Lemmons Meadow.
It’s been a weird winter so far. We’ve had lots of snow, lots of thawing, and a lot of bare ground for February. The critters are glad for the warmer temperatures.
cows with puddles
Bucks in the Mouse Pasture
horses in the Wyoming Field
Casey training horses
Shearing shed in the fog
The time has come to shear the early lambers. We raise our own bucks out of our purebred Hampshire and Rambouillet ewes. These girls lamb in late February and March, so we like to get their wool off before lambing is well underway. Of course, we have some babies on the ground already.
The shearing crew showed up right on time–well maybe a couple of days late due to weather, but that is actually on time. We had to haul the shed into the Powder Flat Headquarters with a tractor due to mud. We managed to get a half day in, and shear most of the whitefaces. We were ready to start bright and early the next morning, but…fog, in February. This meant that the ewes in the wool were, not exactly wet, since it was 17 degrees, but frosted. We knew that with some sun, and maybe a breeze, they would be dry enough, after lunch, to start shearing. But no. The fog didn’t burn off until afternoon, and the air was absolutely still. Finally Meghan said, “I’m calling it. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
Ewes coming in for feed
ewes on the run
bringing in the sheep
Catching a ewe who has just lambed
Frost on the wool hanging from the fence
Heifers with more frost
This bull is glad he doesn’t need to be sheared.
In the meantime, the bulls came in for water.
McCoy waiting to fly
Eamon is working on his pilot’s license, so he decided to combine business with education. Eamon, Pat, McCoy and Eamon’s flight instructor, Ryan, flew to Texas to shop for bulls and to Nebraska to check on our heifers that are wintering there.
Our new bull–unfortunately, they couldn’t hook a stock trailer onto the airplane.
McCoy checking out the bulls
Heifers on cornstalks
Heifers on feed in Nebraska
McCoy, Eamon and Pat with the heifers
Home Ranch from the air
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| Martha Kennedy on Sandman Mountain |
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| Martha Kennedy on Loading the 2023 Wool Clip |
Ladder Ranch