Sustainability « Dancing Aspens Farm Blog

It’s that time of year again when all 4-legged creatures get their bi-annual pedicure.

Danika getting her hooves all trimmed up.

We also check eye-lid coloring (FAMACHA) and check body conditioning score and just general overall health of everyone.

Louise’s turn…

Sawyer helping hold down a wiggly one…

The weather was a balmy 30 degrees, but the wind was not blowing! We were able to get through about 50 mature ewes in about 2 and a half or 3 hours. We just recently purchased the deck chair to help hold the sheep and it was worth every penny! Normally Sawyer or my husband have to wrestle them into a sitting position and try to hang onto the sheep and trim hooves, all the while they are wiggling out of position, kicking them in the face, etc… The day use to end with us being pretty tired , beat-up and with sore backs. Now it’s just a matter of backing the sheep up into the chair, making sure not to get their legs stuck and getting to work, then pulling them out and turning them out into the next pen.

Some of the ewes waiting their turn…

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These girls are not getting all dolled up for nothing…

2012 Icelandic Rams and Herd Sires.

Sixty-five lucky ewes and ewe lambs will be paired up with the above Icelandic Rams for our 2013 lamb crop. We have some outstanding rams this year! One of my favorites is Dodge.

Dodge, ram.

Dodge is a beautiful horned moorit ram. He has the most beautiful, thick, soft fleece along with wonderful conformation and a calm disposition. He always lets me walk up to him and run my fingers through his wool and he *loves* to be scratched under the chin and on the rump.

New rams.

We also have some gorgeous ram lambs that we are excited to be using for the first time this year. We have some first generation AI rams that will be introducing new bloodlines to our flock. The last couple of years, along with this year we have been involved in importing semen from Iceland from some of their best Icelandic rams. We are actually awaiting this year’s tanker with 25 rare, frozen straws of ram semen to arrive on Tuesday via FedEx.

We also spent all day Saturday moving sheep shelters and making 9 different breeding pens, plus a pen to hold a couple of little ewe lambs that won’t be bred this year, another pen for the rams that aren’t being used this year and another pen to put the calves in. We also did a little tractor work and filled in some holes in the pasture that the LGD’s dug and did a little harrowing…

Harrowing away…

Part of the flock enjoying the 18 degree day on Saturday.

We ended the evening feeding. I love to watch some of the ewes chase the pickup around the field as we throw flakes of hay out. They eat a quick nibble of each on then race on to the next flake and try it out real quick too!