12:15 AM, 30 April 2010
cool & damp

The sheep have been getting out at least twice a day and usually more than that every day for the past three days running, resulting in a single farmer alone having to go to ridiculous lengths to get them rounded up. Efforts to patch the way by which they are getting out have not been successful; tomorrow we may be addressing it more determinedly, as there should be two farmers at least part of the day during daylight hours. The lambs attempted to make up for it in the morning by being cute. You be the judge.

The barn cats have discovered the porch! And the indoor cats are not entirely sure how they feel about it. One of the ganders has been attempted to - entirely unnecessarily - keep the cats and anyone else away from the cage in which the goslings are kept during the day so that they get some sun. This bodes well for their future acceptance into the flock of geese, although we'll still have to see. They're now the size of small chickens.


A side effect of the sheep's frequent escapes, aside from sore feet on the farmer's part, is that one of the ewes, Fanta, got into the poultry feed and developed a bad case of bloat. She was found on her side unable to get up; a quick call to the vet for an emergency appointment turned up the definite diagnosis, and to be on the safe side, fecal material was taken away to be tested for worms or other parasites. She's since been getting probiotic gel along with propylene glycol drenching, as she's pregnant, and some nutritional gel for good measure, all of which was recommended by the vet. She's able now to stand on her own and get around and has taken part in subsequent escapes, but is still fairly weak. This has not stopped her from trying to get at more poultry feed; she's now corralled next to the house where she has protection from the elements, food and water, and no access to the poultry feed.

At one point Fanta did make her way into the workshop, where Nibs got very cross and was approaching her, keeping some distance, tail bristling like a bottlebrush. She was shooed out by the farmer and she has been very grumpy, including about taking her medicine.

We rigged a larger shelter for that flock; while doing so the other night, we were privileged to see a modestly sized but very attractive and active bat flitting around, going after insects. Hurray for bats! And here's hoping for no rabies outbreaks.

Dead Lamb, Sheepsplosion

11:20 PM, 27 April 2010
Cool & damp

Today there was a major sheep outage. Although the early part of the day went peacefully enough, with only a lamb escaping from the ram flock and being returned without too much fuss, the afternoon saw the entirety of the ewe flock out. The wet and shifting soil led to two rods, normally tightly cinched together, being bent apart so that many of them were able to squeeze through.

It took over four hours for a single-handed farmer to get them back in. They have discovered by now where we keep the alfalfa, and more than a couple of them kept attempting to return there, going under the tarp to go after the bales. The most successful method of driving them back, if not into their proper pasturage, then into a more confined zone, was to bang two metal dog dishes together while advancing in their general direction.

As a result of the outage, all of the sheep received two to four times their usual amount of feed. They get no love for a while.

In the course of checking out how they escaped, another tiny, underweight, and very dead lamb was found. The scavengers had already gotten to it, and much of its belly was gone.

Nothing else terribly remarkable happened today, although it is worth noting that it looks as if some of the ducks may be nesting in the dead tree stumps.

12:53 AM, 26 April 2010
Cool & clear

The lamb born yesterday evening died this morning without ever managing to stand and suckle. It's sad, but its birthweight was so low that we were not entirely surprised. A raven or other scavenger got to the corpse before we could bury it; we buried the rest of the remains, though.

Trips to farm store and hardware store were accomplished, and some pasture shifting was done. We also saw our neighbours to the west, and discovered that yes, black bear have been seen in the woods around here. Good to know, and definitely getting dogs at a good time. They've expressed interest in 'borrowing' some of our sheep to eat down grass and weeds in a confined area which otherwise would not be suitable for mowing.

Two deer were seen on the property today; they were standing, staring for no visible reason for a long time. It turned out that all five barn cats were sitting together, watching the deer like a small pride of miniature lions.

The Kingston Blacks, apricots and Johnny Appleseeds are all showing signs of life, along with various perry pears. Good signs.

One ewe keeps getting out but comes running back when a farmer shows up. At least she knows where home is.

12:11 AM, 25 April 2010
Overcast & cool

The rabbits being gone has made life on the farm a bit easier. Today we went and bought doghouses from a large pet supply chain as nothing local was both affordable and suitable. These should do nicely, and if not, will do until something more suitable can be obtained or built. We also picked up treats to help with making friends and training; and a couple of rawhide bones.

When we returned home we found most of the ewe flock including lambs had somehow managed to escape their enclosure. One of the rods was out, and the flock had taken full advantage of this. We shifted their pasture and managed to entice them back in with a bit of patience and with luxurious amounts of alfalfa and a scoop of poultry feed. Jojo, Jenny and Fanta all were persuaded to eat poultry feed right out of a farmer's hand, and Jojo and Fanta in particular were willing to accept pats as long as they also got feed.

While we were tending to this, another new lamb was born. Its birth weight was extremely low; it had not gotten to its feet successfully by the time we opted to leave the enclosure. We may find a dead lamb there in the morning, but it had almost succeeded more than once by the time we left, so it may yet surprise us. The Soay are surprisingly hardy.

We also found wildflowers growing in among clumps of grass; purple flowers which we have tentatively identified as Rocky Mountain iris (Iris missouriensis). Potentially poisonous, but not definitely so, and sparse enough that we are as yet not too worried.

Tomorrow will involve trips to the farm store (for hay) and to the hardware store (for rebar).

22 April 2010, late night
cool & calm

The rabbits are gone! Back to their original owner, who was mildly nonplussed to find us so gleefully giving her not only the angoras, but all the rest. We learned several things in the process:

That Buck is indeed ready for action, as when put in with the shorthaired females in the optimistic belief that 'he won't have room to do anything', he began frantically humping whichever female he was on top of, albeit without real success (he was quickly pulled out again);

That two of the three angora 'babies', now almost to full maturity, were NOT female as inspection had suggested, but are in fact quite male, and would have provided us with more surprises on the white angora bun and on Minnow;

And that feeding and watering of livestock goes remarkably more quickly without them on the farm.

The muscovies seem to be doing almost a communal egg-laying by the hay piles. It is an impressive number of eggs, and an impressive number have been pushed out of the nest. We're beginning to wonder if they're competing for the nesting space in a game of musical nests.

The gander so fixated on a farmer has been learning that pecking the farmer's wife results in scenes of unimaginable violence which could still lead to the cookpot. He's begun slinking off crankily instead.

Today two lambs managed to escape from the enclosure with the ram flock. They promptly got tangled in the fence trying to get back in when a farmer showed up with feed. As the fence was on, the one primarily tangled was easily grabbed, disentangled, and tossed back in. The other one was much less tractable, kicking the farmer in the jaw and shoulder when it freed itself from the no longer electrified fence. A bit of spare fencing ended up used as a shrimping net and the lamb summarily scooped up.

This weekend will see the construction of dog kennels and of a grazing ark for the goslings, who are getting too big for indoors...

Spring has sprung

11:16 PM 19 April 2010
Temperature: moderate & damp

We have decided to get rid of the rabbits; as such, our audience must accept a few final photos before they're all gone. We're making arrangements with someone to give them a good, productive home, but good hutches are very expensive (upwards of $180 per) and the ones we've made have not been easy enough to

clean to make this a successful part of our farm for now. We may revisit it in the future.

We have found a form of trillium growing in the wetland part of our property, the part which is part of the run-up to the creek. We will be leaving it undisturbed; it is, in fact, endangered in this state, and has protected status on all public land. It is also remarkably pretty stuff.

Slightly managed to catch what appears to be a young rat the day we butchered the dead lamb. He was very grouchy about the prospect of our


taking it away from him, even though we had no such intentions; but we did manage to get a few good pictures of him, and even of his catch. Good job, barn kitty! Not bad for a half-grown cat with a clubfoot.

The geese have continued to sit on the nests under the porch; no goslings yet, aside from the two being fostered under the heat lamp. One of the ganders, however, was spotted attempting to
mate with one of the ducks; that didn't work out, although they
both seemed willing enough. There were problems of anatomy in play, there.

Peter often comes around the rabbit cages; they don't seem to mind him too much, and will even exchange sniffs with him through the bars without much alarm. It's very cute, but hopefully they will not miss each other too much once the rabbits are gone.


We got several meals out of the lamb; roast at first, then in a sort of stew with lentils and cauliflower and mushrooms. Currently what's left of the bones and ribcage is being made into stock. Let nothing go to waste, and that way we can console ourselves that its death was, at least, not in vain.

As well, there is now another new lamb, bringing us up to 12 for that flock.

Animal totals for now: 21 lambs, 38 sheep, 8 geese, 2 goslings, 9 rabbits, 8 cats, 21 ducks, incalculable eggs in nests. When they hatch, counting may become impossible!

8:50 PM Friday, 16 April 2010
cool & clear

We had a lamb die the other day, on the 14th; the fence was off, which it should not have been, and it strangled itself on the fence. We got to it too late, although it had not yet gone into full rigor mortis when we got there. It was sad and we hope to avoid repeats in future, but we decided the most honorable thing to do was to make sure its life did not go to waste.

As a result, we rigged a joist in the garage and removed its head, skinned it, cleaned it carefully, butchered it and put the meat under salt to take out some of the excess blood and salted the hide and rolled it up tightly. The meat was cooked last night and was quite tasty.

Today we procured some more hay and made more tree guards; in the process of a one-man pasture-shifting, most of the sheep of the ewe pasture escaped and took some two-person rounding up. Pasture shifting is now done, however. All other animals are doing well, and the goslings are getting quite big. A surprising number of duck eggs have been laid by now, and the ducks have been going at it like nobody's business.

The geese have been quite quarrelsome, however, and multiple feather-pulling fights have had to be broken up by us. The rams also have been getting interested in the ewes; the ewes aren't interested, but it's a sign that we'll want to finish splitting them up, soon.

11:13 PM, 13 April 2010
Cool & overcast

A sheep was out this morning before coffee; fortunately, any time around feeding time, sheep tend to be easier to lure into their enclosures with the aid of alfalfa. The rest of the day was quiet as far as animals are concerned up until their evening feeding time, when four lambs were out of the mixed pasture, and three or four ewes and one lamb were out of the ewe pasture. Alfalfa is sometimes a farmer's best friend.

We did a phone interview for a pair of livestock guardian dogs in need of adoption; they'll be calling our vet for a reference and then speaking with the shelter they're fostering the dogs for and we'll see how it works out. Here's hoping.

Sheep, Trees, Bears, Dogs, Oh My

11:27 PM, 12 April 2010
cool & overcast

The neighbor's pastor came by today; he's an expert on logging and frequently buys property in the area on prospectus and logs it or has it logged. He was also a wealth of information. He recommends we don't try selling our trees just now as the price for Douglas fir is in the toilet right now due to the tanking of the construction industry; rather, limb the trees to about 20-25 feet and give them a couple of years until the price comes back up. He suggested getting a Mexican group to do it as the labor's just about half price right now. Hopefully it will remain so, as while the sap's not running yet, it will begin to very soon. We'll need to wait until September as there's little likelihood of getting it done before the sap begins.

He's also recommended planting incense cedar for hedging; it grows thick and very close together to form a mesh, is prickly, and deer leave it alone. Apparently the boughs also sell for a very good price, making them all the more commodity for us.

Speaking of deer, two does were on the property today, about a hundred yards if that from the ewe pasture while we were watching one of the ewes giving birth. They hung out for a while and eventually headed off; the ewe dropped a healthy little ewe lamb who has now already received her shots.

Five more tree-guards constructed today; good thing, as the dolgo crabapples are leafing out. That will draw the deer like nobody's business. Once the firs are limbed, there will be a great deal of additional light and air movement which will be beneficial to the orchard - and to our neighbors' gardening plans!

According to local information, once the trees begin to drop fruit, we'll definitely begin to have bear problems. While being ringed by neighbors with dogs will help with this, it's been strongly advised that we get a dog or two or more to help ward bears off. We've begun looking into options there and have made inquiries about a few at various local animal shelters; a shepherd mix, a Rhodesian/lab mix, an Australian shepherd/Lab mix, and a mastiff/great dane mix. We also might look into a pack of Welsh corgis if we can persuade the breeders that the dogs not living in the house with us sleeping on our beds is not animal cruelty.

11:32 PM, 11 April 2010
Temperature: cool but dry; overcast

Today was a day for shifting pastures and convincing the gander that he is far, far too football-shaped to give the farmer any fuss, no matter how attached he is to the other farmer. Another lamb was born and promptly given supplemental injection, to her mother's dismay; we now have a total of twenty lambs, bringing the complete sheep numbers up to 58.

The black and white cat made a return, and appears to have made tentative peace with our cats; very tentative. It was eating from their food dish when a farmer arrived on the scene, and it scurried out with Tink making a sudden pounce at it before the farmer rounded the doorway. It took off past the IBCs and will no doubt be back in due course.

Tomorrow a fellow will be coming by to give us a quote on our Douglas firs. Once that's done, we should be able to get them logged and Devon hedges constructed instead...

11:16 PM, 10 April 2010
Cool & calm, clear skies

Today was a very busy day, with trips to the farm store and to Home Depot both. We obtained tetanus toxoid for when we go to wether ram lambs, along with an elastrator and bands for said purpose; bales of straw; wooden planks for further rabbit box construction; hypodermics for the giving of sheep vaccinations; poultry and rabbit feed; and various other items.



The ducks have begun making nests under cover of the tarp we use to protect the bales of hay and straw. We discovered this while putting away the straw; fortunately, it does not appear to have alarmed the ducks yet. Hopefully they will not abandon the nests. In any case, the geese we'd ordered finally were delivered to the farm store. Much to our surprise, they turned out to have only been hatched on Monday. While they're extraordinarily cute little peepers, it'll be a while before we can use them to mate with the junior gander.

Today we rounded up the lambs in the ewe flock - we're up to nine of them by now. We examined them and found no hernias, cleft palates or joint issues, and there are three ram lambs and six ewe lambs in total. We've also discovered that we have one ewe whose registry number does not match our paperwork, and we've put in a query about that to the original breeder. The ewe in question may be pregnant but does not appear to have already lambed this season.

The barn cats enjoyed the sunny weather, although we had to break up a jealous fight in which the gander who is so fond of one of the farmers attempted to peck viciously at Peter; said gander has also been trying to peck viciously at the other farmer, finding no room for romantic competition. Fortunately, said farmer wears baggy jeans, but the gander has been learning to his chagrin that she is much bigger than he is, and of no tolerant temperament when it comes to such behavior.

Tomorrow there will be pasture shifting and shelter moving. Tonight the farmers are sore and tired after being repeatedly but not in the end successfully outrun by nine little lambs.

Deer Mix for Sheep

11:21 PM, 7 April 2010
wet & cool

Today we went to the county extension agent's office and spoke with several people; one for the master gardener program, and one to discuss different kinds of biological ploughs for breaking up the hardpan clay streaks left on the property by the overuse and misuse of tractors by past owners. Among the useful advice he gave us was the idea of mulching around the base of trees to cut down on competing plants and pests. As it so happens, we have an excellent pine sawdust-based mulch which is highly enriched with animal waste materials in a nearly unlimited supply, provided we give it enough time.

We also went to the farmstore, where we purchased a seed mix which is intended to draw deer to properties; it's composed largely of various types of clover, but also birdsfoot trefoil and a few other things. While there, we were offered a rabbit some people had had to give up for whichever reason, a moderate-sized lilac doe of uncertain breed. She was understandably nervous, but perked up a bit once we got her home and into a suitably cleaned and prepared cage and given some food.

The two geese are still nesting under the porch; the newer of the two now has two eggs in her nest, and life proceeds apace.

+1 Lamb, -1 UPS Driver

11:27 PM, 6 April 2010
Chilly & damp

Today was largely unadventurous, although three of the lambs got out of the mixed-sex flock; we have no idea how, but suspect they're using hollows under the fence which were deemed acceptably small from our perspective concerning the adult sheep, but which are turning out to be less so from a lamb's-eye perspective. They were, however, much easier to round up than the adult sheep tend to be; they don't want to go far from their mothers, for one. Double Nickel's two lambs and one of the coal-black lambs were the ones out. It's interesting to note that in the close presence of a farmer, the coal-black lamb decided to try to make a running leap through the mesh of the gate. Since this effectively was an electrified trampoline, it really didn't work the way it had hoped.

A chunk of alfalfa was tossed to keep them in the 'corridor' created by the pasture wall and the exterior fencing that was still up from the other day, and with the exterior fencing 'closed' to keep them from easily going further, the gate was opened. Double Nickel immediately went out - not for her lambs, but for the alfalfa. Mitey would have liked to follow, but was blocked by a mildly irritable farmer; the coal-black lamb scuttled in through the open gate as soon as the farmer wasn't an issue, and circling around to behind Double Nickel and her lambs took care of getting them back in. The alfalfa was then tossed in and the gate closed and tied shut again; end of problem, for now, anyway.

After feeding was over and once back inside for a bit, there was peace; the peace was then broken by the sound of half a dozen geese protesting an intrusion, very, very loudly. This was followed by a surprisingly loud THUMP of something hitting the porch. By the time anyone could get out to investigate, the UPS driver and his truck had made a surprisingly fast but very effective departure, leaving behind only a delivered parcel to prove that they had been there at all. No shreds of brown fabric were found, so presumably the geese were only mildly successful in their attempted rout.

About this time it seemed that a sheep might be out from the ewe flock; closer inspection proved it was not out, merely towards the back of the pasture, and that she had just given birth to a new single lamb. This brings us up to seven lambs so far for that flock.

Livestock totals thus now read:

Lambs: 17
Adult sheep: 38
(Total sheep: 55)
Geese: 8
Ducks: 21
Cats: 8
Rabbits: 8
Farmers: 2

Obviously, at some point these numbers will need some adjustment. It's the meek who are said to inherit the earth, not the bleating masses.

Quiet Day

10:51 PM, 5 April 2010
Rainy & chilly

A quiet and uneventful day today, with no escaped sheep. The ewe flock needed water and were provided with it; apart from that, all was quiet and calm.

The sole exception was when a UPS delivery came. With two geese now nesting under the porch (one seen rolling her lone egg around on the nest before sitting on it), the geese in general are very excitable about anyone approaching the porch, including us. People they don't know are hissed at, and sometimes mock-charged at; the UPS driver was no exception. He used his electronic clipboard adroitly to protect his bare shins just in case, but the geese fortunately abandoned their charge once he mounted the steps, and no harm was done to either waterfowl or delivery drivers.

Liddle Lamzy Divy

11:05 PM, Sunday, 4 April 2010
Temperature: 39 F, rainy & windy

Today was a day filled with multiple sheep escapes. The first was about six ewes out from the ewe flock, their fencing having been blown and rattled loose thanks to the ongoing gale-force winds plus truly sodden ground. They were lured back in fairly easily with alfalfa, and we found that their flock has swelled, with a total of six lambs in there; that brings us to 16 lambs for the season, and our overall flock to 54.

One farmer then set to work making tree guards while the other cleaned rabbit cages with a pressure washer. This was fraught with adventure as well, as it seemed as if every rabbit was going to try to escape in turn. The lilac doe escaped, and was chased down behind the house; the sable doe led us on a very unmerry chase, although we had some help from the geese, irked at her going under the porch, and the cats, curious as to what was going on and eager to help. The sable managed to deliver two moderate scratches to the farmer's already injured hand, however. That's getting old.

The buck escaped from the holding pen due to it being improperly latched, as did Minnow later on. Neither, however, got terribly far, and were much more cooperative about being recaptured. The angoras were then groomed by a farmer once the cages were washed out and replenished with alfalfa and fresh water, and all bunnies restored to one habitat or another. During the grooming, Peter took the available lap as an opportunity not to be missed; somehow, the angora bunnies didn't panic and rip open the farmer's face, which is a pleasant change. Peter was nonetheless chivvied off until later, just in case.

Meanwhile, the other farmer had the non-ewe flock escape while shifting pasture for them, resulting in the sight of rams and lambs alike galloping across the landscape, with the rams attempting to fight one another for dominance due to the prospect of those penned-up unfamiliar ladies up the meadow from them. It's impressive to see rams galloping and trying to butt one another in mid-gallop; not very effective, but impressive. They were eventually recaptured and more pasture was shifted, while the weather turned increasingly wet and cold and windy.

Pizza for dinner may not be classic farm fare for the Pacific Northwest, but it was easy, hot, filling, and doctored with tinned shrimps and green peppercorns and plenty of parmesan. As always, to be continued.

11:40 PM, 3 April 2010
Temperature: 39 F, intermittent rain

Today started with a trip to the nursery for our final order for the season. This order was of three bare root trees for the garden (a pear, a crabapple and an apple) to which we added two bagged pears and two bagged plums. The bagged trees were all larger and older, with abundant flowers, as opposed to the dormant bare root trees. On our way home we also dropped by a local farm to pick up two dozen fresh eggs.

On the way there we found that the storm which has been battering us with rain and wind left snow all over the hills, starting about 300 feet over our elevation. At the nursery the hills were a moving tapestry of white on green overlayed with moving clouds.






We had a good view over the nursery's scion orchard. The hill is typical of the foothills of Mount Rainier, with very steep elevations.








At home we discovered that two of the ewe flock had made their way out again, and that the ewe flock had produced another lamb, bringing us to 15 lambs for the season and 53 sheep overall. As soon as the escaped ewes were rounded back up, digging commenced. The garden trees were placed so as to be as advantageous as possible, in pollination terms, for the orchards. This puts us at 84 trees in the ground, between garden and orchard.

The recent heavy rains have left some standing water behind the farmhouse. The waterfowl enjoy wandering around in this water, dabbling in it with their beaks. On a more practical front, we have taken to placing rainbarrels under the gutter of the workshop, discovering that two days of good rain are plenty to fill a 55 gallon barrel, although the workshop has an abbreviated gutter, rather than all along its eaves.

Friday, 2 April 2010
Raining & windy

Today was a hectic day thanks to two ewes out in the morning from the ewe flock's pasture. The wind likely knocked a fence post loose thanks to the oversaturation of the ground; the ducks have been enjoying the wetness a great deal, and it enabled the two hairy ladies to make a break for it and only turn visibly up on radar once a farmer showed up with a wheelbarrow-load of alfalfa. It took over half an hour for them to decide to cooperate and head back into their pasture through more conventional means of entry, by which time more rain had fallen.

The cleanup the previous day did a good job of taking care of most of what needed to be secured from wind damage; the seedlings are doing well but the cold has definitely stalled the tomato seedlings. Debating getting a sun lamp and setting them up somewhere indoors.

Hay was procured to replenish our stock, and tomorrow the remaining trees get picked up and planted (around half a dozen, intended for personal use rather than future fermentation goals). Pasture-shifting is also on the agenda, at which point at least one farmer will be settling in in order to rest for the remainder of the weekend.

11:12 PM, 1 April 2010
Temperature: 40 F, dry but windy

Hercules escaped today and in the process of attempting to get him rounded back up, the rest of the flock made similar escape. It took two farmers and a considerable amount of fencing, plus patience, to round them up again, during the course of which a loaf of bread ended up on the gable leading to the second floor office window.

There were gale-force winds predicted for tonight, so we spent a certain amount of time tidying up things which could be blown away and generally tending to our animals. This was not too tedious, although Tootles decided to hiss at us through a window, resulting in him being cuddled ferociously so as to remember his place.

More tree guards were constructed today, and put into action. This weekend we pick up an additional handful of trees and then we are done with trees for the season.

The geese are very aware of the nest under the porch; one of them attempted the fake-limp feint to draw a farmer away today. Fortunately, the menu today involved mutton, and there have been threats to the sheep of more mutton on the menu despite the growing lack of it in the freezer, should they persist in escaping so often.

12:37 AM, 1 April 2010
Cool and wet

Today was a day alternating bands of sun and rain, sometimes at the same time, and for a while, a steady torrent of hail. The birds found the hail annoying, but not alarming; some of the ducks attempted to eat the hail. The geese have been generally cranky of late, even going so far as to attempt to attack farmers in the course of daily farm business. This has been explained to them in no uncertain terms as a non-winning proposition; beak, meet gravel.


During the periods of sun, the barn cats enjoyed some porch tanning; Peter and Nibs in particular made themselves very clearly and prominently at home, as can be seen in the pictures. Wimsey has not been allowed out of late, in part due to extreme naughtiness on his part; he did not wish to take his medication, and managed in his fighting to nick the nerve sheath in a farmer's thumb joint, resulting in acute pain and numbness. Antibiotics have been on hand and all should be well, but it did slow down posting for a few days. Despite kitty contriteness, Wimsey is being kept indoors for the sanity of all involved.

The weather has not unduly affected the sheep, however; we have had two new lambs in as many days, one born this morning just before the feeding time. When the farmer arrived, the afterbirth was still dangling from the ewe's rear, and the lamb wasn't even up yet. Departures were delayed until we were sure the lamb was up and nursing, then all went about their businesses with clear conscience.


Pregnant ewes have something in common with pregnant human women; they urinate frequently. The difference is that ewes don't need public restroom stalls. One ewe escaped yesterday, quite pregnant, and ran around being chased by a farmer with a fresh thumb splint. The ewe let loose frequently and without seeming too shy about the farmer's chasing; we suspect she's the one who gave birth today, though, so all that exercise was good for something.

Lamb count: 14
Overall sheep count: 52