Livestock stay in but easy access for people. Love making improvements to our setup.
The red and tan dog here is our main girl Jinx! It's hard to believe she will be 10 next month. This is what Jinx does for fun, she has no desire to chase the toy she just wants to stop the movement of our other dog, Cali...to say she can be intense would be an understatement 😉 Well yesterday was a fairly hot day and she gave us a little scare as she over heated herself and started to show signs of heat stroke. She really wasn't doing too much but being outside with me for a couple of hours and not seeking shade and water like she should have been. Her eyes became dilated and almost crossed, head tilt and she started "high stepping" which indicates she can't see. I rushed her into the house for AC and was preparing to put her in the bath tub but the AC proved enough to bring her back.
I will warn that if your your dog is over heating do not cool them too quickly as it will send them into shock. The bath tub was my choice because I could use warm water on the belly.
The rest of day was trying to keep her quiet and giving some pinches of salt with lots of fresh water. As she gets older we will have to keep a closer eye on her as her self preservation isn't always the best and we add back a water trough to the backyard for her to lay in which is her preferred method of keeping herself cool. #workingkeplies
The horses got a new track system to promote movement because let face it none have missed a meal 😆
Plus the sheep get a private paddock all to themselves #tracksystem #workingkelpie
Poor Jinx trying to help me put the hens back in the barn yard where they belong but this one doesn't like being told what to do 😆 #workingkelpies #bosshens
The sounds of weaning time at the ranch...no one is happy about it, well the ewes will be in a few days when they dry up 😉
Some good news is the weaning weights. The ewe lambs weaned at an average weight of 40 lbs. and the ram lambs weaned at an average of 48 lbs.
Alabama was our Rockstar weaning twin ram lambs at a combined weight of 118 lbs. Cleo and Daisey weaned triplets at a combined weights of 130 lbs and 131 lbs 🤩
Lambs will start leaving to their new homes next weekend 🧡
Butch, the bottle baby, finding the springs in his legs
Ping gave birth to twins girls 🤩
Ivy gave us triplets tonight 🥳 Sig is the father to these 3 beauties.
1st out was a 8 lbs. girl
2nd out was a 6 lbs. boy
3rd out was a 7 lbs. girl
🤯 Momma was packing 21 lbs of lambs in there 😳 thankfully Ivy is a season pro and is a wonderfully attentive mother that is doing an amazing job with keeping track of these 3.
(FYI I was hiding in the hay loft as to not disturb her to get the video so it's not great quality 😊)
We have our first lamb 🥰
She was born this morning at 6 lbs. from Poly and Red Barron.
Unfortunately as cute as her little white socks are she does not meet breed standards so she will not be registered 😔 but she is cute nonetheless.
Love these 2 doggies so much 🥰
Ducks decided not to go to bed tonight so the dogs had to convince them...in the dark...which took me trusting them and they did wonderful. Only a few corrections for over flanking due to wanting to bring the ducks to me versus putting them up in the barn but otherwise they did wonderful. I was happy with how well they worked with each other and then split up at the end to get them in.
I love that our broccoli plants are being so well utilized by the bees and even a few butterflies before winter. I grow broccoli every year but never harvest any probably because we eat a lot of broccoli in the winter so I'm a bit burned out plus the caterpillar love to eat it which keeps them off other plants. So basically I grow broccoli for the pretty flowers and the insects 😁
Part of our breeding goal is a nice calm temperament which this ewe had UNTIL she had a lamb. This is a first for us as we have never seen an ewe that bites 😳 😬 God forgive the predator that walks into the pasture with this ewe because she will certainly fight back. We had to check her eye lids but catching her head without getting bit was a bit of a challenge but we got her and she was very happy to get back with her lamb.
She is for sale if anyone is looking for some coyote protection 😂
The girls, Cali and Jinx, pushing the sheep under the electric fence into their paddock for the day. Cali can get a bit excited and rush in but hopefully with a bit more experience in this scenario she will find her confidence and calmly walk in on the sheep. The 2 sheep at the end were bottle babies raised in the house with the dogs so they have a lack of respect for the dogs which is wear we can see Cali get frustrated. I'm always looking to expose their weaknesses so we can all get better.
Unfortunately Envy is still not fully accepting her one lamb so we have been holding her so the lamb can nurse. We also take her milk and rub it all over both lambs as well as her nose. Last ditch effort is to bring Jinx in to "worry" mom and see if her protective instinct kicks in her motherly instinct for this little one. We are so grateful for Jinx's calm demeanor and her complete understanding of only applying teeth when she needs to protect herself. She never uses bite on lambs. Truly love Jinx and her smarts, a great asset to our ranch! 💖
Just a bit icy this morning. Got a lot of rain yesterday then the temps dropped and froze it. The sheep had some fun trying to get out to graze the field but ultimately they made it without incident.
Got a new toy this weekend. So happy to finally have a scale to weigh the sheep. The boys got to learn about the new scale first. We always run the sheep through new equipment unobstructed before we lock them in it. It helps the stress level. This is an example of their 5th trip through. Next time we stopped each one individually and got their weights.
Sig: 130#
Chance: 105#
Tag 2116 and 2107: 85 and 82#
Tag 2111 and 2110: 65# each
