Bailage is hay cut earlier in the season, when conditions are still too wet to dry the cut for hay.  It allows the farmers to get out on the land when they are chomping at the bit to get started, but forecasts are not yet for sufficient hot, dry weather. But because of the moisture, […]

The snapping turtle below was the climax moment of the Derby Girls visit. Never seen one here, before or since. We herded all people WELL away. A fascinating visitor.  

When a foster lamb is first introduced to the warmed reconstituted ‘milk’ (called lamb-o), it doesn’t taste right; smell right; feel right. Usually the first reaction is either passive resistance, or ptoooey. The foster lambs  instinct is to go under a warm ewe’s belly, to find a full but flexible nipple, to bunt hard if […]

Rain plus wind plus cold equal hypothermic conditions for newborn lambs. Just as the flock was at its peak of lambing for the first heat cycle, the awful weather conditions hit. A newborn lamb needs to be licked thoroughly and nudged towards the udder to get a bellyful of warm colostrum in the first half […]

Some photos post shearing: Don, unrolling hay for “ewe lambs” – they were lambs last year; now hopefully pregnant Newly shorn lambs, crossing in front of our yard in evening light, on their way to shelter

After shearing we had 80 eight foot bags (from this year and some left from the previous year) packed firmly with quality wool, and 15 bags of belly wool and off cuts. The next task was to get the wool bags to their destinations. The first group to P.E.I.; some bags for landscape mulch; and […]

The first 3 sheep were on their bottoms on the shearing floor Friday morning at 8 am. (That is the position for shearing to begin – belly wool removed first.) We had a lovely day to get started, although forecasts warned us to be prepared for nasty weather to come. We’d prepared the best sheltered […]

Sheep have to be shorn once a year. It’s as regular as taxes. In earlier years the clip could provide a good income for a farm, but now represents a significant health expense. Ian initiated the Wool Shed to sell our wool as yarn, and blankets. All products are now available on-line too.  We were […]

Walking our roads in the past few weeks has been, well, interesting. The gravel seems to have been entirely swamped by mud, alternating with ice and ruts. It is hard to watch my feet though, as there is so much to see and hear and smell right now. The cold weather until recently caused the […]

We need our guardian dogs at Topsy.  There’s a bumper sticker that says ‘Eat Canadian Lamb: 10,000 coyotes can’t be wrong.” Some seasons it feels as though most of those coyotes have found their way, over the winter ice to Amherst Island. We have three significantly large sheep farms here, and lamb is a favorite […]