RSS

Tag Archives: Rambouillet

March lambs, and homecoming cows

Hampshire ewe and lamb

 

It’s March, so it must be lambing season at Powder Flat. We raise our own rams, and have a farm flock of Hampshire and Rambouillets–known as the “early lambers.”

Here’s a look at this busy time. We are glad that our intrepid Peruvian crew is on the job. Several of them just came back from a few months at home.

It’s also time for the cows who have spent the winter in balmy Laramie to come home.

 

Ladies in waiting

Hampshire and Rambouillet ewes

twins!

Tiarnan practicing child labor

whiteface ewe with crossbred lambs

bring in the cows

cows at Powder Flat

lambs, lambs, lambs!

 

 

 
1 Comment

Posted by on March 14, 2022 in Animals, Cattle, Family, Folks, Sheep

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

In Like a Lamb

Hampshire ewe with her triplets

 

 

Baby lambs arrive,
new mamas lick and snuffle.
The season begins.

Hampshire with new twins

Rambouillet mama with baby

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 1, 2022 in Animals, Poetry, Sheep

 

Tags: , , ,

Conversation Between Buck and Rambo

Looking for the ladies

Conversation between Buck and Rambo
or
Breeding season on the Ladder Ranch

There’s a rumor goin’ ‘round, ‘bout some ladies to be found–
the boss is hookin’ up the trailer, gassin’ up the truck
(The trailer lights aren’t working, again, but oh well.)

I’m hopin’ that you’re right, and it seems that time of year—
they’ve been pourin’ out the grain, dashed red powder on our backs,
lots of hay, and we all look fat and ready—well, you know.

 

Last year all the ladies loved my tuxedo vibe.
My black face is debonair, my moves make me look fine.
I jumped out of the trailer, and I think they liked my leap.

Ha—that woolless blackface face can’t compare with wooly charms,
and HOW ABOUT these curly Rambouillet horns. They love those!
I’ll rub them on this hay bale and that will make them shine.

We have to wait all year, just hangin’ with the guys—
they keep us in buck prison, and we KNOW how that can be.
It’s the ladies that we want, with their pretty ewey charms

YES! The boss says time to get to work, but it’s not work at all,
we can whisper those sweet nothings, but you know they’re loved and left.
raisin’ lambs on grassy meadows, while we move back to bachelor digs.

BOTH: Time to get to work!

Which one of these is not like the others?

 

 

Red bucks in the middle

It’s time to get to work!

 
1 Comment

Posted by on December 13, 2020 in Animals, Events, Poetry, Sheep

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Lambs on feed

Hampshire-Rambouillet crossbred lambs

Our lambs are happily ensconced at Harper’s Feedlot near Greeley. They are eating corn and growing every day. Pat, Tiarnan and I went to visit them recently. The weather is warm–too warm for this time of year–so all the lambs on the feedlot are doing really well.

lambs enjoying the sunshine

Tiarnan surveying the lambs

 
2 Comments

Posted by on November 25, 2017 in Animals, Family, Folks, Sheep

 

Tags: , , , ,

Adios, old year

from our Christmas tree

from our Christmas tree

New Year’s Eve morning dawned bright and clear. We had a huge pile of wood to burn from an old building we had taken down. We had livestock to tend, bucks to work, and resolutions to make.

 

Ewes on winter pasture

Ewes on winter pasture

Adopted wild horses eating hay at sheep camp

Adopted wild horses eating hay at sheep camp

Hampshire buck saying "Put me in, Coach!"

Hampshire buck saying “Put me in, Coach!”

Bringing the bucks up the chute

Bringing the bucks up the chute

The All-Girl sheep moving crew--Taylor, Siobhan and Meghan

The All-Girl sheep moving crew–Taylor, Siobhan and Meghan

Meghan and Pat sorting

Meghan and Pat sorting

Rambouillet ram out the cutting gate

Rambouillet ram out the cutting gate

Meghan, Siobhan and Taylor with the bucks

Meghan, Siobhan and Taylor with the bucks

McCoy checking things out

McCoy checking things out

Pat, with his fire-tending assistants--Seamus, McCoy, Tiarnan, Rhen and Maeve

Pat, with his fire-tending assistants–Seamus, McCoy, Tiarnan, Rhen and Maeve

Sharon with the fire-tending crew (McCoy un-photo bombed)

Sharon with the fire-tending crew (McCoy un-photo bombed)

Maeve, Seaus and Meghan

Maeve, Seamus and Meghan

Out with the old, in with the new

Out with the old, in with the new

Horses grazing with the last sunset of 2016

Horses grazing with the last sunset of 2016

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sorting the buck lambs

Purebred Hampshire and Rambouillet sheep, waiting for the sort.

Purebred Hampshire and Rambouillet sheep, ready for the sort.

Much of our lives revolves around reproduction…sometimes encouraging it, sometime avoiding it, but always managing it. Sheep reach sexual maturity at a relatively young age, so in July we must remove the buck lambs, born in March, from their mothers and the ewe herd. The conventional wisdom, at our latitude(about 41) is that ewes can be bred in any month with an “R” in it. It’s a bit more complicated than that, depending on factors such as the breed and nutrition, but we have learned not to overthink it. Suffice it to say that if you don’t want to be lambing at Christmastime or so, it’s a good idea to remove intact buck lambs from their mothers in July. We don’t want to wait until “AuRgust”!

Since we raise our own bucks, and they are getting to be pretty big guys, we put them into the corrals at the Johnson Ranch, where they summer north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The buck lambs who pass the test to be replacement rams are weaned and taken to the Home Ranch, far away, we hope, from any ewes.

 

These guys will miss their moms, but they get to grow up to be Dads.

These guys will miss their moms, but they get to grow up to be dads.

Which one of these is not like the others? Pepe, Adolfo, Apolinario and Max are taking a lunch break.

Which one of these is not like the others? Pepe, Adolfo, Apolinario and Max are taking a lunch break.

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Almost Spring lambs

Pregnant ewes waiting

Pregnant ewes waiting

We have started lambing the purebred ewes at Powder Flat. They are the moms of our future bucks and many replacement ewe lambs, and we lamb them earlier so these lambs will be older when it’s time for them to become working sheep. Our hard-working crew of Peruvian employees are supported by frequent visits from Meghan and her crew.

 

Rambouillet ewe looks after her twins

Rambouillet ewe looks after her twins

Here's looking at ewe.

Here’s looking at ewe.

Tiarnan with a Hampshire lamb

Tiarnan with a Hampshire lamb

Hampshire ewes and lambs hanging out by the heifers

Hampshire ewes and lambs hanging out by the heifers

Tiarnan and Siobhan playing in the corn

Tiarnan and Siobhan playing in the corn

Antonio, Meghan, Siobhan and Oscar

Antonio, Meghan, Siobhan and Oscar

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Siobhan the photographer at Powder Flat

 

Purebred Rambouillet ewe with five--count 'em five!--lambs

Purebred Rambouillet ewe with five–count ’em five!–lambs

We have an amazing birth announcement. The Finn folk may brag about their multiple births, but, for the first time ever (for us, at least), we have a Rambouillet ewe with quints. They are doing well (with some supplemental milk) AND she gave us a 64’s spinning count fleece!

This Hampshire ewe doesn’t want to be outdone, but I suspect only two–maybe three–of those lambs are hers.

Hamp ewe and LOTS of lambs

Hamp ewe and LOTS of lambs

Ewes and lambs enjoying the sunshine

Ewes and lambs enjoying the sunshine

Meghan checking out the new lambs.

Meghan checking out the new lambs.

still some snow on the ground

still some snow on the ground

young bulls at the feeder

young bulls at the feeder

Meghan likewise checks out the bulls

Meghan likewise checks out the bulls

 

 

 

 
2 Comments

Posted by on March 8, 2015 in Animals, Cattle, Family, Folks, Sheep

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

The “no guilt” early shearing

 

Antonio and the unshorn ewes

Antonio and the unshorn ewes

In mid-winter, we shear the ewes that are going to lamb in March. When it goes well, we even shear before lambing starts!  We do this for several reasons. Even though it seems early to shear, all goes better if the wool is off before the first lambs hit the ground. We raise our own bucks, which means that in order for them to be “of age”–at least some of them, by next winter, late winter/early spring is the time to be born. It is important for the ewes to be out of the wool for a couple of reasons. In cold weather, if the ewe is not cold, it doesn’t occur to her that her lambs might be cold and she should seek shelter. And when those lambs are looking for nourishment, it is helpful if tags of wool are not hanging down in strategic locations. Anyway, thanks to Cliff and Donna of Hoopes Shearing, we have spent two days shearing the early lambing ewes and the mature bucks. What did the bucks do wrong, you might ask? Well, then we don’t have to figure out how to get them staged for the main shearing in April (April, right Cliff and Donna?).

Often, well actually, always except for this year, it is pretty cold in mid-February and we feel guilty removing wool coats from the sheep while we are all wooled up in sweaters and long underwear. I don’t know if we have weather or climate change to thank, or blame, but this week, we had ideal shearing weather–not too cold, not too warm–Goldilocks Weather.

We do have a few lambs on the ground, due to errant buck lambs–born last March–you get the picture.

Sorry, but it was too dark in the shed to get shearing shots!

unshorn ewes, Brittany, Gyp, Antonio, shorn ewes--in that order

unshorn ewes, Brittany, Gyp, Antonio, shorn ewes–in that order

free at last!

free at last!

 

 

Rambouillet ewes, after the blade

Rambouillet ewes, after the blade

Sharon, working the pink chute

Sharon, working the pink chute

Donna loading fleeces into the brand new packer

Donna loading fleeces into the brand new packer

 

which has a few glitches...Antonio and Oscar pushing out the first bales

which has a few glitches…Antonio and Oscar pushing out the first bales

Justin, who keep the wool packer working!

 

 

 

 

 

Maeve and Seamus checking out the new bales

Maeve and Seamus checking out the new bales

Siobhan trying to push her siblings off the wool bale

Siobhan trying to push her siblings off the wool bale

Seamus and Maeve dueling with livestock working sticks

Seamus and Maeve dueling with livestock working sticks

brands of growers on the side of the purple Hoopes Shed (with lime green accents and the pink chute)

brands of growers on the side of the purple Hoopes Shed (with lime green accents and the pink chute)

Pat through the chute

Pat through the chute

ewe, ready to lamb

ewe, ready to lamb

before

before

during

during

shorn Rambouillet bucks

after

No

N

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,