Just a quick homestead report today. It's business as usual, but managed to get some fun pictures while doing chores yesterday.
I don't know what to call this. A sheepie? A shelfie? A selfeepie? Anyways, it's me and #3 hanging out beside the hay feeder.
#3 was raised on the bottle so she's pretty friendly.
She was over visiting me because I had left the pitchfork leaning against the feeder. Sheep are pretty quick to notice something "new" in their environment.
Their process is pretty simple. It goes like this:
"Oh, a new thing. It has not moved so I am not scared of it."
"I will taste this thing in case it is food, and then I will keep it all to myself."
"Human, the thing was not food. Please give me the food."
That's when we took some sheepelfies.
Another fun thing I observed was an interaction between my two rams, Badger and Booster. They've been enjoying the company of all the ewes for a couple weeks now, breeding any ewes that were missed at the earlier breeding window, as well as the ewe lambs.
Badger is definitely the boss. Rams will develop a pecking order and the top ram gets to do all the breeding he wants. We have a large enough group that Booster still winds up breeding some of the ewes, but Badger doesnt share any of the ladies he wants to himself!
The little black ewe lamb on the right is in heat right now, she acts flirtatiously with the rams and follows them everywhere. Booster, on the left, is coming to give her a little greeting, but Badger, in the middle, is acting like the jocks in the movies.
Ewe lamb: giggles, bats eyelashes
Booster: hey there beauti--
Badger : SCUSE ME THATS MY GIRLFRIEND
Ewe lamb: Oh Badgie! giggle He was just talking.
Booster: Yeah! Just talking.
Badger: I WILL BUST YOUR DAMN FACE IF YOU DON'T TAKE A WALK RIGHT NOW
Booster: Wow jeez ok bye
Badger: YEAH YOU BETTER RUN PANSY see that baby, see how I protected you from that loser
Ewe lamb: ok yes i saw you're so attractive
So, most likely Badger will be the father of this ewe's lambs later this summer. Pretty exciting, right?
I feel like I could probably turn the relationships in my sheep flock into a blockbuster soap opera.
Thanks for dropping by!
I know if we could read chicken minds we would have a great TV drama. It seems to me animal really do have personalites. Thanks for sharing.
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They sure do. Thank you for stopping by!
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For sure! 40+ chickens and every one with their own attitude!
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I love! Oh my gosh, you're so goofy!!
Did you legitimately name a sheep #3??
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Hahaha! I just didn't name her at all, so she goes by her ID number, lol
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depress
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Aw! Well you pick a name for her then. I'll put it down in my record book :D
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How about Baaaa-bra Anne?
Or Lambantha.
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Awe..this was an adorable post and #3 is so dang cute! I like sheepelfies!!
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Thanks deerjay. I haven't decided which one is my favorite term yet XD
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Lol..you're very welcome! xoxo
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That's a conundrum on what to call a sheep selfie. Hmmm. Ha! I adore the little sheep drama going on complete with pictures and dialogue.
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Thanks for dropping in, topkpop :D
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Hahaha This is so awesome, Please make this into a Monday comic
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Hehehe i'll keep it in mind!
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It's funny to see how animals interact. I like how you tell us exactly what they're saying too :)
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Thanks! They all have unique personalities, very fun to observe.
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When can we come visit?
(I'm not joking ... I will help with the sheep!)
This: "Oh, a new thing. It has not moved so I am not scared of it."
... I nearly spewed green tea across my keyboard.
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Haha! Visitors are always welcome :D especially helpful ones!
Sheep psychology is very amusing to observe XD
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Nice sheepelfies!
That there is a very good example of making a great story out of images. It was truly entertaining reading your post!
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Glad I could give you a laugh XD
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That the sheep didn't continue to lick the pitchfork is probably a good sign. It probably means it isn't low on salt. Or else you mostly wear gloves so there isn't enough...
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Probably a combination of both, bex! Too cold to be out there without gloves, and they have a big mineral feeder out in the pasture to get their salt and trace mineral!
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Lol selfeepie love it
Have a great day
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Thanks Jay!
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Give them Love, get aplenty!!! :)
Cute and adorable captures!
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Thanks armitsharma!
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This is wonderful in so many ways, I grew up in a farming background including sheep so have many fond memories of them - although herding and dipping / shearing was as I recall very hard work. Generally they are quite placid, although the Rams can be quite fiercely aggressive. Most of my relatives are still dairy farmers, it always amazes me how they can name every cow on sight! Great content, thank you for bringing back fond memories.
#thealliance
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You're very welcome! I know most of my sheep on sight too at this point, but as the flock gets larger it may be harder to be sure. So many of mine are "just a number" in that they dont have an official name, just an ID tag. So they get called by their number, like #3 here today. Keeping all thise numbers in my head is harder than names i think. However, theres only so many variations of "fluffy" to use for a name XD
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I love them! They are hilarious, and so are you. It's so fun to see your farm--and of course hear what your sheep have to say to each other!
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Thanks Jayna XD its even better watching in person hahaha
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This was incredibly entertaining! and educational!!! We have sheep for the first time and are trying to breed them. They're actually my father-in-law's and he does things much different than we would if they were ours. I don't think he knew what he was in for. What breed of sheep do you have?
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There are do many different production models, so I hear you on the "I'd do it differently" part. Every farmer has to go by what works best for them, I guess!
As for breeds, we have a real mish-mash. They're all wool-growing breeds. Booster is a purebred Romanov, Badger is a mixed-breed mystery (but we suspect strong Icelandic heritage, as well as Cheviot background). The rest of the ewes have various backgrounds as well: Corriedale, Rambouillet, Cheviot, Leiscester, Shetland, Icelandic, Dorset, Rideau, Suffolk.... the list goes on, haha! I have replacement ewe lambs that are fathered by both Booster and Badger here as well.
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Shit. That pretty much sums up my courtship with the wife.
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Lol! So you were a shaggy, horny, attractive jock?? XD hahahaha
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Hahhaa, ok this was really funny. I root for booster.
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Thanks! Booster is my favorite too XD
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I so enjoyed reading this! Love your sheep!
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Thanks Jon!
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Oh we have a BIG lovers tangle going on in the chicken house these days. Daddy roo got run into the corner by his oldest son, then the younger son (that we thought was a hen or he would be in the freezer already!) just decided HE was king of the coop.
Oh, the drama of the chicken ranch!
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Hahaha! Animals can be just as foolish as humans when it comes to matters of the heart... or the reproductive tract XD
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That was pretty good. When does the next act begin? Will the lamb that comes out of black ewe be gray? :)
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Difficult to say! I've had white sheep throw black lambs, i've had black sheep throw white lambs, plus evey combo in between! Spots, grey, patterned faces, its always a surprise XD
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Very cute. Love how you put a story to it. Made me smile.
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Thanks Skye1!
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A selfeepie... That is my pick. :P Omg, I enjoyed the sheep conversation! :D
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Glad you liked it!! They can be so fun to watch XD
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That made me giggle - you did the commentary so well - I lived on large sheep stations for years and watched them do the same stuff - you summed up their actions perfectly :)
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They can say so much without words, can't they? Thanks for your visit :D
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I post some things in Homesteading too if you're interested :)
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That dialog was so funny! loved that.
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sheepelfies - that is just hillarious!
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