I have had some wonderful visits with family in the past four months, but it seems I've done nothing but drive to Pennsylvania recently. Five trips between October and January. It is no wonder the blog has been neglected. Well, that and the cold weather makes it too easy to crash in front of the tv for a couple of hours every night instead of doing something productive. Ah Netflix, I love you and I hate you.
So, what's been happening on the farm over the last month and a half? As of January 12, all of our 2012 spring-born lambs have been marketed. We sold 42 and kept 6 of the best females for replacements. This is the first time since our first year (when we only had 6 lambs!) that all of them have been ready to go this early. Have I mentioned we like the barn? We did not lose any lambs after weaning this year, and I think that is in large part due to them not being on pasture and not being constantly plagued by worms. The fall-born lambs need to be weaned and separated from their mamas, hopefully we will get that done this weekend. At least at this time of year they aren't suffering from parasites on pasture, and we have been feeding them grain and hay, so they seem to be doing well. I am curious to get them on the scales and see what they look like. As the ewes have dropped off in milk production, there are some obvious differences in the lambs, so I'm curious how big of a difference it really is in weight. Part of the delay in weaning them is that we've been waiting for our skid loader to arrive so we can get the barn cleaned out before we put the lambs in it. That was a year-end purchase, which I am told will be so useful we won't know how we got along without it. I don't know about that, but if it helps get the driveway fixed that would be great. The chickens are completely on strike this winter. Most of them are pullets who haven't started laying, but the older hens have shut down. I have two eggs in the refrigerator and 43 chickens to feed every day. Something is not right with that equation! I did find a fresh warm egg in the nest boxes this morning, so maybe we'll be back in business soon. We have discovered that there are four or five roosters in the group of 30 pullets. We had noticed there were a couple that were larger and slightly different colored, and any questions were quickly answered a couple of weeks ago when the boys started learning to crow. This is not likely to work out for them. The Rhode Island males are a bit too aggressive for my tastes, and we already have one rooster. Some of them are probably going to end up as stew. I would like to be able to hatch out some chicks on our own and this could give us that opportunity, so maybe they will get a reprieve. Good behavior will go a long way with me. Randy roosters, take note: first one that attacks me is in trouble!
We enjoyed spending time with our families over Christmas, and both sides of the family expanded in January. Our new nephew, Jonah, was born January 5, and our new niece, Eden, was born January 31. We live too far away from all of the nieces and nephews, but at least these two are pretty close together. Who knows, they may end up being in the same class at school. What a small world, that my sister and Brian's sister would end up living 15 minutes apart, and both of them are nearly 5 hours from their hometown.
I leave you with a spot of cheer that helps the long winter days seem brighter. I received an amaryllis bulb and a potted orchid for Christmas, and both have bloomed recently. The amaryllis is finished now, but it was beautiful with four full flowers. Just as it had faded, the first orchid bloom opened. Definitely a bright spot in the corner of my office!
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