By Farrah Federau
*Photo credits to Susan Moore and Anne Wheatley
The day dawned bright with no rain, for which I was thankful since it's over two hours for me to make it to Shepherd's Crook farm. I had eagerly awaited the arrival of Kevan’s lambing clinic since it would give me the chance to see a large scale commercial operation.
We started the day with a lecture in the lambing jug area, with straw bales for chairs, to hear Kevan expound on his sheep care and lambing strategy. We were a mixed group of sheep owners, border collie enthusiasts and even a fashion student interested in wool fiber and hides.
He has a carefully constructed feeding process for his sheep, to maximize profitability. They are all only on grass and hay that he has measured at the beginning of the sheep cycle to make sure it had the correct protein content. This year he had hayed mostly grasses from his fields. I could see right away why the sheep loved it, thin and long pieces that were very soft to the touch. Nothing like how stemmy alfalfa gets, and then the sheep eat around the hard stuff leaving the rest to become bedding.
We also had a lengthy discussion on when to get the sheep outside to pasture, and the many woes of being farmers. Side note, I don’t believe I had ever met a farmer who told me to get into farming as a viable job, an unfortunate state of our society. As the old adage goes, “start with a million (I think it's 10 million by now for inflation) and farm until it's gone.” But being of a farming bent myself I metaphorically put my head in the sand and ignored all warnings being issued.
The beautiful Gretton farm was funded in part by sheep and in part from Kevan’s wife Kim having an off farm job.
We all had ample opportunity to ask questions about the sheep and the process. After a short break and checking to make sure there weren't any ewes lambing without us we began to process the lambs.
Each lamb gets an oral dose of vitamins, ear tag, tail band and number to match its mom. There was also the handy lambing record book to record tag numbers and lamb numbers. There were many lambs to process so everyone got multiple turns to build new skills.
After the lambs were processed we had another check on the ewes and break for lunch. Then back to the fields. Kevan took us on a pasture walk through the fields and showed us what he looks for before sending the sheep out to graze.
Post walk it was time to empty the lambing pens. There were currently two areas for sheep set up, the main one and a separate smaller area for hardening. This is when the lamb and ewe pairs are taken out of their individual pens and set free in a smaller area with other lambs and ewes. It gives the lambs a chance to learn to find their moms in a more contained setting before being set free in the large main space.
It also allows Kevan and his family to watch for any problems that could occur and re-pen the ewe and lamb that need a closer eye.
The lambs and ewes already in the hardening pen were not eager to leave and it was chaos for the little lambs, many attempting to turn around and go back the way they came. Fortunately for Kevan he had an eager band of assistants to move everyone out into the main barn. The hardening pen was re-bedded and ready for the new occupants.
All of the processed lambs were ready for the next stage. Again many hands made light work of getting all the ewes and lambs into their new temporary home.
Then we were back on ewe watch. There were two that were looking particularly lamb ready. We all took our places along the feeding rail and watched and waited.
Happily an ewe obliged us, we got to see her successfully lamb her twins. We were all watching the two new lambs getting their legs under them and going for their first drink. Snapping pictures all the while!
Sadly, unbeknownst to us while we were all distracted with the new lambs the second ewe we had under surveillance had also been giving birth around the corner. Her first lamb was born in reverse and the umbilical cord broke before it was free of the birthing fluid. The lamb sadly passed after breathing in the fluid. Fortunately this mom had triplets, so she still had living twins to mother.
Overall we had a very insightful and enjoyable day! We appreciated the hospitality of the Gretton family sharing their farm with us. And especially Kevan for taking the time out of his schedule to teach us newbies (and not so newbies) all he has learned about sheep. Also thank you to Susan Moore who organized the event, brought snacks and water on behalf of the OBCC's Learning and Development Committee.
Comments from my fellow participants were as follows:
“Loved the birth of twins. Guidance on when to help with a birth. The pasture walk was helpful. The identification of different vegetation and the benefit of manure spreading and other fertilizer application.” - Anne
“The whole thing was EXCELLENT! I loved the walk through from start to end. Kevan included everything from what to feed the pregnant ewes to what to do if there were problems. I really appreciated the organization. It was clear that he's very experienced and has it down to a science. Since I don't have any experience with sheep I found it incredibly useful and helpful.” - Lisa