Happy Sheep on Grass

Today is the first day that we turn the sheep out onto fresh green grass.  It is exciting for everyone involved.  During lambing season we keep the sheep and their babies close to the barn.  They have a pasture that is connected to the barn and they can go in and out freely for shelter. I like to keep a close eye on them when the babies are so small and I am still worried about predators.   As soon as a single blade of green shows up in this pasture it is gone. 

 
The sheep and their babies get lots of fresh water and hay and the ewes and babies are still getting a bit of grain with mineral and selenium.

We set up our pasture on the grass with portable electric fence.  It looks pretty tame but everyone learns to respect its electric shock quickly.  My dogs have been known to touch it and go running and moaning as far away as possible.  Cora runs down to the beach and out onto the farthest tip of the old dock.  There is no place further away from the fence on our property.  

As we set up the fence, the older more experienced girls get the idea fast.  They know the signs. They seem to recognize the fence and the action at hand.  They get excited and start talking about it to the others, and soon everyone is making noise. I wish I knew a way to stop the entrance from becoming a stampede but it never fails.  Everyone wants to be the first onto the fresh grass. 

Only the babies get a bit confused.  They hang back.  They do not understand that there is a better pasture out there.  They are leaving the only home they have known.  So we have a bit of sheep wrangling to do.  A few just have to be caught, picked up, and moved.  After the second move or so everyone gets the idea and no is left behind.  
Everyone catches on quickly,  and soon the only sound you hear is the munching of grass.  Now the routine is on its way.  Every two or three days they get a fresh pasture.  If you move the too early they don’t clean up the area.  If you move them too late, they take the grass down to the roots and weeds grow back.  It is a big change in diet and we watch carefully to make sure no one gets a stomach ache.
We move them often to keep the parasite load to a minimum, and to keep our pastures and the sheep healthy and happy.

It is summertime on the farm and the dictionary definition of pastoral.

This Year sheep shearing took place when all of the island school children came to help.

It was the kick-off event for “Sheep to Shawl”

An Art Project for the kids to weave a shawl for their spring puppet show puppets from shearing the sheep through the entire process of washing, carding, spinning, dying and weaving their shawls.

The Day We Have All Been Waiting For:

Another year has gone by.  Once again it is the day to shear the Sheep.  A lot of preparation goes into this day.  It is the culmination of an entire years work.  It is the day we harvest our crop, Wool.

We hope for a dry day and night before so that the sheep can stay outdoors.  You never want their fleeces wet or snowy before they are sheared.  I get up extra early to make sure all of the supplies are ready, the coffee is made and go out to bring the sheep into the barn.  The closer the enclosure the easier they are to catch and sort.

A shepherd works for this all year.  We make sure our flock has adequate hay and grain and minerals when needed.  We keep the thistles and any other prickly weeds from our pastures.  One thistle can ruin an entire fleece with its persistent barbs that flake and spread thru out   their coats.  If water is insufficient, the individual fibers of a fleece will have weak spots in its growth pattern.  It will cause breaks when it is processed and spun. 

Our current sheep shearer is Jim Peterson.  He does construction work most of the year but in the late winter and spring he takes on his avocation and travels about the northern part of the state clipping sheep.  He will do flocks of three or three hundred.  He will let you keep your harvest or will broker it for you through a large mill.  He does market sheep, milking sheep and in our case a small flock of fine woolen blends for hand spinners and weavers. 

These men and women are not easy to find.  There are fewer and fewer who will take the time and effort to travel and care for such a reasonable price.  They have to be quick and efficient.  They have to be gentle but firm and they really must like working in an under lit, crowded space full of animals that would much rather be somewhere else that day.

It takes a crew of six to keep the shearer busy.  One of our crew catches a sheep and starts trimming hooves.  Another does record keeping and gives vaccinations.  We check their teeth and their general over all condition.  There is scoring system we use to make sure they are not too thin or too heavy. We check for the older girls who are starting to have trouble competing for food in the flock.  While all of this happens, two others start skirting or trimming the fleeces that are done. The next volunteer determines which flock to turn the finished rather humbled sheep out to.  Then the next in line goes to the shearer. 

He works steadily and rarely takes a break except to sharpen and oil his clippers.  An occasional comment or joke is bantered about.  Soon the discussion turns to the ultimate question.  Who is pregnant and who is not.  Which leads to, who will lamb first and when, how many twins and triplets we will get and , and how long lambing season will last.  The stories are always a joy and make the time fly by. 

Soon, it is time for lunch.  You have to feed the shearer well and tips don’t hurt either.  In addition I have to ask our shearer to come across the ice road or take the ferry to get here.  You can’t get too many vets to do that.  Thank goodness for some it is still an adventure.

 

After a long day the piles of gorgeous fleece in a myriad to natural shades lies skirted and ready for the next step.  The sheep aren’t too happy but we give them lots of extra feed a make sure they all have shelter out of the wind and the night should it turn cold.  Now the waiting begins for the first lambs to be born.

Nickers

There is a sound that ewes make called a nicker.

They only make this sound when they have their lambs by their side.
If you walk quietly out to the barn in the middle of the night, the only sounds you will hear are the babies bleating small questions to their mothers, and the ewes responding gently with their soft sweet voices.  It is a very personal sound, and one of the mysterious ways that Mother Nature has of keeping moms and babies united amongst the whole flock.
 
Horses nicker all the time when they see you approaching with a flake of hay or treats. It is a friendly welcome. The word is perhaps an alternate of the word neigh or whinny according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary. Sheep seem to save this special form of communication for just this time of year.  Once the babies are weaned, the ewes put this language away until the  next season.

A sure way to know that a ewe is about to lamb is to hear her start speaking to her babies even before they are born.  The ritual of birth seems to start in different ways for different ewes.  Some will stop eating a day before they lamb. Most of mine wouldn't miss a meal, so this is not always the most accurate sign.  Some will go off by themselves and try to find some quiet place to prepare.  Others will make nests, digging into the bedding or soil. They circle around and around until the spot feels right.  All of these are pretty good signs that a ewe is about to give birth.  If she is already nickering to the baby before it is born, chances are birth is imminent. It is also a pretty good omen that she will be a devoted mother.  
I almost always leave a ewe alone to give birth.  She is the expert and even the first-timers have strong instincts that are best left to themselves.  There is plenty to do for her while we wait.  A bucket of water is always welcome after all of that exhausting labor.  We need to build a small temporary pen for her to bond with her babies in.  The iodine and scissors are ready to trim the umbilical cord and to dry it with the strong pungent solution.  If it is below zero a heat lamp is set in place.  Way back when I began there was a sale on big fluffy terry towels including monograms, so we have our stash of deep blue Fly Away Farm towels handy.  The moms tongue does a great job of cleaning and drying but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to pitch in, especially when there are twins.  A flake of hay is ready to reward her once I know her first priority is her offspring and not her food.  If all goes well and the nickering has begun, the new family is off to a good start.

Welcome to Fly Away Farm

            Fly Away Farm is a small sustainable farm located on Madeline Island in Lake Superior.

We raise some of the finest breeds of sheep for their beautiful and versatile fleeces.  It all started almost sixteen years ago now with the purchase of two fine Cheviot Sheep named Beatrice and Benedict.  Now we keep around 60 in our flock of a variety of Merino, Blue Faced Leicester Longwool, Cotswold and Romney sheep.  For us it is all about this incredible and most diverse fiber in the world, Wool.

Our farm was homesteaded on Madeline Island around 1895.  The only way to get here was by boat.  There were no roads this far out on the island.  The farm has a rich and adventurous history.  So many people I run into have worked here helping with the cows and pigs, been married in the barn, rented the house for a summer, or just spent time with the many families that have called Fly Away Farm home.  The original house and barn were of log construction, hewn from the trees they cleared for the first pastures and fields.  Our house remains somewhat altered by many the families additions.  The core of the red pine, white pine and hemlock log house still stands inside the expanded and restored dwelling. 

The newer barn built around 1930 is our lambing shed in the spring.  The sheep only need a roof over their heads during that time.  Otherwise they and their health prefer the open air and some tree cover for shade.  It is a traditional Wisconsin Red Barn and stands proudly looking over our view of Lake Superior. 

Our little farm is still a work in progress.  Each year we paint and trim and repair and try to take on one larger restoration project. 

I began weaving back in college when my mother in law had a loom that I was curious about.  I took a year long course at the University of Wisconsin in weaving.  I wove many blankets and shawls before the birth of my first child.  Then I put weaving away for many years until I moved to the island.  I saw the rich tradition held onto by island crafts persons and Woods Hall.  I was hooked again and now weaving and spinning and other fiber projects have become my winter job.

I hope you enjoy this story of how we make our products from start to finish.  It is always fun to decide just where the process really begins.  

I think we are done.

Well, it has been a lovely lambing season.  We have 33 new babies on the ground and thriving with this beautiful if not slightly unusual spring.

I have been asked how we come up with our names for the lambs every year.  Naming is certainly part of the fun and it keeps my older daughter Maggie in the loop.  Since she went away to college and then Korea and now Seattle, she is not home in the spring to see the little ones.  One great way we stay in touch is for me to announce the lambs as they are born.  Whether it is day or night, I email her the mom who has just started her new family and how many babies she has had.  I let her know color, size and gender and she takes it from there.

Every year we have a theme.  I think the first year we moved up here we had designer names.  It seemed like a nice transition for moving from near Madison to the remote island home we now share with the sheep.  We had many twins that year so names materialized such as Dolce and Dior, Armani and Hermes, Klein and Lauren, Levi and Wrangler.  Now many of those girls are having their own babies and adding to the flock.  I think we have more than four generations here.

A few other themes we had have had are dances with monikers such as Tango, Polka, Jazz, Jitterbug, Rhumba, Foxtrot, Jive, and many other lilting tunes.

One of my personal favorites, maybe it is the weaver in me, was the fabric name year.  Great girls are still here with Twill, Tweed, Tattersall, Tapestry, Pendleton, and Chambray. 

This year we are back to literary names.  I will give you a selection. Please comment back with their associated titles. Some are characters and some are Authors.   We have Isolde, Oberon, Matilda, Earnest, Oscar, Evans and Elliott, Corrigan, Minerva, Eloise, Ferdinand, Ashima, Lyra and Pan, Piaf, Albus and Aberforth, Reuben, Eliza, Cecily, Eponina, and Scout.  Thank you for participating.

A Reminder of this January.  I wrote this story during a cold snowy day and thought it might be nice to share.

So this afternoon Emma was out doing chores.  On Sundays, she actually has a bit of extra time and can spend it out in the barn tidying and playing with the horses. At sixteen there are so many other distractions, I am grateful that she still likes the farm and the barn and all of our creatures.  If you are dressed in enough layers, the January air doesn’t seem so bad. There isn’t much wind and that makes a great difference in all of the animals  and humans comfort level. 

 The music is on and the cats hang around waiting for treats.  She cleans waterers and moves lambs around that need it.  The stalls get an extra cleaning and lots of fresh fragrant shavings.  The barn gets a thorough sweep and the blankets get aired and hung neatly ready for their next use. The horses get their feet cleaned and a nice brush.  They contentedly munch on a bit of extra hay.

The sheep have had their grain and all are pretty content for sheep that  always seem to be starving.  It is  cold today around 8 above so I thought  I would join her and help a bit.  All of the animals don’t have electric water heaters yet.  My goal is to add a few each year.  We did get two new heaters this year but another one gave up after many years of service.  I can go out an fill them again and empty ice out of the ones that need it. 

 Anyway, I go out and Emma comes running back to me.  “Mom, there is a surprise in the barn!”  Why do I recognize that tone in her voice?  It is so so early and cold, it just can’t be.  But there she is , a nice Moorit ewe standing in the corner cleaning off a lovely black lamb, oh and another one has appeared since Emma first noticed, a white lamb still struggling in its blanket of placenta.  They are both steaming, the cold air wants to suck the little bit of heat  that these lambs can produce.  They are not preemies, they are full size, but they still don’t have much body fat to produce the heat they need to stay warm while mom tries to dry them off as fast as she knows how. 

Her rough tongue keeps moving over the lamb, cleaning and drying at the same time.  The first one is already standing and looking ok but the second one is questionable.  I climb over the hog panel fence and see him shaking his head.  A good sign, he is breathing.  If it was April or May I might just leave her alone but not today.  They are wet and towels are going to be needed and probably a heat lamp. 

We know what to do now.  Emma automatically hands me two loose hog panels to fit into a jug in the corner of the barn where the ewe dropped her babies.  She has picked a perfect spot so why fight it.

I enclose her in  the square pen and Emma hands me a stack of about five flakes of fresh straw to bed the new family down in.  There is a layer building on the floor of the barn already in preparation for this time of year but they need more insulation from the cold floor that also wants to rob them of their precious heat.   Next some water for the ewe.  It is thirsty business for her to give birth to twins.  I know she is hungry too but I want her instincts to remind her of her job first.  Keep cleaning those babies, get them on their feet and get them to her udder.  I have already interfered by toweling the babies a bit.  Their ears and tails can freeze pretty quick and they are shivering.  She doesn’t seem to mind so I keep working on one and then trading with her.  I want her to take care of both, I know she will take care of the first one but the second is always a challenge when you have to interfere.  The white baby is trying to stand now which is amazing.  Less than 15 minutes after being born he already knows what he needs.  Food.  A full stomach does more to fight off the cold than anything else.  The black one seems  to have it all worked out and is quietly nosing around mom.  I finish toweling her and concentrate on the boy.  Yes, I have taken note of a black ewe lamb and a white ram lamb. 

I know the ewe must have gotten in with Luke early, they have his floppy ears and coloring but when I don’t know. I suppose she could have come into heart immediately and taken the very first day he was turned in with her .  The other ewes are not due for quite a while.    It happens and it is kind of fun but throws off the schedule a bit. Especially the sleep schedule.  Well, farming is all about adjusting to weather and circumstances isn’t it.  It could be another month before anyone else is born.  Nightly barn checks are going to have to start a bit early this season. 

So now that we have their little bedroom arrangement set up we can do the next task.  Clip, dip and strip.  First I set the lamb on its back on my lap.  I clip the umbilical cord with a clean scissor in one quick clip.  Then I pour a tablespoon of Iodine on the cord to dry it up and close it off from any infection and bacteria.  I check the lamb’s eyes and nose to see that they are clear.  Then give the baby back to mom. 

The ewe doesn’t like this next part.  I play dairy farmer for a minute and make sure that her nipples are open and her bag is full but not hard.  I milk her gently on both sides to make sure she has milk and it is nice a solid white and running freely.  There is a bit of a wrestling hold keeping her still with one knee and arm and milking her with the other free hand.  I gather a bit of the milk for it’s precious colostrums in case I need it for other emergencies.  It only lasts a few days and is the life protecting magic formula needed by all baby creatures. 

Michael finds a heat lamp and has the electrical cord already run to the jug.  A bit of baling twine secures it in place.  Not too low so as to make hot spots and not too high. Clean baling twine has a million and one uses in the barn.  Not on the floor mixed with open bales of hay, but for tying jugs, waterers, lamps, etc.  I only like the natural jute, not the synthetic orange stuff used so much now a days.   Normally I never use the lamps but this is a special circumstance.  Now one more step to help fight the ravages of the bitter night ahead.  Little plastic coats.  They are just squares of orange plastic bag material.  They have slits for four legs and a head.  They fit loosely so that a warm inch of air insulates the babies body from the cold outside air.  For such  a simple and inexpensive device to do so much, I am grateful.  The shivers are already disappearing.  As the lambs move around and mom cleans them off, they are starting to dry nicely.  I take my hand out of my mitten and hold their ears and tails so make sure they are thawing.  I felt the black ones ears feel pretty icy for a bit.

So I always enjoy the first morning barn check as I said yesterday but if I had to choose a favorite overall time to check on the moms and babies, it would have to be the 2 AM check.  Call me crazy but if the night is crisp and clear and often quite cold, the stars are at their peak.  On the way to the barn I am usually in a bit of a hurry and anxious to check on what is happening.  The dogs often wake up and come along for the the brief walk.  Such great companions and they know that it is their job to make sure the farm is secure.  If I hadn't named Fly for the dog in Babe, I should have named her Tomtem.

Every pen or jug is checked to see that the lambs are sleeping quietly and softly breathing.  The ones that are up and usually crawling on mom to get her to stand up for a post midnight snack.  Sometimes a little play time is happening with a few next door to one another.  If I am worried about one, I pick it up to see if it stands and stretches, our health sign.

If no one is in the process of lambing, then we are done and we can walk back through the night air and pause to find our favorite constellations.  Living on an island has its advantages and disadvantages.  One of the big pluses is that we have virtually no light pollution.  If you don't turn any lights on there are none on for miles.  It is a gift that I hope won't change for a very long while.