It's 'docking' season. That means Cody gets to help brand, castrate, give shots and remove the tails from new lambs. For me it means getting to raise another batch of bummer lambs. Cody's best friend's dad raises 10,000 sheep in Tremonton so he has helped them with 'docking' duties since he was in high school.
Caleb named the 2 lambs that were without mommies: Logan and Hinkley. Logan jumped out of the back of the truck while we weren't looking and joined the herd. It only took the young high school boys about 5 minutes to bring him back. All the other lambs had been branded with red paint, so he wasn't too hard to spot. Did I say HE? Well it turned out they were both females, so the names were quickly changed to Katie and Ashley.
Because there are so many lambs to dock, they are brought in from the range in groups of about 300 at a time. You have never heard such racket! The mom sheep are bleating for their lambs and vice versa. After they are docked, they are put back into the area with the ewes and SOMEHOW find their proper mommy. Don't ask me how they know. It's pretty amazing and fun to watch. Well not the part where they cut off the tails and other boby parts. Just the part where they reunite with their mommas.
Katie was the weakest of any of the lambs I have ever raised before. She drank a little milk when we first got her, lived through the night because of Caleb's prayer, but alas, died this afternoon. It made me cry.
10 comments:
Who knew that sheep didn't come with short tails? My co-workers and I are sitting here trying to gouge out our eyes to get rid of the image of the pile of lamb tails......I loved that you might send the tail to Stacey. My Stacey use to get presents at Christmas from Michael's dog Pud. It would always be wrapped nicely "To Stacey from PUD". She got so she would just start crying when she saw it. It usually involved someting that the dog would drag back to the house. My boys....They never grow up. Pud is now dead as I ran over him last year. So sad...Not.. I told the Grands to let that be a lesson to stay out from behind my car.
That sounded a little harsh didn't it? What ever works.
If this disapears from your site I will not be offended. i don't know where that all came from.
joyce is funny! just when i thought things couldn't get more interesting when visiting your blog, you've proved me wrong! very educational and a little sad. what became of the poor dead lamb? maybe i don't want to know- for this reason and many more, i just couldn't be a country girl!
Joyce anne has got to be related, is she a sister? You both share a "unique" sense of humor.
PS I hate the word identification, I always feel like I'm at the DMV doing the eye test!
Sid, Joyce is my best friend from high school. She still lives in Rupert. I too hate the word verification but it keeps random blogger spam comments from happening.
My wife is amazing! Earl would be so proud of his sissified older daughter. The experience she gives to the grandchildren is something that most of us wish we had enjoyed during our youth. Her tenderness with the lambs speaks volumes.
Ann, not that I would EVER try to compete with you, but you win best Grandma award hands down! What great experiences you and your family have! I too, think you are A-MAZING!
P.S. Sid, that is exactly what the word verification is like! I laughed out loud!
I'm going to have nightmares about the lamb's tail pile.....
another wow!
How fun for the little boys! I had NO idea that lambs had long tails like that!! Wow, so are you raising some of them? If so how many? To answer your question, YES! you should definitely come see our house on Monday, we should be around. Will you be in town? For sure come by if you get a chance!
Kylee, so far I have one lamb. I left the ranch with two, but one died the first day. We will get another one, or pygmy goats because I don't want the little lamb to be all alone. See you Monday!
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