I haven't posted anything since May as it feels like not very much happens on the farm over the summer. That's not really true but lambing is long over, there's no shearing scheduled and it's not breeding season. The sheep and lambs are just out eating grass and trying to stay cool. It has been a hot and humid summer, and very wet until recently. That has meant lush grass all summer for the flock to graze. With the heat, they head out to the pasture as soon as the sun is up in the morning, graze for a couple of hours, and then go lie in the shade for the rest of the day. As soon as it cools off in the evening, they head back out to the pasture. We humans follow the same pattern, any work that needs done happens very early in the morning or in the evening. The heat and humidity also means the internal parasites (worms) that infect the sheep are at their worst and I have to be very diligent to keep ahead of them. I check the adult sheep every other week but have to check the lambs weekly, as one of the types of worms causes anemia and can kill a lamb within a week. This is the time of year when I start hoping for an early frost to kill the worms even though I know it will be another month before that will happen.
One sure sign that fall is coming is that I will be putting the ram in with the ewes soon. It was time to get a new ram so I got this fine looking fellow from a Leicester Longwool breeder in VA. His name is Jacob and, as is obvious, he is a black ram which will give me better odds of getting some black lambs this year. I'll keep my fingers crossed; I think the ewes will be happy with this guy.
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