Tag, You're It!

No, this isn't a meme, it's what Dan and I did this weekend: We tagged all eleven lambs and also gave them their CDT vaccinations, checked their general health and wormed those who needed it. It was quite the scene, I tell you! Lots and lots of sweat, fleece and scrambling.



Here the sheep wait their turn. (While they wait, they're not above a little nosh.)



We'd expected that after a few weeks out on the pasture, our flock would be impossible to catch. Lately, they've skittered away as we approach. This is a big change from the docile, needy ewes of late pregnancy and young lambhood. Nowadays, "the girls" don't need us and they know it. We thought we might have to bring in the big guns... or big DOGS at least... to chase the flock back to the barn, but Dan was able to lure the entire flock into the barn with a bucket of grain. (Suckers!)

I just recently watched an episode of 30 Days in which an avid hunter goes to live with a family of PETA activists and was troubled by the scene where livestock handlers grabbed terrified calves by tails and legs and whatever and shoved them into the back of a truck. This is exactly the thing that we hope to avoid contributing to, the reason we are raising our own meat and buying from local farmers. That said, someone watching Dan and I catch and vaccinate our flock might have felt we were as cruel as the folks on the video. There is-- far as I can tell-- no pretty way to catch a sheep. We were mindful of the sheep, as caring and non-terrifying as a couple of humans with syringes and wormers can be. Does intent count?

This is six year old Anna's view of the proceedings:

Not so pretty, eh?

At any rate, it was good to get a close up of the lambs. Cedar, Cora and Caroline really impressed us-- they are growing like gangbusters! And Chance (AKA "Clowny boy") was a real sweetie. Unperturbed by the hubbub, he sucked up his Selenium E gel as if it was a bottle. We really like this boy!


Sadly, we discovered that Acorn's beautiful little guy, Cole, has definite scurs. (Scurs are underdeveloped horns that can break off grow in all sorts of directions, and become infected) We're going to keep an eye on their severity as he grows. Such a shame as he is a gorgeous, shiny, shiny black lamb. Louise's Connor has little patches that may also grow into scurs (Durn it!) This is our first season breeding polled animals and so, though this is "par for the course" as far as polled sheep go, we are bummed out about it.

Overall though, the flock is looking nice and healthy. Here's Champ: