I have the cows trapped in the main pasture, and the bulls in the veggie garden, waiting for the pastures to grow enough to let them eat sustainably without destroying the pasture. Gabriel keeps breaking through the gate into the barbed wire pasture, and I've had to chase the bulls out of it twice already. Herbie did a great stopgap fix - he pulled the broken gate through to the barb wired side, and rested the plastic gate handle on top of the broken gate. So Gabriel can't scratch himself on the it and pull down the electric fence gate with his horns at the same time. It's amazing at how quickly cattle can turn lush pasture into a mud bath - even quicker than the ducks and geese turned our back lawn from green grass to mud holes !
So far there haven't been any more lambs born, just expecting Rose to deliver. She was later than the others last year too. With only 2 lambs so far, and possibly one, or twins, still to come, I won't have to sell lambs at a loss at auction later this year.
I'm beginning to wonder if Eleanor is actually pregnant. When I started drying her up when she was about 7-months pregnant, she was huge. Then she shrank, so I thought the calf had moved into the birthing position. But now I'm not so sure. Her udder is still small and soft, and she doesn't look pregnant. But she hasn't come on-heat for the last 8-months or so either, so I should be hopeful. Having gone through the loss of a vet-confirmed pregnancy with Dolly, also after I started drying her up, I'm just not sure. Suppose cows are like women. If you don't actually see a baby being birthed, don't assume she's pregnant. Daisy May, on the other hand, is hugely pregnant. I suppose part of my panic is being unable to possibly service our herdshare owners if she isn't pregnant. Been there, done that and it isn't fun.
We're being overrun with eggs !! Chicken, duck and goose eggs. It seems to always be so slow starting the egg season here. Then once it's going strong and the eggs start dwindling in the late Summer heat, then I have more demand than eggs. Life. Such a fascinating journey, isn't it ?
Caught up with my sister today :). 2 hours on the phone. She's been putting 2 businesses up, and the 3-hour time difference makes co-ordinating time to chat difficult. With me being tied to the farm, we won't get to see each other in the foreseeable future. But I'm so pleased she's starting to do well, it's about time after all the work she's put in.
Sheila has been an on-going experience. She broke the 60ft wire lead the other day, and went missing for 10 1/2 hours. Lisa arrived back after about 5 hours sans Sheila, so we went looking for her as she was trailing 20 ft of lead. Thought she'd got caught somewhere. When she arrived home she was wet, so she had made it to the river. I went and bought 2 new leads, 30 ft each, and keep her on them when she's not physically with me.
We went Morel mushroom hunting this past weekend as well. Far too early, the May Pops were just starting to peep out the ground, but found 2 of Maddies lost bandannas. From their locations, picked up a better idea on how much she roams. Still 3 missing though. I had Sheilas' lead tied to my waist, my revolver, carrying my phone (for photos), a bag to collect the Morels, my gloves to protect my hands and a water bottle. Maddie was a trooper, followed me everywhere, Anni and Lisa kept close-ish, and Rosco was spotted every now and again. Was something walking over downed trees and branches with a deer bumping into my back and a dog tugging on my front, wrapping herself around all the trees.