Permanent pasture... Act II.

Oat hay cut mid-July...nice permanent pasture maturing nicely!

Permanent Pasture!

Permanent pasture, from the beginning

This permanent pasture was planted this year, in early April.  The picture was taken the end of April.  We planted oats, alfalfa, annual rye grass, medium red clover, and Ladino clover.  

Hettinger Corriedale Farm...Sunset!

BabyBQ... and friends!

Fall forage... turnips and oats!

This field of turnips and oats were planted in early August.  As you can see..the sheep love this fall pasture mix!

Cut Oat Hay in July

Rows of cut oat hay in our permanent pasture..now the pasture is ready to take off and grow! 

 

Oat Hay

Big bales of oat hay...harvested from the permanent pasture in July.

September 2013 Corriedale Twins!

Corriedale Fall Lambing!

Barnyard Jungle Cat

Wheat

We grow wheat every other year, rotating soybeans and wheat every other year. The straw from this wheat field was enough to provide bedding for the sheep for two years.  This year, we had an abundance of straw, so we sold the excess to a nearby farmer.

The storm brews

This wheat, yielding 300+ bales of straw and wheat grain, was harvested 4th of July weekend. 

Sun Setting

Splendid! The gifts that the good Lord gives us, a beautiful sunset and a carpet of lush pasture for the lambs to munch.  

Curious Corriedale Rams

These Corriedale rams were in full fleece, their photo was snapped before the March shearing. 

Pretty and slick shorn

This shows how bright white her wool fiber is. I put a Sheep Suits sheep cover on her to keep the white wool.. white!  She will not be sheared again until next year, March 2014. 

Fantastic Shearer

This sheep shearer does a great job shearing the sheep.  He glides the clippers safely over the lamb and shears it in less than 5 minutes.

March Shearing

This 2012 fall lamb has a bright fleece.  She will be cooler carrying a shorter fleece through the hot summer.

Manure Spreader

Spreading the Manure
It doesn't look cold...but it was! 

Socks

These Zeilinger Wool Co. wool socks keep my feet warm during the cold Illinois winter months.  They are warm and cozy!

Big foot

Rusty just showed up at our house one day, a stray.  He needed some attention...so we took care of him.  He is a very loving cat...a big heart and big feet...and a couple of extra toes!

Corriedale ewe lamb

Really nice Corriedale twin lamb.  Her mom is a high producing 7 year old Corriedale ewe.

The nest is found!

I found Miss Chicken's nest hidden in the straw bales up in the haymow of the barn.  We left one old marked egg so she would continue with this nest.  Sure enough, we now have a fresh egg just about every day.

Lambs!

These two week old cross-bred lambs....very cute and vigorous!  Their Corriedale mom is taking very good care of them!

The sheep help with the frost seeding!

These ewes and lamb's hooves make a good natural tool to help drive the seeds into the soil to facilitate a successful new growth of legumes and grasses.  

Frost Seeding

We frost seeded late maturing Orchard Grass, Annual Rye Grass, Medium Red Clover, and Ladino Clover onto our established pasture on February 22 here in central Illinois.  As you can see we had a layer of fresh snow and another 2-3 inch snowfall a couple days after seeding.  Hopefully the bed of snow will aid in the establishment of these frost seeded grasses and legumes and improve the pasture in 2013.

She had how many!

Mello...She had how many lambs!  And they look marvelous!

Twin lambs born yesterday

These cute little lambs were born yesterday afternoon!  Black Eyed Susan had these twin ewe lambs without any help!  She is a fine mother and took great care of them.  She had them in the shed, so they were sheltered from the frigid wind.  The twins were dry and had their first meal of colostrum before I coaxed Black Eyed Susan in the barn.  I carried her lambs, just a step ahead of her, and she followed. They were already jumping and running around the stall when I peered over the stall door this morning.

Miss Chicken

Miss Chicken is a beautiful example of a Phoenix hen. She came to our house 7 years ago from the McMurrary Hatchery, where you can mix and match the breed and sex.  We only wanted hens this time. Shipped express, they arrive in the early hours to our local post office and we get the call to come pick them up.  As soon as we opened the door to the local post office, we heard the lovely, little peeping. (lovely to us, maddening to the postal workers)  Miss Chicken and her fellow baby chick's beaks were peeking out of the cardboard box air holes. ..the chicks were ready to go to their new home. Ravenous eaters, they grow fast and you can clearly see the establishment of their pecking order as they mature. 

When we decided to cease with the chickens, Miss Chicken "flew the coop" during the roundup and went into hiding.  She began to show herself and get used to us and ultimately become part of the family with the cats and dogs. If we're lucky, we find her nesting spot and get a daily egg until she moves to a new spot. Our Miss Chicken is very social and joins us in the garden or whenever she sees us with a shovel; she knows worms and bugs are sure to be turned up, yum!

Baby BQ

Baby BQ's winter portrait, she is 4 months old.

Supper

These ewes will be having lambs in February.  They are fed alfalfa hay twice a day and grain once a day.  And all the fresh water they can drink.

Baby BQ leading the way

Baby BQ is leading the little flock of fall lambs.  They were playing on the snow pile..but the dinner bell had sounded.  Baby BQ is always first at the hay feeder!

Winter Lambs

These Corriedale early January twins are the first lambs of my January/February lambing season.

Wheat, Winter

The winter wheat has a nice blanket of fresh snow.  This wheat field will "wake up" in early spring and be the first green plants we will see in Illinois.  Spring will be a  welcomed treat, after a long white winter.