We did a lot today, and I’m exhausted, but if I don’t get it out now, it won’t get written, so I’ll write while the tub fills up, and then we’ll go soak away the aches and pains. We do that a lot, lately. That tub almost belongs in our list of handy farm equipment, especially as we age!
The hay feeders we installed along the back walls of the sheds are working out well. There’s far less waste, and we are feeding less, and trying to gauge better how much they actually need. The Icelandics eat a lot more hay than the Shetlands, but it looks like we will need a bale of hay for the lot of them every day, or maybe a little bit more than that.
We are going to try using shredded paper as bedding, but though we have bags ready and waiting, they don’t need it yet, so why waste it.
I’m trying to figure out what the Shetlands like as treats. So far, carrots, onions, grapes and ginger scraps are all a no-show. The Icelandics like it all, the little pigs. I sat in the pen with the Shetlands for a bit today, and Leon and Raven came over to check out the treat bowl, but weren’t really interested in anything. A few of the ewes wandered over, but wouldn’t take anything from me. Leon and I had a heart to heart, and Raven checked me out pretty thoroughly. I wasn’t sure he was completely friendly because he was intensely nudging me there for a bit, but I think I passed the inspection.
We put away the last electric fence, and moved the temp shelter off the septic field, then Frank dropped a big pine tree there. I took some of the branches over to the sheep to see if they’d enjoy it, and it was a hit all around, but especially with the Shetlands. I don’t think it would be quite so effective to lead them around by a pine branch, the way I can lead the Icelandics around with the red scoop of joy. But we stacked up some of the brush instead of chipping it, and I’ll give them some more tomorrow.
We skidded two of the logs over to the mill with the truck, then used the tractor to bring the other to because the lawn was getting so torn up by the dragging. We cut and cut and cut, mostly framing lumber for the last (promise!) sheep shed. We almost finished that tree, but gave it up when it was too dark to run the sawmill safely, when we were on the last log. It’s pretty cool to cut a tree and watch it turn into lumber like that.
