We’re Pregnant!
April 22nd, 2014 · 2 Comments · Posted in farming
My wife and I are too old to have any more children. But yesterday we had our sheep shorn and discovered that three of our five Friesian ewes are expecting.
With their winter wool coats on, there were no obvious signs of pregnancy. But once all that fleece was clipped away, the swollen bellies and distended udders were unmistakable. Joe, the sheep shearer, said we might expect a delivery as soon as a week or two.
It seems Buddy, the young Romney ram we purchase late last fall, was performing his duties after all. He was pretty stealthy about it. But now we wonder what prevented the other two Ewes from conceiving. As it turns out, the three ladies who are expecting also happen to be the three friendliest of the lot. One of the other two is extremely skittish, and the last one would not win any personality awards. Could disposition possibly have anything to do with it?
I know I should be overjoyed with this news. This is exactly why we brought Buddy onto the property and why we bought the Friesians ewes in the first place. We want to make lambs and raise them for meat. But with the recent attack on our chickens, I’m more worried than ever about the safety of our sheep and their lambs. Recent studies indicate that baby lambs are less likely to contract disease born on pasture. But they are extremely vulnerable to attack by coyotes, foxes or dogs roaming the neighborhood.
The closest thing we have to a barn is the walk-in shelter in our permanent paddock. The paddock is surrounded by “no climb” metal fencing four feet tall. But there are also three long gates accessing the paddock–too many ways for wily predators to sneak in. We’ll have to rig some kind of electric fencing inside the paddock and around the shelter to try to protect our new lambs, for this is precisely the time of year when wild things are giving birth to young of their own and looking for ways to feed them.
More and more I’m thinking we should just bite the bullet and invest in a guard dog. I might be able to sleep a little better at night.
I know it sounds exotic, but you want also want consider a guard llama. There’s been studies that indicate they’re effective against predation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Was388eiNl0
I’ve heard from others that llamas run for the hills at the first sign of trouble. Guard donkeys have a good reputation, but you have to keep these animals fed. I’m more familiar with dogs, so I would probably lean toward a dog.