Wednesday 25 August 2010

This one's for you Blu........and we have lambs!

Yesterday our first lambs arrived, this set of twins will be the first of many.  Not a very closeup pic as I didnt want to disturb them. 

The lovely Blu, a 'clueless city girl'(her words not mine, lol) asked a few sheep questions on my last post about sheep on our farm and in New Zealand.  We run 2900 ewes, 750 hoggets, and about 70 cattle here on our farm. 
Blu also asked about black sheep. We don't have black sheep, but yes, you definitely can get them.  They usually only look really black when they are just shorn, then as their wool grows they look more of a brown colour.  Every couple of years we seem to get a completely black lamb born from a white ewe mated to a white ram.  I guess it is just one of those genetic anomalies that happen every now and then, but they are pretty cute when it does happen.  
And yes, there really are more sheep in New Zealand than people, by a huge amount.  4 million people and about 45 million sheep.    Enough of the sheep jokes now, thankyou!

Today we had the conveyor contractor here, to vaccinate our main mob of ewes.  The sheep run up the drafting race, up the little ramp and on to the conveyor.  It is a bit like a horizontal escalator that they are moved along and we give them two small injections.  One is a long acting drench, the other protects the ewes and therefore the lambs through the ewes milk, from several clostridial diseases like tetanus, pulpy kidney, blood poisoning and a couple of others I can't recall at the minute!  The conveyor makes it a very quick, less stressful job on both sheep and farmer!  We put 2000 ewes through in just over 2 hours.
Then it was time to spread the ewes out for lambing.  We scan the ewes in late winter, and the twins all lamb together in their own paddocks, with the single bearing ewes lambing in their own mobs too.
The farm is starting to green up again now that winter is almost over, we have had a few beautiful days, so the grass is really growing now.

This next pic is from near the back of our farm, looking back towards our sheds on the left of the picture.  The hills and paddocks in the far distance belong to our neighbours.
And these two are from near the other end of the farm.  Our house is down below the trees in the middle.  The cattle yards left of the middle of this pic are ours and so is the paddock beyond them, but the rest of what you see here is all our neighbours land, but these are some of the beautiful views we enjoy.  Most of our farm runs to the right of the top pic.  The bottom pic is looking north from the same spot and our paddocks are one on each side of the driveway going in towards our house.

Well, that is enough farming for one day, hope that helps Blu, thanks for your interest.  My garden is calling me today, it is another gorgeous spring-like day, so time to get some more roses pruned(very late, I know).

Thanks for visiting today, and for all your lovely comments on my needleturn last post, bye for now,
Nicky

17 comments:

Deb said...

Nicky fabulous photos. Sure signs of spring which is so great to see. Gosh you have quite a large farm. Beautiful views and clean air living, what a dream

Tricia T said...

I look forward to your posts, Nicky! I love seeing your pictures and hearing of your life on the farm. How marvelous to see the lambs!!! Blessings!

Deborah said...

Beautiful pictures! love the lambs.

Mari said...

How interesting! Thanks for sharing about your life on the farm. My father's family going back were all sheep farmers in Norway..... but nothing on this scale :)

Hanne-Kristine said...

Amazing, how beautiful farming land :)
Thank you for sharing your photos.
I wonder! with all thees beautiful sheeps and all that wool.... do you knit? :)
To me that sounds like sheep - wool - yarn - knit
Just like a peace of heaven......

.... yes I`m in a knitting mood...sight
bought some awesome yarn this summer......

all the best hk

Annie said...

Thanks for describing your operation. I had no idea it was such a large enterprise. Another 'clueless big city girl' here, but a little more clue-ful now.

Blu said...

Thanks for the detailed tour! I'll admit my idea of sheep herding was a bit out of date: a guy with a crook on a hill surrounded by sheep. (Hollywood has a lot to answer for!)
You have a gorgeous farm and as green as the eye can see.

Marie said...

absolutely gorgeous -- thanks for the tour ... here in Minnesota we don't see many sheep anymore --

Carol said...

I'm glad Blu asked so many questions because I loved reading about your farm and seeing the photos of your gorgeous landscape... Very interesting and the photo of the tiny lambs is just precious!

Colleen said...

How beautiful, your farm, the country side. I love your post. A bit of heaven, on your farm. Maintaining a farm is a lot of hard work & it certainly shows on your land. No wonder you love Shepherds Bush so much. Thank you for the tour, pictures & sharing. Thanks to Blu for the questions.

Bev C said...

Hello Nicky,

Thanks for the photo's of your farm. We have sheep in the paddock not far from us. So we wake up to the sounds of them. Which is a far better sound than traffic.
Happy days.
Bev.xoxo

Jeni said...

thanks for sharing your farm.... we have a little hobby farm .... at weekends we are there... just love it away from the rat race......so tranquil.....my daughter lives in Christchurch ...................

Katrina said...

Hi Nicky, what a beautiful spot it is where you live :) I noticed a few lambs around in the paddocks on the outskirts of our town the other day - a good sign that spring is almost here!
Enjoy your weekend, hope the sun is shining down your way.
bye for now, Katrina

Christine S said...

Thanks for the amazing photos, Nicky! It was wonderful to tour your farm. It looks like such a beautiful place!!

Leisa said...

Whar a beautiful property you have. New Zealand is such a beautiful green country. We have loved our visits there. Thank you for showing us life on your sheep farm!

Jenny said...

Aww, how I miss seeing little lambs in the spring time!

Cynthia Schelzig said...

What beautiful scenery....looks like a dream land! Wonderful sheep!

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