somehow the llama has "personal space" issues and starts clicking and clacking and rearing his tv entenna size ears in every which direction and the sheep have to back down and get out of his way. Well, one day he was in the stall still (free reign to come and go out of the paddock) so I gave him a flake of hay in the wall feeder in the stall. Aw cute right? Poor little guy. Well it hasnt been but a couple days and now you feed the sheep, and where's the llama? You guessed it, inside the stall, sitting next to the wall feeder. No sign of guilt, no remorse or shame, just those beady eyes like, where's my breakfast? I'm more mad at myself really. How did I get suckered by these animals so quickly?