Greetings from the farm!
We are in the middle of our fall lambing season here on the farm. This is always an exciting time for our family.
We will have baby lambs three times a year. Our first batch will come in December/January, followed by April/May, and then our fall group in August/September. Contrary to the cold winter months and wet spring months, during this early fall season we allow our older ewes to lamb on pasture. We then move them and their lambs to smaller pens for a short period to ensure everyone is getting along well before returning to open pasture.
The lowest stress way to move our lambs and new mommas is to carry the lambs with the ewes trailing behind. It takes patience and persistence to move the ewes and lambs this way. As you can see in the picture I have some good help! Our oldest daughter has become quite the shepherdess and seems to thoroughly enjoy her sheep duties.
It gives me great joy to see our kids learning and developing a passion for stockmanship, or caring for livestock. There is a lot of science that goes into raising animals, but the art of stockmanship is a skill gained through experience and careful observation. It is a skill vital to what we do!
My Best,
Beth Tharp
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