The pasture looked like it was pretty much done for the summer. Then, out of nowhere, we got a rain storm on the 16th, and got a couple of tenths of an inch of rain. This may have given the pasture a new lease on life. We’ll see if this bulks up the north pasture enough to get us another trip around the merry-go-round this summer.
So we put the stock back in the area between the barn and the shop. The cows found an open gate and put themselves into the hay mow. They enjoyed themselves for an hour or two before we put them back where they belonged.
Later in the day on Saturday we separated the young stock from their mothers. This will allow the young critters to start getting used to fending for themselves, and let the mothers start putting back on some body mass, especially with the lean summer months ahead, in preparation for breeding this fall.
Since none of the lambs are going to be kept for breeding stock, we don’t want them in the same flock when we get a ram which we will hopefully do in two months. In the meantime, since they will be spending the next two months most likely in a hard pen, this is a good opportunity to wean them all.
Hopefully this will also give us a chance to develop a closer relationship with Darla, and get her more comfortable with human touch.
We have to figure out what to do with the cows in the next year or so. The pasture clearly doesn’t have carrying capacity for two full grown cows and eight or nine sheep. We would like, eventually, to increase its carrying capacity by adding perennial forage plants along the borders, and planting more trees to increase the shade, but these are long term plans that are 5-20 years from maturing. In the meantime, we will have two full grown cows, hopefully three pregnant ewes, and four feeder lambs next spring, unless we butcher the lambs earlier, say in January.
Little Farm in the Big City 