The high temperature today, January 4th, is in the low sixties. Wednesday night the temperature is forecast to be 7 degrees. Such is the joy of an East Tennessee winter. We have been busy this week and weekend. The lower fencing was completed and the cattle moved for the winter. Hogs are going to market this week and so are last winter’s ram lambs. Our replacement pigs are due to be farrowed this week. And the ewes began lambing last Tuesday. That is as neat a cycle as one will experience on a farm. I leave you this week with some random shots of Winged Elm Farm taken today.
Never enough equipment sheds
Plenty of hay this year
Coop Angles
Roof lines
A Dorper ready to lamb
Lounging by the barn door
Twins, born healthy
This ewe had twins, one of which had to be put down
Making honey before the temperature drops
Well-house
Our farmhouse
stonewall and steps
Dry-stack stonewall
The last of the Pomeranians
Sorry to hear you had to put down the one lamb. That sucks.
It looks like the hay rake is on a three-point hitch. That must be fun to hook to the tractor.
Stay warm…
Yep, never easy with any animal. But lambs have to be the toughest (cutest).
Clem, the lamb was born with a spinal issue that prevented its being able to stand up. We gave it three days, then had to let it go. Definitely tough.
Thanks for the detail Cindy. With this knowledge in hand will there be any consideration about future breeding with the ewe or the surviving sibling? I suppose the sire should be scrutinized as well… don’t want to get all sexist here.
Clem, that’s a good question. I tend to think the problem wasn’t genetic, but rather that there was an in utero or birthing injury. Since we don’t know for sure and didn’t have the ewe last year for comparison, we’ll stick with her through another lambing season and see how it goes. Cindy
To perhaps turn toward a more hopeful and happy topic… it is that time of year when the mailbox swells with seed catalogs. Brian made a comment over at Chris’ Small Farm Future blog about raising heirloom corn without contamination from GMO sources. And while its certainly an issue, I want to head off on a tangent and wonder if you’ve run across Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (out of Mineral VA).
There’s been plenty of conversation all over the web concerning Golden Rice (GMO high pro-vitamin A – proVA). There is a non-GMO corn that is very high in proVA. When fed to laying hens the eggs are higher in beta-cryptoxanthin (one of several biochemicals in the pathway to vitamin A).
Literally – food for thought.
Stay warm tonight!
Enjoyed the pictorial tour of the farm — such beautiful sheep! I didn’t see the vegetable garden, though. Hope you all did well through the crazy cold that came through earlier in the week!